Ethical and professional considerations in psychological assessment.

Abstract

Professional activities and ethical practices of psychologists who administer psychodiagnostic assessment and testing devices are explored. A return rate of 72% on a survey of WO subjects indicated considerable interest in the subject matter. A majority of the respondents' ethical practices were apparently in keeping with established ethical principles; however, a diversity of professional styles was evident. Most respondents gave feedback to the clients, with a large percentage willing to give feedback on projective as well as objective tests. Although most respondents kept old cases safely under lock, few appeared to have followed American Psychological Association guidelines to detach names from raw data on obsolete materials. Psychological or psychodiagnos tic testing is primarily taught by apprenticeshi p. Internships typically expect their better applicants to have had one or two courses on psychological testing and about 400 hours of practicum experience in testing (Petzel & Berndt, 1980). Further supervised experience for the aspiring young intern is provided in the internship. Despite formal training and supervision in testing, psychology trainees are likely to have encountered little discussion of ethical and professional standards for test administration and interpretation. Petzelt and Craddick (1978) have briefly discussed both the topic of ethics and the humanistic treatment of psychological testing, whereas Baldick (1980) has stressed that in the "age of consumerism," psychologists should not underestimate the importance of ethics training. Baldick (1980) demonstrated a strong relationship between training in ethics and increased sensitivity to ethical problems by psychology interns. Unfortunately, even those groups with formal ethics training were not sufficiently sensitive, and Baldick advocated greater sensitization of students. The neglect of ethical implications of assessment procedures is particularly troublesome, and interns and students are often exposed to role models with value systems and professional practices that are contradictory or at best confusing to a trainee struggling with his or her professional identity. Nevertheless, ethical guidelines and standards for administration and interpretation of tests are available. Principle 8 of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists (American Psychological Association [APA], 1981) suggests that in using assessment techniques, psychologists respect the right of the clients to have full explanations of the nature and purpose of the techniques in language the clients understand, unless an explicit exception to this right has been agreed upon in advance.