2.A.3
Choosing and adapting assessment methods
Énoncé de compétence 2.A.3 d’ASPPB : Criteria for the selection and adaptation of assessment methods (e.g., evidence-based knowledge of assessment limitations, cultural appropriateness, language accommodations, technology assisted measures, telepsychology, accessibility)
Selecting a method means asking whether evidence supports its use for this purpose, with people like this client, in this format. Cultural and linguistic fit, accessibility for people with disabilities, and the mode of delivery, whether paper, computer, tablet or video, all affect whether scores keep their meaning. When a measure is adapted, the adaptation needs its own evidence, and any limits that remain are stated in the report.
Notions clés
- Evidence for the intended use
- Validity evidence is specific to a purpose and a population. A measure supported for screening adults may lack evidence for diagnosis, for children or for a legal question; incremental validity asks whether the measure adds accurate information beyond what is already known.
- Translation and cultural adaptation
- Translation alone does not make a test equivalent. The International Test Commission's guidelines call for careful translation reviewed by qualified bilingual experts, pilot work with the target group, and evidence that items and scores function the same way across versions before scores are compared.
- Interpreters
- When no suitable measure exists in the person's language, a trained interpreter is preferred to family or untrained staff. In a study of audiotaped pediatric visits, errors by ad hoc interpreters were more likely than errors by hospital interpreters to have potential clinical consequences (77 versus 53 percent).
- Technology and telepsychology
- Computer, tablet and video formats can change timing, presentation and response demands. The 2024 APA telepsychology guidelines include a guideline on testing and assessment, and a meta-analysis supported videoconference administration of verbally mediated tests while finding motor-dependent tasks too variable to judge.
- Accessibility
- APA's 2022 disability guidelines call for respectful, fair assessment that addresses barriers and bias. Accommodations such as large print or extra breaks remove barriers unrelated to the construct, and any change that could affect what a score means is recorded.
Exemple commenté
A community mental health agency plans to offer its intake assessment by video. The intake includes a self-report depression questionnaire, a timed paper-and-pencil processing speed task and a clinician interview. Many of its clients speak Haitian Creole.
- For each measure, the agency asks what evidence supports the remote format, as the telepsychology guideline on testing and assessment advises, rather than assuming every measure transfers.
- The timed task depends on screen size, connection quality and hand movement, and there is no evidence that video scores match the paper norms, so it is dropped from remote intakes.
- For Haitian Creole speakers, the agency looks for a version translated and studied under the ITC guidelines; where none exists, it uses trained interpreters for the interview and does not score an improvised translation against English norms.
- Each report records the format and language used and any departure from standard conditions.
Adapting a method is a decision that needs evidence, and its remaining limits belong in the report.
Vérifiez vos acquis
A clinic wants a bilingual staff member to translate an English anxiety questionnaire into Tagalog and to score the translated version against the original English norms. What is the main problem?
Sources
- International Test Commission (2017), The ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests, Second Edition, Test development and confirmation guidelines
- Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA and NCME, 2014), Chapter 1, Validity; Chapter 3, Fairness in Testing (accommodations and adaptations)
- Hunsley and Meyer (2003), The incremental validity of psychological testing and assessment: Conceptual, methodological, and statistical issues, Psychological Assessment (PMID 14692841), Psychological Assessment 15, 446-455
- Flores, Laws, Mayo, Zuckerman, Abreu, Medina and Hardt (2003), Errors in medical interpretation and their potential clinical consequences in pediatric encounters, Pediatrics (PMID 12509547), Pediatrics 111, 6-14 (77 percent versus 53 percent of errors with potential clinical consequences)
- Guidelines for the Practice of Telepsychology (APA, 2024), as summarized in Perle and colleagues (2026), A compendium for the 2024 APA Guidelines for the Practice of Telepsychology, American Psychologist (PMID 40875352), Guideline topic: testing and assessment
- Brearly, Shura, Martindale, Lazowski, Luxton, Shenal and Rowland (2017), Neuropsychological test administration by videoconference: A systematic review and meta-analysis, Neuropsychology Review (PMID 28623461), Neuropsychology Review 27, 174-186 (verbally mediated tasks supported; motor-dependent tasks uncertain)
- APA (2022), Guidelines for Assessment and Intervention With Persons With Disabilities; executive summary by Hanson, Bruyere, Forber-Pratt, Reesman and Sung (2023), American Psychologist (PMID 36931825), American Psychologist 78, 995-1009 (respectful and fair assessment; biases and barriers)