APA Ethics Code Standards 9 & 10 Flashcards
As described in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (2014):
A. test accommodations and modifications should be documented in test reports.
B. test accommodations (but not modifications) should be documented in test reports.
C. test modifications (but not accommodations) should be documented in test reports.
D. neither test accommodations nor modifications need to be documented in test reports.
Answer A is correct. The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing state that “test administrators and testing professionals document steps used in making test accommodations or modifications in the test report; clinicians may also include a discussion of the validity of the interpretations of the resulting scores for intended uses” (2014, p. 61).
Which of the following best describes ethical guidelines regarding the use of automated scoring and interpretation services?
A. Use of automated services is acceptable as long as they have been developed by licensed mental health professionals.
B. Use of automated services is acceptable as long as they have adequate evidence of their validity and other psychometric properties.
C. Use of automated services is acceptable only when they are provided by the test publisher.
D. Use of automated services is unacceptable.
Answer B is correct. The use of test scoring and interpretation services is addressed by Standard 9.09(b), which states that “psychologists select scoring and interpretation services (including automated services) on the basis of the validity of the program and procedures as well as on other appropriate considerations.”
You receive a letter from a former client’s attorney requesting that you provide her with information from the client’s file, including the actual items from two projective tests, the client’s responses to those items, and the client’s test scores. The letter is accompanied by an authorization to release information signed by the client who is being represented by the attorney in a criminal case. As an ethical psychologist, you will send the attorney:
A. all of the requested test information.
B. the client’s responses to the test items and test scores only.
C. the client’s test scores only.
D. only a summary of the client’s performance on each test.
Answer B is correct. This answer is most consistent with Standards 9.04 and 9.11, which distinguish between test data and test material. Standard 9.11 requires psychologists to “make reasonable efforts” to protect the integrity and security of test materials. As defined in this standard, test material includes test items, which means that providing items to the attorney would breach test security. In contrast, Standard 9.04 describes test data as including an examinee’s responses to test items and his/her test scores, which can be released with appropriate authorization.
Dr. Valdez has been seeing Betsy R. in therapy for several months and believes she is no longer making any progress. When Dr. Valdez discusses this with Betsy, she says she thinks “therapy is going really well” and wants to continue. To be consistent with ethical requirements, Dr. Valdez should:
A. work with Betsy to identify specific goals for future sessions and, if none can be identified, provide pretermination counseling.
B. inform Betsy that he’s ethically required to terminate therapy when he feels a client is not benefitting from treatment.
C. explain to Betsy that ending therapy is always difficult and agree to see her for a few more sessions to deal with the termination.
D. agree to continue seeing Betsy in therapy since she feels she’s benefitting from treatment.
Answer A is correct. This situation is addressed in Standard 10.10, which requires psychologists to terminate therapy when it becomes clear that a client no longer needs or is benefiting from it. In the situation described in this question, the client is satisfied with therapy, so the best course of action would be to determine if there’s a reason for Betsy to continue therapy before deciding that termination of therapy is the best course of action.
You have been hired by a large online auction site to assist with its hiring procedure for tech support jobs by administering and scoring psychological tests and using their results to make hiring recommendations. The human resource manager tells you that the psychologist who previously had your job administered a personality test to applicants and that she would like you to continue administering the test because it provided useful information about the applicants. As an ethical psychologist, you should:
A. agree to include the personality test and give its results to the manager but base your recommendations on the other tests you choose.
B. use the personality test to assist with your hiring recommendations but describe the potential limitations of the test in your report.
C. agree to include the test only if it has been validated as a selection technique for jobs requiring the skills required by the tech support job.
D. tell the manager you can’t include the test because there is no evidence that measures of personality predict job performance.
Answer C is correct. This answer is most consistent with the requirements of Standard 9.02, which requires psychologists to use tests only for purposes for which they have been validated. Note that answer D is not the best answer because there is evidence that certain personality traits (e.g., conscientiousness) are fairly good predictors of job performance across different types of jobs.
Dr. Liu is the only therapist in his community who specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders. He receives a call from Susan S. who wants to begin therapy with him to deal with the anxiety attacks she started having after receiving a big promotion at work several weeks ago. Dr. Liu and Susan had a brief sexual relationship in graduate school five years ago. Their relationship ended amicably and they have not seen each other in over three years. If Dr. Liu accepts Susan as a client:
A. he will have acted ethically as long as he has determined that their previous relationship will not affect his objectivity or effectiveness when working with Susan in therapy.
B. he will have acted ethically since more than two years have passed since his relationship with Susan ended.
C. he will have acted ethically as long as he discusses the possible problems of seeing Susan in therapy during the informed consent process.
D. he will have acted unethically.
Answer D is correct. Standard 10.07 applies to this situation. It prohibits psychologists from providing therapy to individuals they have been sexually involved with in the past, and there is no time limit on this prohibition.
To be consistent with the requirements of the APA Ethics Code, when a psychologist believes it is in a client’s best interests to terminate therapy because the client is no longer benefitting from it, the psychologist should provide the client with pretermination counseling and:
A. referrals when requested by the client.
B. referrals as appropriate.
C. at least three referrals.
D. at least five referrals.
Answer B is correct. This answer comes closest to the requirements of Standard 10.10 of the APA Ethics Code, which states that “prior to termination psychologists provide pretermination counseling and suggest alternative service providers as appropriate.” The Ethics Code does not specify a minimum number of alternative service providers (referrals) that should be given to a client.
During her second therapy session with Dr. Simone, a cognitive-behavioral therapist, Millie tells him that she has been seeing another psychologist for therapy for nearly three months. As an ethical psychologist, Dr. Simone will:
A. explain to Millie that it would be inappropriate to see her in therapy while she’s seeing another therapist.
B. discuss with Millie the potential problems of seeing two therapists at the same time and let her decide what she wants to do.
C. contact the other therapist after obtaining Millie’s consent to do so to help determine the best course of action.
D. determine why Millie is seeing another therapist to help determine the best course of action.
Answer D is correct. Standard 10.04 applies to the situation described in this question. It states that psychologists must “proceed with caution and sensitivity to the therapeutic issues” when asked to provide services to a person who is receiving services from another mental health professional. Whether or not it would be appropriate for Dr. Simone to continue seeing Millie depends on the reason why she has started therapy with him while seeing another therapist. Therefore, this is the best answer of those given.
