PsycTESTS®

PsycTESTS® is a research database that provides access to psychological tests, measures, scales, surveys, and other assessments as well as descriptive information about the test and its development and administration.
Benefits

What you can expect from PsycTESTS

Comprehensive Test Coverage
  • Focuses primarily on unpublished tests, those developed by researchers but not made commercially available
  • Most records link to a variety of materials describing the test in peer-reviewed literature, technical reports, or dissertations as well as links to related peer-reviewed literature describing test development, review, or use
  • All records include a summary that describes the test, with its purpose and some history of its development
  • Most records include the actual test instrument
High-Quality Records and Search Features
  • Each record includes data on the scope of the test, test implementation, a high-level overview of the test's development, and reliability and validity data (when available)
  • Users can browse tests using the test name or acronym, author, construct, or year and get directly to the test record
  • Or they can create detailed searches across a variety of customized fields such as construct, index terms, author, format, population, and so on
  • Search results integrate with other APA databases, offering a unified display for improved discoverability
Authoritative Sources
  • Tests include those compiled from a systematic review of peer-reviewed journals published by APA, Hogrefe Publishing Group, and other large publishers; technical reports from PsycEXTRA®; contributions from individual test authors; collections from the Archives of the History of American Psychology; and more
  • Records are created by skilled indexers with deep knowledge of the psychology literature
  • Links are provided for each instrument to source documentation containing a full citation, DOI for the full text, and a link to the PsycINFO® or PsycEXTRA record

Additional Features

  • Commercially available tests indexed by APA are also included, with links to purchase the instrument from the publisher
  • Other instruments are available for download and use, and many records include documentation such as instructions or scoring sheets
  • Textual information is in printable PDF; some tests are multi-media or computer software
Quick Facts
Database Type Bibliographic, plus full text and multimedia. (76% of test records contain the actual test or test items.)
Record Types

Descriptive summaries of the test and its development and administration, mostly drawn from articles in peer-reviewed journals or books, with downloadable tests.

The Master Test Profile summarizes the test and provides purpose and construct; records for development, review, or use provide additional details.
Record Format HTML, PDF, some multimedia and computer software
Sources for Tests
  • Directly from authors
  • Peer reviewed journals
  • Books and handbooks
  • Dissertations
  • Websites
  • The Archives of the History of American Psychology Test Collection
  • Commercial test publishers (descriptive information only)
Number of Records 26,492 Master Profiles and 17,962 instances of actual tests or test items
Multiple Records

Some tests have multiple records. There may be a development and a review article for a single test, for example.

  • Test Development: 24,209
  • Test Review: 1,555
  • Test Use: 1,337
  • Test Primary Data (commercial and Archives): 1,167
Additional Information In addition to information on number of items, test format, administration method, and so on, 518 records contain Supporting Documentation, such as answer sheets, instructions, guides, check lists, or record sheets.
Permissions A permissions field alerts users to the tests they can use for research or teaching without formal permission. Other options include contacting the author and/or the publisher. The majority of tests in the database can be used without formal permission.
Update Frequency Updated Monthly
Coverage Dates 1896 to present. 68% are from 2000 and later; 82% are from 1990 and later.
Content Coverage

A diverse array of subject areas and types of tests.

Examples:

  • Developmental Measures
  • Scales for Beliefs, Relationships, or Expectancies
  • Aggression, Coping, or Functional Status Questionnaires
  • Racial and Ethnic Identity Scales
  • Resilience, Anger Response, or Substance Abuse Inventories
  • Physical Health Related Assessments
  • Personality Assessments
  • Educational Measures
  • Neuropsychological Assessments
  • Aptitude and Achievement Measures
  • Competency Measures
  • Occupational Measures
  • Intelligence Tests
  • Military Tests

The PsycTESTS® database is produced and copyrighted by the American Psychological Association (APA). All rights reserved.

Information current as of February 2015

Access

Individuals

Institutions

Institutional access to PsycTESTS is available through APA PsycNET, EBSCOhost, OvidSP, and the ProQuest platforms.

Register to be contacted about a free 30-day trial.

Training

Learn more about searching PsycTESTS. Take a look at our:

A variety of additional training materials and tools are available from our Search Help and Training Center.

Tips & Training
  • Webinar Training – sessions for students and faculty, librarians and individual subscribers
  • Video Tutorials – for APA Databases on APA PsycNET, EBSCOhost, ProQuest and OvidSP
  • Podcasts – audio summaries of research recently added to PsycEXTRA, PsycBOOKS and PsycCRITIQUES (also available from iTunes)
  • Search Guides – platform-specific training materials, including Quick Reference Guides
  • Search Lessons – sample search lessons guide the user through database functionality or sample searches, in PDF and video
  • Topic Guides – tips for searching APA Databases for a particular topic area
Documentation