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IQ Testing and the African American Client

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Guide to Psychological Assessment with African Americans

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the recent and historical issues pertaining to the intellectual and cognitive assessment of African Americans. Studies report lower IQ performance among African Americans compared to Caucasians on several IQ batteries. As this chapter highlights, the reasons for underperformance are multifactorial but often may stem from educational and socioecomonic inequalities as well as test bias. While demographic corrections are being increasingly used to adjust for performance differences, these corrections are often insufficient in capturing the more complex psychosocial and contextual factors that are known to influence test performance. The chapter begins with a history of IQ assessment among African Americans, followed by a more in-depth discussion of test bias and various socioeconomic, and psychosocial that potentially underlie observed score discrepancies. Such issues include marked disparities in educational quality and exposure to test-taking. We then discuss relevant research that has emerged within clinical neuropsychology with an emphasis on practical implications for IQ assessment. A brief review of commonly administered IQ measures is provided. This chapter closes with general clinical recommendations and a view of what the future may hold with regard to the assessment of African Americans and diverse populations more broadly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, 760 Westwood Plaza, 90024, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Nicholas S. Thaler PhD, April D. Thames PhD & Xavier E. Cagigas PhD

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego 200 West Arbor Drive, 92103-8218, San Diego, CA, USA

    Marc A. Norman PhD

Authors
  1. Nicholas S. Thaler PhD
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  2. April D. Thames PhD
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  3. Xavier E. Cagigas PhD
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  4. Marc A. Norman PhD
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Correspondence to Nicholas S. Thaler PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA

    Lorraine T. Benuto

  2. California Dept of Corrections and Rehab High Desert State Prison, California Correctional Health Care Serv, Susanville, California, USA

    Brian D. Leany

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Thaler, N., Thames, A., Cagigas, X., Norman, M. (2015). IQ Testing and the African American Client. In: Benuto, L., Leany, B. (eds) Guide to Psychological Assessment with African Americans. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1004-5_5

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