Assessment Issues

Ethics, Fairness & Assessment

• Psychological assessments are potent tools.
• Poor decisions could also result in litigation
against the person responsible for
assessment.
• The modern view is that users must be
licensed or qualified.
Generic Professional Practice Guidelines
• Psychologists should be mindful at all times of the confidential
nature of assessment materials. Many assessment measures are
invalidated by prior knowledge of their specific content and
objectives.

• Psychologists should, therefore, take reasonable steps to prevent

misuse of test data and materials by others.

• Such psychometric test data should be kept in areas of records with

controlled access.
Code of Good Practice in Psychological Testing

Responsibility for Competence

1. Take steps to ensure that they are able to meet all of the standards of
competence defined by the Society for the relevant Certificate(s) of Competence
in Testing, and to endeavor, where possible, to develop and enhance their
competence as test-users.

2. Monitor the limits of their competence in psychometric testing and not to offer
services which lie outside their competence nor encourage or cause others to do
so.

3. Ensure that they have undertaken any mandatory training and that they have
the specific knowledge and skills required for each of the instruments they use.
Code of Good Practice in Psychological Testing

Procedures and Techniques

4. Use tests, in conjunction with other assessment methods, only when their use can
be supported by the available technical information.

5. Administer, score and interpret tests in accordance with the instructions provided
by the test distributor and to the standards defined by the Society.

6. Store test materials securely and to ensure that no unqualified person has access
to them.

7. Keep test results securely, in a form suitable for developing norms, validation and
monitoring for bias.
Code of Good Practice in Psychological Testing

Client Welfare

8. Obtain the informed consent of potential test-takers, making sure that they
understand why the tests will be used, what will be done with their results and who
will be provided with access to them.

9. Ensure that all test-takers are well informed and well prepared for the test session,
and that all have had access to practice or familiarization materials where
appropriate.

10. Give due consideration to factors such as gender, ethnicity, age, disability and
special needs, educational background and level of ability in using and interpreting
the results of tests.
Code of Good Practice in Psychological Testing

Client Welfare

11. Provide the test-taker and other authorized persons with feedback
about the results in a form which makes clear the implications of the
results, is clear and in a style appropriate to their level of
understanding.

12. Ensure test results are stored securely, are not accessible to
unauthorized or unqualified persons and are not used for any other
purposes other than those agreed with the test-taker.
Confidentiality & Security
• The unwarranted disclosure of tests, the items in them, and
identifiable data relating to people who have completed them is a
prime concern for practitioners.

• Decision-makers, who are often unqualified, might be allowed

access to the outcomes of assessment only under the supervision of
those having recognized training.

• Reasonable efforts should be made to maintain the security of

information and to dispose of relevant paperwork after an
appropriate time.
Informed Consent
•Before individuals undergo
assessment, they should give
their consent and, whatever
the purpose, have a right to
withdraw it.
Test Administration
• Whatever the format, it should never be forgotten that a test’s
reliability depends on how it is administered and scored.

• Correct admin will ensure the results have sound validity by

encouraging participants to respond naturally and honestly, as well
as good public relations for assessment practice, for the
administrator concerned and for any organization involved.

• Choose any testing room carefully.

Test Administration
INTRODUCING ASSESSMENT.

• Good practice begins with an introduction to ensure

participants are told about what will happen and why
and so that they experience less anxiety, provide useful
information about themselves and gain a good impression
of events. This will depend to some extent on the situation
involved and its objectives.
Test Administration
USING ADMINISTRATION SCRIPTS.
•Although this seems easy enough, it
is vital not to depart from the
instructions in any way.
Scoring Tests
• Manual scoring comes in two formats. The first involves marking keys,
which have also been called marking cards, templates or acetates.
Basically, they consist of plastic, cardboard or hard sheets
containing holes or clear spots in the shape of circles, squares or
rectangles which, when placed over a completed response sheet,
identify the number of the items and whether responses are correct.

• Most are simple to use, provided they are correctly aligned and
publishers give guidance on this.
Scoring Tests
• A second approach uses ‘self-scoring’ forms. These have a backing
sheet which is sealed beneath the response sheet and can be
accessed only by tearing the two apart as if it were a pay slip. This is
based on a pressure-sensitive process which transfers marks on the
response sheet to the backing one.

• When torn apart a grid is revealed. If responses fall within the areas
of circles, squares or even triangles they can be counted and
totaled.
Interpretation
• To put it bluntly, the raw scores obtained by scoring
are meaningless.
• Standardized scores enable us to make
interpretations and comparisons and to calculate
averages or differences, which are all based on
understanding the technical properties of scales.
Giving Feedback
• Whatever approach is taken, the most important factors concern issues of
responsibility towards the person, towards others having responsibility for
someone, and to broader ethical issues.

• A structured approach, without being personally evaluative, always works best.

The trouble with being so strict about this is that sometimes people adopt a style
which is overwhelmingly positive about the person and so becomes meaningless,
reflecting the Barnum Effect.

• Once again, good training is invaluable.

Giving Feedback
TELEPHONE FEEDBACK.

• This is probably the most common approach in dealing with ability or aptitude
tests in the occupational domain, because the main aim will be to communicate
the results.

• Lack of knowledge about reactions means it is unwise to use the telephone when
quite personal feedback is given, for example when dealing with personality. But
it does have the advantage of being suitable for giving highly confidential
information, provided you check the identity of the person beforehand.
Giving Feedback
FACE TO FACE FEEDBACK.

• Giving feedback on the outcomes of complex assessments is more difficult and

demanding. In these cases, recognition of how they are being received is an
important part. The main aim is usually to communicate and explore a person’s
preferences and styles of behaviour, and to elicit supportive evidence for these.

• The process involves not only exploring the implications of results, but also of the
personal background and issues which might be raised.
Giving Feedback
FACE TO FACE FEEDBACK.

A relatively open, natural and informal approach works best. Rapport

is best developed by asking about the experience and feelings about
being assessed. Following these different structured approaches are
possible, including:

(a) Describing a factor, asking individuals where they feel they have
scored on it and then explaining the result.
Giving Feedback
WRITTEN REPORTS.

• Reports provide another way in which results might be

communicated. A carefully considered and well-
constructed written report can provide a helpful outcome.

• Reports should be logically structured and standardized

methods of presentation often work best because they
provide a focus.
Possible Sources of Bias in
Psychological Assessment
Reynolds, Lowe, et al. (1999) have divided the most
frequent of the problems cited into seven categories,
described briefly here.

• Inappropriate content.

• Inappropriate standardization samples.

• Examiners’ and language bias.

• Inequitable social consequences.

Possible Sources of Bias in
Psychological Assessment
Reynolds, Lowe, et al. (1999) have divided the most
frequent of the problems cited into seven
categories, described briefly here.
• Measurement of different constructs.
• Differential predictive validity.
• Qualitatively distinct aptitude and personality.
Bias & Unfairness
• Scientists and clinicians should distinguish bias from
unfairness and from offensiveness. Thorndike (1971)
wrote, “The presence (or absence) of differences
in mean score between groups, or of differences in
variability, tells us nothing directly about fairness”
(p. 64).
Bias & Offensiveness
• A second distinction is that between test
bias and item offensiveness. In the
development of many tests, a minority
review panel examines each item for
content that may be offensive to one or
more groups.
Culture Fairness, Culture
Loading & Culture Bias
• Cultural loading is the degree to which a test or
item is specific to a particular culture.
• Cultural loadings fall on a continuum, with some
tests linked to a culture as defined very generally
and liberally, and others to a culture as defined
very narrowly and distinctively.
User Qualifications
• The requirement that tests be used only by
appropriately qualified examiners is one step
toward protecting the individual against the
improper use of tests.
• Above all, he should be sufficiently knowledgeable
about the science of human behavior to guard
against unwarranted inferences in his
interpretations of test scores.
User Qualifications
• When tests are administered by psychological technicians or assistants, or by
persons in other professions, it is essential that an adequately qualified
psychologist be available, at least as a consultant, to provide the needed
perspective for a proper interpretation of test performance.

• Misconceptions about the nature and purpose of tests and misinterpretations of

test results underlie many of the popular criticisms of psychological tests. In part,
these difficulties arise from inadequate communication between
psychometricians and their various publics— educators, parents, legislators, job
applicants, and so forth.
Testing Instruments & Procedures
• The purchase of tests is generally restricted to persons who meet certain minimal
qualifications. Some publishers classify their tests into levels with reference to user
qualifications, ranging from educational achievement and vocational proficiency
tests, through group intelligence tests and interest inventories, to such clinical
instruments as individual intelligence tests and most personality tests.

• The major responsibility for the proper use of tests resides in the individual user or
institution concerned. It is evident, for example, that an MA degree in psychology
—or even a PhD, state license, and ABPP diploma—do not necessarily signify that
the individual is qualified to use a particular test or that his training is relevant to
the proper interpretation of the results obtained with that test.
Testing Instruments & Procedures
• Another professional responsibility concerns the marketing of
psychological tests by authors and publishers.

• The test manual should provide adequate data to permit an

evaluation of the test itself as well as full information regarding
administration, scoring, and norms.

• Tests or major parts of tests should not be published in a newspaper,

magazine, or popular book, either for descriptive purposes or for
self-evaluation.
Communicating Test Results
• Psychologists have given much thought to the communication of test results in a
form that will be meaningful and useful. It is clear that the information should not
be transmitted routinely, but should be accompanied by interpretive explanations
by a professionally trained person.

• When communicating scores to parents, for example, a recommended

procedure is to arrange a group meeting at which a counselor or school
psychologist explains the purpose and nature of the tests, the sort of conclusions
that may reasonably be drawn from the results, and the limitations of the data.

• Whitten reports about their own children may then be distributed to the parents,
and arrangements made for personal interviews with any parents wishing to
discuss the reports further.