ETHICAL PRACTICES OF

ASSESSMENT
Presented By
Febin George Jacob
M.Sc Psychology Semester 3
Krsitu Jyoti College of Management and Technology
1. Developing a Professional Relationship

■ A clearly defined professional relationship is essential for ethical psychological

assessment. This involves:
■ Mutual Agreement: The clinician and client must discuss and agree on the
nature, purpose, and conditions of the assessment. This includes providing
information on the type and duration of the assessment, alternative
procedures, appointment details, confidentiality limits, financial requirements,
and other relevant details. Signed informed consent is typically required.
■ Impact of Rapport: The quality of the professional relationship significantly
influences assessment outcomes. Research demonstrates:
– Positive verbal reinforcement and friendly conversation can increase
WISC-R scores in older children by an average of 13 IQ points compared to
neutral interactions.
– Mildly disapproving comments can lower performance.
– Familiarity between the examiner and child can raise IQ scores by
approximately four points.
– Culturally relevant feedback from African American examiners to African
■ Examiner Responsibilities: Clinicians must:
– Recognize and mitigate their own expectations, which can subtly
influence client performance through nonverbal behaviors.
– Assess the client’s emotional state, including motivation and anxiety, as
these can affect results. For example, high anxiety during intelligence
testing may require adjusting estimates of optimal intellectual
functioning or discontinuing testing if situational factors significantly
impact performance.
– Ensure objectivity in administration and scoring, as subjective liking of a
client can lead to biased scoring of ambiguous or unambiguous
responses.
2. Invasion of Privacy

■ Privacy, defined as the individual’s right to control the sharing of personal thoughts,
feelings, and life facts, is critical to maintaining dignity and self-determination. Key
considerations include:
■ Concerns in Testing: Psychological tests, particularly personality assessments, may
inadvertently reveal sensitive information (e.g., IQ scores or personality traits) that
clients wish to keep private. Public misconceptions about test accuracy and scope
amplify these concerns.
■ APA Ethical Guidelines: Information can only be released with the client’s
permission, except in cases involving minors or when clients pose a danger to
themselves or others. Clients generally control how their data is used.
■ Contextual Challenges: In personnel selection, applicants may feel pressured to
disclose personal information or may do so unknowingly through subtle questions.
Extensive testing may be justified for high-stakes roles (e.g., police or military
positions), but clear explanations and informed consent are required.
■ Best Practices: Examiners must provide a clear rationale for test selection, ensure
test validity for the intended purpose, and communicate the purpose and potential
uses of data in understandable language. A respectful and forthright introduction
reduces perceptions of privacy invasion.
3. Inviolacy

■ Inviolacy refers to the negative emotional reactions clients may experience

during testing, particularly when confronted with sensitive or taboo topics
(e.g., MMPI questions on sexual practices, bodily functions, or personal
beliefs). Key points include:
■ Emotional Impact: Such questions can provoke anxiety by surfacing deviant
thoughts or repressed memories, challenging personal norms.
■ Mitigation Strategies: Addressing inviolacy requires one-on-one sensitivity,
clear explanations of the assessment process, and accurate information to
reduce discomfort and build trust.
 4. Labeling and Restriction of Freedom

■ Labeling in psychological assessment can have significant consequences, including:

■ Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: Labels like “chronic schizophrenic” can lead to suboptimal
treatment and reinforce expected behaviors, often communicated nonverbally.
■ Social Stigma: Public misconceptions about psychiatric diagnoses can result in social
avoidance of labeled individuals.
■ Self-Acceptance of Labels: Clients may use labels to excuse or deny responsibility,
aligning with a medical model that views them as victims, potentially perpetuating
behavioral issues.
■ Organizational Impact: In personnel selection, rigid criteria based on past success may
limit diversity and innovation by overlooking individuals with new perspectives.
■ Ethical Considerations: Clinicians must be sensitive to the negative impacts of labeling
and promote client responsibility to facilitate behavioral change. Selection criteria should
account for future trends and diversity.
5. Competent Use of Assessment Instruments

■ Competent administration and interpretation of psychological tests require

extensive training and adherence to professional standards. Key aspects include:
■ Training Requirements: Proper use involves graduate coursework and
supervised experience, particularly for individually administered intelligence and
personality tests. Students conducting assessments for training must disclose this
to subjects.
■ Skills Needed:
– Evaluating a test’s technical strengths, limitations, reliability, and validity.
– Selecting appropriate tests based on purpose, context, and population.
– Understanding test manuals, subgroup norms, and relevant research.
– Avoiding misuse of tests for unintended purposes (e.g., using MMPI-2 for
personnel screening or TAT for IQ estimation).
■ Examiner Influences: Factors such as examiner expectations, deviations from
standardized instructions, rapport, examinee mood, or life changes can affect
performance. Clinicians must account for these variables.
■ Special Considerations: Attention to faking (using tests with validity scales like MMPI-2 or
projective techniques) and the limitations of short-form tests, which are generally not
substitutes for comprehensive assessments.
■ Professional Guidelines: Organizations like the APA provide data-based qualifications for
test users, requiring expertise, training, and quality control.
 6. Accurate Interpretation

■ Accurate interpretation of test results is a complex process that goes beyond norms and
cutoff scores. Key considerations include:
■ Holistic Approach: Interpretations must integrate the client’s unique characteristics with
test data, resolving contradictions from multiple data sources.
■ Updating Knowledge: Test norms and materials become outdated, requiring clinicians to
stay current with research and new test versions (recommended every 10 years).
■ Evidence-Based Selection: Test selection, scoring, and interpretation should be grounded
in evidence of validity for the specific context and population.
■ Computer-Based Interpretations: While useful, computer-generated reports have a high
error rate (40% or more inaccuracies) and should serve as an adjunct to clinical judgment,
not a replacement. Cutting and pasting narratives into reports raises ethical concerns.
■ Clinician Accountability: The clinician’s signature on a report signifies full responsibility
for its interpretations and recommendations.
 7. Communicating Test Results

■ Effective communication of test results is critical to achieving the assessment’s purpose.

Best practices include:
■ Clear Language: Results should be presented in clear, everyday language tailored to the
needs and vocabulary of the client and referral source (e.g., parents or teachers).
■ Comprehensive Feedback: Explain the rationale for testing, test nature, general
conclusions, limitations, and common misconceptions. For children, involve relevant
professionals and family members in feedback sessions.
■ Behavioral References: Frame results with specific behavioral examples (e.g., instead of
“IQ of 130 with strengths in spatial organization,” describe the child as “functioning in the
top 2% and excelling at organizing nonverbal material like puzzles or building a
playhouse”).
■ Consideration of Recipients: Account for the recipient’s educational level, knowledge of
testing, and emotional response. Offer counseling if needed.
■ Impact of Feedback: Well-delivered feedback can reduce distress, enhance self-esteem,
and serve as part of the intervention process.
 8. Maintenance of Test Security and Assessment Information

■ Maintaining test security is crucial to preserving test validity and protecting client
information. Key practices include:
■ Test Security: Store tests in secure locations, prevent access by untrained individuals, and
avoid duplicating copyrighted materials.
■ Data Access: Raw data should not be released to those likely to misinterpret it. Clients
have a right to their reports upon written request and can designate recipients.
■ Result Security: Only designated individuals (client and referral source) should access
results unless a release is provided. Challenges arise in medical settings with treatment
team access or in managed care environments with interconnected databases.
■ Legal Contexts: If courts request raw data or test materials, clinicians should inform them
of ethical guidelines prohibiting release to untrained persons. Alternatives include
designating a trained professional to explain the data.
REFERENCES
■ Groth-Marnat, G. (2003). Handbook of psychological assessment (4th
ed.). John Wiley & Sons.