In developing SFS Test Solutions, great importance was attached to adhering to the highest possible quality standards. Criteria that can be used to assess in advance how good a psychological test is include the so-called test quality criteria (objectivity, reliability, validity, standardization, scaling, economy, usefulness, reasonableness, authenticity, fairness), which should be specified for all scientifically based tests (cf. EFPA, 2025; DIN 33430). Information about the quality criteria can be found in the chapter: Evaluation.
In addition, there are approaches to applying a quality standard not only to individual tests, but to the entire selection process, or rather the entire clinical/neuropsychological assessment process, including the requirements for the persons conducting the tests. In German-speaking countries, these approaches include DIN 33430 entitled "Requirements for tests and their use in job-related aptitude assessment" (DIN, 2016) and "Requirements for processes and methods in personnel selection and development" (Austrian Standards Institute, 2017). DIN 33430 refers only to aptitude testing, while ÖNORM D4000 also refers to work-related interventions and evaluations. In addition, DIN 33430 and other national and international standards have been further developed into ISO norm 10667 "Assessment service delivery – Procedures and methods to assess people in work and organizational settings." However, ISO 10667 is more tailored to the American market.
In the field of clinical psychological assessments, the guidelines of the current assessment manuals DSM-5-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2022) and ICD-11 (WHO, 2022), as well as national guidelines, form the basis for quality standards, such as the guidelines for diagnosis and therapy of the German Society of Neurology for memory disorders (Thöne-Otto et al., 2020), attention disorders (Fimm et al., 2023), and executive dysfunction (Müller et al., 2019).
Job-related aptitude assessment
The aim of DIN 33430 is to bring greater certainty to the use of job-related aptitude assessment. It thus serves as a necessary basis for good personnel decisions. The norm covers the entire selection process: from planning, selecting procedures, implementation, evaluation, and interpretation to decision-making and feedback to candidates (e.g., Westhoff et al., 2005). For example, DIN 33430 stipulates that the standardization of psychological tests should be reviewed every 8 years. In order to meet this criterion, SCHUHFRIED has its own test center for empirical data collection, whose task is to collect up-to-date norm data for the tests.
According to DIN 33430, the requirements of the professional activity, including the necessary degrees of proficiency, must be recorded. As explained in more detail here, the requirement analyses for the SFS Occupations are based on such data and considerations. The necessary degree of proficiency was always taken into account when selecting the requirements for each profession. DIN conformity was always taken into account in the design and implementation of the SFS Test Solutions. All tests were tested according to DIN criteria.
Similarly, foreseeable future developments in technology, the economy, and society should be taken into account when determining requirements in order to assess whether and how activities, working conditions, and environmental conditions may change and affect the required or desired aptitude characteristics. For this reason, the data used in SFS Test Solutions is also based on current, government-funded sources and study results. In order to continue to meet this criterion in the future, SFS Test Solutions are continuously updated.
Furthermore, the aptitude characteristics should not only be formulated in abstract terms, but also specified in concrete terms through behavior-oriented descriptions of sample statements and/or sample behaviors. In creating the test batteries, sources were used whose requirement profiles list typical behaviors (see table at SFS Dimensions, as well as here).
Users are advised to note that SFS Test Solutions only lists requirements that can be covered by tests from the SCHUHFRIED Selection. Not all job analysis methods are used in the current version. Therefore, missing requirements must be covered by other suitable procedures and additional tests outside the SCHUHFRIED Selection. According to DIN 33430, various analysis methods should be used where appropriate, such as experience-based assessments (based on interviews with supervisors, colleagues, etc., and/or document analyses) as well as (partially) standardized oral interviews and similar methods. More detailed information can be found here.
Clinical psychological and neuropsychological assessments
The highest possible quality standards were also pursued for the use of SFS Test Solutions in the field of clinical psychological and neuropsychological assessments.
Modern clinical neuropsychology is based on the guidelines of the current assessment manuals DSM-5-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2022) and ICD-11 (WHO, 2022), which define the testing of basic neuropsychological functions as an important pillar of neuropsychological and clinical psychological assessments, as well as national guidelines, such as those published by the German Society of Neurology for the diagnosis and treatment of memory disorders (Thöne-Otto et al., 2020), attention disorders (Fimm et al., 2023), and executive dysfunction (Müller et al., 2019).
SFS Test Solutions implements these requirements by providing practicing neuropsychologists and clinical psychologists with a computer-based test collection of specific and sensitive tests that can be used to assess the cognitive status of patients with neurological diseases and/or mental disorders on the basis of neurocognitive dimensions.
However, due to the limitation of the selection to the tests available in the SCHUHFRIED Selection, SFS Test Solutions does not claim to be complete in the sense of comprehensive, guideline-based cognitive performance assessments. In contexts where this is required (e.g., social medical performance assessment, insurance law issues), this should be supplemented by other tests outside the SCHUHFRIED Selection, if necessary. Furthermore, individual assessment questions often require the use of targeted additional tests that go beyond the basic neurocognitive dimensions as defined in the DSM-5-TR. Finally, it should be noted that the ultimate responsibility for neuropsychological or clinical psychological assessments and the conclusions and therapy goals derived from them must remain with the clinical user, as the assessment process is a complex one in which information from a wide variety of sources and the individual circumstances of the client must be integrated (cf. Psychologists Act, 2013).
References can be found here: Literature