Ethics are moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity. An ethical issue is a problem or a situation that requires a person or an organization to choose between two alternatives that must be evaluated as ethical) or unethical. To prevent ethical issues in a psychological testing, certain rules and guidelines have been laid down by psychological organizations. The American Heritage Dictionary has defined culture as, “the arts, beliefs, customs, institutions and all other products of human thought created by people or a group at a particular time.”
A cultural issue in testing is when test results are inaccurate because of the cultural differences in the subjects. An example of this would be, Asian students, who scored high in maths tests in their home country, were scoring very low on maths tests in the U.S. It was assumed that they scored poorly because the levels of difficulty of maths problems in their schools are not as high as they are in the U.S. But in reality, it was because the problems were verbal and not numerical, which means that the students did not understand the problem because of the language and not because they were not very good at maths.
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Ethical codes establish the identity of a profession, inform its members about the expectations of the profession and help to maintain public trust. The primary concern of ethical codes is to encourage ethical thinking and decision making as compared to rule following. There are two major purposes of ethical codes which are reflected in ethical standards and ethical principles. The purpose of ethical standards is to regulate professional behavior through monitoring and through disciplinary action against those who violate them. The purpose of ethical principles is to promote optimal behavior by providing aspiration principles that encourage reflection and decision making within a moral framework.
Ethical codes for psychologists have been developed by at least 71 national psychological associations around the world. The American Psychological Association (APA), for instance, came up with ‘Scientific and Professional Ethics Committee’ in late 1930’s where they would investigate the complaints of unethical behavior. In 1953, the first guiding principles were shaped by an eight-member Committee on Ethical standards for Psychology under the leadership of Nicholas Hobbs. ‘A Summary of Ethical Principles’ was published by the association. Generally we see that ethics and legality go hand-in- hand but it does not mean that what is unethical is always illegal. However, if any of the APA members or non-members behaves unethically, she/he can be sued by the client and their license to practice can be terminated. The Rules and Procedures of APA Ethics Committee guides the clients in the procedure of filing, investigating and resolving complains of unethical behavior.
There are Five General Principles in the Ethics’ Code which are as follows:-
1. Principle A- Beneficence and Non-Malfeasance.
Psychologists strive to benefit those with whom they were causing no harm. They also seeks to safeguard the welfare and rights of those with whom they interact professionally and other affected persons, and the welfare of animal subjects of research. When a conflict occurs, they are supposed to deal with it in a way that avoids or reduces harm.
2. Principle B Fidelity and Responsibility.
Psychologists should establish a relationship of trust with those whom they work with. They are aware of their scientific and professional responsibilities to their specific communities in which they work as well as the broader society. They are obliged to uphold professional standards of conduct, clearly state their roles and obligations and resolve conflicts of interest that could lead to harm. They consult other professionals to serve the best interests of those with whom they work. They can contribute a portion of their professional time for little or no personal gain.
3. Principle C- Integrity.
Psychologists work to promote accuracy, honesty and truthfulness in the science, teaching and practice of psychology. They so not steal, cheat or engage on fraud, subterfuge or intentionally misinterpret facts. Situations in which deception of the participant is ethically justifiable to maximize benefits and minimize harm, they have an obligation to consider the need for, the possible consequence of and their responsibility to correct any resulting mistrust or other harmful effects that could be the result of the use of such methods.
4. Principle D- Justice.
Psychologists must recognise that justice allows all people to access and benefit from the contributions of psychology and to equal quality in the processes and services provided by psychologists. As psychologists, they must also exercise reasonable judgement.
5. Principle E- Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity.
Psychologists must respect the dignity of all people and he rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality and self-determination. They know, respect cultural and individual differences which includes age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language and socio-economic status and consider them when working with members of these groups. They work to remove the effect of biases on their work and do not knowingly participate or promote activities of others based on such prejudices
These general principles are inspirational in nature and their intent is to guide and inspire psychologists to achieve high ethical standards in their profession. These General Principles do not represent obligation as opposed to the Ethical Standards. The Ethics Code has ten Specific Ethical Standards. The ninth section mentions ethics in assessment.
The various ethical issues in psychological testing are:
Test User Competence: Before undertaking an evaluation, the test taker should be competent enough to provide that particular service to the client. Psychologists are ethically bound not to promote the use of tests by individuals who are not trained; with the exception of if it is being used for training under appropriate supervision. However it is difficult as to what constitutes as qualifications to conduct an assessment because of the its complex nature, the diverse settings and the differences in the backgrounds and training of individuals providing the assessment services.
Informed Consent: Successful researches depend on the readiness of its participants. In some researches, the participants receive some compensation or even money. In others the people volunteer to be participants. Either way the participant and the researcher enter into a sort of social contract, either an informal one, where a verbal agreement is made, or a formal one which includes a written statement signed by the researcher and the participant. It is required that the participant be informed of all the components of the research that my influence their influence to participate. This is absolutely important when they are to be exposed to more than minimal risk.
The Right to Results: The participant should have a right to their results. They must be informed of the purpose for which the results will be used. The ethical principles require that the participants should be informed about the purpose of the test. This is to prevent the use of the results for purposes other than the ones specified.
Confidentiality: The participant’s personal information and the data provided by them must be kept anonymous unless they give full consent to do so.
Test Security: The test materials should be kept safely. The test items should not be revealed, except in training programs or when it is mandated by the law.
Labeling: After an assessment is done, using of psychiatric labels can be damaging. People usually have little knowledge about psychological disorders and there is a very negative stigma around it. Thus, while diagnosing a person it is safe to use the least stigmatizing label. But the downside to this is that a less stigmatized word which may be incorrect which could lead to the client receiving inappropriate treatment.
References:
American Psychological Association Code of Ethics – apa.org. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/
Ethical Issues in Psychological Testing. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2017, from http://icelab.psych.uw.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Ethical.pdf
Ethical Issues in Psychological Testing. (2016, January 26). Retrieved October 4, 2017, from http://www.paypervids.com/ethical-issues-psychological-testing/
Koocher, G. P., & Rey-Casserly, C. M. (n.d.). Ethical Issues in Psychological Testing. Retrieved October 4, 2017, from https://teachingpsychology.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/7-ethical-issues-in-assessment.pdf
Palladino Schultheiss, D. E., & Stead, G. B. (n.d.). Ethical Issues in Testing and Assessment. Retrieved October 4, 2017, from https://page-one.live.cf.public.springer.com/pdf/preview/10.1007/978-1-4020-6230-8_30
Psychological tests. (n.d.). Retrieved October 03, 2017, from http://medicaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/psychological+tests
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