Psychological Testing: Establishing Diversity Paper
Psychological Testing: Establishing Diversity
Manrise Moore
Townsend State University
Individual Appraisal 647101
Dr. Justin Massey
December 3, 2013
Psychological Testing: Establishing Diversity Psychological testing is the backbone of how psychologists are able to gain a higher level of understanding regarding human beings and how/why they act as they do. Good psychological exams can help tremendously in the task of problem-solving and in getting a better snapshot of a person’s psychological or mental health issues while identifying strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, a precise psychological exam helps to exam an individual’s precise point in time in a mode which examines their present-functioning in …show more content…
terms of test data. There are a range of psychological tests which are available, many of which are the results of decades and decades of research and procedures. The four main types of psychological tests are as follows: clinical interviews, assessment of intellectual functioning, personality assessment, and then behavioral assessments. However, since psychological tests emerged within the field, the issue of diversity in psychological testing was an issue that was thrust to the forefront.
“For clients, parents and clinicians, the central issue is one of long-term consequences that may occur when mean test results differ from one ethnic group to another—Blacks, Hispanics, Americans Indians, Asian Americans and so forth. Important concerns include, among others, that psychiatric clients may be overdiagnosed, students disproportionately placed in special classes and applicants unfairly denied employment or college admission because of purported bias” (Reynolds & Suzuki, 2003). One way that I would develop a test would be to make the bulk of the test less verbal and word-based but to have the questions on the exam more picture-based, as I feel that there are more images, colors and notions related to those factors which are transcend cultural …show more content…
boundaries.
While individual backgrounds and ethnic groups might have their own standards of what is normal and acceptable and might have been impacted by their own specific sociopolitical factors, there are still certain images and visual representations which are universal to the human condition and to the entire human experience. The key in developing this test would revolve around uncovering what those experiences are, and finding a way to harness them for psychological testing. In this manner, by uncovering some of the more universal trends of the human experience, it would in theory be possible to uncover some trends which would be considered normal or abnormal—patterns would develop. In this manner, the psychological test would be evocative, at least foundationally to the Rorschach inkblot test, a form of projective psychological test, which can unveil personality and emotional functioning and is used most often in forensic testing.
While this type of test, is used by many professionals in the field, has been criticized for a failure to accurately identify the range of psychological disorders, the test has shown to be effective in the diagnosis of illnesses characterized by distorted thinking, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (Cheery, 2013). This is largely because of the fact that the test revolves around pinpointing universal themes of interpretation to visual stimuli and working to classify these interpretations into norm of regular thinking versus irregular. This test in and of itself can be quite useful in allowing for the assessment of human behavior according to trends inherent in the human condition. This test, because of the fact that it is based on visual cues and interpretation, offers forms of interpretation along the lines of broader references, rather than the narrower codes of reasoning given to
non-minorities. Thus, the test proposed here seeks to emulate such testing in a more precise manner. In fact, this test could even have an artwork component involved with participants forced to look at different paintings, such as scenes of war or battlefields and they have to select an answer which best describes how they feel regarding such a field. For instance, with a scene of a carnaged battlefield, the test taker could choose from a range of choices like: “violent actions with good intentions behind them are always justified” and “violence is always a show of strength” and “murder is one of the saddest evils of our day” and “the ends justify the means” and “what might look catastrophic is actually beautiful” and “he persecuted those who were persecuting him.” This is just an example of a sample question which would be designed to gauge people who have high tolerances for violence, for manipulating other people, for engaging in their own selfish and self-destructive options and who wish to destroy others, or who simply have delusional thinking. Other components of the test could look at statues used in cemeteries that had figures of people in mourning and ask, “When I see this statue I feel…” and the choices are: sad or shameful or neutral or elated or triumphant or discouraged. Such a question would try to determine if a given test-taker possessed basic levels of empathy. Likewise the test could even have an abstract painting portrayed to determine what the test-taker saw and felt about the shapes and colors represented there. Thus, this test would try to shake off the narrow restrictions of common psychological tests and attempt to determine the actual mode of human thought and feelings against a more universal backdrop. Fine works of art often touch upon these universal trends in the human condition and are thus incredibly useful when it comes to making such assessments. Furthermore, it would be a new way to appreciate fine art.
Development of Test Norms This type of diverse psychological testing would be ideal for both children and adults—most of the time. This is largely as a result of the fact that the methods of testing are highly visual and capitalize on the use of images which are considered universal to the human experience: fear, loss, joy, hope, development, and destruction. While some psychologists say that children don’t have the same cognitive abilities to represent one thing by another thing they way adults do, and that such a capacity must be learned, most of the children over the age of four or five who were subjected to this form of psychological testing would have at least a rudimentary understanding of this task and thus be able to engage in and understand the most fundamental constructs of such representation (Wakefield & Underwager). The only concrete arenas which would be inappropriate and ineffective for children would be any images which focus on sex or sexuality—since children don’t yet have that type of experience or reference point through which to view the world. However, such content would be appropriate as a means of testing for children who have undergone suspected abuse. “Burgess, McCausland and Wolbert (1981) claim that drawings in which a child exhibits a shift from age-appropriate figures to more disorganized objects or drawings with repeated stylized, sexualized figures indicate suspected sexual abuse. Sahd (1980) recommends using drawings as part of the evaluative interview of the sexual abuse victims and gives several examples of drawings that reflect abuse histories. Kelley (1984, 1985) believes that human figure drawings can be analyzed for ‘emotional indicators’ (signs) in young children who are unable to verbalize their trauma” (Wakefield & Underwager). Thus, any children who responded to images or artwork of a sexualized variety and were able to identify those themes might demonstrate sexual abuse. Moreover, the test would be normed on a representative group of adults and children from a range of ethnicities, educational and socioeconomic backgrounds. These individuals would have to come from families where no abuse took place and where there was no history of mental illness. The sample population would have to describe themselves as happy and non-depressed with no history of depression and would be ranked on a percentile rank of 1% to 100%.
References
Cherry, K. (2013). What Is the Rorschach Inkblot Test? Retrieved from About.com: http://psychology.about.com/od/rindex/g/rorschach-ink.htm
Reynolds, C., & Suzuki, L. (2003). Bias in Psychological Assessment. Retrieved from wileypub.com: http://lp.wileypub.com/HandbookPsychology/SampleChapters/Volume10.pdf
Wakefield, H., & Underwager, R. (n.d.). The application of images in child abuse investigations. Retrieved from http://www.tc.umn.edu/~under006/Library/Images.html
Manrise Moore
Townsend State University
Individual Appraisal 647101
Dr. Justin Massey
December 3, 2013
Psychological Testing: Establishing Diversity Psychological testing is the backbone of how psychologists are able to gain a higher level of understanding regarding human beings and how/why they act as they do. Good psychological exams can help tremendously in the task of problem-solving and in getting a better snapshot of a person’s psychological or mental health issues while identifying strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, a precise psychological exam helps to exam an individual’s precise point in time in a mode which examines their present-functioning in …show more content…
terms of test data. There are a range of psychological tests which are available, many of which are the results of decades and decades of research and procedures. The four main types of psychological tests are as follows: clinical interviews, assessment of intellectual functioning, personality assessment, and then behavioral assessments. However, since psychological tests emerged within the field, the issue of diversity in psychological testing was an issue that was thrust to the forefront.
“For clients, parents and clinicians, the central issue is one of long-term consequences that may occur when mean test results differ from one ethnic group to another—Blacks, Hispanics, Americans Indians, Asian Americans and so forth. Important concerns include, among others, that psychiatric clients may be overdiagnosed, students disproportionately placed in special classes and applicants unfairly denied employment or college admission because of purported bias” (Reynolds & Suzuki, 2003). One way that I would develop a test would be to make the bulk of the test less verbal and word-based but to have the questions on the exam more picture-based, as I feel that there are more images, colors and notions related to those factors which are transcend cultural …show more content…
boundaries.
While individual backgrounds and ethnic groups might have their own standards of what is normal and acceptable and might have been impacted by their own specific sociopolitical factors, there are still certain images and visual representations which are universal to the human condition and to the entire human experience. The key in developing this test would revolve around uncovering what those experiences are, and finding a way to harness them for psychological testing. In this manner, by uncovering some of the more universal trends of the human experience, it would in theory be possible to uncover some trends which would be considered normal or abnormal—patterns would develop. In this manner, the psychological test would be evocative, at least foundationally to the Rorschach inkblot test, a form of projective psychological test, which can unveil personality and emotional functioning and is used most often in forensic testing.
While this type of test, is used by many professionals in the field, has been criticized for a failure to accurately identify the range of psychological disorders, the test has shown to be effective in the diagnosis of illnesses characterized by distorted thinking, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (Cheery, 2013). This is largely because of the fact that the test revolves around pinpointing universal themes of interpretation to visual stimuli and working to classify these interpretations into norm of regular thinking versus irregular. This test in and of itself can be quite useful in allowing for the assessment of human behavior according to trends inherent in the human condition. This test, because of the fact that it is based on visual cues and interpretation, offers forms of interpretation along the lines of broader references, rather than the narrower codes of reasoning given to
non-minorities. Thus, the test proposed here seeks to emulate such testing in a more precise manner. In fact, this test could even have an artwork component involved with participants forced to look at different paintings, such as scenes of war or battlefields and they have to select an answer which best describes how they feel regarding such a field. For instance, with a scene of a carnaged battlefield, the test taker could choose from a range of choices like: “violent actions with good intentions behind them are always justified” and “violence is always a show of strength” and “murder is one of the saddest evils of our day” and “the ends justify the means” and “what might look catastrophic is actually beautiful” and “he persecuted those who were persecuting him.” This is just an example of a sample question which would be designed to gauge people who have high tolerances for violence, for manipulating other people, for engaging in their own selfish and self-destructive options and who wish to destroy others, or who simply have delusional thinking. Other components of the test could look at statues used in cemeteries that had figures of people in mourning and ask, “When I see this statue I feel…” and the choices are: sad or shameful or neutral or elated or triumphant or discouraged. Such a question would try to determine if a given test-taker possessed basic levels of empathy. Likewise the test could even have an abstract painting portrayed to determine what the test-taker saw and felt about the shapes and colors represented there. Thus, this test would try to shake off the narrow restrictions of common psychological tests and attempt to determine the actual mode of human thought and feelings against a more universal backdrop. Fine works of art often touch upon these universal trends in the human condition and are thus incredibly useful when it comes to making such assessments. Furthermore, it would be a new way to appreciate fine art.
Development of Test Norms This type of diverse psychological testing would be ideal for both children and adults—most of the time. This is largely as a result of the fact that the methods of testing are highly visual and capitalize on the use of images which are considered universal to the human experience: fear, loss, joy, hope, development, and destruction. While some psychologists say that children don’t have the same cognitive abilities to represent one thing by another thing they way adults do, and that such a capacity must be learned, most of the children over the age of four or five who were subjected to this form of psychological testing would have at least a rudimentary understanding of this task and thus be able to engage in and understand the most fundamental constructs of such representation (Wakefield & Underwager). The only concrete arenas which would be inappropriate and ineffective for children would be any images which focus on sex or sexuality—since children don’t yet have that type of experience or reference point through which to view the world. However, such content would be appropriate as a means of testing for children who have undergone suspected abuse. “Burgess, McCausland and Wolbert (1981) claim that drawings in which a child exhibits a shift from age-appropriate figures to more disorganized objects or drawings with repeated stylized, sexualized figures indicate suspected sexual abuse. Sahd (1980) recommends using drawings as part of the evaluative interview of the sexual abuse victims and gives several examples of drawings that reflect abuse histories. Kelley (1984, 1985) believes that human figure drawings can be analyzed for ‘emotional indicators’ (signs) in young children who are unable to verbalize their trauma” (Wakefield & Underwager). Thus, any children who responded to images or artwork of a sexualized variety and were able to identify those themes might demonstrate sexual abuse. Moreover, the test would be normed on a representative group of adults and children from a range of ethnicities, educational and socioeconomic backgrounds. These individuals would have to come from families where no abuse took place and where there was no history of mental illness. The sample population would have to describe themselves as happy and non-depressed with no history of depression and would be ranked on a percentile rank of 1% to 100%.
References
Cherry, K. (2013). What Is the Rorschach Inkblot Test? Retrieved from About.com: http://psychology.about.com/od/rindex/g/rorschach-ink.htm
Reynolds, C., & Suzuki, L. (2003). Bias in Psychological Assessment. Retrieved from wileypub.com: http://lp.wileypub.com/HandbookPsychology/SampleChapters/Volume10.pdf
Wakefield, H., & Underwager, R. (n.d.). The application of images in child abuse investigations. Retrieved from http://www.tc.umn.edu/~under006/Library/Images.html