Psychological Testing Ethical and Legal Use of Essay

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Psychological Testing

Ethical and legal use of psychological testing has a significant impact on the standards and practices of psychological testing to demonstrate intervention for those being tested. The purpose of the ethical boundaries of psychological testing is to ensure that clinicians are utilizing the best test possible and then applying the results ethically to demonstrate assistance with diagnosis and intervention modes in a way that best meets the needs of the subject. This work will discuss the ethical application and utilization of psychological testing instruments to demonstrate the best possible outcomes and interventions for subjects in a way that recognizes tests strengths and limitations and ultimately leads to the appropriate and essential answers needed to aid people with diagnosis and treatment objectives. There are a significant number of psychological tests at the disposal of clinicians and they are in a constant state of revision by the entities that develop and maintain them, to create the best possible test for the application purpose (Hogan, 2007, pg. 584-585). It must be clear that the manner of test administration and the application of their results can and should be considered paramount to their ethical use as well as a clear understanding that the chosen test(s) is or are the best possible test(s) for the desired outcomes of the client, i.e. diagnostic and application data that aides in forming appropriate treatment plans for the given subject(s).

The two most important ethical issues associated with the psychological testing are the assurance that the individual(s) has/have provided informed consent for testing and the clinician familiarity with the outcome validity and reliability of the psychological test itself i.e. that the test has no biases and/or challenges associated with the subject and/or purpose for psychological testing. The informed consent issue often arises as a simple check off procedure, followed through with to limit liability on all parties involved yet it clearly serves a greater purpose than that, as it impacts the field by making creating a formal step of consideration for the ultimate importance of testing.

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In other words it makes both the administrator of the test and the test subject (or his or her guardians) evaluates fully the potential impacts of testing and how the results will and should be used to aid the individual. On the issue of bias the clinician using the test should always be the most suited and qualified person to do so, as they have the knowledge, experience and qualifications needed to understand the strengths and limitations of the test itself and any possible administration, test-based or client-based biases or limitations associated with the test(s) and that the test is the most appropriate for the desired outcome (Nagy, 2011, pgs. 171-183).

Two legal issues associated with psychological testing are: the legal, licensure and education requirements of the administrator of the psychological test and the signed and ensured informed consent of the individual(s) involved in the testing. The qualifications of the individual administering, interpreting and utilizing the psychological test materials on human subjects is exceedingly important in clinical practice as states and other entities often clearly define these standards to protect subjects from the possible mishandling or misunderstanding of the strengths and limitations of testing. In other words in most cases anyone could provide the test material to the subject and then interpret it for their own gain, yet to protect the subject legal entities define that the psychological testing material is only valid for use in diagnosis and/or treatment planning if the person administering it is highly qualified to do so.….....

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