On-line Vs. In-person Psychological Testing

Clients often ask me, “What is the difference between online psychological testing and in-person psychological testing?" Each type of testing has pros and cons, so it is helpful to understand why you might pursue one route over the other. 

Let's start with online testing first.

One of the major benefits of online testing is that it's done online, which means you actually don't have to travel to an in-person location. My current PSYPACT license allows me to perform psychological evaluations of clients in 43 states. One of the major complaints that I often hear with psychological testing is that current waitlists can be up to eight months, which means providers are limited and access to a diagnosis may take quite a while. So online testing increases access to care while also limiting driving time to an in-person facility. One of the other significant pros of online testing is that it is often much cheaper than in-person psychological testing because online entails less assessments and total time to administer those assessments. This also may be one of the cons because with online testing I’m not able to do as much as I can do in person. 

For example, one of the values of in-person testing is that I’m able to offer neuropsychological tests that provide insight into executive functioning and tell clients even more about how their brains work. Due to the complexity of these assessments, it’s important for the psychologist (me) to be there in-person for observations, and to properly administer the test in order to ensure accuracy.

It’s important to note that some standardized tests required for colleges and graduate school admissions require that neuropsychological tests are administered in-person (and not online) in order to receive proper accommodations. Thus, if you are looking to use a written report provided after testing, specifically for standardized testing, going in-person is probably the best idea. However, if you are needing documentation for work or school and there's no standardized testing requirements, often online testing is a great option for you. I would recommend that you contact the agency or school in which you were hoping to get accommodations in order to learn about what they need specifically to verify which version best fits your needs.