ETHICAL DILEMMAS

Ethical Standards of APA

Ethical Standards of APA

Assessment should serve a constructive purpose for the individual examinee. With certain worry-prone and self-doubting clients, a psychologist may choose not to use an appropriate test, since these clients are almost certain to engage in self-destructive misinterpretation of virtually any test findings.

The clinician should consider the client's welfare in deciding whether to release information, especially when the client is a minor who is unable to give voluntary, informed consent. A common error observed among inexperienced test users is the overzealous, pathologized interpretation of personality test results. From a legal standpoint, the three elements of ...