Ethics In Psychological Testing
User’s Qualifications and Professional Competence
Provide only those services and only those techniques for which they are
qualified by education, training and experience.
Only appropriately qualified examiner is allowed towards protecting the test taker
against the improper use of tests.
- Well trained examiners choose tests that are appropriate for both the
particular purpose for which they are testing the persons to be examined.
- Ethics Code calls for psychologists to recognize the boundaries of their
particular competencies and the limitations of their expertise.
- Misuse of psychological test by the administrators is a constant and troubling
issue that has the potential to harm the individuals involved and even society
as a whole. For test takers, the misuse of a psychological test could result in
improper diagnoses or inappropriate decision making. The misuse of tests
reflects very poorly on the professional organizations along with highly
trained test users and overall will result in poor decisions that may harm
society in both an economic and mental manner.
Responsibilities of the Test Publishers
1. The purchase of tests is generally restricted to persons who meet certain minimal
qualifications.
Objectives:
Security of the tests materials
Prevention of misuse
2. Tests should not be released prematurely for general use.
3. Tests that need to be secure because of their use in selection, placement, or
diagnostic decisions should not be published in the popular media.
Goals of Ethical Principles
The Ethical Principles have a goal to respect individuals, safeguard individual privacy as
well as dignity, and condemn any unfair or discriminatory practices.
1. Protection of Privacy – it is defined as the right to decide for oneself how
much one will share with others one’s thoughts, feelings, and facts about one’s
personal life; this right is further characterized as “essential to ensure freedom
and self-determination.
2. Confidentiality –indicates that individuals are guaranteed privacy in terms of all
personal information that is disclosed and that no information will then be
disclosed without the individual's direct permission which is usually required in
writing (McIntire & Miller, 2007).The underlying principle is that such records
should not be released without the knowledge and consent of the test taker,
unless such a release is mandated by law or permitted by law for valid purposes.
3. Anonymity - Anonymity refers to the practice of obtaining information through
the use of tests while concealing the identity of the participant involved.
Anonymous testing is more commonly used in double-blind studies in which the
researchers are completely unaware of the identity of their participants. Some
research suggests that anonymous testing may be a more valid option in terms
of accurate and truthful information about participants because participants will
be more likely to answer questions truthfully about themselves if their identity is
never revealed. However, in other situations, it is important for every participant
to have their own identity the results can be correlated based on various factors
of each individual.
4. Right to Informed Consent - Self-determination is a right to every individual
which means that individuals are entitled to receive complete explanations in
regards to why exactly they are being tested as well as how the results of the
test will be used and what their results mean. These complete explanations are
commonly known as informed consent and should be conveyed in such a way
that is straight-forward and easy for examinees to understand. In situations
involving minors or those with limited cognitive abilities, informed consent needs
to come from both the examinee themselves as well as their parent or guardian.
5. Protection from stigma. In conjunction with the participant's right to know
and understand their results, researchers need to be careful not to use any
stigmatizing labels when describing the results in terms of the participant.
Researchers need to refrain from using terms such as "feebleminded" and
"addictive personality". Therefore, the results that the test taker receives along
with their parent or guardian in cases involving minors should bring upon
positive growth and development for the test taker.
6. Communicating Test Results. Communicating test results must always be
done in a form that will be meaningful and useful to the recipient. Among the
possible recipients of test results, besides the test taker themselves, are parents
of minors, teachers and other personnel, employers, psychiatrists, and court and
correctional personnel.
Due to the fact that some test results may influence the participant's self esteem
as well as behavior, it is crucial that a trained professional explain the results to
the participant in a sensitive and understanding manner.
References:
Anastasi.A. Psychological Testing. 7th ed. Upper Saddle river, New Jersey:
Macmillan Publishing Co.
McIntire, S. A. & Miller, L. A. (2007). Foundations of psychological testing: a
practical approach. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
ETHICS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING
A REPORT
in GC 221 / GC 240
Tests, Their Uses and Interpretation / Psychological
Testing
Antonino P. Ortega
MA Guidance
