Compared with group-administered instruments, individually-administered instruments offer the advantage of which of the following?

• A. Saving time on administration.
• B. Providing uniform group norms.
• C. Observing nonverbal behaviors.
• D. Reducing the need for scoring.

Answer: (C)

Observing nonverbal behaviors is the key advantage of individual administration. When you test one person at a time, you can watch cues like facial expressions, posture, eye contact, hesitation, or signs of confusion or anxiety. These signals provide context for how the client is engaging with the items, whether they understand what’s being asked, and how motivated they are to respond accurately. That additional information helps the examiner interpret responses more accurately and tailor prompts or clarifications as needed, which can improve the assessment’s validity.

Saving time on administration is more characteristic of group testing, where many individuals are tested together. Providing uniform group norms is also tied to group norms development from large samples, not the unique benefit of one-on-one testing. Reducing the need for scoring isn’t typically an advantage of individual administration, since scoring remains a core part of interpreting responses, even when delivered individually.