FOR IMMEDITATE RELEASE

July 7, 2015
Contact:
Brooke Spallino
516-761-8450
bspallino@hotmail.com
The Hidden Consequences of Testing
COLLEGE PARK, Md.- Screening applicants and monitoring employees isnt the most
effective way to gain trust.
The book, Testing Testing: Social Consequences of the Examined Life, explores the
variety of hidden consequences commonly associated with drug tests, intelligence and aptitude
tests, and lie detector or integrity tests.
F. Allan Hanson, professor of anthropology at the University of Maryland, wrote this
compelling book to get a deeper look at American societys addiction to testing.
The American preoccupation with testing has resulted in a panoply of techniques
dedicated to scanning, probing, weighing, pursuing and recording every last detail of our
personal traits and life experiences, Hanson said.
Hanson said tests that measure performance, such as what a student has learned in class,
are more useful. On the contrary, tests that predict behavior or aptitude, such as IQ tests, can
have unintended negative consequences, he argues.
Scores from IQ tests assign people to various categories- geniuses, slow learners, security
risks- where they act according to the expectations associated with those categories, according to
Hanson.
People are examined and evaluated less for qualifications or knowledge they already
possess than for what the test results can predict about future actions or potential behavior,
Hanson said.
Testing provides information about people to determine whom to employ, but should not
be the most important factor. Even some college admissions offices no longer require scores
from aptitude tests, such as the ACT, SAT, or GMAT, as an application requirement.

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Hanson recommends testing should be kept at a minimum, especially in the work field.
Organizations should only use drug testing when employees are suspected of using drugs. This
will improve relations within the organizations.
More information is detailed in Hansons book, which is available at local bookstores or
by contacting Denise Cicourel at UC Press, 2120 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California, 94720.
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