Today, a wide range of psychological tests and scales and computer-aided measurements are performed. Thus, much more successful solutions are produced for the diagnosis and treatment process of individuals with neurological disorders. In particular, a rehabilitation program called cognitive rehabilitation enables the use of these tests and scales. Within the scope of this rehabilitation program, which is of interest to a very wide audience, different measurements are carried out. These measurements can be briefly listed as follows:
- Cognitive Tests
- Neurodevelopmental Tests
- Personality Tests
- Attitude Scales
- Aptitude and Interest Tests
Each of these tests helps to obtain detailed information about the psychology of individuals by measuring different areas. This allows the diagnosis to be accurate and the most ideal treatment process to be determined.
Cognitive Tests
These tests, also called cognitive measures, measure several skills of a person at the same time. These include
- Planning skills,
- Ability to reason about the abstract meaning of a sentence,
- Problem solving skills,
- Mental skills such as the ability to concentrate on a subject sufficiently.
Tests that measure these mental skills, known as cognitive skills, include intelligence tests and IQ measurements. Thus, it is determined how high the individual's perception speed is. In addition, the brain has a wide variety of networks that function psychologically, and how well each of these networks is used is very important. These measurements, which test whether there is any disruption in these networks that form the basis of skills such as intelligence and language, and if there is such a disruption, help to determine which problem it is caused by, have an indispensable place in the field of neuropsychology.
Neurodevelopmental Tests
Another measurement included in psychological tests and scales is neurodevelopmental testing. As an individual develops from childhood, their brain functions develop in the same way. This development must be regular and continuous. These tests, which enable the evaluation of each of the various cognitive abilities during the development process of the brain, measure the gradual development of brain functions. Thus, it is determined whether the individual is progressing with age and if there is any disruption in the development of brain functions, the necessary treatment process is started as soon as possible. Also, depending on the age of the individual;
- Memory formation,
- Vocabulary
- Ability to use the language,
Some characteristics such as problem solving skills are examined and the development of these skills is monitored.
Personality Tests
Everyone has a different way of perceiving the world. It is not possible for individuals who are influenced by their past experiences to look at life in a fully objective way. Inevitably, everyone is influenced by their past and develops a way of thinking in accordance with their habitual way of life. This is called personality.
Sometimes individuals' personalities may deteriorate due to unfavorable living conditions. This makes it difficult for the individual to adapt to life and can lead to a wide variety of obsessions. For example, an individual may show excessive sensitivity or fear. Likewise, some of these individuals think that someone is constantly following them or that someone will harm them at any moment and become anxious. To determine whether there are such problematic situations, personality tests are applied by experts.
Personality tests include the self-report scale. This type of scale is an evaluation based on the information given by the individual about himself/herself.
Attitude Scales
Unlike personalities, they are tests conducted on attitudes that express the way an individual behaves in any situation. Attitude scales, which include information about an individual's attitudes, express habits in certain situations. For example; the evaluation of how the individual thinks and behaves about eating and drinking behavior is one of the attitude scales.
Aptitude and Interest Tests
Aptitude and interest tests are among the assessments mostly used by human resources. These tests provide detailed information about an individual's abilities and interests. In this way, more comfortable planning is made about the individual's career. Also
- Manual dexterity,
- Organizational skills,
- Communication skills,
- Foreign language skills,
- Computer skills,
- The competencies of the individual are measured in subjects such as numerical skills. Thus, it is ensured that they work in positions where they will be much more successful.
What are the Benefits of Psychological Tests and Scales?
Psychological tests and scales have many benefits. The main benefits of these tests, which consist of evaluations related to behavioral health, relationship, medical, personality, cognitive, memory, professional or academic areas, can be listed as follows:
- Provides detailed information about the individual's psychology.
- It shows the strengths and weaknesses of the individual.
- It enables the production of successful solutions to the confusion and problems experienced by the individual.
- Contributes to the treatment of existing problems and accelerates the healing process.
- Helps to make the correct diagnosis.
- It makes treatment goals much clearer.
- Helps to clarify emotional problems.
- Provides an understanding of personality.
- Provides an understanding of the current state of cognitive and memory function.
- Allows identification of the underlying psychological problems.