PSY 370 FINAL EXAM verified with correct answers 2026/2027 version
Discrimination:
Who is protected? Why is this relevant to testing?- answer>>>Civil Rights Act, 1964 -
prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, and gender.
Applies to a wide variety of decisions - employment, education, housing, etc.
Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - among other things, sets
guidelines for fair and appropriate employment testing
Discrimination:
How are the consequences or results of the test considered in deciding whether
discrimination is occurring?- answer>>>If minority and majority group members get
different scores, is the problem with the test?
Or is there a real difference with another cause?
Discrimination:
Can a test show differences between majority and minority group members and yet not
be considered discriminatory? If so, when?- answer>>>
Disability: How should persons with disabilities be tested? When must schools and
other organizations make accommodations for a person whose disability might impair
their performance on a test?- answer>>>Education for All Handicapped Children, 1975 -
requires appropriate, professional testing of children suspected to have a disability.
-Goal is to determine child's educational needs and meet them.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act , 1997 - requires appropriate testing to
establish disability status and educational progress.
-Educational progress tests must accommodate students with disabilities as far as is
reasonably possible.
Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990 - prohibits discrimination on the basis of
disabilities.
Education: How are tests used in the No Child Left Behind Act?- answer>>>No Child
Left Behind, 2001 - holds schools accountable for student improvement by assessing
progress on standardized tests.
Test-Takers' Rights: What rights are given to test-takers under federal law?-
answer>>>Test-Takers' Rights
Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, 1974 - parents and students have the right to
access school records, including tests.
-May request a hearing to challenge test scores.
,Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, 1996 - individuals have the right to
know (and control) who has access to their medical information, including psychological
test results.
What is case law? How is it different from legislated laws and statutes?-
answer>>>Legislation is necessarily broad.
Details of how to implement the law are often worked out over time.
When there is dispute about how to implement a law, it often ends up in court.
A judge's ruling sets precedent that other cases must follow unless the ruling is
overturned.
Within the same court level - state, appeals, supreme.
This means that the judge's ruling essentially tells us what will be considered legal or
illegal in the future.
Why do test users need to be aware of case law?- answer>>>
What are APA's five general ethical principles?
Be able to give examples of each in a testing context - not just a research context.-
answer>>>1. Beneficence and Nonmaleficence
-Do good; avoid doing harm. Consider the effects of your choices on others.
2. Fidelity and Responsibility
-Understand that you are in a position of trust. Be accountable; address conflicts of
interest.
3. Integrity
-Encourage accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness.
-When it's necessary to be deceptive, do so very carefully.
-Deception by omission counts too.
4. Justice
-Ensure that all people have equal access to services and equal quality of service.
5. Respect for People's Rights and Dignity
-Acknowledge the dignity and worth of all people. -Respect all people's rights to privacy,
confidentiality, and self-determination.
-Respect cultural, individual, and role differences.
In addition to APA, what other organizations or groups have issued standards relevant
to psychological testing?- answer>>>American Educational Research Association,
Association of Test Publishers, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
What are the four basic rights of test takers, according to the APA principles?-
answer>>>1. Privacy and Confendentiality
-People have a basic legal right to choose what they share about themselves and who
they share it with.
-Test results must be kept secure.
2. Informed consent:
Does the test-taker know what he or she is getting into?
, -Applies to ALL testing situations, not just research!
-This information needs to be presented in a way that is understandable to the test-
taker.
-Amount of detail varies by purpose of the test.
3. Knowing and Understanding Results
-Test-takers have a right to know the results of the test.
-Pass/fail? Diagnosis? Score and how it compares to others.
-Honestly... not just telling test-takers what they want to hear.
-Need to be communicated in an appropriate and sensitive manner.
-What decisions or recommendations will be made based on the test?
-Will the test results be thrown out?
-Again, amount of detail varies by purpose.
4. The least stigmatizing label
-Test results often include or imply labels: "Extravert" "Neurotic" "Below average"
-Research shows that labels have consequences. -Reputation, self-fulfilling prophecy,
etc.
-Does resistance to testing come from a fear of labels?
-APA recommends avoiding labels as much as possible. "Neurotic" vs. "A person high
in Neuroticism"
-When we must categorize, try to avoid labels that carry stigma.
What is the difference between confidentiality and anonymity?- answer>>>-
Confidentiality = information should not be shared with someone other than the client
without the client's permission.
-NOT the same as anonymity: being unknown
Must confidentiality be maintained even if an outside person (e.g., a teacher or a
manager) has a good reason for wanting access to the testing information? Under what
circumstances could test information be shared with someone other than the test
taker?- answer>>>-There are many situations in which it is necessary to share test
results - but the test-taker needs to know who will be given what information before they
are tested (or before the information is released).
What does a test taker need to know in order to give informed consent to being tested?-
answer>>>Before they take the test, test takers must be told:
Why they are being tested.
How the data will be used.
Who will have access to the information.
What does it mean to use the least stigmatizing label? Why is this important?-
answer>>>
What does APA say a test user needs to know before they are qualified to use a test?-
answer>>>Basic psychometrics.
Discrimination:
Who is protected? Why is this relevant to testing?- answer>>>Civil Rights Act, 1964 -
prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, and gender.
Applies to a wide variety of decisions - employment, education, housing, etc.
Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - among other things, sets
guidelines for fair and appropriate employment testing
Discrimination:
How are the consequences or results of the test considered in deciding whether
discrimination is occurring?- answer>>>If minority and majority group members get
different scores, is the problem with the test?
Or is there a real difference with another cause?
Discrimination:
Can a test show differences between majority and minority group members and yet not
be considered discriminatory? If so, when?- answer>>>
Disability: How should persons with disabilities be tested? When must schools and
other organizations make accommodations for a person whose disability might impair
their performance on a test?- answer>>>Education for All Handicapped Children, 1975 -
requires appropriate, professional testing of children suspected to have a disability.
-Goal is to determine child's educational needs and meet them.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act , 1997 - requires appropriate testing to
establish disability status and educational progress.
-Educational progress tests must accommodate students with disabilities as far as is
reasonably possible.
Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990 - prohibits discrimination on the basis of
disabilities.
Education: How are tests used in the No Child Left Behind Act?- answer>>>No Child
Left Behind, 2001 - holds schools accountable for student improvement by assessing
progress on standardized tests.
Test-Takers' Rights: What rights are given to test-takers under federal law?-
answer>>>Test-Takers' Rights
Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, 1974 - parents and students have the right to
access school records, including tests.
-May request a hearing to challenge test scores.
,Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, 1996 - individuals have the right to
know (and control) who has access to their medical information, including psychological
test results.
What is case law? How is it different from legislated laws and statutes?-
answer>>>Legislation is necessarily broad.
Details of how to implement the law are often worked out over time.
When there is dispute about how to implement a law, it often ends up in court.
A judge's ruling sets precedent that other cases must follow unless the ruling is
overturned.
Within the same court level - state, appeals, supreme.
This means that the judge's ruling essentially tells us what will be considered legal or
illegal in the future.
Why do test users need to be aware of case law?- answer>>>
What are APA's five general ethical principles?
Be able to give examples of each in a testing context - not just a research context.-
answer>>>1. Beneficence and Nonmaleficence
-Do good; avoid doing harm. Consider the effects of your choices on others.
2. Fidelity and Responsibility
-Understand that you are in a position of trust. Be accountable; address conflicts of
interest.
3. Integrity
-Encourage accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness.
-When it's necessary to be deceptive, do so very carefully.
-Deception by omission counts too.
4. Justice
-Ensure that all people have equal access to services and equal quality of service.
5. Respect for People's Rights and Dignity
-Acknowledge the dignity and worth of all people. -Respect all people's rights to privacy,
confidentiality, and self-determination.
-Respect cultural, individual, and role differences.
In addition to APA, what other organizations or groups have issued standards relevant
to psychological testing?- answer>>>American Educational Research Association,
Association of Test Publishers, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
What are the four basic rights of test takers, according to the APA principles?-
answer>>>1. Privacy and Confendentiality
-People have a basic legal right to choose what they share about themselves and who
they share it with.
-Test results must be kept secure.
2. Informed consent:
Does the test-taker know what he or she is getting into?
, -Applies to ALL testing situations, not just research!
-This information needs to be presented in a way that is understandable to the test-
taker.
-Amount of detail varies by purpose of the test.
3. Knowing and Understanding Results
-Test-takers have a right to know the results of the test.
-Pass/fail? Diagnosis? Score and how it compares to others.
-Honestly... not just telling test-takers what they want to hear.
-Need to be communicated in an appropriate and sensitive manner.
-What decisions or recommendations will be made based on the test?
-Will the test results be thrown out?
-Again, amount of detail varies by purpose.
4. The least stigmatizing label
-Test results often include or imply labels: "Extravert" "Neurotic" "Below average"
-Research shows that labels have consequences. -Reputation, self-fulfilling prophecy,
etc.
-Does resistance to testing come from a fear of labels?
-APA recommends avoiding labels as much as possible. "Neurotic" vs. "A person high
in Neuroticism"
-When we must categorize, try to avoid labels that carry stigma.
What is the difference between confidentiality and anonymity?- answer>>>-
Confidentiality = information should not be shared with someone other than the client
without the client's permission.
-NOT the same as anonymity: being unknown
Must confidentiality be maintained even if an outside person (e.g., a teacher or a
manager) has a good reason for wanting access to the testing information? Under what
circumstances could test information be shared with someone other than the test
taker?- answer>>>-There are many situations in which it is necessary to share test
results - but the test-taker needs to know who will be given what information before they
are tested (or before the information is released).
What does a test taker need to know in order to give informed consent to being tested?-
answer>>>Before they take the test, test takers must be told:
Why they are being tested.
How the data will be used.
Who will have access to the information.
What does it mean to use the least stigmatizing label? Why is this important?-
answer>>>
What does APA say a test user needs to know before they are qualified to use a test?-
answer>>>Basic psychometrics.
