ETHICAL AND ARNEL G.

GUTIERREZ

SOCIAL MAED GC
SY 2020-2021
CONSIDERATIO
NS IN TESTING
 ETHICAL
CONSIDERATIONS

• In both research and practical applications of

their procedures, psychologists have long been
concerned with questions of professional ethics.
• A concrete example of this concern is the
systematic empirical program followed in the
early 1950s to develop the first formal code of
ethics for the profession, which resulted in the
preparation of a set standards that was
officially adopted by the American
Psychological Association (APA) and first
published in 1953.
 ETHICAL ISSUES IN PSYCH
TESTING AND ASSESMENT

• These standards undergo continual review and

refinement, of which revised editions and
periodically published.
• Since the 1970s there has been a heightened
concern not only with ethical problems but also
with broader questions of values in all fields on
both theoretical and applied psychology.
 ETHICAL ISSUES IN PSYCH
TESTING AND ASSESMENT

• In the testing area, thoughtful and provocative

analyses of the role of value and of the
underlying ethical rationale of various practices
have been presented.
• The APA Ethics Code contains much that is
applicable to psychological testing.
• One of the standards – Evaluation, Assessment,
or Intervention – is directly concerned with the
development and use of psychological
assessment techniques.
 ETHICAL ISSUES IN PSYCH
TESTING AND ASSESMENT

• Another one – Forensic Activities – contains a

section devoted specifically to assessments in
legal contexts.
• In addition, the ethical standard on Privacy and
Confidentiality, although broader in scope, is
also highly relevant to testing, as are most
other general principles and several of the
ethics standards.
 ETHICAL ISSUES IN PSYCH
TESTING AND ASSESMENT

• Besides the APA, other related

professional groups and
associations have developed their
own ethics codes and guidelines.
• Responsibilities of Users of Standardized Tests
(the “RUST” Statement), adopted in 1989 by
the American counseling Association (ACA)
• Principles for the Validation and Use of Personal
Selection Procedures developed by the Society
for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
 ETHICAL ISSUES IN PSYCH
TESTING AND ASSESMENT
• A significant event in clarifying the
place of testing in modern society
was the publication of Ability
Testing: Uses, Consequences, and
Controversies (Wigdor and Garner,
1982).
• This two-volume book is the final
report of a four-year project that
examined the use of standardized
ability test in schools in admission
to higher education, and in
 ETHICAL ISSUES IN PSYCH
TESTING AND ASSESMENT

• Board on Testing and Assessment

(BoTA)
• Established in 1993 with the support of
the US departments of Defense,
Education, and Labor.
• Its main objective are to help policy
makers understand and evaluate tests
and other appraisal instruments used as
tools of public policy.
 USER QUALIFICATIONS AND
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

• The Ethics Code principle on competence

states that psychologists “provide only
those services and use only those
techniques for which they are qualified
by education, training or experience.”
• The requirement that they be used only
by appropriate qualified examiners is
one step toward protecting the test taker
against the improper use of tests.
 USER QUALIFICATIONS AND
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

• Thus, relatively long period intensive

training and supervised experience is
required for the proper use of individual
intelligence test and most personality
tests, whereas much less specified
psychological training is needed for tests
of educational achievement or job
proficiency.
 USER QUALIFICATIONS AND
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

• It should be noted that students who

take tests in class for instructional
purposes are not usually equipped to
administer the tests to others or
interpret the scores properly.
• Well-trained examiners choose tests that
are appropriate for both the particular
purpose for which they are testing and
the persons to be examined.
 USER QUALIFICATIONS AND
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

• In administering the test, they are

sensitive the many conditions that may
affect test performance.
• They draw conclusions or make
recommendations only after considering
the test score (or scores) in the light of
other pertinent information about the
individual.
 USER QUALIFICATIONS AND
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

• Above all, they should be sufficiency

knowledgeable about the science of
human behavior to guard against
unwarranted inferences in their
interpretations of test scores.
 USER QUALIFICATIONS AND
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

• When tests are administered by

psychological assistants, or by persons
who lack professional training in
psychometric principles and proper
assessment practices, it is essential that
adequately qualified psychologist be
available, at least as consultant, to
provide the needed perspective for a
proper interpretation of the test score.
 USER QUALIFICATIONS AND
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

• Who is qualified psychologist?

• Obviously, with the diversification of the
discipline and the consequent
specialization of training, no psychologist
is equally qualified in all areas, even
within the narrower field of psychological
testing and assessment.
 USER QUALIFICATIONS AND
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE
• In recognition to this fact, the Ethics
Code calls for psychologist to “recognize
the boundaries of their particular
competencies and the limitations of their
expertise.”
• A significant step, both in upgrading
professional standards and in helping the
public to identify qualified psychologists,
was the enactment of state licensing and
certification laws for psychologist.
 USER QUALIFICATIONS AND
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE
• In their type, the requirements are
generally a doctorate in psychology, a
specified amount of supervised
experience, an satisfactory performance
on a quality exam.
• Licensing statues typically include
grounds for disciplinary actions against
psychologists, which can range from
fines and reprimands to the suspension
and revocation of the license.
 RESPONSIBILITIES OF
TEST PUBLISHER

• The purchase of tests is generally

restricted to persons who meet certain
minimal qualifications. Catalogs of major
test publishers specify requirements that
must be met by purchasers.
• Usually, individuals with a master’s
degree in psychology or its equivalent
qualify.
 RESPONSIBILITIES OF
TEST PUBLISHER

• Some publishers classify their test into

levels with reference to user
qualifications, ranging from educational
achievement to vocational proficiency
tests, through group intelligence tests
and interest inventories, to such clinical
instruments as individual intelligence
tests and most personality tests.
 RESPONSIBILITIES OF
TEST PUBLISHER

• Graduate students who may need a

particular test for a class assignment or
for research must have the purchase
order countersigned by the psychology
professor, who assumes responsibility for
the proper use of the test.
• Efforts to restrict the distribution of tests
have a dual objective: security of test
materials and prevention of misuse.
 RESPONSIBILITIES OF
TEST PUBLISHER

• It should be noted, however, that while

test distributors may make sincere
efforts to implement these objectives,
the control they may be able to exert is
necessarily limited.
• In some cases, it may not be feasible to
investigate and verify the alleged
qualifications of purchasers.
 RESPONSIBILITIES OF
TEST PUBLISHER

• Moreover, the formal qualifications

provide only a rough screening device.
For instance, an MA or PhD do not
necessarily signify that the individual is
qualified to use a particular test or that
his or her training is relevant to the
proper interpretation of the results
obtained with the test.
 RESPONSIBILITIES OF
TEST PUBLISHER

• The major responsibility for the proper

use of tests ultimately resides in the
individual use or institution concerned.
 THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING!

SUBMITTED TO:
DR. MA. CORAZON PALOMIQUE
GRADUATE STUDY PROFESSOR
TEST AND MEASUREMENT