Standardisation versus Innovation in Psychological Testing

Many studies on the effects of drugs on psychological performance have been carried out in the past few decades. The number of different tests of performance used have been almost as great. They range from measurements of reaction times to the speed of putting tops on ball-point pens; from the rate of crossing out the letter "e " in a page of letters to assessments of standing steadiness; from memory of lists of words to the ability to carry out mental arithmetic (Hindmarch, 1980). Does such variety simply represent the diversity in the skills that need to be assessed? Or is it rather due to a lack of coherence and focus in research strategies? The latter view is supported by formulations such as those by Steinberg (1959) and Wesnes et al. (1987) who see performance skills as represented by only a few domains. Thus Wesnes and co-authors classify such skills under four main headings, viz: Attention, Memory, Psychomotor; and Cognitive. These domains may of course be subdivided: Focussed and divided attention; short and long-term memory; perceptual speed and spee