What does the term "standardization" refer to in psychological testing?

The term "standardization" in psychological testing refers to defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores. This process is crucial because it ensures that the way a test is administered, scored, and interpreted is consistent across different individuals and groups. When tests are standardized, they have specific guidelines for administration and scoring, which helps to minimize variations that could affect the outcomes, ensuring that the results are reliable and valid.

Standardization also facilitates comparison among individuals or populations because it allows scores to be interpreted within a consistent framework. This means that a score on a standardized test can be understood in relation to others who have taken the same test, which is essential for assessing abilities like intelligence or achievement relative to a normative sample. This approach provides a solid foundation for understanding how someone performs in the context of established norms, enhancing the test's utility in both clinical and educational settings.