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Cultural Bias in Psychological Tests

Cultural Bias in Psychological Tests

While much of the focus in the media has been on cultural bias in standardized testing for cognitive skills, or for college entrance examinations, there has been little discussion of the potential problems of cultural bias in psychological testing. Yet this is a significant problem for minority populations who might be inappropriately assessed because of psychological tests not designed to be sensitive to minority populations.

According to Rogler et al. (1991), the problem is multilevel. They note that there are inappropriate research methodologies, inadequate testing and treatment protocols, and overgeneralization of results. Thus, tests which have been designed for EuropeanAmerican populations are often applied to many different subpopulations of Hispanics, without regard for the specific cultural context of those groups.

The intention in the following pages is to explore the problems involved with cultural bias in psychological testing and to identify some potential alternatives to those biased tests.

It was not until the late 1960s that the concept of culturally sensitive mental health services was developed. At that time, the convergence of two factors led to a focus on the problems of traditional therapeutic modalities and services. The civil rights movement emphasized the distinctiveness of minority groups, while the community mental health movement spread to regions of the city which had not previously been covered, and which included large numbers of minorities (Rogler et al., 1987).

In early discussions, the focus was on the inappropriateness of talk therapies for cultures which did not emphasize verbal facility and verbal sharing as much as EuropeanAmerican culture did. Class distinctions were also made, with notice being taken that some groups, such as lowerincome AfricanAmericans, did not thrive with traditional talk therapies.

Later critiques of mental he...

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Cultural Bias in Psychological Tests. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 01:31, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1691831.html