The Response Process in Psychometric (Intelligence) Testing and Validity

Standardized (psychometric) tests are common tools used in the diagnosis of learning and behavior disabilities in children. In this essay, I argue that, in a test-taking situation with a psychometric test, complex interrelationships take place. This complex interaction shapes the response process which results in a performance, i.e., the results of this test. Current psychometric practices and test-taking practices and interpretation of results fail to take this response process sufficiently into account. I present the interactionist and process-performance approach as a framework to help address this phenomenon, discuss a few examples of subtests of WISC IV based on this approach, and call for more research into the response process and aspects of tests that may impact validity.