Ethics, Best Practice Guidelines, and Cultural Considerations in Psychological Testing and Assessment

PSYC314 Lecture 2: Ethics, Best Practice Guidelines & Cultural Considerations

Lecture Overview:

• Recap: Testing versus Assessment
• Challenges to the Testing Enterprise
• Ethical Considerations
• APS Code of Ethics
• Best Practice Guidelines for Testing and Assessment
• Best Practice Guidelines for providing services to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people/communities

Psychological Testing vs Psychological Assessment

• Testing:
  • Administering a formal test/questionnaire to measure a specific psychological construct (e.g., intelligence, personality, mood).
  • Systematic method of obtaining a sample of behavior relevant to the construct of interest.
  • Responses are scored and evaluated based on the test's standards.
• Assessment:
  • Broader process to understand the client's problem/issue.
  • Uses a wide range of data collection methods (e.g., interviews, records, medical evaluations, observations, psychological tests).

Key Processes Involved in Assessment

• Stage 1: Referral Question(s)
• Stage 2: Data Collection
  • Clinical Interview: Information guides hypotheses.
  • Selection of psychological tests and other methods.
  • Administration, scoring, and interpretation of tests.
  • Integration and conceptualization of information from test results, interviews, observations, and other sources.
• Hypotheses Guide:
  • Type of information to collect and methods used
  • How results are summarised
  • Guide explanations for problems/issues
  • Guide intervention/treatment plans
• Testing Hypotheses
  • look for information that both corroborate and contradict hypotheses
  • Use multiple tests/methods to collect info
  • Integrate info/data (test and non‐test) obtained into coherent conceptualisation
• Stage 3: Writing a Psychological Assessment Report
  • Clear conceptualization of referral issues is presented.
  • Referral questions are directly addressed.
  • Effective recommendations for intervention/treatment are made.
• Stage 4: Feedback
  • Provided to the client and/or referral source.

Effective Communication of Findings (Stages 3 & 4)

• No single model for providing feedback.
• Australia: written report and feedback session.
• Ensures client understanding of results and recommendations.
• Use jargon-free language.
• Explain purpose and limitations of tests.
• Rationale for recommendations should be clear.
• Recommendations should be actionable.
• Assessment report should not be the endpoint for the client.

Misuse of Tests

• Tests are useful but can be misused, especially by poorly trained individuals or with limited insight into consequences.

Challenges to the Testing Enterprise

• The late 1940s and 1950s: peak of psychological testing, particularly in the USA.
• Public arena challenges:
  • Invasion of privacy.
  • Discriminatory practices.

Example: Soroka v. Dayton-Hudson (1991)

• Target stores used a personality questionnaire (