Psychometrics

For information regarding the parapsychology phenomenon of distance knowledge, see psychometry.

Origins and background

Much of the early theoretical and applied work in psychometrics was undertaken in an attempt to measure intelligence. The origin of psychometrics has connections to the related field of psychophysics. Charles Spearman, a pioneer in psychometrics who developed approaches to the measurement of intelligence, studied under Wilhelm Wundt and was trained in psychophysics. The psychometrician L. L. Thurstone later developed and applied a theoretical approach to the measurement referred to as the law of comparative judgment, an appproach which has close connections to the psychophysical theory developed by Ernst Heinrich Weber and Gustav Fechner. In addition, Spearman and Thurstone both made important contributions to the theory and application of factor analysis, a statistical method that has been used extensively in psychometrics.

Related Topics:
Intelligence - Psychophysics - Charles Spearman - Wilhelm Wundt - L. L. Thurstone - Law of comparative judgment - Ernst Heinrich Weber - Gustav Fechner - Factor analysis

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More recently, psychometric theory has been applied in the measurement of personality, attitudes and beliefs, academic achievement, and in health-related fields. Measurement of these unobservable phenomena is difficult, and much of the research and accumulated art in this discipline has been developed in an attempt to properly define and quantify such phenomena. Critics, including practitioners in the physical sciences and social activists, have argued that such definition and quantification is impossibly difficult, and that such measurements are often misused. Proponents of psychometric techniques can reply, though, that their critics often misuse data by not applying psychometric criteria, and also that various quantitative phenomena in the physical sciences, such as heat and forces, cannot be observed directly but must be inferred from their manifestations.

Related Topics:
Personality - Physical sciences

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Figures who made significant contributions to psychometrics include Karl Pearson, L. L. Thurstone, Georg Rasch and Arthur Jensen.

Related Topics:
Karl Pearson - L. L. Thurstone - Georg Rasch - Arthur Jensen

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