Workshop
Summary:
Interpretation of intelligence tests involves making inferences about
the characteristics of the person assessed based on the obtained scores.
Most intelligence tests provide numerous scores and numerous score comparisons
for interpretation. Interpretations and resulting inferences must have
empirical support of score reliability, validity, and utility according
to the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American
Educational Research Association [AERA], American Psychological Association
[APA], & National Council on Measurement in Education [NCME], 1999).
Ethical standards also proper test use and interpretations based on
psychometric support.
This workshop focuses on psychometric and ethical principles that should
influence and guide interpretation of intelligence and cognitive ability
tests; uses of intelligence tests in psychological practice; psychometric
evidence for various intelligence tests and what they purport to measure;
empirical methods for establishing score reliability, validity, and
utility; issues of language and ethnicity/race; and current practices
in IQ test use such as cross-battery assessment.
The goal of this workshop is to sensitize attendees to issues, research,
and questions pertaining to the use of intelligence tests in assessments
of children and adolescents suspected of various disabilities. There
are many recommenced interpretation practices for IQ tests proffered
by various authors and/or test publishers but most have little to no
empirical support. Because test users are ultimately responsible for
the ethical use of intelligence tests including selection, administration,
scoring, and interpretation; it is the test user who must weigh the
evidence and deal with the issues concerning IQ tests. In the cogent
words of Wiener (1989), psychologists must “(a) know what their
tests can do and (b) act accordingly” (p. 829).
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