Psychological Testing and Assessment (Indian Adaptation) by Cohen Swerdlik and Kumthekar

About the book

Psychological Testing and Assessment: An Introduction to Tests and Measurementis the standard-setting text that through seven editions has overviewed measurement in psychology with unrivaled depth, breadth, and clarity. Logically organized and lucidly written, this book acquaints readers with important historical, legal, ethical, and cultural issues, and then proceeds to provide readers with the information necessary to understand psychometric concepts such as reliability, validity, and utility. Through writing that effectively anchors abstract concepts to real-life applications--and through the use of innovative teaching tools such as "Just Think" questions and the "Everyday Psychometrics" features in the text--readers will come away with a well-rounded, working knowledge of psychometrics and the assessment enterprise in a contemporary, real world context.

About the Indian Adaptation

During the first decade of the 21st Century, many new books on Psychological Testing have come into the market. Most of them are American or European editions and many of these have been available in the Indian or Asian markets in the form of Low Price Editions (LPE). However, the cultural issues specific to the Asian countries are seldom dealt with in these titles. The Indian students have to understand the concepts with the help of illustrations, cases and situations in their cultural context.

The motive behind the adaptation at hand is to provide the Indian students with a contextually relevant text on the subject. For years together the students have been instructed to read and consider situations and studies put forth by foreign editions. Many psychological studies and researches have been conducted in India and other Asian countries of which the students are often not aware. This substantiates the need for an Indian edition which should contain Indian illustrations, situations and case studies to provide meaningful images to be associated with the concepts being discussed. In the present edition, some photos and illustrations have been replaced by typical Indian situations, e.g. Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak as an example of a multifarious personality, study of administration of European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Questionnaire (EORTCQ) on Indian patients, example of sale of Alto cars instead of profit gained in a hotel-chain etc.

A wealth of useful information in the wide array of topics is a special feature of this book. Keeping in line with it, the Indian adaptation too provides information on the latest edition of Annual Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY) by Oscar Buros. The inclusion of information about QLQ-related study conducted in Mumbai (Dr. Chaukar et al) supports the authors’ objective to incorporate timely and relevant illustrations.

Psychological Testing and Assessment, 7/e by Cohen and Swerdlik has a sound grounding in legal/ethical issues. But the Indian students are unaware of the legislation in India. Though this is not a textbook in law, a student of psychology needs to be aware of the basic legal requirements while selecting a test and while administering the test to the client. In this Indian edition, an attempt has been made to bring to their notice some significant legislation in India like the Mental Health Act, 1987, the PWD (Equal opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) and the National Policy released in 2006. In future the youngsters of today may take concrete steps in improving the legalities in the area of psychological testing. They may emphasize and establish the importance of testing, the test reports submitted by the professional psychologists in the field of judiciary.

Psychological Testing and Assessment, 7/e also has a sound grounding in psychometrics. The third chapter entitled as “A Statistics Refresher” has devoted to “refreshing” basic statistical knowledge. In the present edition a separate chapter on Norms is presented purposefully to emphasize importance of Norms vis-à-vis other psychometric properties of tests such as Reliability, Validity, etc. In chapter 4 “Of Tests and Testing”, basic information regarding the meaning of psychological test has been added for better understanding and clarification for the students.

Many noteworthy contributions of the authors are seen in chapters 5 through 9. “Utility”, “utility analysis”, the use of “Item Response Theory” (IRT) are definitely new to Indian students. They will hopefully get well-acquainted with such new terminologies and the concepts. Chapter 9, “Test Development” deals with developing and constructing tests. Part of this chapter deals with writing different types of items. In the section on writing matching-type test items, readers are challenged to match actor’s name with the name of the character that he/she played in a popular movie. Names of Indian actors and their respective roles in movies have been given in this section of the Indian edition.

Three chapters on the assessment of intelligence deal more generally with ability assessment in the schools. It is worth noting that appreciable amount of work has been done in this India in this area. The adaptor personally lauds the efforts and genuineness of researchers and is optimistic about the future of Indian research scenario.

In chapter 13, while taking overview of personality assessment, the authors have provided updated material on new versions of personality tests, such as the California Psychological Inventory and there is extensive discussion on the recently revised MMPI-2, now referred to as the MMPI-2 Restructured Form or MMPI-2-RF (published in 2008).

Chapter 14 “Personality Assessment Methods” contains a lot of new material that students and their teachers may find both interesting and informative. Again in this area, the works of Indian researchers is commendable. The Indian psychologists have been working hard not only in the field of intelligence and personality but also in the field of clinical and counseling assessment, careers and business assessment and neuropsychology. Although the amount of work done in some of these areas is minimal, they are undoubtedly of genuine quality.

Salient Features

• Most acclaimed and advanced text examining the philosophical, historical, and methodological foundations of psychological testing, assessment, and measurement.

• Comprehensive coverage of the following topics: Assumptions about Psychological Testing and Assessment; Important Historical, Legal, Ethical, and Cultural Issues; Psychometric Concepts such as Norms, Reliability, Validity, and Utility; Test Construction, Item Analysis; Recent and latest Tests of Intelligence, Personality, and Neuropsychological Assessment.

• Logically organized and lucidly written; innovative and informative boxes titled “Meet an Assessment Professional”, “Close-Up” featured throughout.

• Abstract concepts to real-life applications explained through the use of innovative teaching tools such as “Just Think” questions and the “Everyday Psychometrics”.

•  Updated data on Indian researches and studies, adaptations of tests and assessment techniques, etc.

Table of Contents

Preface

Preface to the Indian Edition

Acknowledgements

1. Psychological Testing and Assessment

2. Historical, Cultural, and Legal/Ethical Considerations

3. A Statistics Refresher

4. Of Tests and Testing

5. Norms

6. Reliability

7. Validity

8. Utility

9. Test Development

10. Intelligence and Its Measurement

11. Tests of Intelligence

12. Preschool and Educational Assessment

13. Personality Assessment: An Overview

14. Personality Assessment Methods

15. Clinical and Counseling Assessment

16. Neuropsychological Assessment

17. Assessment, Careers, Business and

Index

About the authors

Mark E. Swerdlik, Ph.D., ABPP, is Professor of Psychology at Illinois State University, where he has taught the undergraduate psychological measurement course, conducted professional seminars addressing legal/ethical issues in assessment, and supervised practicum students in assessment. In various professional capacities, he has participated in the standardization of many psychological tests, including, for example, the WISC-R, the WISC-III, the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC), the Stanford-Binet IV, the Peabody Picture  Vocabulary Test (PPVT), the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale, the Psychological Processing Checklist (PPC), and the Psychological Processing Checklist-Revised (PPC-R).

Ronald Jay Cohen, Ph.D., ABPP, is a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology in Clinical Psychology, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Assessment Psychology (ABAP). He is a New York State licensed psychologist, and a “scientist-practitioner” and “scholar-professional” in the finest traditions of each of those terms.

Dr. Medha M. Kumthekar (the Indian adaptor) is Professor and former Head, Department of Psychology, S.N.D.T. Women’s University, Pune. She has a rich experience of 30 years of teaching psychology at junior college to postgraduate level. Dr Kumthekar has taught postgraduate students of Clinical and Counseling Psychology for more than 20 years and Psychodiagnostics for more than a decade. She has completed two research projects based on the adaptation of renowned Intelligence and Personality Tests. Her depth and insight in the application of various tests and interpreting their results made her an expert teacher in the field of testing as well as methodology. As a practicing psychologist and counselor, she has been using many psychological tests at the professional level, and has conducted professional workshops on administration of various tests. Dr. Kumthekar administers and interprets psychological tests, and conducts seminars to train fellow professionals in proper test administration, scoring, and interpreting the tests in clinical, counseling and school-related contexts. 

A Textbook of Abnormal and Clinical Psychology by Veeraraghavan and Singh

About the book

A Textbook of Abnormal and Clinical Psychology fulfils the much needed demand for a comprehensive textbook on the topic by Indian authors, using relevant indigenous research materials. It is uniquely structured being divided into two parts – part one focusing on abnormal psychology and part two dealing with the understanding of clinical psychology. The book follows a building blocks approach, implying that both the parts provide basic foundational information at the beginning to set the tone for well-grounded understanding of the rest. 

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgement

PART I-ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY

1. Introduction to Abnormality: Past and Present

2. Models of Abnormality

3. Brain and Behaviour

4. Clinical Assessment and Psychodiagnostics

5. Anxiety Disorders

6. Stress Disorders

7. Somatoform Disorders and Dissociative Disorders

8. Mood Disorders

9. Suicide

10. Eating Disorders

11. Substance Abuse

12. Sexual Disorders and Gender Identity Disorder

13. Schizophrenia and other Psychotic disorders

14. Personality Disorders

15. Childhood disorders

16. Cognitive Disorders

PART II-CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

17. Clinical Psychology: The development and growth of a field

18. Clinical Psychology: Professional tasks, skills and theory  

19. The Profession of Clinical Psychology in India

20. The Mental Health Profession: The Role of Ethics and Law

21. Community Psychology

References

Answers to Multiple Choice Questions

Index

About the authors

Professor Dr. Vimala Veeraraghavan, a Gold Medalist from Delhi University with over 40 years of teaching, research and administrative experience has been Head of the Department of Psychology and Applied Psychology in Delhi University and Emeritus Professor at Indira Gandhi National Open University .  She has taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and has established the departments of Psychology and Forensic science at Amity University.  She has more than 14 books, a number of chapters and research papers to her credit and has been recipient of several prestigious awards including the Asiatic Society Award for contribution to psychology. She is on the editorial boards of several scientific journals and a consultant psychologist. She is the President of Venkatesh Trust for Education and Excellence.

Dr. Shalini Singh currently teaches undergraduate students in the department of Psychology, at Edgewood College, Madison, WI, USA. She began her studies in Psychology at Isabel Thoburn College, Lucknow, and continued her Masters in Applied Psychology from Delhi University. She worked briefly with a non-profit organization called Population Services International on a program focused on sexuality and HIV/AIDS prevention for young adults. She returned to academics as a lecturer at Delhi University where she taught clinical psychology courses and earned a doctoral degree at the same time. She received her second Masters degree in Art Therapy from the George Washington University, Washington DC, USA, and worked for quite some time with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

Recommendations

This is a book which combines two different though connected areas of abnormal and clinical psychology and includes pathology, diagnoses, prognoses and therapies. It will help the students to understand that problems and solutions cannot be separated from each other.

Prof. Ajit Dalal, Dept. of Psychology, Allahabad University

The information provided through the chapters seems to be presented in a very comprehensive and organized manner. The latest classifications/models have been aptly discussed.

Prof. Anuradha Sovani, Dept. of Psychology, University of Mumbai

The book is well-defined with simple explanations along with graphical demonstrations of the concepts, which will motivate the readers helping them retaining their interest in the subject.

Dr. Korsi Dorene Kharshiing, Dept. of Psychology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

Introduction to Educational Technology and ICT by Imran R. Shaikh

About the book
Lately Educational Technology and Information & Communication Technology (ET&ICT) has not only emerged as a prospective subject but has proved to be a potent tool to bring desirable changes in the area of educational reforms. This new text conforms to the restructured pattern of syllabi of different universities as per NCTE suggestions and encompasses the entire gamut of ET & ICT tools being used in the classrooms today.

With the emergence of newer technologies, the teaching profession is changing from teacher centred, lecture based approach to student centred, interactive learning environment. Therefore, ICT enabled teacher education programme is the key to fundamental, wide ranging educational reforms. Universities are developing the curriculum of teacher’s training programme woven around ICT where both the theoretical and the practical dimensions are given equal emphasis in the syllabus. Therefore, teacher’s education institutions are getting equipped with required infrastructure to provide the training in this changing environment by modelling the new pedagogies and tools for learning based on ICT.

This new textbook is comprehensively designed to meet the requirements of the syllabi for all those courses where ICT is taught. In addition, this book aims to inspire all working teachers, educational administrators and general readers because it contains the latest information on various aspects of educational technology and ICT.

Table of Contents

Part A Educational Technology

1. Educational Technology

2. Educational Technology in India

3. Distinction between Hardware and Software Technologies

4. Projective Equipment

5. Television

6. Educational Radio

7. Models of Teaching

8. Programmed Instruction

9. Language Laboratory  

10. Teleconferencing

11. Communication and Teaching-Learning

12. Micro-teaching

Part B Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

13. Information and Communication Technology

14. Applications of ICT

15. ICTin India  

16. E-Learning

17. Cloud Computing

18. Internet and its Application

19. Computer – Application and Types

20. Components of Computer System

21. Computer Hardware Devices

22. Computer Software

Bibliography

Index

About the author

Dr. Imran R. Shaikh is on the faculty of the Department of Education in Marathwada College of Education, Aurangabad, an A+ accredited institution by NAAC (affiliated to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad).

Dr. Ramzan has been teaching students of B.Ed and M.Ed for the last 17 years and he specializes in Educational Technology and ICT in Education.

Recommendations

The book amply reflects on the current teaching/learning trends in the field. It is suitable for the students of education both at the B.Ed and M.Ed levels and can also be a valuable reference book for in-service teachers in secondary schools teaching computer education.

Dr. Pushpanadham Karanam, Dept of Education, M S University, Baroda

I have found this book to be quite comprehensive and updated, touching upon the latest developments. The chapters cover the entire area of the subject under study and have been systematically and effectively organized.

Prof. Rita Sinha, Dept of Education, University of Calcutta

With its comprehensive and updated coverage, I hope that the readers will find this new book interesting and motivating.

Prof. R.Karpaga Kumaravel, Dept of Educational Technology, Bharathidasan

University, Triuchirappalli