Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 8, 2026

Evaluating Tests of Cognition using a Computerized Touch-Sensitive Tablet, Eye Tracking, and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: January 30, 2026
Critical evaluation of standardized tests
1Associate Professor and Chairperson, Occupational Therapy Department, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199.
Abstract:
Occupational therapists are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of providing intervention that can be accurately measured and documented. Standardized evaluations not only provide a uniform administration and scoring procedure, but also allow for a comparison of an individual's performance to that of a normative sample. The effective and ethical use of standardized test scores requires that the examiner be proficient in test administration and understand the basic measurement and statistical concepts behind the interpretation process. This article addresses concepts relevant to the critical evaluation of a standardized test.
Related Concept Videos
Reliability and Validity
Measures of Intelligence
Validity refers to how well a test measures what it claims to measure. An intelligence test should accurately assess intelligence rather than another characteristic, like anxiety. Criterion validity is one way to evaluate this; it...
Comparing Experimental Results: Student's t-Test
Multiple Comparison Tests
It would be easy to compare two samples using a significance alpha level of 0.05. In other words, there is only one sample pair to be compared. However, it would be difficult to identify a significantly different sample if the number...
Critical Thinking
Colleges and universities are...
Testing a Claim about Standard Deviation
The hypothesis testing for the claim of population standard deviation (or variance) requires the data and samples to be random and unbiased. The population distribution also must be normal. There is no specific requirement on the sample size as the estimation is based on the chi-square distribution.
As a first step, the hypothesis (null and alternative) concerning the claim about...
