Guidelines for computer-based psychological tests and interpretations

摘要

Computers are playing an ever increasing role in the administration and scoring of psychological tests, and in the generation of interpretative reports of test results. As a result of concerns that this enhanced role of the computer has not always been applied with the same ethical, professional, and technical standards that govern the traditional means of testing and test interpretation, the American Psychological Association has put forth the Guidelines for Computer-Based Tests and Interpretations. Of the 31 CBTI Guidelines, nine describe user responsibilities in two areas, administration and interpretation. These user guidelines emphasize standardization of administrative procedures and the need for professional judgment in conjunction with the use of computer-generated interpretative reports.The guidelines for developers are more numerous and complex as a result of the multitude of steps required in the design of systems that either administer/score or interpret test results. In the case of systems to administer/score tests, there are human factor and psychometric issues. With respect to interpretation, the areas of concern are classification and validity. The final section contains one guideline specifying reasonable access to computer-based test systems by qualified professionals for purposes of scholarly review. The CBTI Guidelines are designed to address the problems that already exist with computer testing and interpretation while at the same time keeping in mind the promise of this new technology.