Part 1
Bias in statistics is the error, which occurs in the process of estimating a value. A biased test tends to underestimate or overestimate the value of the variable that it seeks to assess structurally. For instance, Reese talks about the cultural test bias, which results from the nominal cultural variable, ethnicity (2017). The article is concerned about the item bias, which resulted due to the low familiarity of certain items in the minority groups. Reese (2017) explains that standardized tests tend to perpetuate the institutionalized type of racism while contributing to the achievement differences between the minority groups and whites. Eddie an African-American student shows how tests still discriminate against the minority communities (Reese, 2017). Therefore, this particular article confirms that minority groups tend to get lower scores in standardized tests compared to whites because there are hidden biases in the administration and development of standardized tests.
Bias in psychological assessment can have long-term consequences among minority groups especially due to the differences in the test results. It is important to identify all the underlying testing items that have stereotypical wording and are culturally discriminatory because they negatively affect the test scores of the minority groups. Some of the negative implications of attaining low scores in the standardized tests are, students applying for colleges may be denied admission or employment because of the bias in standardized tests (Reynolds and Suzuki, 2012). More so, the students discriminated against by the tests may be placed disproportionately in special institutions or classes. Therefore, when explaining the mean differences among the minority groups, psychologists should be aware of environmental factors that involve social, economic, and educational deprivation, which could affect their learning. Additionally, one should consider the interactive effect of the environment and genes. Nonetheless, one should consider the possibility of tests systematically underrepresenting the minority students’ abilities or their true aptitude to avoid perpetuating institutionalized racism.
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Several strategies can be adopted to address the cross-cultural bias in tests. One of the most appropriate remedies is decentering, which helps to minimize the construct bias issue (Hinton, 2017). In this strategy, examiners ought to exclude the concepts or words, which tend to be specific to a particular culture. Therefore, in this case, examiners need to simultaneously develop instruments unique to particular cultures. In this strategy, test administrators ought to engage in extensive training as an approach to avoid construct bias and take part in the assessment of their responses. In cases of item biases, the differential item functioning analysis is applicable in detecting it. In the test adaption, the sources of bias can be substantially reduced through developing instruments simultaneously in the various cultures.
Another way to address the cross-cultural bias issues is encouraging higher education institutions to place less weight on standardized tests during the admission process. According to Hinton (2017), collaborative efforts among administrators, teachers, and students in primary and secondary schools can help to create a holistic view of education, thus transferable into the higher levels of education. The higher institutions of learning can also de-emphasize standard tests and encourage the test developers to reduce any form of cultural bias and ensure that they develop testing procedures, which are more equitable (Hinton, 2017). Nonetheless, educational professionals should ensure that they develop support services and programs for the students who might be negatively affected by the cultural bias in standardized tests.
In interpersonal communication, approximately 60 to 65% of interpersonal messages are conveyed through nonverbal means. Most clinical encounters put a lot of emphasis on the verbal means of communication, which at times affects the diagnosis process (Hinton, 2017). On many occasions, the nonverbal behaviors take place unconsciously and tend to show the accurate emotional state and attitude of the patient about the psychological assessment and diagnosis. When taking account of the non-verbal cues, examiners in the psychological assessments ought to consider the patients' expressions within a certain context.
Additionally, examiners need to be aware that certain gestures do not always mean a particular thing in all conceivable contexts. An examiner also ought to understand that certain gestures have different meanings across cultures. For instance, a hand gesture in the US, whereby the palm faces the individual with the middle and index finger spread to form a V-shape depicts victory. However, the same hand gesture in England is an insult. The above sample shows how non-verbal gestures can negatively affect the assessment and diagnoses process. Thus, the examiner needs to take account of the cultural background and level of education to decide, the best approach to engage with the patient to avoid using languages that could negatively affect the whole examination process.
Part 2
Ethics, Law, Social-Cultural and Personal Biases
Codes of ethics in the diagnosis and treatment process increase the probability of a person behaving in a way to ensure that the patient’s needs are fully attended to. People engage in these actions by analyzing the sanctions for violations, as well as on the character of their actions. Thus, with the code of ethics, a psychologist is likely to take account of all cultural factors that could affect the patient’s diagnosis process, such as level of education and language barriers, which could negatively affect the message conveyed. Thus, the code of ethics ensures that one assesses and treats the patient effectively to avoid mistakes, which could result in their job loss. Another aspect that influences how a healthcare professional diagnoses and treats an individual are government laws. Law in this aspect refers to all the legal processes operating at various government levels to ensure the conditions are favorable for all people to stay healthy (Hinton, 2017). The government sets these laws with the hope of advancing and protecting all their public health. Therefore, many laws are limiting as well as enabling private actors in their efforts to safeguard the health of the public. In this case, the law requires before treating and diagnosing an individual, they should be screened and tested for more effective results.
The discriminatory attitude of the examiner and sociocultural biases greatly contribute to an individual's vulnerability. Discrimination and biases lead to social exclusion by preventing the victims of the acts from benefitting from the decision-making capacities and wealth of the society. Social-cultural biases especially from an examiner tend to make the affected develop feelings of despair and hopelessness about their future (Hinton, 2017). In the testing process, social-cultural biases can result from the cultural content available in the test, lack of representation in the test, and linguistic demands of the particular assessment. Therefore, if the tests do not take account of the patient’s cultural needs, the diagnostic and treatment process can be affected negatively. Additionally, the examiner's biases can affect the overall treatment process.
Certain attributes available in the interaction between the examiner and examinee can affect the client’s responses as well as the assessors’ interpretations. For example, an examiner can be said to be biased if he or she prejudges the clients on their presentation before they explain themselves. Additionally, an examiner can negatively perceive a gesture, which affects the verbal message of a client who is from a different cultural background. Therefore, social-cultural, examiner biases, ethics, and law affect the diagnosis and treatments of the patient.
Testing Issues
Some of the major contributors to an individual’s vulnerability are discriminatory practices and attitudes. Discrimination and bias exclude other people socially by preventing the victims from fully benefitting from the power, wealth, and knowledge in the large society (Reynolds & Suzuki, 2012). Discrimination and socio-economic biases tend to produce feelings of hopelessness, disempowerment, and despair about the future. Discrimination in tests which can occur in various forms, such as based on culture, and race tends to deprive other people of their rights. Language differences and culture are other aspects that examiners ought to take into account when they are administering tests (Reynolds & Suzuki, 2012). For, example an examiner ought to provide tests, written in the language that their clients understand. More so, the cultural differences ought to be considered, to ensure that the content of the tests is appropriate for a particular culture.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a legislation that seeks to bring about equality and fair consideration for all people with disabilities in the US. This particular law ensures that the people with disabilities are respected as citizens and their rights are all protected in their workplaces and educational institutions (Greenberg & Carlos, 2019). Thus, ADA makes it illegal for people to discriminate against others because they are disabled. Therefore, ADA requires the tests administered not to discriminate against other people based on their disabilities. Employees need to understand all the laws that protect them as citizens of America. For instance, Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964 protects all employees against any form of discrimination that are based on their color, race, religion, sex as well as the nation of origin. An employer can discriminate against an employee when measuring performance, assigning work, providing rewards, recruiting, transferring, promoting, or when training. Therefore, Title VII ensures that employers in both the private and public sectors test their employees respecting everyone’s religious, race, and sexual characteristics.
References
Greenberg, B. & Carlos, M. (2019). The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) at 25 Years Precedent, Impact, and Implications for Psychological Practice. Disability, 1-5.
Hinton, P. (2017). Implicit stereotypes and the Predictive Brain: Cognition and Culture in biased Person Perception. Palgrave Communications, 3(17086).
Reese, R. (2017). Minority Testing Bias Persists. HUFFPOST.COM. Retrieved July 15, 2021, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/test-bias-minorities_b_2734149
Reynolds, C. & Suzuki, L. (2012). Bias in Psychological Assessments. An Empirical Review and Recommendations, 10(1).
