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Intelligence and Culture: History and Assessment

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Handbook of Intelligence

Abstract

This chapter examines current views on intelligence and its assessment with a particular focus on the cultural context. The topics to be addressed are discussed in three parts: historical influences, cultural issues in conceptualizing and assessing intelligence, and adapting and developing intelligence test adaptation in the wider world.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We use this term to refer to developing or emerging non-Western countries that constitute the majority of humankind and define community in terms of what it is.

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Appendix A

Appendix A

International Test Commission Guidelines

The use of cognitive and other ability measures can engender strong negative feelings and opinions—particularly in reference to their misuse with groups that may display lower than average mean scores, when tests are misused when assessing immigrants and second-language learners, or when tests do not meet suitable psychometric standards. During the 1970s and 1980s, articles in newspapers and professional journals alleged that examiners often are poorly prepared; tests typically rely on a small sample of behavior, often those to which persons from lower-class homes lacked exposure; tests overlook functional daily used qualities; tests are the servants of the established middle class and are designed to discriminate against the poor and colored; and that cheating on tests is widespread and invalidates their use. In short, the allegations suggest tests generally are unfair, culture bound, biased, and used discriminatorily (Oakland 1977; Phelps 2008).

Many of these issues surfaced in countries other than the United States during this same period (Oakland 2009; Oakland et al. 2013) fueled, in part, by two conditions: (1) the use of pirated copies of tests, developed originally in the United States or Western Europe, and translated into the local language and without adequate efforts to acquire norms or validity data as well as (2) strong reliance on theory from social psychology that expressed disdain for the principle of meritocracy and favoritism toward egalitarian views.

The International Test Commission (ITC) was established during this time to promote an exchange of information on test development and use as well as to address prevailing issues that cut across national boundaries and cultures (Oakland et al 2001). Thus, given its international focus, ITC leadership recognized its need to attend to prevailing issues that were impeding test development and use regionally and internationally. The lack of authoritative guidelines can contribute to assessment services that are unreliable, inferior in quality, and reflect unsuitable standards. Thus, the ITC began developing various guidelines intended to promote sound testing practices. Features of four guidelines that may be most pertinent to cognitive assessment are summarized below. Information on the guidelines can be found on the ITC website at http://www.intestcom.org.

Test Adaptation Guidelines.

The ITC recognized most countries lack resources needed to develop their own tests and thus will continue the practice of obtaining tests, often measures of cognitive ability (Hu and Oakland 1991), from others. Thus, guidelines were needed to adapt these tests for local use. The guidelines provide guidance in reference to the context of a test’s use, test development and adaptation, test administration, and documentation/scoring interpretations. These guidelines distinguish two processes: translating/adapting existing tests and instruments as well as developing new instruments intended to be used internationally to provide international comparisons.

ITC Guidelines for Test Use.

These guidelines were developed to help overcome unsuitable assessment practices by focusing on test user competencies. Competencies require acquiring basic knowledge (e.g., psychometric principles and procedures along with technical requirements of tests) and skills (e.g., suitable use of assessment procedures), displaying suitable professional and ethical behaviors, assuming responsibility for test use, ensuring test materials are secured, ensuring that test results are treated confidentially, evaluating the potential utility of testing, selecting technically sound tests appropriate for the situation, considering issues of fairness, establishing rapport, scoring and analyzing test results accurately displaying a good understanding of the test’s theoretical or conceptual basis, communicating the results clearly and accurately to relevant others, and reviewing the appropriateness of the test and its use.

International Guidelines on Computer-Based and Internet-Delivered Testing.

The use of computers to administer scores and report tests has become somewhat routine. Lamentably, individuals with limited ability to develop suitable tests are able to market their inferior products online and potentially reach all people who have Internet access (Friedman 2005). These guidelines are intended to promote good practices for computer-based (CBT) and Internet-delivered testing. They address technical issues (e.g., hardware and software requirements; the robustness of the CBT/Internet test; human factors in the presentation of materials via a computer or the Internet; providing reasonable adjustments to the test’s technical features for test-takers who display disabilities; and providing help, information, and practice items) as well as quality control issues (e.g., knowledge, competence, and appropriate use of CBT/Internet testing; the psychometric qualities of CBT/Internet tests; equivalence between paper-and-pencil tests and those delivered via CBT/Internet methods; scoring and analyzing CBT/Internet results accurately; interpret results appropriately, including feedback; and equality of access for all groups).

Proposed ITC Guidelines for the Clinical Assessment of Immigrants and Second-Language Learners.

An increase in personal mobility has led to an increase in the number of persons who hold immigrant status, especially in Western countries. They frequently seek improved lifestyles, including education, work, safety, and other conditions that contribute to their health, welfare, and stability. Their immigrant status implies they are residing in a different culture and are likely to lack fluency in the host country’s primary or preferred language and thus are second-language learners. Attempts to assess their cognitive abilities pose severe challenges to assessment specialists. These proposed guidelines consider five issues that may impact the clinical assessment of persons whose cultural and linguistic qualities differ from the local culture: qualities associated with culture and language, four personal qualities that commonly are assessed (i.e., medical, social, cognitive, and behavioral), the importance of psychometric qualities, interpersonal relationships, and ethical issues. The importance of considering the acculturation status of immigrant clients (i.e., their orientation and level of adjustment to their ethnic culture and the mainstream culture) and possible ways to address acculturation issues are described. Possible test modifications together with best practice guidelines are suggested. These proposed guidelines are intended to assist professionals in the provision of clinical assessment services for persons who are acculturating to a new culture and are second-language learners. The ITC leadership currently is reviewing these proposed guidelines.

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Saklofske, D.H., van de Vijver, F.J.R., Oakland, T., Mpofu, E., Suzuki, L.A. (2015). Intelligence and Culture: History and Assessment. In: Goldstein, S., Princiotta, D., Naglieri, J. (eds) Handbook of Intelligence. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1562-0_22

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