Voorspellen in de toegepaste psychologie

Prediction in applied psychology. In applied psychology a distinction is needed between implicit and explicit prediction. Predictions, on the basis of test results, of educational or professional success belong to the latter category. The statistical techniques used are generally simple, since the different data are combined into a psychologically understandable structure rather than into a formula, this structure as a whole serving as basis for the prediction. Very often predictions are implied — or even hidden — in more or less conditional or intrinsic statements. This is partly a result of a tradition of caution. But this caution often interferes with the exigency that specific scientific statements be directly testable. As an example of (implicit) prediction of a chronological sequence the results of a research into the effects of war circumstances upon the intelligence level of schoolchildren were quoted. In 1946 a recovery to the normal pre‐war level, within 5 to 10 years, was correctly predicted.