Psychological Assessment and Testing

Thinking, feeling, acting – these are the central areas we are interested in as psychologists. But how can we capture or measure aspects such as cognitive abilities, personality traits, emotional states, or social behavior?

Psychological assessment and testing deals with questions, which concern the systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of information about a person's behavior, abilities, and internal states. We use a variety of methods and instruments for this purpose, including interviews, questionnaires, psychometric tests, and systematic observations of behavior, with the goal of gathering valid and reliable information about a wide range of human behavior. Thorough psychological assessment prepares the groundwork for, for example, better understanding individual differences, assessing people's life situations, or developing effective intervention programs.