M A Porteous University College Cork, Ireland

A survey of Irish psychologists’ attitudes towards tests

The excessive use of tests by a psychology profession may be an indicator of lack of development, sophistication and training, and probably of dependence for professional status on other professions (e.g. medical). Time spent in testing means less time for other activities, among which are research, treatment, evaluation studies, education (training other professions) and other data collecting skills including observation, interviewing and behaviour analysis. In some cases testing will be done at the behest of doctors, or for input to case discussions in the form of psychological evidence which is credible, as opposed to other forms of psychological evidence which are not credible as they do not emanate from medically qualified people. Psychologists may be guilty of using test evidence as a legitimator of professional authenticity.

Hetherington (1981) in the clinical, and Maliphant (1974) in the educational field, have both recently pointed to the effects of excessive dependence on tests, e.g. ‘the psychologist’s role was conceived as that of a mental tester whose task it was to assess the patient’s strengths and weaknesses’ (Hetherington). The psychologist is not doing the profession any favours by being seen as a ‘psychometric athlete’ or ‘as a tester and nothing else’ (Maliphant, 1974: 443). One avenue of development for the psychology profession then, is to demote the role of testing and to promote other activities.

Not only is this seen as desirable within the profession of psychology, but public demands are bringing about change. Tests have been criticized for many reasons, among which are their limited reliability and validity, lack of relevance of norms, misapplication to groups outside the standardization population, uncontrolled invasions of privacy, discrimination against racial or cultural groups

Internotional Review ofApplied Psychology (SAGE, London, Beverly Hills and New Dehli), Vol. 35 (1986), 231-238

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and infringement of people’s rights. Most of these complaints could be adequately met, given resources to re-standardize and validate tests and more thoughtful ways of handling the public and making decisions by psychologists, bureaucrats and commercial firms. However, such changes are slow to be achieved, and instead test use is declining.

Some general estimates of test use can be derived from various published studies of psychologists in England. From the Summerfield Report (1 968) it appears that educational psychologists spent 12 percent of their time on average in ‘assessment in clinics’ and 23 percent in ‘assessment in schools and other places’, (Table 2B 13, p. 114). Duties which are a necessary part of the assessment process, ‘writing reports’ and ‘discussing individual children’, accounted for 9.1 and 13.3 percent of time, respectively. Combining the figures gives 57.4 percent of the educational psychologists’ time spent in activities connected to assessment. The decline is shown in the figures given in a later report (DECP, 1980) which showed that in 1977, clinical psychologists spent 18 percent of their time in assessment, and educational psychologists spent 39 ptrcent. In this survey assessment was defined as, ‘Assessment, diagnoses and treatment recommendations not including treatment but including related administration and case conferences’. We can estimate from these figures, using a three-fifths ratio derived from the Summerfield Report, that educational psychologists spent 24 percent of their time in actual assessment and clinicals spent 1 1 percent. Such proportions seem valid in the writer’s experience and are confirmed elsewhere. Clinicals are generally thought to do from one-third to one-half as much testing as educationals. A survey of New Zealand psychologists confirms this point. Educational psychologists stressed the role of assessments, and spent approximately 40 percent more of their time in this activity than clinicals. Overall, psychologists in New Zealand spent 25.7 percent of their time in assessment (McKerracher and Walker, 1982). Psychologists in the Netherlands also seemed to emphasize the role of tests, and widescale and differential applications of tests were found suggesting an undiscriminating test-bashing philosophy (Evers and Zaal, 1982). A recent study (Poortinga et al., 1982) represented an attempt at European comparability in these areas and included an examination of attitudes to the use and usefulness of tests. The amount of time spent testing varied from country to country with most falling around the 10-15 percent mark. Attitudes

Irirh psychologists 233

to tests were positive. There was little evidence of anti-test attitudes, or of concern about wider criticisms of tests. The European psychologists wished to retain control over testing, and showed wide concern for clients’ rights. Time allowed for research showed wide variation, from 33 percent (France) to 10 percent (Sweden).

The present study replicates the Poortinga study in another EEC member country with a young and relatively small psychology profession: Ireland. In Ireland the psychology profession grew rapidly in the 1970s. The Psychological Society of Ireland was established in 1971. The profession is closely tied to the medical profession through working in Health Boards, and in the many voluntary (but state supported) bodies for the handicapped. Formal training for Irish psychologists has only recently become available, and one university course is offered in the country for clinical psychologists. Some psychologists go to England or Scotland for professional training.

Method

The questionnaire used by Poortinga et al. (1 982) was sent to every psychologist whose name appeared in the Psychological Society of Ireland Directory of Members 1982, and who by their title or address were clearly in practice in applied areas.

One hundred and forty-nine questionnaires were sent out, 110 were returned completed and six were returned uncompleted for various reasons such as ‘no longer working’ or ‘gone abroad’. The effective response rate was therefore 76.8 percent which exceeds all response rates in the Poortinga study. The survey was anonymous.

Results

The main areas of work of the sample were stated as clinical 26 percent, clinical/developmental 3 1.8 percent, clinical/educational 19.1 percent, and educational 10 percent. One person gave occupational, and 6.4 percent gave handicap. It would seem from the above that a major emphasis in the work of the psychology profession in Ireland is the handicapped and child developmental issues.

Very little time is devoted to research work. 73 percent of the

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sample are engaged exclusively in applied work, and 24 percent spend 60-90 percent of their time in applied work (Table 1).

TABLE 1 Proportions of time spent in applied work as opposed to research

Qo of time over 90 60-90 40-60 10-40 0-10

% of sample 13 24 1.5 1.5 0

On average just over 30 percent of time is spent in test use, including administration, interpretation and report writing. One- fifth of the sample spend little time in testing, and another fifth spend over half their time in test use (Table 2).

TABLE 2 Proportions of working time spent in using tests

Vo of time 0 u p 1 0 5 5-25 26-50 51-75 over75

To of sample 4.5 13 32 29 15.5 6.4

Time spent using tests was shown to have an inverse relation to years of professional experience, i.e. the more inexperienced psychologists were doing more testing (Table 3).

TABLE 3 Use of tests and professional experience

To t h e spent in testing Professional experience 0 4 % 5-25% M-50Vo over 50% Total

0-5 years 6- 10 years I 1 + years

Total

2 14 9 9 34 6 10 13 10 39

I 1 11 10 5 31 19 35 32 24 110

xz = 9.6,d.f . = 6,s ig . = 0.14

The majority of Irish psychologists have less than ten years’ experience, and only three respondents more than twenty years. As was stated in the introduction, the Irish profession is a young one, and also an enthusiastic and committed one judging from their response rate and comments given at the end of the questionnaire.

The results in Table 4 are similar to the other European countries.

Irish psychologists 235

Projective tests are seen as relatively useless, and achievement, aptitude and IQ tests are seen as most useful, except in the area of evaluation of therapy. It is probable that most of the sample are not concerned in evaluating therapy, and thus most of their test use experience is in the other areas. A strong preference is shown for standardized IQ and achievement tests.

TABLE 4 Mean values of rating of usefulness of tests in different applications

ACH APTAQ PO PRJ

Evaluation

Clinical assessment 2.6 3.5 3.3 2.8 Placement, promotion 3.4 3.7 2.7 1.6 Selection 3.6 4.0 2.9 1.6 Vocational guidance 4.1 4.3 3 .O 1.6

Notes: ACH = achievement tests, APTIIQ aptitude and IQ tests. PQ = personality questionnaires and checklists. PRJ = projective tests. See Poortinga et al. (1982), Figure I : p. 16, rating scale 0-5.

of therapy 1.5 1.3 2.8 2.2

Irish psychologists have a very similar attitude to their work on the nomothetic-objective continuum as have other European psychologists. They tend towards the objective end; 53 percent prefer an equal combination of objectivity and insight and 30 percent prefer greater weight to be given to objective measures. Table 5 shows the comparison with data of Poortinga et al.

TABLE 5 Nomothetic-objective viewpoint of European psychologists

Ireland Belgium France Holland Spain Sweden UK

Nomothetic- Objective m. 3.13 2.94 3.18 3.10 3.25 2.36 3.16 Rating 1-5 s.d. 0.73 0.44 1.10 0.80 0.77 0.60 1.07

Most Irish psychologists were against any legal control of tests: 73 percent felt that control of tests was a matter for the ethical standards set by the profession, and 20 percent felt that individual psychologists should have the sole responsibility for regulating test

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use. On the subject of information to clients, 52 percent felt that the psychologist should retain the right to decide, while 46 percent favoured clients’ rights over the rights of psychologists or commissioning organizations.

TABLE 6 Percentage of response on three attitude items

(Table 2, Poorlinga el al., 1982)

Information Information Information to d e n t 10 client and decided by

sponsor ps~ehologist

Information to client 19 32 52

Test use No regulation By ethical By law standards

Regulation 20 73 7 Hopes for future Decrease Present level Increase

of test use 34 52 13

On the whole Irish psychologists are happy with the present level of test use, though a sizeable percentage (34 percent) would like to see a decrease. This opinion was not related to the amount of time spent in test use by the individual.

Irish psychologists gave much lower ratings than the other European psychologists on their estimate of the number of times the average citizen would have a psychological test administered in his or her lifetime. This suggests they have a much lower estimate of psychology’s penetration in areas outside clinical services. On the other two variables in this section their responses are similar to the other countries (see Table 7).

Summary

The Irish profession is young, with a median experience of less than ten years. Irish psychologists show positive attitudes to tests, with the exception of projective tests, and spend more of their time in test administration than other European psychologists. There is little expression of anti-test feeling an3 most believe test use will increase or be maintained. They are more objective or measurement oriented than insight based in their general approach. With few exceptions the Irish psychologists feel the same way about tests and their future development as psychologists in the rest of Europe. The professional emphasis in Ireland is on clinical and developmental areas. In

Irish psychologists 237

looking at these results and using them as a base the following suggestions can be made for the Irish profession’s development: a) there is too much reliance on testing, particularly 1 0 and achievement testing which should be moderated; b) the profession needs to penetrate other areas of application; c) in-service development of psychologists is necessary, particularly in skills other than test-based ones, and d) the profession needs to make a concerted effort to spend a minimum of 10 percent of time in research.

TABLE 7 Ratings on variables reflecting the acceptibility of tests in society

Public’s refusal to apply for a job if psychological tests were to administered Refusal less than

‘70 of sample 20 42.5 25.5 12 (m = 2.3, s.d. =0.93)

1 vo 1 4 % 5-10% 10-25%

Number of times average citizen will be tested Number of

times none 1-2 2-5 5-10

% of sample 47 36 15 3 (m = 1.7, s.d. = 0.81)

Exwted developments in test use Gradual disappearance Changes in kinds Increase in

of tests of tests test use Yo of sample 2 77 21.5 (rn = 2.20s.d. = 0.44)

References

DECP (1 980). PsycholoRical Services for Children in England and Wales, Occasional Papers, 4, Division of Educational and Child Psychology. Leicester: British Psychological Society.

Evers, A. and Zaal. J.N. (1982). ‘Trends in Test Use in the Netherlands’, International Review of Applied PsycholoRy, 3 1 (1): 35-53.

Hetherington, R. (1981). ‘The Changing Role of the Clinical Psychologist’, Bulletin of British Psycho/oRica/ Society, 34: 12-14.

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Maliphant. R . ( 1 974). ‘Educational Psychology: Testing Testing?’, Bulletin ofBritish Psychological !briery, 27: 441 -446.

McKerracher, D.W. and Walker, F.A. (1982). ‘Professional Activities of New Zealand Psychologists Employed in Public Service? Actual, Idea and Expected’, New Zealand Psychologist, 1 1 : 20-26.

Poortinga, Y .H., Coetsier, P . . Meuris, G.. Miller, K.M., Samsonowitz, V., Seisdedos, N. and Schlegel, J . (1982). ‘A Survey of Attitudes towards Tests among Psychologists in Six European Countries’, International Review o/ Applied

Summerfiild, A. (1%8). Psycholonists in Education Services. London: Department psycho lo^, 31 ( I ) : 1-34.

of Education and Science, HMSO.

Une enquete sur les attitudes des psychologues irlandais envers les tests

Des psychologues travaillant en Irlande, membres de la SociCtC de Psychologie d’Irlande, ont rempli un questionnaire portant sur leurs attitudes envers les tests et sur la place qu’ils leur reservent dans leur pratique professionnelle. Les rksultats montrent que les psychologues irlandais sont globalement en accord avec leurs collegues europeens. Cependant, par rapport aux psychologues des autres pays, ils consacrent plus de temps au testing et moins A la recherche. Leur jugement sur les tests est favorable, mais avec un champ d’application un peu riduit.