Legal and Ethical Considerations in Testing

Legal and Ethical Considerations Laws- rules that individuals must obey for the good of the society as a whole. Ethics- a body of principles of right, proper, or good conduct. Litigation- the court-mediated resolution of legal matters of a civil, criminal or administrative nature...

Legal and Ethical Considerations Laws- rules that individuals must obey for the good of the society as a whole. Ethics- a body of principles of right, proper, or good conduct. Litigation- the court-mediated resolution of legal matters of a civil, criminal or administrative nature.  Legal and Ethical Considerations qCode of professional ethics- is the recognized and accepted by members of a profession and defines the standard of care expected of members of that profession. qStandard of care- level at which average, reasonable, and prudent professional would provide diagnostic or therapeutic services under the same or similar conditions.  LEVELS OF TESTS IN TERMS OF THE DEGREE TO WHICH TEST’S USE REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE OF TESTING AND PSYCHOLOGY Level A- Tests or aids that can be administered, scored, and interpreted with the aid of manual and a general orientation to the kind of institution or organization which one is working. Level B- Tests or aids that require some technical knowledge of test construction and use of supporting psychological and educational fields.  LEVELS OF TESTS IN TERMS OF THE DEGREE TO WHICH TEST’S USE REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE OF TESTING AND PSYCHOLOGY Level C- Tests or aids that require substantial understanding of testing and supporting psychological and educational fields together with supervised experience in the use of these devices.  Beck Depression Inventory a 21-item, self-report rating inventory that measures characteristic attitudes and symptoms of depression The BDI has been developed in different forms, including several computerized forms, a card form, the 13-item short form and the more recent BDI-II by Beck, Steer & Brown, 1996. The BDI takes approximately 10 minutes to complete, although clients require a fifth – sixth grade reading level to adequately understand the questions  Sacks Sentence Completion Test Authors: J.M. Sacks & S. Levy It is a 60-item test that asks respondents to complete 60 questions with the first thing that comes to mind across four areas: Family, Sex, Interpersonal, Relationships and Self concept. Level C- projective test  The Right of Testtakers 1. The right to privacy and confidentiality §Privacy Right- freedom of an individual to pick and choose for himself the time, circumstances, and particularly the extent to which he wishes to share or withhold from others his attitudes, beliefs, behavior, and opinions. §Privileged Communication- a legal rule that protects communications within certain relationships from required disclosure in a court proceeding. Includes: ü lawyer-client relationship ü doctor-patient relationship ühusband-wife relationship üpriest-penitent relationship  The Right of Testtakers §Confidentiality- protection of communication outside courtroom. When to break confidentiality? When there is already a threat to the life of an individual or other people around him. Ex. Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California. “Duty to warn”  The Right of Testtakers 2. The right of informed consent Test takers have a right to know why they are being evaluated, how the test will be used, and what information will be released to whom. It should be written in a language the testtaker can understand. In case of deception, full disclosure and debriefing must be done after testing.  The Right of Testtakers An informed consent should contain: The purpose of the test The instruments that will be administered The specific reason why there is a need to take the test  The Right of Testtakers An informed consent is deemed unnecessary in certain situations: 1. It is mandated by the law. 2. It is a part of routine test of companies or schools. 3. The patient is incapable of decision making.  The Right of Testtakers 3. The right to be informed of test findings Results must be communicated realistically and truthfully to the testtaker. Recommendations regarding the consequence of the test data must also be communicated to the testtaker.  The Right of Testtakers 4. The right to the least stigmatizing label “Imbecile”, “moron”, “feeble-minded”- these labels/ interpretation are no longer used in the recent version of Stanford-Binet. “shizophrenic” to “person with schizophrenia” / “autistic” to “person with autism”- recognizes that people who are suffering from these disorders are human beings before their labels.  5 Ethical Principles (APA) Principle A: Beneficence and Non-maleficence - strive to benefit those with whom they work and take care to do no harm Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility - establish relationships of trust with those with whom they work and aware of their professional and scientific responsibilities to society and to the specific communities in which they work Principle C: Integrity - seek to promote accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness in the science, teaching, and practice of psychology  5 Ethical Principles (APA) Principle D: Justice - recognize that fairness and justice entitle all persons to access to and benefit from the contributions of psychology and to equal quality in the processes, procedures, and services being conducted by psychologists Principle E: Respect for People's Rights and Dignity - respect the dignity and worth of all people, and the rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination