EXTREMELY long Psych. Eval. this morning

[redding Of Gilead Find all posts View Profile Close redding]

Well folks, like I said....I had my psych evaluation this morning and from what I had been reading on this site, I was somewhat prepared.......for about 30% of it!!!!
Needless to say, the test was confusing. I mean, there were several trite little things that I was asked to do that I understand the meaning of and others that I have NO clue whatsoever what they signified.
My test consisted of 1 fill in the bubble test that was about 352 questions long and closely resembled the one that everyone has mentioned on here. I then had another bubble test very similar to the last one that was about 200 questions long. Then there was a personal skills test, and interpersonal skills test, some math, some "attention to detail" type picture questions, some "draw the shape you see on the page" type things, etc, etc. It took FOREVER. At the beginning of the process, the Doc told me that I would be speaking with her for about an hour in addition to the written tests. The Doc then came in mid-test and told me to immediately put my things down and that it was time to talk. I get it.....the unexpected! How exciting! Anyway, she asked me some basic reasoning questions, had me draw some shapes, had me look at some attention to detail photos, had me arrange little blocks to form shapes, etc, etc.
Now, after that HUGE mouthful, there is only one test that I did that I had ABSOLUTELY no clue what it signified....not even a guess. I was given a small piece of wood<--picture a clipboard. At the top of this wood was a small button type mechanism <--picture a flat trigger. This "trigger" was attached to a dial counter. I was told "Go" and I was to push that trigger as many times as I could in 10 seconds. I was then told to do that 4 more times for a total of 50. I was then asked to do the same thing on my left hand. Now, at first I was thinking maybe testing dexterity, but only my index (trigger) finger was tested on both hands. Now, I'm going completely out on a limb here, but could this test be strictly police related (read trigger finger related)<--I know that this sounds far fetched, but I'm stumped. Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance.

[Chit2001 Midwest Nittany Lion Find all posts View Profile Close Chit2001]

That doesn't sound too terribly long to me....

I've taken a few, but the one that I took a few weeks ago for the agency that just hired me consisted of three "bubble" tests. First was 530 questions. Second was 350 questions. Third was somewhere just over 450 questions. That took me about 5 hours and by the last test, my eyes were blurring and I was very jittery.

Oh, and that was *after* a 45-minute polygraph...

At least they allowed me to get up and take a break whenever I needed one.... even though I only took one because I just wanted to get out of there.

Hopefully that's the last one you'll have to take.... I've taken many, but this last one was much longer.

Oh, and regarding your "trigger test"..... I'd say it was in fact testing dexterity or possibly even reaction time.

[redding Of Gilead Find all posts View Profile Close redding]

Thanks for the reply Chit, the reaction time thing did cross my mind in the trigger test. All in all, the whole process took just at 3 and 1/2 hours, which apparently, I shouldn't be whining considering what some others have gone through. I just kind of expected to go in, sit down and do a SAT type bubble test and be done with it, other than maybe chatting a bit with a shrink.
I also forgot to mention that the Doc would randomly stop me during questioning and ask me to do random things. At one point, in the middle of a question, she stopped...asked me how tall I was and how much I weighed. I told her, and she then said stand up for me and touch your toes without bending your knees. I did this and she thanked me and told me to have a seat.
Also at one point during the testing, she handed me a grip gauge (tests grip strength) and had me squeeze it. As soon as I had done this with both hands, we went back to questions. I have to be honest, the experience was trying, but actually kind of fun as psychology has always intrigued me. Oh well, on to the Polygraph!!!

[Chit2001 Midwest Nittany Lion Find all posts View Profile Close Chit2001]

Well, you're done with it and you survived.

As far as the doc asking you to bend over and touch your toes.... this is (to my knowledge) a check for Scoliosis. When I went through my medical eval, they asked me to do this... along with a bunch of balance exercises. I felt like I was poked and prodded to every extent that week (both mentally and physically). There's NOTHING my agency doesn't know about me after all of that.

Good luck with your polygraph. Relax, sing a song in your head to keep yourself level, and most importantly... tell the truth. Don't try to hide *anything* whatsoever. If they don't already know the truthful answer, they WILL find out at a later date.