Assessment Procedures

Question 1

11.1 Requirements for performing assessments

Answer 1

A registrant must meet the following prerequisites and fulfill the following requirements when carrying out psychological assessments:
obtain specific training, supervision, and experience required for the proper selection, administration, scoring, and interpretation of psychological tests;
conduct all testing as part of a comprehensive assessment strategy that includes the effective communication of results to all appropriate stakeholders in the assessment;
take responsibility for the ethical maintenance of test materials, protocols, reports, and procedures in their own work and that of supervisees and, to the extent appropriate to the setting, for the work of colleagues in agency or institutional environments;
promote responsible practices in all individuals being supervised in testing and assessment practices; and
comply with institutional, legal, and contractual agreements, as appropriate, in carrying out psychological assessments.

Question 2

11.2 Responsibility for assessment

Answer 2

A registrant is solely responsible for the assessment process, including the appropriate selection, application, interpretation, and use of assessment instruments, and for information contained in the resulting report, whether the registrant scores and interprets the tests him- or herself or uses automated or other services.

Question 3

11.3 Gathering information

Answer 3

Registrants must gather assessment information in a manner that is appropriately comprehensive, objective, and balanced.

Question 4

11.4 Purpose and scope of assessment

Answer 4

As the scope of an assessment process is determined by the nature of the referral question or issue, a registrant must clarify any ambiguity related to the purpose of the assessment and ensure that the purpose of the assessment is specifically stated in the assessment report.

Question 5

11.5 Test Construction

Answer 5

A registrant who develops and conducts research with tests and other assessment techniques must use scientific procedures and current professional knowledge for test design, standardization, validation, reduction or elimination of bias, and recommendations for their use.

Question 6

11.6 Substantiation for formal recommendations

Answer 6

A registrant’s assessments, recommendations, and reports must be based on information and techniques sufficient to provide appropriate substantiation for their findings.

Question 7

11.7 Confidentiality in assessment

Answer 7

A registrant must treat all assessment results, data, and interpretations regarding individuals as confidential information.

Question 8

11.8 Obligation to provide explanation and exception

Answer 8

A registrant must:
ensure that appropriate explanations of results are given to a client regardless of whether the scoring and interpretation is done by the registrant, by supervisees, or by automated or other outside services; or
when circumstances prohibit such explanations, due to the registrant’s formal role or the nature of the situation, inform the client of this in advance.

Question 9

11.9 Interpreting Results

Answer 9

When interpreting assessment results, including when using automated interpretations, a registrant must take into account the various test factors and characteristics of the individual being assessed which may affect the registrant’s judgments or reduce the accuracy of their interpretations.

Question 10

11.10 Communicating results

Answer 10

When communicating the results of an assessment to a client or to the legal guardian or other agent of a client, a registrant must use adequate interpretive aids or explanations and language that is reasonably understandable.

Question 11

11.11 Reporting limitations in validity or accuracy

Answer 11

A registrant must:
a) indicate any significant reservations they have about the accuracy or
the validity of the assessment, or limitations to their interpretations,
in any assessment report; and
b) include in their report of the results of a formal assessment procedure
for which norms are available, any limitations of the assessment norms for the individual assessed and any relevant reservations or qualifications which affect the validity, reliability, or interpretation of results.

Question 12

11.12 Provision of Raw Test Data

Answer 12

A registrant must provide, within a reasonable time, the original or raw results or data of a psychological assessment to a registrant or to a provider of psychological services in another jurisdiction when requested to do so by a client or the legal guardian or agent of a client.

Question 13

11.13 Unqualified Person

Answer 13

A registrant must not promote the use of psychological assessment techniques by unqualified persons.

Question 14

11.14 Test Security

Answer 14

A registrant must not reproduce or describe in popular publications, lectures, public presentations, over the Internet, or in any other media, psychological tests or other assessment devices in any way that might invalidate them.

Question 15

11.15 Selection and validity of assessment test, device or procedure

Answer 15

A registrant is responsible for the appropriate selection of a test, device, or assessment procedure and must not make claims about its utility or validity that are not supported by the professional literature.

Question 16

11.16 Maintenance of Integrity of Tests

Answer 16

A registrant must make reasonable efforts to maintain the integrity and security of tests and other assessment techniques consistent with legal and contractual obligations, and in a manner that permits compliance with the requirements of this Code

Question 17

11.17 Assessment/interpretation services for other professionals

Answer 17

A registrant offering an assessment procedure or automated interpretation service to other professionals must:

a) accompany this offering with a print or digitized manual or other materials which accurately and fully describe the development of the assessment procedure or service, and the rationale, purpose, norms, validity, reliability, and applications of the procedure;
b) explicitly state the purpose and application for which the procedure is recommended and identify any special qualifications required to administer and interpret it properly; and
c) ensure that any advertisements for or public statements about the assessment procedure or interpretive service are factual and descriptive.

Question 18

11.18 Selection of scoring services

Answer 18

A registrant must select scoring and interpretation services, including automated services, on the basis of evidence for the validity of the program and procedures as well as on other appropriate considerations.

Question 19

11.19 Reliance on computer scoring

Answer 19

A registrant must never substitute computer generated assessment reports or statements, or material from interpretive texts regarding a psychological test, for their own professional opinion, assessment, or report.

Question 20

11.20 Acknowledgement of sources

Answer 20

A registrant who uses computer-generated interpretive statements and/or interpretive texts in preparing psychological evaluations must:

a) acknowledge the source(s) of such statements in a written citation that is formally included in the assessment report; and
b) formally quote, using an appropriate format, any material taken verbatim from those computer-generated interpretations and/or interpretive texts.

Question 21

11.21 Obsolete outdated results/tests

Answer 21

A registrant must not base their assessment or intervention decisions or recommendations on:
a) data or test results that are outdated for the current purpose; or
b) tests and measures that are obsolete and not applicable to the current
purpose.

Question 22

11.22 Direct examimation of individual

Answer 22

A registrant must not provide a report or give testimony respecting the psychological characteristics of an individual unless the registrant has first conducted a direct, in-person examination of the individual which is adequate to support the registrant’s statements and/or conclusions.

Question 23

11.23 Exception to direct examination of individual

Answer 23

When, despite reasonable efforts, the examination required in Standard 11.22 is not feasible, a registrant must clarify the impact of their limited information on the reliability and validity of their reports and testimony, and must limit appropriately the nature and extent of their conclusions and/or recommendations.

Question 24

11.24 Avoiding conflicting roles

Answer 24

A registrant must avoid performing multiple and potentially conflicting roles, such as psychotherapist and assessor of competency to stand trial, psychotherapist and assessor for the court with the purpose of determining injury causation and compensation, or psychotherapist and assessor of parental access.

Question 25

11.25 Clarification of roles in legal proceedings

Answer 25

In circumstances where a registrant may be called upon to serve in more than one role in a legal proceeding (for example, first as a consultant or expert for one party or for the court and second as a fact witness), the registrant must clarify to the extent possible any role expectations and the extent of the registrant’s obligation of confidentiality in order to avoid compromising the registrant’s professional judgment and objectivity and in order to avoid misleading others regarding the registrant’s role.

Question 26

11.26 Role clarification at outset and later on

Answer 26

Role clarification under Standard 11.25 must be given in advance of performing psychological services to the extent that this is feasible, and at any subsequent time when changes are anticipated in the expected role or services to be performed

Question 27

11.27 Impartiality

Answer 27

When conducting an assessment, especially any assessment that may affect the rights of the individual(s) being assessed, a registrant must: a) be impartial and unbiased; b) remain independent in order to make objective recommendations; c) not act as an advocate for any party; d) be aware of any personal or societal biases or other factors or circumstance that may affect the objectivity of the service provided and the recommendations made in a report; and document such matters in the report, as appropriate.

Question 28

11.28 Truthfulness and candour

Answer 28

In testimony and reports, a registrant must: a) testify truthfully, accurately, and candidly; b) consistent with applicable legal procedures, describe fairly the basis for their testimony and conclusions; and c) acknowledge any limits of their data or conclusions when that acknowledgment is necessary to avoid being misleading to those individuals reading their report or hearing their testimony.

Question 29

11.29 Prior relationships

Answer 29

A prior or current professional relationship with a party does not preclude a registrant from testifying as a fact witness or from testifying to their psychological services to the extent permitted by applicable law, but a registrant must: a) appropriately take into account the ways in which that prior or current relationship might affect their professional objectivity or opinions; b) disclose the prior or current relationship to the relevant parties; and c) where a potential or possible conflict of interest is unavoidable, disclose the potential conflict to the relevant parties and obtain consent.

Question 30

11.30 Use of parallel procedures

Answer 30

When more than one individual is being assessed on the same set of criteria, a registrant must use parallel procedures.

Question 31

11.31 Exception to use of parallel procedures

Answer 31

If it is not possible to use the parallel procedures specified in Standard 11.30, a registrant must provide a rationale for not following this requirement, must include the rationale in the written report, and must address any resulting limitations to the report and to its conclusions and recommendations.

Question 32

11.32 Assessment methods

Answer 32

A registrant must: a) assess the variables and factors relevant to the referral question or issue; and b) use multi-method, multi-trait procedures when conducting assessments where the outcome may affect the rights of the client.

Question 33

11.33 Conclusions and recommendations

Answer 33

a) A registrant’s conclusions must follow logically, consistently, and clearly from the information gathered throughout the assessment process, and the recommendations must follow logically, consistently, and clearly from the conclusions presented in the report; b) A registrant’s conclusions and recommendations must be based on stated assumptions, the data gathered and reported during the assessment process, appropriate and impartial interpretations of test data, and accepted professional and scientific information that is relevant to the question or issue being addressed; and c) A registrant’s conclusions and recommendations must not be biased by the registrant’s preconceptions, prejudices, unsupported beliefs, or criteria which are not represented within the body of scientific knowledge generally recognized within the practice of psychology.

Question 34

11.34 Repeat Assessment

Answer 34

A registrant must not repeat an assessment of an individual if a new assessment is unlikely to produce results which are significantly different from a previously completed assessment. The repeat assessment must be as comprehensive as the original assessment or focused on a specific issue with an explicit rationale for why the repeat assessment is required.

Question 35

11.35 Explanation for repeat assessment

Answer 35

If an assessment is repeated, a registrant must: a) explain the rationale for repeating it; b) describe any steps taken to minimize the impact of a repeat c) assessment on the validity and reliability of the results; and specify any resulting limitations to their assessment results, conclusions, diagnoses, and recommendations.

Question 36

11.36 Review of other's report or file review

Answer 36

When reviewing reports prepared by other registrants or other professionals, a registrant must: restrict the review to information in the file that is acknowledged in the professional literature as relevant to the issue at hand; limit comments to the methods, procedures, and processes employed by the registrant or other professional; restrict comments to the sufficiency and accuracy of the conclusions, recommendations, or diagnoses in the original report, with such comments based upon and limited to the data presented by, or referred to by, the original report’s author; restrict comments regarding diagnosis or other conclusion or finding to the sufficiency of the record to support the given diagnosis, conclusion, or finding, and to whether the file contains evidence that is consistent with a particular diagnosis, conclusion, or finding; not make any conclusions, diagnoses, assessment of psychological status, or recommendations specific to the individuals who were the subject of the original report; stipulate in the review report whether the professional opinion sought is possible based on the information reviewed and include a description of any limits on the review opinion given the information available in the file; and identify any conflict of interest, past, present or potential; and where they are of the opinion that there is a need for any reassessment or additional assessment, make the recommendation that this is to be completed by another qualified practitioner.