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ABS 300 Capella University Psychological Assessment Scenario Discussion
Take the role of a psychological examiner administering a standardized test of intelligence to Johnny, an 8-year-old boy, as a part of a research project. Carefully review the Assessment Scenario
In your initial post, begin by describing your current understanding of the concept of intelligence. Based on your description of intelligence, evaluate Johnny’s response in comparison to the responses identified as correct in the standardization manual. First, clearly state your decision whether or not to score Johnny’s answer as correct or incorrect. Explain your rationale. Analyze the “four seasons of the year” test item in terms of at least two of the following psychological measurement concepts: reliability, predictive validity, content validity, and cultural fairness. Evaluate the standards in the APA’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct that address testing bias and the strategies for multicultural assessments discussed in the article by Horin, Hernandez & Donoso (2012) in light of the current scenario. Conclude your post by explaining how you would interpret the assessment results to Johnny and his parents.
Peer 1
Intelligence is the ability of an individual to learn from their experiences and adapt to the environment. It is a process that involves the acquiring, processing, and storing of information that helps the individual dominate the environment they inhabit. Johnny’s response to the general question will adopt my school of thought on intelligence. The child acquired information and processed it to enable him to adapt to his environment. Johnny’s family lives in a rural setting, and thus most of the answers that Johnny would offer revolve around his cultural setting. I would mark the answer as correct since marking it as wrong would give a false negative.
Psychological measurement concepts help the researcher ensure that the tests would give consistent results. Content validity is an essential factor while creating test questions and answers. Content validity ensures that a test measures what it is supposed to measure. An intelligence test should measure intelligence and not memory. The scores offered on the test seem to account for memory and not intelligence. Cultural fairness ensures that the test measures intelligence per the environment setting. While the child might have been taught the four seasons to adapt to the environment, Johnny learned the seasons according to dominant activities. The test does not provide an allowance for cultural fairness and is thus not an appropriate question.
The world is full of multiple cultures. Horin, Hernandez & Donoso (2012) state that cultural factors can impact standardized tests. The researchers propose the use of multicultural assessment when issuing standardized tests. The APA code of ethics provides that researchers consider the different cultures when creating a test, but this was rarely adhered to in content creation (Horin, Hernandez & Donoso (2012). The implications of this are observed in the intelligence tests that Johnny undertook. In a city-based setting, the test would be relevant than for Johnny, who lives in the countryside.
Peer 2
My definition for intelligence is gain knowledge and apply it. The information obtained can come from different sources. When my client Johnny was asked to name the four seasons, his responses with technically not correct nor typical. Instead of saying, Spring, summer, winter and fall, Johnny said deer, duck, rabbit and squirrel. The answers given seems to be equivalent to the standard text based on his cultural background.
The answers Johnny gave is incorrect. I understand his responses correlate with his background however animals are not seasons. The answers given is simply incorrect. Johnny must be corrected. Are these answers more acceptable because of his age? If he were older and never moved from his small town, would his answers still be acceptable as an adult.
When I analyze the four-season test, I can identify predictive validity and reliability as the psychological measurement. According to my reading, researchers take consistent variables into consideration when they are amongst the general population (Cohen, 2018). No matter where you live there are four season for the year. With that being said the answer can be predicted based on facts. Now I understand his cultural plays a big factor on why he answered the questions the way he did. I feel this test did not pertain to his culture. If the test was based on specific areas, then the answers provided would be more fitting however the question was general which needed general answers.
The ethical principles regarding this test were followed the first go around. The parents volunteered to participate which means they gave consent. They also received the results of the test for free as well. Once results were established, they were informed. The second informal test was not ethical as they were not paid for a second test nor where they informed of a second test. They came for an interpretation meeting, not another test considered informal. The parents should give consent and incentive for the second test like the first one.
I would consider the results to be skewed. If I did not consult with a colleague that is familiar with the town Johnny is from then the results would be interpret differently.
