Finding Psychological Tests and Related Information

The OSU Libraries do not buy or collect psychological and educational tests, with the exception of the Tests in Microfiche collection described below.

Contents

Commercially Published Tests

Students are usually unable to get or use commercially published tests since most of them require professional standing to purchase. The following are the standard sources for desriptive information and reviews of commercially published tests.

Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY): Ref BF176 .M41
(1940 - 2005: irregular publication schedule)
Descriptive and review information as well as bibliographies of articles about English language tests. These are not cumulative, rather each succeeding edition includes only new or substantially revised ests, new information about previously reviewed instruments and the contents of any supplements published since the previous edition. Hence, each edition would have to be searched individually. Fortunately, Buros Institute has an online search tool for tests covered in the 9th Ed. onward that will refer you back to the appropriate edition of MMY (http://buros.unl.edu/buros/jsp/search.jsp). Indexes include authors (of tests, test reviews, and references), titles and acronyms, publishers, subject categories, and specific scores/subscales within tests. Users' guides are linked here for both MMY and TIP.

Tests in Print (TIP): Ref BF176.T41
(1961 - 2002, irregular)
An extensive list of currently available commercially published tests. It can also serve as a cumulative index to the reviews in the MMY. Provides descriptive information and bibliographies to articles that address the construction, validity or use of the tests. Tests are listed alphabetically within subjects or you can use the indexes for test title, authors (including citations), subjects and publishers. Includes lists of tests that have recently gone out of print. Older editions can provide information about tests that are no longer published.

Tests: A Comprehensive Reference for Assessments in Psychology, Education and Business, 4th Ed: Ref BF176.T43
(1997)
Over 3,000 published English language tests (2nd Ed.) are described under the 3 broad headings in the title, with 87 subsections. Provides description, purpose, intended population, administration and scoring information, cost and availability, but no evaluations. Of the several indexes, one unique resource is that for tests adapted for special populations (i.e., visually, hearing and physically impaired).

Test Critiques Ref BF176 .T471
(v.1-11, 1984-2005)
Each volume reviews, at length, about 100 of the most commonly used tests in psychology, education and business. Indexes are cumulative (test titles, publishers, authors/ reviewers and subject). Significant overlap of titles with MMY.

Test Critiques Compendium: Reviews of major tests from the Test Critiques Series BF176.T4195 1987
The title pretty much says it all.

Bibliographies of Tests and Measurements

Tests and Measures in the Social Sciences: Tests Available in Compilation Volumes http://libraries.uta.edu/helen/Test&meas/testmainframe.htm
This is an extensive list (over 11 thousand items) of tests with the names of compilation volumes where they can be found. Check our online catalogs to find these compilation volumes.

Directory of Unpublished Experimental Mental Measures 7v. Ref BF431.D5
and
Title index for the Directory of unpublished experimental mental measures: volumes 1-7 Ref BF431 .J29 2001
Covers experimental mental measures from psychology, sociology, education and interdisciplinary social sciences journals (primarily U.S.). Provides brief description of measure and citation to journal where it first appeared with instruments "categorized by general type (e.g., attitude, personality, vocational interest) supplemented by author and subject indexes." (Baxter, 1993, p.94) Each volume covers a span of years with indexes in later volumes being cumulative. The separate title index also covers all 7 volumes.

Women and Women's Issues: A Handbook of Tests and Measures HQ1180 .B43
Carole Beere, 1979.
Describes "235 published and unpublished instruments that measure variables pertinent to women's issues... produced from the 1920s to 1977." (Baxter, 1993, p.91)
Also from Carole Beere and available through Summit are:
   Gender Roles: A Handbook of Tests and Measures (1990).
   Sex and Gender Issues: A Handbook of Tests and Measures (1990).

Measures for psychological assessment : a guide to 3,000 original sources and their applications Ref BF698.5 .C45
Chun, Cobb & French, 1975.
A bibliography of unpublished/experimental measures appearing in psychology and sociology journals between 1960-1970. Includes some normative and psychometric info and citations to studies that used the instrument.

Handbook of Family Measurement Techniques HQ728.T68 1990
Touliatos, Perlmutter & Straus.
Extensive bibliography of nearly 1,000 tests of various aspects of family functioning. Entries include brief descriptions, comments on use and information on availability. Introductory chapters on assessment in families. Tests are coded for specific type of interaction measured and indexed.

Dictionary of Behavioral Assessment Techniques BF176.5.D53 1988
Hersen & Bellack
"... an alphabetical list of approximately 300 measurement techniques used in clinical and research settings... with an emphasis on social skills and interaction, measurement of abnormal behavior, and personality disorders." (Baxter, 1993, p.95). Includes description of physiological as well as observational measures (e.g., cold pressor test). Consistently organized 3-page evaluations with citations to the core literature on each item. "Source of entries" section provides availability information. Alphabetically organized guide to characteristics measured. Author index for test authors and citations.

Tests in Education: A book of critical reviews LB3056.G7 L49 1984
Levy & Goldstein
Reviews of ca. 200 instruments used in British educational system including some U.S. tests. 2-3 page evaluative descriptions include psychometrics and use. Test title index.

Tests and Measurements in Child Development: A Handbook Ref BF722.J64
1971
Covers measures from the journal literature 1950-1965, for ages birth to 12 yrs.

Tests and Measurements in Child Development: Handbook II Ref BF722.J64
1976 (2 vol)
Covers measures from journal literature 1966-1974, birth to 18 yrs. Both provide brief description, psychometrics and references. Test author, title and subject indexes in both.

Index to Tests used in Educational Dissertations Ref LB3051.F3 1989
Fabiano
There is a test title index and a keyword index (keywords in test title, test title acronyms, test title authors) to published and unpublished tests in dissertations from 1938-1980. Under each test title, there is a target population (per ERIC Thesaurus) then the volume/page number in DAI and the dissertation author's name. Easiest approach is to search the author's name in Dissertations database. Dissertation abstracts were added to the database starting in 1980 and test titles can be searched directly.

Resources for Instruments

International Personality Item Pool.
A searchable index for "measures of individual differences, all in the public domain... more than 325 scales placed into some 200 content categories " (from the Website). Includes useful information on assessing reliabilty of the measures.

A sourcebook for mental health measures.
1973. Andrew L. Comrey, Thomas E. Backer and Edward M. Glaser
Available through Summit.
1,100 unpublished questionnaires, surveys, rating scales and inventories in mental health, marriage and family, social and educational fields. 300-word descriptions of instrument content and use with citations to relevant journal articles if available. Although dated, still a useful source.

The Experience of Work: A Compendium and Review of 249 Measures and their Use. HF5549.5.A83 E9 1981
Cook et al.
Covers about 250 "experimental measures of work attitudes, values, and perceptions" (Baxter, 1993, p.92) organized in broad categories with indexes to the scales and subscales. Approximately 100 actual measures included with scoring procedures.

Measures for Clinical Practice: A Sourcebook, 2nd Ed. 2 v. BF176.C66 1994
Corcoran & Fischer
Includes "rapid assessment instruments... that do not require extensive expertise to score and interpret." (Baxter, 1993, p.92) Provides description of use, scoring and statistical properties as well as subject index to materials. The 4th Ed (2007) is available from our library in Bend.

Handbook of Measurements for Marriage and Family Therapy RC488.5.F73 1987
Fredman & Sherman.
Has good introductory chapters for novices on appropriate selection and use of tests. Describes some popular tests but also includes the full text of some unpublished measures.

Scales for the Measurement of Attitudes BF378.A75 S4
1967, Shaw & Wright
175 experimental attitude measures are reproduced with scoring, statistical information and evaluations. Name and subject indexes provided.

Measures of Political Attitudes and Appendix A JA74.R57
1968, Robinson, Rusk & Head
Includes sample items or entire instruments drawn from journals, books, research reports and dissertations. Also by John P. Robinson:
   Measures of social psychological attitudes. Rev. Ed. HM 251.R63 1973
   Measures of personality and social psychological attitude BF698.4.M38 1990
   Available at COCC

Positive Psychological Assessment: A Handbook of Models and Measures BF176.P67 2003
Lopez & Snyder.
Promotes the need to measure positive as well as negative interactions, characteristics, emotions, etc. Chapters on concepts such as hope, empathy, courage, coping, etc. provide brief reviews of several measures including psychometrics and source. Some instruments included at end of each chapter.

Tests in Microfiche LB3051.T441 (3rd floor)
Educational Testing Service (ETS)
These are the complete testing instruments available on microfiche. They are filed in ETS Accession number order (on the right hand side of the fiche). The trick is to find the test you want. Here are your options:

Tests in Microfiche Annotated Index 1975 (Set A) - 2003 (Set CC). Ref LB3051.T441
Each test released in a given year is briefly cited and described. There is a subject index (based on ERIC Thesaurus) and a title index. These are non-cumulative. Moreover, the accession numbers (which is how tests are filed in the drawers) are not strictly sequential; that is, they are sequential within a given year's index but not across years/sets. So Set V may have tests with lower accession numbers than Set T.

ETS Test Collection Cumulative Index to Tests in Microfiche, 1975-1987 Ref LB3051.T441 1975-87
There are subject, title and author indexes followed by annotations.

ETS Tests Collection Catalog.
   V.1: Achievement Tests and Measurement, 1986
   V.2: Vocational Tests and Measurement, 1988
   V.3: Tests for Special Populations, 1989
   V.4: Cognitive Aptitude and Intelligence Tests, 1990
   V.5: Attitude Tests, 1991
   V.6: Affective Measures and Personality Tests, 1992

This set indexes the ETS test collection, which includes the Tests in Microfiche, tests found in ERIC documents, tests found in journal articles, and commercially published tests. Author, title and subject (ERIC Thesaurus) indexes are provided. Obviously these can only be cumulative up to the date of publication.

ETS TestLink http://www.ets.org/testcoll/index.html Educational Testing Service (the sponsors of Tests in Microfiche) does provide an online search tool, but with very limited options, i.e., you can only search 1 field at a time. So, while you can search in the Title, Author, Abstract, Year, Descriptor (subject heading), or Availability fields, you cannot search in more than 1 field. This means you can't limit your search to only the tests available in the microfiche collection. You can limit the Availability field to microfiche but can't narrow it down to tests about a topic -- which retrieves over 1,200 records! It is useful if you have a test name or author and then want to see how to get it. A couple of enterprising souls have undertaken to make their own online indexes to the Tests in Microfiche collection:

The best approach is to use the "Control F" (Find function) to search the list for a keyword, then you can use the ETS accession number to find the fiche in the drawer. If you find a better way, let me know!

Searching for Tests in Databases

You can always search for the title of a particular test in almost any online database, although this will lead you to articles and documents that may talk about using a measure without actually providing the instrument itself.

PsycInfo
To actually find articles with measures included, add the keyword appended to your search.
Example: parent* and stress and appended

PsycInfo also has a Tests & Measures field where you can specify the name of a test or other keyword to find articles that use a test in the methodology or where the test is being discussed. This is a good way to find information about tests and their use, but not the tests themselves. One way to do this type of search:

  • change the drop down menu option to the right of the text box to Tests & Measures
  • put the name of a test or a keyword into the text box, eg. parent* and stress

Psychological & Behavioral Sciences Collection

All the full-text journal titles available here are also indexed in PsycInfo, which gives more information about whether or not a test/instrument is included (see above). But if you want to start your search here, some subject headings of interest:

  • Educational tests & measurements
  • Psychological tests
  • Intelligence tests

Many characteristics are used as subject headings with the subheading testing, e.g.,

  • Frustration - testing

Do a "Subject" search for psychological tests and look at the related terms to get a list.

CINAHL
Select Research Instrument from the "Publication Type" box in the "limit" section and put in appropriate subject or keywords.
Example: use parent* and stress for a search with this limit set.

ERIC

  • Ebsco: You can select Tests/Evaluation Instruments from the "Publication Type" limiter for a keyword or subject search
  • FirstSearch: Type either the number 160 or the phrase tests questionnaires in the box with "Record Type" selected.
  • Cambridge: Go to Advanced Search and type either the number 160 or the phrase tests questionnaires in the box with "Publication Type" selected.

Medline
Useful MESH headings include:

  • Questionnaires
  • Psychological tests
  • Psychometrics
  • Process assessment (health care)
  • Outcome and process assessment (health care)
  • Aptitude tests
  • Language tests
  • Neuropsychological tests
  • Personality tests

Might also try evaluation studies as an "article type" limit

Sociological Abstracts
Useful thesaurus terms might be:

  • Attitude measures
  • Interviews
  • Interview schedules
  • Items (measures)
  • Mail surveys
  • Measures (instruments)
  • Personality measures
  • Questionnaires
  • Scales
  • Surveys
  • Tests

Online catalogs
For searching the OSU Online Catalog or Summit, some useful subject headings to try:

  • Psychological tests
  • Personality tests
  • Personality assessment
  • Educational tests and measurements
  • Educational measurement
  • Occupational aptitude tests

Useful subheadings include:

  • Abstracts
  • Indexes
  • Directories
  • Evaluation (for critiques of measures)

Responsibilities of Test Users

Tests are intellectual property and are therefore subject to copyright restrictions. The American Psychological Association offers these guidelines and tips for using test materials (see url in the Reference section):

Users of unpublished tests have certain ethical responsibilities. Users must (a) contact the test author and request permission to use their test, and (b) secure their permission in writing if the material is copyrighted. Locating the author may be a difficult process, particularly if the measure is several years old, but try the following steps:

  1. Journal articles list the authors organizational affiliation (or university) with a mailing address on the first page of the article. If the publication is fairly recent, this method is almost always successful.
  2. If this fails, directories published by scientific and professional associations like APA could provide you with a more current address and phone number for the author. This is useful if the article is several years old and the author has moved since the article was published.
  3. If these attempts to locate the author fail, contact the publisher holding the copyright to the original material and request permission from the publisher. Remember that APA holds the copyright to all material published in APA journals.

No matter how difficult this process may seem, you should make every effort to contact an author or copyright holder to secure permission before using any test or other instrument.

For additional guidance on getting permission to use tests and measures, see Helen Hough's page at the University of Texas at Austin.

References

American Psychological Association. Testing and assessment: FAQ/Finding information about psychological tests. (Sept 27, 2004) http://www.apa.org/science/faq-findtests.html

Baxter, P.M. (1993). Psychology: A guide to reference and information sources. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Beasley, S. (Feb. 23, 2004) EBSS-L electronic mailing list message.

Freeland, M. (Sept. 22, 2003) EBSS-L electronic mailing list message. Sources for finding tests and information about tests. Handout for U. of Michigan Tests & Measurements class.

Lawler, S.H. (Feb. 22, 2004) EBSS-L electronic mailing list message.

Jenkins, B. Psychological and educational tests: A guide to library and Internet sources. (May 10, 2004) http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/tests/index.html