Division of University Relations

University of Maryland
College Park, MD, 20742

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2015

Contact: Ana Caceres Hernandez

acaceres@terpmail.umd.edu
240-750-8745

MORE HARM THAN GOOD CAUSED BY TESTING

COLLEGE PARK, Md. Anxiety and stress are not the only negative effects on a
persons performance when it comes to testing.

Testing Testing: Social Consequences of the Examined Life is a new book by F.

Allan Hanson, professor of anthropology at the University of Maryland. Hansons book
deconstructs the nature of testing.
Hanson pushes for the elimination of most drug tests, intelligence and aptitude
tests, and lie detector integrity tests. He believes that this movement is possible, as some
college admission offices have eliminated required aptitude exams like the American
College Test (ACT).
Our obsession with testing
The American preoccupation with testing has resulted in a panoply of techniques
dedicated to scanning, probing, weighing, perusing and recording every last detail of our

personal traits and life experiences, Hanson says. Society has a heavy reliance on tests
and influence the lives of many.
Tests have the power of assigning people to categories that carry undesirable
consequences Where they are then treated, act and come to think of themselves
according to expectations associated with those categories, Hanson says.
Device of Power
Tests results give employers, educational administrators, and law enforcement an
opportunity to establish dominance. They are given the power to make life-changing
decisions that affect college admissions and employment.
Hanson believes that tests are an unfair predictor of a persons character
because, decisions are made about people not on the basis of what they have done, or
even what they certainly will do, but in terms of what they might do.
Related Links
For more information visit University of Marylands anthropology department website at
www.anth.umd.edu.
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