Psychological tests

Choosing and locating psychological tests and scales

Public domain versus commercially published tests

  • Tests fall into two categories: those made freely available by researchers (public domain) and commercially published tests, usually protected by copyright.

    A reference to a public domain test is usually a book chapter or journal article; for the second type it will be to a manual published by a commercial organisation. 

    Full details of freely available tests can be generally be found by consulting the relevant article; if full details are not given, you might be able obtain extra materials (for example a list of test items) by contacting the author.

  • Commercially published tests must not be photocopied, scanned or otherwise reproduced without permission. If you wish to use these tests you should consult with your supervisor. Often a literature search will produce a public domain equivalent of a commercial test. 

     

Search library databases for tests

  • Key word search - In addition to a web search, try a keyword search (for example 'anxiety',  'anger', 'body image') using library databases such as Web of Science or PsycINFO. 

    Library databases will also give a better indication whether literature has been peer-reviewed.

  • PsycINFO search. To search for academic literature about specific tests using PsycINFO - from the main search page, select the "Search Fields" link and choose “Tests and Measures” as the only field in PsycINFO’s records to search. Not all documents will provide access to the full test documentation. If the full text of a test is included, PsycINFO notes it as an "Appended" item.

(Access to databases may be restricted to University of Edinburgh users).

Psychological tests held by the department

An alphabetical list of all psychological tests available in the library

Commonly used tests

Details of commonly used psychological tests and scales. University login required to access library resources listed.

The Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire

Download the PRMQ in a range of languages

This article was published on