PSY 15-PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSEMENT
CHAPTER 2: Historical, Cultural, and
Legal/Ethical Considerations
JANUARY 7, 2022
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OUTLINE
A Historical Perspective
III. Legal and Ethical
A. Antiquity to the
Considerations
Nineteenth Century
The concerns of public
B. The Twentieth Century
The concerns of the
Culture and Assessment
profession
A. Evolving Interest in
The rights of test takers
Culture-Related Issues
B. Some Issues
Regarding Culture and
Assessment
C. Tests and Group
Membership
I.
II.
I.
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A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
A. Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century
19th century
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Tests and testing programs first came into being in
China
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Testing was instituted as a means of selecting who,
of many applicants would obtain government jobs
(Civil service)
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The job applicants are tested on proficiency in
endeavors such as music, archery, knowledge and
skill etc.
Greco-roman writings (middle ages)
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World of evilness
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Deficiency in some bodily fluid as a factor believed
to influence personality
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Hippocrates and Galen
Renaissance
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Christian von Wolff – anticipated psychology as a
science and psychological measurement as a
specialty within that science
Charles darwin and individual differences
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Tests designed to measure these individual
differences in ability and personality among people
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“origin of species”
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Chance variation in species would be selected or
rejected by nature according to adaptivity and
survival value. “survival of the fittest”
Francis galton
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Explore and quantify individual differences between
people.
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Classify people “according to their natural gifts”
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Displayed the first anthropometric laboratory
Karl pearson
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Developed the product moment correlation
technique.
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His work can be traced directly from galton
Wilhem max wundt
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First experimental psychology laboratory in
University of Leipzig
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Focuses more on relating to how people were
similar, not different from each other.
James mckeen catell
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Individual differences in reaction time
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Coined the term mental test
Charles spearman
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Originating the concept of test reliability as well as
building the mathematical framework for the
statistical technique of factor analysis
Victor henri
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Frenchman who collaborated with Binet on papers
suggesting how mental tests could be used to
measure higher mental processes
Emil kraepelin
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Early experimenter of word association technique as
a formal test
Lightner witmer
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“little known founder of clinical psychology”
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Founded the first psychological clinic in the u.s.
Psyche catell
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Daughter of james cattell
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Cattel infant intelligence scale (ciis) & measurement
of intelligence in infants and young children
Raymond cattell
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Believed in lexical approach to defining personality
which examines human languages for descriptors of
personality dimensions
B. The Twentieth Century
20th century
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Birth of the first formal tests of intelligence
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Testing shifted to be of more understandable
relevance/meaning
A. The measurement of intelligence
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Binet created first intelligence to test to
identify mentally retarded school children
in Paris (individual)
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Binet-Simon Test has been revised over
again
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Group intelligence tests emerged with
need to screen intellect of WWI recruits
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David Wechsler – designed a test to
measure adult intelligence test
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For him Intelligence is a global
capacity of the individual to act
purposefully, to think rationally
and to deal effectively with his
environment.
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Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence
Scale
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Wechsler Adult Intelligence
Test – was revised several times
and extended the age range of
B. The measurement of personality
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Field of psychology was being too test
oriented
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Clinical psychology was synonymous to
mental testing
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Robert woodworth – develop a measure
of adjustment and emotional stability that
could be administered quickly and
efficiently to groups of recruits
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To disguise the true purpose of
the test, questionnaire was
labeled as Personal Data Sheet
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He called it Woodworth
Psychoneurotic Inventory –
first widely used self-report test
of personality
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Self-report test– a process whereby
assesses themselves supply
assessment-related information by
responding to questions, keeping a diary,
or self-monitoring thoughts and
behavior
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Advantages:
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C.
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Respondents best
qualified
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Disadvantages:
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Poor insight into self
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One might honestly
believe something
about self that isn’t true
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Unwillingness to
report seemingly
negative qualities
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Projective test: individual is
assumed to project onto some
ambiguous stimulus (inkblot,
photo, etc.) his or her own
unique needs, fears, hopes, and
motivations
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The use of pictures
for projective tests
was popularized by
Henry A. Murray,
Christiana D.
Morgan, and other
colleagues at Harvard
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When pictures are
used as a projective
stimulus, respondents
are typically asked to
tell a story about the
picture which is then
analyzed in terms
of what needs and
motivations the
respondents may be
trying to project
onto the ambiguous
pictures
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Ex.) Rorschach Inkblot
test – by Hermann
Rorschach
The academic and applied traditions
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The development of psychological
measurement can be traced along
two distinct threads:
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Academic Tradition – The
scholars like Galton, Wundt and
etc. uses the tools of assessment
to help advance knowledge and
understanding of human and
animal behavior
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Applied Tradition – dates
back to ancient China and the
examinations developed there is
to help select applicants for
various positions on the basis of
merit
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Contemporary test recognizes the
need for cultural sensitivity in the
development and use of tools
II.
CULTURE AND ASSESSMENT
Culture: ‘the socially transmitted behavior patterns, beliefs,
and products of work a particular population, community, or
group of people
A. Evolving Interest in Culture-Related Issues
Goddard tested immigrants and found most to be
feebleminded-invalid; overestimated mental deficiency,
even in native English-speakers
Lead to nature-nurture debate about what intelligence tests
actually measure
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ex.) loaf of bread vs. tortillas
today tests undergo many steps to ensure its suitable for said
nation
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take test takers reactions into account
B. Some Issues Regarding Culture and Assessment
Verbal Communication
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Examiner and examinee must speak the same
language
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Especially tricky with infrequently used
vocabulary or unusual idioms employed
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Translator may lose nuances of translation
or give unintentional hints toward more desirable
answer
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Also requires understanding of culture
Nonverbal Communication and Behavior
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Different between cultures
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Ex.) Meaning of not making eye contact
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Body movement could even have physical cause
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Psychoanalysis: Freud’s theory of personality
and psychological treatment which stated that
symbolic significance is assigned to many nonverbal
acts.
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Timing tests in cultures not obsessed with speed
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Lack of speaking could be reverence for elders
Standards of Evaluation
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Acceptable roles for women differ throughout culture
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“judgments as to who might be the best
employee, manager, or leader may differ as a
function of culture, as might judgments regarding
intelligence, wisdom, courage, and other
psychological variables”
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must ask ‘how appropriate are the norms or
other standards that will be used to make this
evaluation
C. Tests and Group Membership
Ex.) Must be 5’4” to be police officer- excludes cultures with
short stature
ex.) Jewish lifestyle not well suited for corporate America
Affirmative action: voluntary and mandatory efforts to
combat discrimination and promote equal opportunity in
education and employment for all
Psychology, tests, and public policy
III.
LEGAL AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Code of professional ethics defines the standard of care
expected of members of a given profession.
A. The concerns of the Public
Beginning in world war I, fear that tests were only testing the
ability to take tests
Legislation
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Minimum competency testing programs: formal
testing programs designed to be used in
decisions regarding various aspects of students’
educations
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Truth-in-testing legislation: state laws to provide test
takers with a means of learning the criteria by
which they are being judged
Litigation
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Daubert ruling made federal judges the
gatekeepers to determining what expert testimony
is admitted
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This overrode the Frye policy which only
admitted scientific testimony that had won general
acceptance in the scientific community
B. The Concerns of the Profession
Test-user qualifications
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Who should be allowed to use psych tests
Culture-specific tests: tests designed for use with ppl from one
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Level A: tests or aids that can adequately be
culture, but not from anotheradministered, scored, and interpreted with the aid of
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Minorities still scored abnormally low
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kind of institution or organization in which one is
working
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Level B: tests or aids that require some
technical knowledge of test construction and use
and of supporting psychological and educational
fields
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Level C: tests and aids requiring substantial
understanding of testing and supporting psych fields
with experience
Testing people with disabilities
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Difficulty in transforming the test into a form that can
be taken by test taker
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Transferring responses to be scorable
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Meaningfully interpreting the test data
Computerized test administration, scoring, and
interpretation
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simple, convenient
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easily copied, duplicated
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insufficient research to compare it to penciland-paper versions
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value of computer interpretation is questionable
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unprofessional, unregulated “psychological testing”
online
C. The Rights of Test takers
The right of informed consent
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right to know why they are being evaluated, how test
data will be used and what information will
be released to whom
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may be obtained by parent or legal representative
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must be in written form:
▪
general purpose of the testing
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the specific reason it is being undertaken
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general type of instruments to be
administered
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revealing this information before the test can
contaminate the results
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deception only used if absolutely necessary
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don’t use deception if it will cause emotional distress
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fully debrief participants
The right to be informed of test findings
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Formerly test administrators told to give participants
only positive information
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No realistic information is required
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Tell test takers as little as possible about the nature
of their performance on a particular test. So that
the examinee would leave the test session feeling
pleased and satisfied.
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Test takers have the right also to know
what recommendations are being made as a
consequence of the test data
The right to privacy and confidentiality
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Private right: “recognizes the freedom of the
individual to pick and choose for himself the time,
circumstances, and particularly the extent to
which he wishes to share or withhold from
others his attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and opinions”
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Privileged information: information protected by law
from being disclosed in legal proceeding. Protects
clients from disclosure in judicial proceedings.
Privilege belongs to the client not the psychologist.
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Confidentiality: concerns matters of
communication outside the courtroom
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Safekeeping of test data: It is not a good
policy to maintain all records in perpetuity
The right to the least stigmatizing label
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The standards advise that the least
stigmatizing labels should always be assigned
when reporting test result
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