mental measurement
- noun
- /ˈmɛntəl ˈmɛʒərmənt/
- Specialized
- Psychologists often rely on mental measurement to assess a person's IQ and cognitive abilities.
Examples
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Taken together, the reduction of empirical investigation of childhood learning, coupled with the increased emphasis on refining the technical features of mental measurements, presents a picture of a research field redefining itself in a mathematical mode.
Academic text (2011) -
The actuarial studies adopted the philosophical positions of objectivism and atomism through the use of a variety of mental measurements and statistical procedures.
Academic text (2011) -
Standardized tests are a common tool used in mental measurement to evaluate educational aptitude.
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The study focused on the effectiveness of various mental measurements in predicting future academic success.
Synonyms
Measuring people's intelligence, personality, and abilities with tests
The study of tests that measure people's intelligence, skills, and personality
A process of giving standard tests to measure thinking, memory or personality
How Accurate
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the process of quantifying mental functions or abilities' is directly and compositionally derived from 'mental' (pertaining to the mind) + 'measurement' (the act of quantifying). This ADJ+NOUN combination follows a standard, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Mental measurement comes from the idea of measuring the mind like you measure length, with tests acting as simple rulers. Mental means the mind and measurement means using a tool to give a number, so the phrase means 'testing' or 'putting a number on' someone's memory, intelligence, or skills.