Culture and test session behavior: Part I.

Abstract

The relationship between culture (circumscribed by race, ethnicity, country of origin, language, and/or social class) and test session behavior (TSB) on group and individual tests of intelligence and/or achievement is evaluated with respect to the quality of evidence offered in support of knowledge claims. Four relevant categories in the literature are identified: (1) speculative theories, (2) studies of standardized measures of test session behavior, (3) TSB experimental research, and (4) research in cross-cultural test development. In Part I of a two-part series, key literature from the first two categories is reviewed.The relationship between cultural factors and testing is a popular topic of study in modern psychology (Miller-

The 2002 revision of the American Psychological Association's ethics code: Implications for school psychologists

“…There are no simple answers; however, there exists growing agreement in the literature that practitioners must seek knowledge about the pupil's cultural background, language proficiency, and degree of acculturation, and that this knowledge should inform test selection, examiner interaction style, assessment interpretation, and intervention planning. Furthermore, there is growing consensus that a service-delivery model emphasizing early (pre-referral) intervention may help safeguard ethnic, racial, and linguistic minority children from unnecessary testing and the risk of misdiagnosis or misclassification (see American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 1999;Dana, 2000;Frisby, 1999aFrisby, ,1999bJitendra & Rohena-Diaz, 1996;Lopez, 1997Lopez, , 2002Ortiz, 2002;Paredes Scribner, 2002;Reynolds, Lowe, & Saenz, 1999).…”

Intervention Validity of Cognitive Assessment

“…Furthermore, test developers (and users) assume that test takers reproduce this sequence of thought on future tasks of similar complexity and content. Several studies indicate that test takers respond correctly despite using patterns and sequences of thought that are unrelated to the knowledge and skills assumed to be required by test items (e.g., Leighton, Gierl, & Hunka, 2004) and that behaviors exhibited in test settings do not generalize to other settings (Frisby, 1999). Moreover, test wiseness and use of alternative knowledge not targeted by test items may also influence test performance (Haladyna & Downing, 2004).…”

Hispanic Test-Session Behavior on the Woodcock Johnson Psychoeducational Battery— Third Edition

“…The authors found that 10 instances of item bias (3 of which showed bias against Hispanics and 1 of which showed bias against Blacks) did not significantly exceed the expected experiment-wise error rate. Frisby (1999) conducted a study designed to identify groups that would obtain better or worse TSB ratings than what their WISC-III Full Scale IQ or Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT) Total Composite scores would predict. The effects of WISC-III Full Scale IQ or WIAT Total Composite scores were statistically removed from GATSB scores, then the mean residuals for Caucasians, African Americans, and Hispanics were compared.…”