Clinical assessment and computerized testing

It is well known in traditional testing practice in psychology that recognizing and controlling personal factors such as misunderstandings, anxiety, loss of concentration and lack of motivation are vital in obtaining reliable and valid data. To achieve such data, the importance of having persons trained in psychology as test administrators is recognized, and many tests require a trained, registered psychologist for their administration. With the advent of computerized testing, the emphasis in related research has been on its advantages over traditional testing, especially in its efficiency and reliability, with suggestions that the need for a psychologists in testing can be reduced. This paper demonstrates the substantial potential effects of personal factors in computerized testing, and makes the case that, if validity is to be retained, the instead of not needing a trained psychologist to be present, such testing does require one at least as much as traditional testing. The demonstration is based on the observations of a psychologist who was present throughout the testing of 189 children, ranging in age from 9·5 to 15 years as they responded individually to a computerized version of Raven's Progressive Matrices, on two occasions 6 months apart.