Good Example Of Q 3 Which Court Case Do You Feel Has Had The Largest Impact On The Field Of Psychological Testing? Why? Case Study

Issues in Psychological Testing Worksheet

Q 1 What are at least two ethical issues associated with psychological testing? What impact do these issues have on the field of psychological testing?
There are several ethical issues that are associated with psychological testing. Some of these ethical issues include confidentiality; competence; relationships with people who are vulnerable; and informed consent (CSBSJU, 2015). Confidentiality is a major ethical issue in psychological testing because both the consumers and psychologists are sensitive about the people who should be allowed to see or use the information gathered under consultation, therapy, or research. Private information should be kept confidential. However, the law and court may make exceptions to the confidentiality rule. Confidential information may be revealed if the information can cause harm to other people. A good example is when a client undergoing therapy reveals that she is abusing her children. The therapist is required by law to make a report to social services (CSBSJU, 2015).
Informed consent is another ethical issue that is associated with psychological testing. Psychologists, therapists, consultants, and researchers offer a lot of services to their clients. The service providers are required to make sure that the clients are well informed before consenting to these services. The clients should be told about the benefits, the risks, and the nature of the services (CSBSJU, 2015). The clients can refuse to accept the services offered once they have been informed about these services. For those services that carry some risk, the consent should be put into writing. Guardians or surrogates can consent on behalf of the clients if the clients are not in a position to consent.
The impacts of these ethical issues on psychological testing include winning the confidence of the clients because they know that their information is secure; and lawsuits in case the violation of these ethical issues cause harm to their clients.
Q 2 What are at least two legal issues associated with psychological testing? How do these issues affect the field of psychological testing?
Two legal issues that are associated with psychological testing include the accommodation of people with disabilities; and any type of discrimination. People with disabilities should be provided with facilities that accommodate them. Examples of these accommodation facilities include ramps; and larger fonts for people with poor eyesight (Hogan, 2007). The provision of these facilities enables the psychologists to accommodate all the people who require their services.
Discrimination is a kind of legal issue that affects psychological testing. The testing procedures should be uniformed so as to prevent any kind of discrimination. Discrimination based on ethnicity or race should not be tolerated. The only exception is when the test being carried out is based on various ethnicities or races (Hogan, 2007). People should also not be discriminated based on religion, sexual preference, or gender. Discrimination is seen as giving some people an unfair advantage over the other participants. The psychologists can face lawsuits if they discriminate against any of the consumers.
The legal issues can make the psychologists to neglect some of the consumers and deny them the right to undergo psychological testing. The law can nullify the results obtained from psychological testing if there is any kind of discrimination or lack of accommodation (Hogan, 2007). The consumers may end up not trusting the psychological testing, therefore, making the test unreliable. The field of psychological testing and psychology can be held accountable for legal unfairness. The validity of the psychological testing is put under risk if the psychologists engage in any kind of discrimination.

I think that the case that has had the largest impact on the field of psychological testing is the case of Griggs vs. Duke Power. Griggs together with other African American plaintiffs were suing Duke Power’s generation plant. The requirement to work at the plant was a high school diploma and passing an intelligence test. The argument placed by the plaintiffs was that discrimination against African Americans had made them not acquire high education compared to the white people. As a consequence the plaintiffs scored low on the test. The case took place in the year 1971, a time when there were reforms being made for African Americans. The Civil Rights Act had been enacted in the year 1964, but discrimination was still a big thing (Hogan, 2007). The company argued that it had no intention of discriminating any individual, but preferred to work with employees who met all the requirements. The court came to a verdict that the company was not able to establish a relationship between job performance and the intelligence tests.
The above case is important to the field of psychological testing because it shows the importance of validation. The psychologists need to prove that there is a relationship between the test and the welfare of the consumers for the test to be valid.

References

Hogan, T. P., (2007). Psychological Testing: A Practical Introduction (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley
CSBSJU, (2015). Ethical Issues in Psychology. College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. Retrieved from: https://www.csbsju.edu/psychology/student-resources/issues