Week 2 - Summative Assessment - Legal and Ethical Aspects of Psychological Testing HF

docx

School

University of Phoenix *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

655

Subject

Psychology

Date

Feb 20, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by ChiefNewt162

Summative Assessment: Legal And Ethical Aspects of Psychological Testing By: Henry Ford Jr. Psych/655 Instructor: Thomas Pourchot 02.12.2024

Historically, there has always been a question of whether the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or the American College test give any actual indication of success in a college setting, for a student. The ACT and SAT are the two most widely recognized standardized tests used in the college admission process within the United States. The ACT is more of an assessment that evaluates a student’s understanding of their high school coursework such as English, reading, math, and science. Many colleges use these scores to help give them an idea of how successful a student would be if they are granted admission into a particular institution. According to (Lindsay, 2013-2024) On the ACT, the highest score you can get is a 36 and the lowest score is technically a one. Since both the SAT and ACT scores help to determine scholarship opportunities, there is a chance that an individual will not have the same opportunities as other students depending on the actual area of educational opportunity. It has never been a secret that there are some schools in certain minority neighborhoods that do not match the same level of educational opportunity, as areas that are more non-minorities. Our common sense tells us that people with less access to quality education are least likely to do well on the SAT or the ACT. There has always been a gap between quality education and fair standardized testing with the United States. Below is a breakdown of ACT scoring metrics:  The lowest 10 percent of scores are below a 14 composite, so anything less than that would be considered a very low score.  The bottom 25 percent of scores earned a composite score of 16 or lower, which would also be considered a low score.  The 50 th percentile scores on the ACT is around a 20 composite, which represents the national average.

 The 75 th percentile scores a 24, which means anything above a 24 composite is considered a good score at the national level. According to (McNeish, Radunzel, & Sanchez, 2016) Race/ ethnicity and other demographic characteristics (including socioeconomic status, parental education level, and gender) accounted for a small percentage of the variance in ACT scores (45 or below), after high school coursework and grades, school characteristics, and other noncognitive student characteristics were taken into account. Culture and background may lead to the inaccuracy of assessments, including traditional tests and alternative assessments. Most standardized testing assessments have an intention to measure the level of intelligence and general knowledge of an individual. However, the measurements are determined based on the knowledge and the values of the majority groups. This is what can create bias against minority groups including gender, race, community status, and persons with different language backgrounds, socioeconomic status, and culture. The objective is to avoid creating bias when creating an assessment by understanding that there can be assessment challenges due to culturally specific interpretation of the testing item. There have been lawsuits claiming the SAT and the ACT are bias and should not be used as part of the college entrance process. A lawsuit presented in the state of California touched on the points of the college testing being bias against specific protected classes. According to (Elsesser, 2019) the lawsuit argues that using the test violates the state’s anti-discrimination statute because it disadvantages children of color, children from low-income families and children with disabilities. The idea of not having to take the SAT or ACT in order to get into college, would actually help to include more minorities who may not have the opportunity to

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

do so under the current mandatory ask. The main question that was presented by the lawsuit, surrounded whether the SAT or ACT testing, was truly conducive to measuring intelligence in a fair and unbiased manner. However, the SATs does not measure any specific innate ability to learn, but rather measure if there is any sort of develop reasoning or skills not developed just in a school setting. Outside of testing just to get into college, the SATs not accurately predict any type of life outcome. Standardized testing does not always mean testing for intelligence. In actuality, standardized tests are formulated to only show how strong of a test taker an individual is by the amount of information that has been memorized during the school year. Many ethical implications can take place in any study. Risk of distress, loss, adverse impact, injury or psychological or other harm to any individual participant/ researcher/ bystander or participant group overall. Section 9 of the APA code of ethics contains a guide that allows the psychologist to make a statement about people they have not been able to be thoroughly evaluated. When you determine that a situation involves ethics and you don’t think is a responsibility, it is likely to be an ethical dilemma (Feeny, & Freeman, 2016). The APA code of ethics standards has continually been improved over its years of existence. Standards 9.01 covers for the base for assessments where psychologists use informational data to formulate opinions. The use of the assessments from information discovered and research is covered in Standards 9.02 Use of Assessments. The entire section 9 of the APA code of ethics continues to be improved as testing is implemented for different informational needs. In 2018, combined SAT scores for Asian and White students averaged over 1100, while all other groups averaged below 1000 (Elsesser, 2019). Any testing assessment that is created with a majority

knowledge understanding, will create discrimination due to the lack of opportunity for certain minority classes. Understanding and tackling sensitive topics such as discrimination and bias is a duty and is important for client and patient well-being, as well as educational success. A psychologists should always consider the potential outcomes of any assessments and include worse case scenarios in order to be proactive in planning necessary steps to reduce any potential harm. Most ethical controversies are dilemmas without an easy answer. A valid dilemma is primarily when both sides have valid arguments, so assessments and testing may help to provide clarity. I think one of the best ways that the ethics codes have improved to help reduce discrimination in assessments is by allowing the opportunity to add some sort of creativity assessments to be added to some of the traditional methods of testing or alternative testing. The ethics codes help to ensure that people are able to get the most optimal care on an individual basis, while creating new study materials for future research. The APA principles we designed with many psychological considerations in mind such as voluntary participation, informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, potential for harm, and the communication of results. As the world continues to turn, different assessments and research studies are conducted to ensure that past information or data is still relevant, then allows for that research to be expanded upon. In the current state of mind, a psychologist can be confident that when they have done the right thing the code of ethics is there to back them up as they can rely on this guide to help explain why a difficult or unpopular decision was made.

References: Lindsay, S. (2013). What’s a good ACT score? That depends on your definition! What’s a Good ACT Score? That Depends on Your Definition! https://blogprepscholar.com/whats-a-good-act- score-that-depends-on-your-definition . McNeish, D. M., Radunzel, J., & Sanchez, E. (2016) Adjusted differences in ACT scores by Race/Ethnicity. Adjusted Differences in ACT scores by Race/Ethnicity. https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/5692-data-byte-2016-7- adjusted-difference-in-act-scores-by-race.pdf . Elsesser, K. (2019) Lawsuit claims sat and act are biased-here’s what research says. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2019/12/11/lawsuit-claims-sat-and-act-biased- heres-what-research-says/?sh=6e5a35723c42 . Feeney, S., & Freeman, N. K. (2016). Focus on Ethics: Ethical Issues-responsibilities and dilemmas. NAEYC. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/mar2016/ethical-responsibilities- dilemmas .

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Related Documents

psy300 WK8_final_presentation_template EDIT.pptx

Week 4 - Strategies for Encoding, Retention, and Retrieval HF.docx

Week 3 - Ethical Implication of Privacy, Confidentiality, and Informed Consent HF.docx

Week 5 - Summative Assessment - Psychological Theories of Learning Powerpoint HF.pptx

Week 6 - Summative Assessment - Executive Functioning - Problem Solving HF.docx

soomo questions.docx

Week 6 Journal .pdf

Assignment 3 CTED 0635.docx

Annotated Bibliography PSYC 365.docx

Control.docx

Final.docx

Discussion Cognitive Behavior Therapy or Choice Reality Therapy.docx

Recommended textbooks for you

Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)

Psychology

ISBN:9780134477961

Author:Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White

Publisher:PEARSON

Cognitive Psychology

Psychology

ISBN:9781337408271

Author:Goldstein, E. Bruce.

Publisher:Cengage Learning,

Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and ...

Psychology

ISBN:9781337565691

Author:Dennis Coon, John O. Mitterer, Tanya S. Martini

Publisher:Cengage Learning

Psychology in Your Life (Second Edition)

Psychology

ISBN:9780393265156

Author:Sarah Grison, Michael Gazzaniga

Publisher:W. W. Norton & Company

Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research a...

Psychology

ISBN:9781285763880

Author:E. Bruce Goldstein

Publisher:Cengage Learning

Theories of Personality (MindTap Course List)

Psychology

ISBN:9781305652958

Author:Duane P. Schultz, Sydney Ellen Schultz

Publisher:Cengage Learning

SEE MORE TEXTBOOKS

Recommended textbooks for you

Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)
Psychology
ISBN:9780134477961
Author:Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White
Publisher:PEARSON
Cognitive Psychology
Psychology
ISBN:9781337408271
Author:Goldstein, E. Bruce.
Publisher:Cengage Learning,
Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and ...
Psychology
ISBN:9781337565691
Author:Dennis Coon, John O. Mitterer, Tanya S. Martini
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Psychology in Your Life (Second Edition)
Psychology
ISBN:9780393265156
Author:Sarah Grison, Michael Gazzaniga
Publisher:W. W. Norton & Company
Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research a...
Psychology
ISBN:9781285763880
Author:E. Bruce Goldstein
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Theories of Personality (MindTap Course List)
Psychology
ISBN:9781305652958
Author:Duane P. Schultz, Sydney Ellen Schultz
Publisher:Cengage Learning