History of Psychological Profiling Essay

In the early 19th century, when astronomers timed the pass climb on of stars overhead, they noniced that they all told came up with different results. They chalked these case-by-case differences up to differences in what they called the soulfulnessality of the eye. notwithstanding as far back as the mid-1800s, distinguished scholars were championing the whole person as a unit of study. From that point forward, individual psychologists began to conceptualize character and behavior differently.Sir Fancis Galton (1822-1911)Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911) may properly be called the initiative practitioner of mental foot raceing. It has been said that he originated mental tests, and assumed that intelligence could be metric in terms of a persons level of receptive capacity-the higher the intelligence, the higher the level of sensory discrimination. Galton also began a long line of research on mental imagery, much of which included the first extensive recitation of the psychologi cal questionnaire.Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)For Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), founder of the psychoanalytic movement, nature consisted of the ID, the swelled head and the Superego, all of which he believed guide our behavior to an extent. During the 1920s, psychoanalysis developed as a theoretical system for understanding all of human penury and personality, not just a treatment for the mentally disturbed.William crowd together (1842-1910)William James (1842-1910), often considered the greatest Ameri privy psychologist, argued that human behavior was the result of hereditary, habits and/or instincts. Still considered a major contribution to psychology, The Principles of Psychology was published in 1890, to both acclaim and condemnation, yet remains one of the most widely read books in the field.James Mckeen Cattell (1860-1944)A contemporary of William James, James McKeen Cattell (1860-1944) is impute with influencing the movement in American psychology toward a more practical, test -oriented arise to the study of mental processes. The theme of all his research was the problem of individual difference.Alfred Binet (1857-1911)Although it was Cattell who coined the term mental test, it was Alfred Binet (1857-1911) who developed the first truly psychological test of mental ability in 1905 to predict school performance. That test is appease in use today as the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.John b. Watson (1878-1958)At the same time, John B. Watson (1878-1958) was founding a new trend in psychology-the behaviorist movement. Although he began his career with the study of animal behavior, he end it by studying consumer-buying behavior. Watson exerted a major impact on announce in the U.S. through the application of behaviorist principles, which can still be easily seen and heard in commercials and ads today.Carl Jung (1875-1961)Although once heralded by Freud as the heir apparent to the psychoanalytic movement, Carl Jung (1875-1961) came to differ with Freud on the direction of the forces that check the human personality. Jung believed that our behavior was not exclusively shaped by our departed childhood experiences, but by our future hopes, oddments and aspirations as well.B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)behaviourist B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) argued that all behavior, except verbal behavior, was merely the correlation amongst a stimulus and a response. He developed a class for behavioral control of societies, and more than anyone else is responsible for the large-scale use of belief machines and techniques of behavior modification.Prior to World War I only limit attempts had been made to measure personality. For example, in the late 19th century, a German psychiatrist had used what he called a free-association test, in which patients responded to stimulus lyric poem with the first word that came to mind.During World War I, the U.S. army wanted to kip down which of its recruits were highly mental case. Psychologist Robert Woodworth cons tructed the Personal Data Sheet, a self-report instrument that asked recruits to indicate the neurotic that traits applied to them. Although the Personal Data Sheet saw little use during the war, it was the proto lineament for much of the personality profiling currently in use.Raymond b. Cattell (1905-1998) then(prenominal) in 1950, Raymond B. Cattell (1905-1998) suggested that the central problem in personality psychology was the forecasting of behavior. Cattell argued that traits were the central variables in personality and could be divided into three normal categories dynamic traits-those that set an individual into action to accomplish a goal ability traits-which concern the individuals effectiveness in ambit a goal and temperament traits-which were the stylistic aspects, like dispositions, moods, and emotions.Ground interruption work was done during the 1960s by Dr. Robert Guion in the field of personality testing within the workplace, much of which is reflected in his boo k Personnel examination (McGraw-Hill 1965). Dr. Guion focused on testing candidates for employment as a al-Qaida for predicting their probable fit in the workplace.During the 1970s personality testing became more and more accepted as an invaluable resource to many employers when selecting employees for occupy or promotion. Unfortunately, due to the costs typically associated with these instruments and their ecesis, the use of personality testing instruments was limit to larger organizations and usually only for upper management or pick out positions.David p. Pearson 1927-presentIn 1978 Dr. David Pearson became one of the first in his field to produce a software program that could perform a behavioral evaluation of an individual, without requiring the administration by or assistance of a psychologist or behavioral scientist. Since their development, evaluations of this type have proven to be invaluable to thousands of organizations world wide when selecting employees for hire o r promotion.Today, everyone from psychologists, counselors, teachers and human resource managers in government, education and industry, uses psychological or educational evaluations. There is scarcely a person over the age of ten who has not taken at least one such test in their lifetime, whether it was an achievement test, an IQ test, a personality evaluation, or a measure of aptitude in a particular field. The make out reason for the increase in test use over the finis 75 years is that ethically correct tests are more good and stainless than hookedive judgments, which often function as filters when we assess and take after others.This very human habit was considered by William James back in 1860, in a frequently quoted passage from The Principles of Psychology. You see the little lines of partitioning running through the character, the tricks of thought, the prejudices, the ways of the shop, in a word, from which the man can by-and-by no more escape than his coat-sleeve ca n suddenly strike into a new set of folds (pg. 79). Even the best interviewer can snuff it prey to unconscious biases, personal beliefs, stereotypes and other distractions that leave objectivity subject to error. Well-developed tests can help even the most experienced and knowledgeable hiring paid construct a fairer and more accurate picture of an individual, increasing the likelihood that they will hire the right person for the job.But testing should never be used in a vacuum. As Robert Guion says, Testing should not be the instrument of decision. It should be used as a loll that either go overs with or contradicts your impression about a person. At MindData we agree that tests can never replace professional judgment entirely. Rather, they should serve as one source of information to assist in making accurate and fair decisions when hiring and promoting.