PSY494P122
Online and Offline Resources In
Psychological Assessment
(Syllabus – Spring 2015)
Type of Completion: Z (fulfilled or not)
Credits: 3
Course language: English
Responsible of the course:
Name: Mgr. Carlos A. Almenara, PhD
Address: (MU FSS) Joštova, 10 (Office 2.53), 602 00, Brno – Czech Republic.
Office hours: Appointment required.
E - mail: carlos.almenara@mail.muni.cz
1. PERSONAL GOALS:
My major goal as a teacher is to inspire students to learn and think critically.
2. PURPOSE OF THE COURSE:
Although almost anyone knows how to perform a search on internet, not all
people know the basic principles behind the search process. Therefore, the online
search experience is usually based on trial and error.
The process of search, select and retrieve information on an efficient way is
absolutely different to the trial and error approach and requires different skills and
knowledge. These skills and knowledge are the core component of digital literacy
(i.e. the ability to understand information).
With the constant increase of information, psychologists need to use their time
online more efficiently, productively and less frustrating. To achieve this goal, they
have to develop their digital literacy. Therefore, psychologists need to know what
information is available online, how this information is generated, what type of
information is the most relevant, and how this information can be retrieved and
used.
Accordingly, with a focus on psychological assessment, this course has been
created to promote students‟ digital literacy, enhancing their skills and knowledge
to efficiently search, critically select and efficiently organize scientific information.
3. COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
The overall goal of this course is to promote students‟ digital literacy, enhancing
their knowledge and skills to efficiently search, critically select and efficiently organize
scientific information and resources related to psychology and psychological
assessment.
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Identify the general characteristics of scientific articles and journals. Expected
outcomes:
- Identifies and uses a Digital Object Identifier (DOI).
- Identifies and differentiates between ISSN and e-ISSN.
- Differentiates between online and offline access to a journal, and
between browsing a journal‟s current issue, journal‟s archives, and
journal‟s online first articles (ahead-of-print).
- Identifies and searches by using an article‟s structure: title, author,
abstract, keywords, highlights, introduction, method, results, and
discussion.
2. Execute advanced searches in search engines. Expected outcomes:
- Identifies and creatively uses free available search engines (Google
Scholar, TRIP, Microsoft Academic Search, WorldCat, CUFTS,
JournalSeeker, etc.), to find information.
- Knows and/or uses major databases for psychological assessment (APA
Databases, PubMed, Scopus, Questia, EBSCO Psychology and Behavioral
Sciences Collection, Proquest Psychology Journals, Gale Psychology
Collection, Proquest Dissertations & Theses Full Text, OVID, CSA, ISI
Web of Knowledge, SerialsSolutions, ISI Journal Citation Reports, etc.).
- Differentiates between keyword and subject.
- Knows how to use the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms®
.
- Knows how to use Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms.
- Identifies the different ways to search and get access to a psychological
test.
3. Know and use online and offline databases of psychological tests. Expected
outcomes:
- Uses the Mental Measurements Yearbook by BUROS Institute (online
and/or offline).
- Uses the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Test Collection.
- Knows and uses major books, handbooks, encyclopedias and websites
containing psychological tests in his research field.
- Knows the ITC Guidelines for Test Use and Adapting Tests.
4. Be up-to-date on his research field. Expected outcomes:
- Uses RSS.
- Uses email alerts.
- Uses matching criteria search alerts.
- Uses other online resources (scientific social networks, listserv, forums,
blogposts, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)
5. Select and organize the information using a reference manager. Expected
outcomes:
- Apply his knowledge to critically and properly select the information.
- Knows and uses the APA Citation Style.
- Knows and/or uses a reference manager (Mendeley, EndNote,
RefWorks, etc.)
4. COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
This course is for graduate students. However, undergraduate Erasmus
students from non Czech universities are allowed to enrol in this course.
This course is delivered in English, and students should have at least an
intermediate level (B1) in this language.
Classes are once per week. Classes are two academic hours long (45
min. each one) and they are divided as follows: first hour of lecture,
being the teacher the most active, presenting the content; second hour
of training (exercises), being the students the more active, applying the
knowledge acquired during the lecture, testing strategies and solving
problems with the assistance of the teacher.
To access the final exam, it‟s needed to attend at least 80% of the
seminars (i.e. 10 out of 13 seminars in total).
I encourage students to participate in classroom: asking questions,
answering, or making a comment or observation. For those who feel shy
speaking in public, I encourage them to participate. And those who feel
confident speaking in public, I encourage them to shape the classroom
atmosphere as warm and inviting as possible.
Read the assigned papers before the seminar session, they are very
useful. The assigned papers have been carefully selected to give you a
background of information for the topic covered in the session.
I will monitor the participation during each seminar. Your opinion is
important.
5. EVALUATION:
The grading scale for this course is “zápočet” (Z), which means that you will obtain
a grade of “Z” (Započteno) if you pass the course or a grade of “N” (Nezapočteno) if
you don‟t.
To obtain this final grade (Z or N), students are evaluated using a 5 points scale (A,
B, C, D, E). In this way, students obtaining an “E” in the total score fail to pass the
course.
To obtain the total score, I use the following calculation:
40% mandatory assignments.
35% Final exam (Multichoice answer quiz with 20 questions)
25% participates in class.
6. READINGS AND RECOMMENDED BOOKS/ARTICLES:
American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National
Council on Measurement in Education. (1999). Standards for educational and
psychological testing. Washington DC: American Educational Research Association.
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological
Association (6th ed.). Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
Bartram, D. (2012). Concluding thoughts on the internationalization of test reviews.
International Journal of Testing, 12(2), 195–201. doi:10.1080/15305058.2011.649869
Booth, A., Papaioannou, D., & Sutton, A. (2012). Systematic approaches to a successful
literature review. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Cohen, R. J., & Swerdlik, M. (Eds.). (2009). Psychological testing and assessment: An
introduction to tests and measurement (7th ed.). Washington DC: McGraw-Hill.
Constantine, M. G., & Ponterotto, J. G. (2006). Evaluating and selecting psychological measures
for research purposes. In F. T. L. Leong & J. T. Austin (Eds.), The psychology research
handbook: A guide for graduate students and research assistants (2nd ed., pp. 104–113).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
De Brún, C., & Pearce-Smith, N. (2014). Searching skills toolkit: Finding the evidence (2nd ed.).
Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
Ercegovac, Z. (2008). Information literacy: Search strategies, tools and resources for high
school students and college freshmen (2nd ed.). Columbus, Ohio: Linworth Publishing,
Inc.
Ercikan, K., & Lyons-Thomas, J. (2013). Adapting tests for use in other languages and cultures.
In K. F. Geisinger (Ed.), APA handbook of testing and assessment in psychology: Testing
and assessment in school psychology and education (Vol. 3, pp. 545–569). Washington,
DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/14049-026
Evans, J. (2007). Your psychology project: The essential guide. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Evers, A. (2012). The internationalization of test reviewing: Trends, differences, and results.
International Journal of Testing, 12(2), 136–156. doi:10.1080/15305058.2012.658932
Goh, D., & Foo, S. (Eds.). (2008). Social information retrieval systems: Emerging technologies
and applications for searching the web effectively. New York, NY: Information Science
Reference.
Greenhalgh, T. (2014). How to read a paper: The basics of evidence-based medicine (5th ed.).
Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
Hambleton, R. K., & Zenisky, A. L. (2011). Translating and adapting tests for cross-cultural
assessments. In D. Matsumoto & F. J. R. van de Vijver (Eds.), Cross-cultural research
methods in psychology (pp. 46–74). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Hersh, W. (2009). Information retrieval: A health and biomedical perspective. New York, NY:
Springer.
International Test Commission (ITC). (2000). International guidelines for test use. Retrieved
January 12, 2015, from www.intestcom.org/itc_projects.htm
International Test Commission (ITC). (2010). International Test Commission guidelines for
translating and adapting tests. Retrieved January 12, 2015, from
www.intestcom.org/itc_projects.htm
Joyner, R. L., Rouse, W. A., & Glatthorn, A. A. (2013). Writing the winning thesis or
dissertation: A step-by-step guide (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Koocher, G. P., Norcross, J. C., & Hill III, S. S. (Eds.). (2005). Psychologists‟ desk reference
(2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Lenburg, J. (2010). The facts on file guide to research (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Facts on File.
McBride, D. M. (2013). Hypothesis development: Where research questions come from. In D.
M. McBride (Ed.), The process of research in psychology (2nd ed., pp. 19–42). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.
McKibbon, K. A., & Lokker, C. (2013). Searching for research findings and KT literature. In S. E.
Straus, J. Tetroe, & I. D. Graham (Eds.), Knowledge translation in health care: Moving
from evidence to practice (2nd ed., pp. 63–74). Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Norcross, J. C., Hogan, T. P., & Koocher, & G. P. (Eds.). (2008). Clinician‟s guide to evidencebased
practices: Mental health and the addictions. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Oakland, T. (2012). Principles, standards, and guidelines that impact test development. In M.
M. Leach, M. J. Stevens, G. Lindsay, A. Ferrero, & Y. Korkut (Eds.), The Oxford handbook
of international psychological ethics (pp. 201–215). New York, NY: Oxford University
Press.
Tricco, A. C., Tetzlaff, J., & Moher, D. (2013). Knowledge synthesis. In S. E. Straus, J. Tetroe, &
I. D. Graham (Eds.), Knowledge translation in health care: Moving from evidence to
practice (2nd ed., pp. 29–49). Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
Wilczynski, N., & McKibbon, K. A. (2013). Finding the evidence. In T. Hoffmann, S. Bennett, &
C. Del Mar (Eds.), Evidence-based practice across the health professions (2nd ed., pp. 38–
60). Sydney: Elsevier.
Willis, J., Inman, D., & Valenti, R. (2010). Sources of knowledge and perspectives. In J. Willis,
D. Inman, & R. Valenti (Eds.), Completing a professional practice dissertation: A guide for
doctoral students and faculty (pp. 123–176). Charlotte, NC: IAP.
RECOMMENDED ONLINE RESOURCES:
Educational Testing Service (ETS) - Test Collection. The ETS Test Collection is a
database of more than 25,000 tests and other measurement devices. Contains
information about tests from the early 1900s to the present, and is considered the
largest compilation of such materials in the world.
http://www.ets.org/test_link/about/
Tests and Measures in the Social Sciences (Compiled by Helen Hough, Health Sciences
Librarian, University of Texas at Arlington). This database contains information on
about 14,000 measures available in 140 compilation volumes. There is a database
version in RefShare and is also available on this website:
http://libraries.uta.edu/TMdb
PsycTESTS. Is a research database that provides access to psychological tests,
measures, scales, surveys, and other assessments as well as descriptive information
about the test and its development and administration.
http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psyctests/index.aspx
Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HaPI). Is a database that provides access to
information on approximately 15,000 measurement instruments (i.e. questionnaires,
interview schedules, checklists, coding schemes, rating scales, etc.) in the fields of
health and psychosocial sciences.
http://www.ovid.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=13051&catal
ogId=13151&langId=-1&partNumber=Prod-866
Directory of Special Libraries and Information Centers. This directory is published by
Gale in two volumes (available separately): Volume 1 (in three parts) provides detailed
contact and descriptive information on subject-specific resource collections maintained
by various government agencies, businesses, publishers, educational and nonprofit
organizations, and libraries around the world. In addition, Vol. 1 features seven
appendixes and a comprehensive subject index and is available with or without an
inter-edition supplement. Volume 2, Geographic and Personnel Indexes, provides
access to profiled libraries by geographic region, as well as by the professional staff
that are cited in each listing.
http://solutions.cengage.com/Gale/Catalog/Fact-Sheets/dirSpLib.pdf
PSYNDEXplus with TestFinder. PSYNDEX is the most comprehensive abstract database
(not full-text) of psychological literature, audiovisual media, intervention programs, and
tests from the German-speaking countries. Publisher: Zentrum fur Psychologische
Information und Dokumentation (ZPID) at the University of Trier.
http://site.ovid.com/site/products/fieldguide/pskm/About_PSYNDEXplus_with_Test.jsp
Mental Measurements Yearbook Test Review Online. The most widely acclaimed
reference series in education and psychology, the Mental Measurements Yearbooks are
designed to assist professionals in selecting and using standardized tests. The series,
initiated in 1938, provides factual information, critical reviews, and comprehensive
bibliographic references on the construction, use, and validity of all tests published in
English. Mental Measurements Yearbook, from the Buros Institute, contains the most
recent descriptive information and critical reviews of new and revised tests from the
Buros Institute's Yearbooks. The database covers more than 4,000 commerciallyavailable
tests in categories such as personality, developmental, behavioral
assessment, neuropsychological, achievement, intelligence and aptitude, educational,
speech & hearing, and sensory motor.
http://buros.unl.edu/buros/jsp/search.jsp
Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print (TIP). This unique package includes
the Mental Measurements Yearbook database PLUS the Tests in Print database, which
provides the most current descriptive test data, including test descriptions, publishers,
pricing, in-print status, etc. TIP provides vital information to users including test
purpose, test publisher, in-print status, price, test acronym, intended test population,
administration times, publication date(s), and test author(s). A score index permits
users to identify what is being measured by each test. Tests in Print also guides
readers to critical, candid test reviews published in the Mental Measurements Yearbook
series. Tests in Print is an indispensable reference for professionals (including such
areas as education, psychology, business) and anyone interested in the critical issues
of tests and testing.
http://buros.org/tests-print
World Guide to Special Libraries. Published by Walter de Gruyter, is the most
comprehensive directory of special libraries worldwide. The completely revised and
updated 9th edition lists over 35,000 libraries under approximately 800 subject
headings. The term special libraries, is understood to refer to all libraries specializing in
specific subjects. Amongst others, these include major central libraries such as the
National Library of Medicine at Bethesda, USA, departmental and institute libraries,
corporate and administrative libraries, „classic‟ special libraries such as the Bibliothèque
artistique de la ville de Bruxelles and general libraries with major specialized holdings.
http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/184160
Course Calendar (February to May: 12-week lectures; 1-week exam):
Week Topics Readings (due on this date) Assignments (due on/during this date)
(1) Feb. 18
Course information and general introduction.
Online and offline scientific information,
indexed information, credibility of the
information, access to information and
barriers.
(2) Feb. 25
The basics of search. Google, Google
Scholar.
Finding a Research Problem (Joyner, Rouse, &
Glatthorn, 2013); Hypothesis development [Part 1]
(McBride, 2013); Health and biomedical information,
Indexing, Research directions (Hersh, 2009)*
Formulate a research question
(3) March 4
Databases. Database providers, selecting
databases, Gale Directory of Databases,
Evidence-based databases, Multiple
database search engines (metasearch).
Finding sources of information: Electronic databases
(Lenburg, 2010); Finding the evidence (Wilczynski &
McKibbon, 2013); Locating the best available
research (Norcross, Hogan, & Koocher, 2008)*
According to your research question, make a list of
databases that you will use to find information.
(4) March 11
Organizing the information with Mendeley
Software.
Saving citations (De Brún & Pearce-Smith, 2014;
Chapter 10); APA Citation Style (American
Psychological Association, 2010)
Start your Mendeley database.
(5) March 18
Offline resources for psychological
assessment. Mental Measurements
Yearbook, Tests in Print, Directory of Special
Libraries and Information Centers, World
Guide to Special Libraries, Doody's Core
Titles, compilation volumes, books,
handbooks, textbooks, etc.
Finding sources by subject: Psychology (Lenburg,
2010); Evaluating and selecting psychological
measures for research purposes (Constantine &
Ponterotto, 2006); Finding search words
(Ercegovac, 2008; Chapter 2); Finding sources of
information: archives, CD-ROM collections, general
references (Lenburg, 2010)*
Find special books or handbooks or collections, in
the topics covered by your research.
(6) March 25
Databases of psychological tests: ETS, Test
and Measures in the Social Sciences, Mental
Measurements Yearbook Online, HaPI,
PSYNDEX.
Publishers of psychological and psychoeducational
tests (Koocher, Norcross, & Hill III, 2005); Where to
go for authoritative information: Reference sources
(Cohen & Swerdlik, 2009); Sourcing materials and
measures for psychological research (Evans, 2007).
Find the most suitable test(s) for your research.
* These readings are optional
Course Calendar (February to May: 12-week lectures; 1-week exam): (CONTINUED)
Date Topics and activities Readings (due on this date) Assignments (due on/during this date)
(7) April 1
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
Databases of Journals (CUFTS,
JournalSeek, UlrichsWeb, etc.).
Journals‟ Impact Factor. ISI Web
of Knowledge.
Publication and citation analysis as a tool for information retrieval (Goh & Foo,
2008); Citation pearl searching (De Brún & Pearce-Smith, 2014; Chapter 11).
Find the most similar
dissertation/thesis to your research.
Select the most important journals in
your area.
(8) April 8
ProQuest Psychology Journals.
Searching and browsing.
Hypothesis development [Part 2: How to conduct a literature review] (McBride,
2013); Systematic approaches (Booth, Papaioannou, & Sutton, 2012)*
Using the ProQuest Thesaurus, make a
list of keywords for your research.
(9) April 15
APA Databases: PsycInfo,
PsycArticles, PsycTests,
PsycBooks, PsyCritiques,
PsycExtra, PsycTherapy.
Searching and browsing.
APA Tutorials
http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/training/tutorials.aspx
Using the APA Thesaurus, make a list
of keywords for your research.
(10) April 22
MEDLINE. A complete
introduction to the use of
MEDLINE using PubMed and
OVID.
MEDLINE Introductory Video Tutorials
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/disted/pubmed.html
Using the MeSH terms, make a list of
keywords for your research.
(11) April 29
Guidelines for Test Use and
Adapting Tests. Miscellaneous
databases
ITC Guidelines for test use (ITC, 2000); ITC Guidelines for adapting tests (ITC,
2010) / Adapting tests for use in other languages and cultures (Ercikan &
Lyons-Thomas, 2013)*; Translating and adapting tests for cross-cultural
assessments (Hambleton & Zenisky, 2011)*; Concluding thoughts on the
internationalization of test reviews (Bartram, 2012)*; Principles, standards, and
guidelines that impact test development (Oakland, 2012)*; The
internationalization of test reviewing (Evers, 2012)*
Summarize how you would follow the
ITC Guidelines.
(12) May 06
Being up-to-date using email
alerts, CataList, RSS, Academic
Social Networks, Author‟s web
page, etc.
Sources of knowledge and perspectives (Willis, Inman, & Valenti, 2010);
Knowledge synthesis (Tricco, Tetzlaff, & Moher, 2013); Knowledge translation
(KT) (McKibbon & Lokker, 2013)*; How to read a paper (Greenhalgh, 2014)*
Find and subscribe to a social network
group in your area. Select and use 5
RSS related to your research.
(13) May 13 EXAM
* These readings are optional