Psychological and Educational Testing and Decision-Making: The Lack of Knowledge Dissemination in Textbooks and Test Guidelines

Abstract

AbstractWhen it comes to decision-making based on psychological and educational assessments, there is compelling evidence that statistical judgment is superior to holistic judgment. Yet, implementing this finding in practice has proven to be difficult for both academic and professional psychologists. Knowledge transfer from research findings to practitioners and other stakeholders in psychological assessment is a necessary condition to close this gap. To obtain insight into how academic specialists in psychological testing disseminate knowledge about research findings in this area, we investigated how textbooks on testing and guidelines on test use report on, or do not to report on, decision-making in psychological and educational assessment. Second, we discuss some commonly encountered misunderstandings, and third we argue for a broader and more in-depth dissemination of research findings on this topic in textbooks and test standards; to this end we provide some suggestions.