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Decoding the Ethics Code, Ch. 6

July 1, 2025/in Psychology Questions /by Besttutor

CHAPTER 6

Standards on

Human Relations

3. Human Relations

3.01 Unfair Discrimination

In their work-related activities, psychologists do not engage in unfair discrimination based on age,

gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability,

socioeconomic status, or any basis proscribed by law.

Psychologists respect the dignity and worth of all people and appropriately consider

the relevance of personal characteristics based on factors such as age, gender,

gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation,

disability, or socioeconomic status (Principle E: Respect for People’s Rights and

Dignity). Much of the work of psychologists entails making valid discriminating

judgments that best serve the people and organizations they work with and fulfilling

their ethical obligations as teachers, researchers, organizational consultants, and

practitioners. Standard 3.01 of the APA Ethics Code (APA, 2002b) does not prohibit

such discriminations.

􀀵 The graduate psychology faculty of a university used differences in standardized test

scores, undergraduate grades, and professionally related experience as selection criteria

for program admission.

􀀵 A research psychologist sampled individuals from specific age, gender, and cultural

groups to test a specific hypothesis relevant to these groups.

􀀵 An organizational psychologist working for a software company designed assessments

for employee screening and promotion to distinguish individuals with the

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92——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

Standard 3.01 does not require psychologists offering therapeutic assistance to

accept as clients/patients all individuals who request mental health services. Discerning

and prudent psychologists know the limitations of their competence and accept to

treat only those whom they can reasonably expect to help based on their education,

training, and experience (Striefel, 2007). Psychologists may also refuse to accept

clients/patients on the basis of individuals’ lack of commitment to the therapeutic

process, problems they have that fall outside the therapists’ area of competence, or their

perceived inability or unwillingness to pay for services (Knapp & VandeCreek, 2003).

Psychologists must, however, exercise reasonable judgment and precautions to

ensure that their work does not reflect personal or organizational biases or prejudices

that can lead to injustice (Principle D: Justice). For example, the American

Psychological Association’s (APA’s) Resolution on Religious, Religion-Based, and/or

Religion-Derived Prejudice (APA, 2007d) condemns prejudice and discrimination

against individuals or groups based on their religious or spiritual beliefs, practices,

adherence, or background.

Standard 3.01 prohibits psychologists from making unfair discriminations based

on the factors listed in the standard.

requisite information technology skills to perform tasks essential to the positions from

individuals not possessing these skills.

􀀵 A school psychologist considers factors such as age, English language proficiency, and

hearing or vision impairment when making educational placement recommendations.

􀀵 A family bereavement counselor working in an elder care unit of a hospital regularly

considered the extent to which factors associated with the families’ culture or religious

values should be considered in the treatment plan.

􀀵 A psychologist conducting couples therapy with gay partners worked with clients to

explore the potential effects of homophobia, relational ambiguity, and family support

on their relationship (Green & Mitchell, 2002).

􀀴 The director of a graduate program in psychology rejected a candidate for program

admission because the candidate indicated that he was a Muslim.

􀀴 A consulting psychologist agreed to a company’s request to develop pre-employment

procedures that would screen out applicants from Spanish-speaking cultures based on

the company’s presumption that the majority of such candidates would be undocumented

residents.

􀀴 A psychologist working in a Medicaid clinic decided not to include a cognitive component

in a behavioral treatment based solely on the psychologist’s belief that lowerincome

patients were incapable of responding to “talk therapies.”

􀀴 One partner of a gay couple who recently entered couple counseling called their psychologist

when he learned that he tested positive for the HIV virus. Although when

working with heterosexual couples the psychologist strongly encouraged clients to

inform their partners if they had a sexually transmitted disease, she did not believe such

an approach was necessary in this situation based on her erroneous assumption that

all gay men engaged in reckless and risky sexual behavior (see Palma & Iannelli, 2002).

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——93

Discrimination Proscribed by Law

Standard 3.01 prohibits psychologists from discriminating among individuals on

any basis proscribed by law. For example, industrial–organizational psychologists

need to be aware of nondiscrimination laws relevant to race, religion, and disability

that apply to companies for which they work (e.g., ADA, www.ada.gov; Title VII of

the Civil Rights Act of 1964, www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm, archive.eeoc

.gov/types/religion.html; Workforce Investment Act of 1998, www.doleta.gov/

usworkforce/wia/wialaw.txt). Psychologists conducting personnel performance

evaluations should avoid selecting tests developed to assess psychopathology (see

Karraker v. Rent-a-Center, 2005). In addition, under ADA (1990), disability-relevant

questions can only be asked of prospective employees after the employer has made

a conditional offer. In some instances, ADA laws for small businesses also apply to

psychologists in private practice, such as wheelchair accessibility. In addition,

HIPAA prohibits covered entities from discriminating against an individual for filing

a complaint, participating in a compliance review or hearing, or opposing an act or

practice that is unlawful under the regulation (45 CFR 164.530[g]).

3.02 Sexual Harassment

Psychologists do not engage in sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is sexual solicitation,

physical advances, or verbal or nonverbal conduct that is sexual in nature, that occurs in connection

with the psychologist’s activities or role as a psychologist, and that either (1) is unwelcome,

is offensive, or creates a hostile workplace or educational environment, and the psychologist

knows or is told this; or (2) is sufficiently severe or intense to be abusive to a reasonable person

in the context. Sexual harassment can consist of a single intense or severe act or of multiple

persistent or pervasive acts. (See also Standard 1.08, Unfair Discrimination Against Complainants

and Respondents.)

It is always wise for psychologists to be familiar with and comply with applicable

laws and institutional policies regarding sexual harassment. Laws on sexual

harassment vary across jurisdictions, are often complex, and change over time.

Standard 3.02 provides a clear definition of behaviors that are prohibited and considered

sexual harassment under the Ethics Code. When this definition establishes

a higher standard of conduct than required by law, psychologists must comply

with Standard 3.02.

According to Standard 3.02, sexual harassment can be verbal or nonverbal

solicitation, advances, or sexual conduct that occurs in connection with the psychologist’s

activities or role as a psychologist. The wording of the definition was

carefully crafted to prohibit sexual harassment without encouraging complaints

against psychologists whose poor judgments or behaviors do not rise to the level of

harassment. Thus, to meet the standard’s threshold for sexual harassment, behaviors

have to be either so severe or intense that a reasonable person would deem

them abusive in that context, or, regardless of intensity, the psychologist was aware

or had been told that the behaviors are unwelcome, offensive, or creating a hostile

workplace or educational environment.

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94——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

For example, a senior faculty member who places an arm around a student’s

shoulder during a discussion or who tells an off-color sexual joke that offends a

number of junior faculty may not be in violation of this standard if such behavior

is uncharacteristic of the faculty member’s usual conduct, if a reasonable

person might interpret the behavior as inoffensive, and if there is reason to

assume the psychologist neither is aware of nor has been told the behavior is

offensive.

A hostile workplace or educational environment is one in which the sexual

language or behaviors of the psychologist impairs the ability of those who are the

target of the sexual harassment to conduct their work or participate in classroom

and educational experiences. The actions of the senior faculty member described

above might be considered sexual harassment if the psychologist’s behaviors

reflected a consistent pattern of sexual conduct during class or office hours, if

such behaviors had led students to withdraw from the psychologist’s class, or if

students or other faculty had repeatedly told the psychologist about the discomfort

produced.

􀀴 A senior psychologist at a test company sexually fondled a junior colleague during an

office party.

􀀴 During clinical supervision, a trainee had an emotional discussion with her female

supervisor about how her own experiences recognizing her lesbian sexual orientation

during adolescence were helping her counsel the gay and lesbian youths

she was working with. At the end of the session, the supervisor kissed the trainee

on the lips.

According to this standard, sexual harassment can also consist of a single intense

or severe act that would be considered abusive to a reasonable person.

A violation of this standard applies to all psychologists irrespective of the status,

sex, or sexual orientation of the psychologist or individual harassed.

3.03 Other Harassment

Psychologists do not knowingly engage in behavior that is harassing or demeaning to persons

with whom they interact in their work based on factors such as those persons’ age, gender, gender

identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language,

or socioeconomic status.

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——95

According to Principle E: Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity, psychologists

should eliminate from their work the effect of bias and prejudice based on factors

such as age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual

orientation, disability, language, and socioeconomic status. Standard 3.03 prohibits

behaviors that draw on these categories to harass or demean individuals with

whom psychologists work, such as colleagues, students, research participants, or

employees. Behaviors in violation of this standard include ethnic slurs and negative

generalizations based on gender, sexual orientation, disability, or socioeconomic

status whose intention or outcome is lowering status or reputation.

The term knowingly reflects the fact that evolving societal sensitivity to language

and behaviors demeaning to different groups may result in psychologists unknowingly

acting in a pejorative manner. The term knowingly also reflects awareness that

interpretations of behaviors that are harassing or demeaning can often be subjective.

Thus, a violation of this standard rests on an objective evaluation that a psychologist

would have or should have been aware that his or her behavior would be

perceived as harassing or demeaning.

This standard does not prohibit psychologists from critical comments about

the work of students, colleagues, or others based on legitimate criteria. For

example, professors can inform, and often have a duty to inform, students that

their writing or clinical skills are below program standards or indicate when a

student’s classroom comment is incorrect or inappropriate. It is the responsibility

of employers or chairs of academic departments to critically review, report on,

and discuss both positive and negative evaluations of employees or faculty.

Similarly, the standard does not prohibit psychologists conducting assessment or

therapy from applying valid diagnostic classifications that a client/patient may

find offensive.

3.04 Avoiding Harm

Psychologists take reasonable steps to avoid harming their clients/patients, students, supervisees,

research participants, organizational clients, and others with whom they work, and to minimize

harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable.

As articulated in Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence, psychologists

seek to safeguard the welfare of those with whom they work and avoid or minimize

harm when conflicts occur among professional obligations. In the rightly practiced

profession and science of psychology, harm is not always unethical or avoidable.

Legitimate activities that may lead to harm include (a) giving low grades to students

who perform poorly on exams; (b) providing a valid diagnosis that prevents a

client/patient from receiving disability insurance; (c) conducting personnel reviews

that lead to an individual’s termination of employment; (d) conducting a custody

evaluation in a case in which the judge determines one of the parents must relinquish

custodial rights; or (e) disclosing confidential information to protect the

physical welfare of a third party.

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96——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

Steps for Avoiding Harm

Recognizing that such harms are not always avoidable or inappropriate,

Standard 3.04 requires psychologists to take reasonable steps to avoid harming

those with whom they interact in their professional and scientific roles and to

minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable.

These steps often include complying with other standards in the Ethics Code,

such as the following:

􀀵 Parents of a fourth-grade student wanted their child placed in a special education

class. After administering a complete battery of tests, the school psychologist’s

report indicated that the child’s responses did not meet established definitions for

learning disabilities and therefore did not meet the district’s criteria for such

placement.

􀀵 A forensic psychologist was asked to evaluate the mental status of a criminal

defendant who was asserting volitional insanity as a defense against liability in

his trial for manslaughter. The psychologist conducted a thorough evaluation

based on definitions of volitional insanity and irresistible impulse established by

the profession of psychology and by law. While the psychologist’s report noted

that the inmate had some problems with impulse control and emotional instability,

it also noted that these deficiencies did not meet the legal definition of volitional

that would bar prosecution (see also Hot Topic “Human Rights and

Psychologists’ Involvement in Assessments Related to Death Penalty Cases” in

Chapter 4).

􀀴 A psychologist conducted therapy over the Internet for clients/patients in a rural area

120 miles from her office. The psychologist had not developed a plan with each client/

patient for handling mental health crises. During a live video Internet session, a client

who had been struggling with bouts of depression showed the psychologist his gun

and said he was going outside to “blow his head off.” The psychologist did not have

the contact information of any local hospital, relative, or friend to send prompt emergency

assistance.

􀀴 A psychologist with prescription privileges prescribed a Food and Drug Administration

(FDA)-approved neuroenhancer to help a young adult patient suffering from performance

anxiety associated with his responsibilities as quarterback for his college varsity

football team. The psychologist failed to discuss the importance of gradual reduction in

dosage, and she was dismayed to learn that her patient had been hospitalized after he

abruptly discontinued the medication when the football season ended (APA, 2011a;

McCrickerd, 2010; I. Singh & Kelleher, 2010).

􀀴 Consistent with Standard 10.10a, Terminating Treatment, a psychologist treating a

client/patient with a diagnosis of borderline disorder terminated therapy when she

realized the client/patient had formed an iatrogenic attachment to her that was clearly

interfering with any benefits that could be derived from the treatment. However, her

failure to provide appropriate pretermination counseling and referrals contributed to

the client’s/patient’s emergency hospitalization for suicidal risk (Standard 10.10c,

Terminating Treatment).

HMO

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——97

Is Use of Aversion Therapies Unethical?

Aversion therapy involves the repeated association of a maladaptive behavior or

cognition with an aversive stimulus (e.g., electric shock, unpleasant images, nausea)

to eliminate pleasant associations or introduce negative associations with the undesirable

behavior. Aversion therapies have proved promising in treatments of drug

cravings, alcoholism, and pica (Bordnick, Elkins, Orr, Walters, & Thyer, 2004;

Ferreri, Tamm, & Wier, 2006; Thurber, 1985) and have been used with questionable

effectiveness for pedophilia (Hall & Hall, 2007). It is beyond the purview of this

volume to review literature evaluating the clinical efficacy of aversion therapies for

different disorders. However, even with evidence of clinical efficacy, aversion therapies

have and will continue to require ethical deliberation because they purposely

subject clients/patients to physical and emotional discomfort and distress. In so

doing, they raise the fundamental moral issue of balancing doing good against

doing no harm (Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence).

Psychologists should consider the following questions before engaging in aversion

therapy:

Have all empirically and clinically validated alternative therapeutic approaches

been attempted?

Is there empirical evidence that the aversive therapeutic approach has demonstrated

effectiveness with individuals who are similar to the client/patient in

mental health disorder, age, physical health, and other relevant factors?

(Standard 2.04, Bases for Scientific and Professional Judgments)

􀀵 Clarifying course requirements and establishing a timely and specific process for providing

feedback to students (Standard 7.06, Assessing Student and Supervisee Performance)

􀀵 Selecting and using valid and reliable assessment techniques appropriate to the nature

of the problem and characteristics of the testee to avoid misdiagnosis and inappropriate

services (Standards 9.01, Bases for Assessments, and 9.02, Use of Assessments)

􀀵 When appropriate, providing information beforehand to employees and others who

may be directly affected by a psychologist’s services to an organization (Standard 3.11,

Psychological Services Delivered To or Through Organizations)

􀀵 Acquiring adequate knowledge of relevant judicial or administrative rules prior to

performing forensic roles to avoid violating the legal rights of individuals involved in

litigation (Standard 2.01f, Boundaries of Competence)

􀀵 Taking steps to minimize harm when, during debriefing, a psychologist becomes aware

of participant distress created by the research procedure (Standard 8.08c, Debriefing)

􀀵 Becoming familiar with local social service, medical, and legal resources for clients/

patients and third parties who will be affected if a psychologist is ethically or legally

compelled to report child abuse, suicide risk, elder abuse, or intent to do physical harm

to another individual (Standard 4.05b, Disclosures)

􀀵 Monitoring patient’s physiological status when prescribing medications (with legal

prescribing authority), particularly when there is a physical condition that might complicate

the response to psychotropic medication or predispose a patient to experience

an adverse reaction (APA, 2011a).

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98——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

To what extent is the behavior endangering the life or seriously compromising

the well-being of the client/patient?

For this particular patient, will the discomfort and distress of the aversive

treatment outweigh its potential positive effects?

To what extent is the urgency defined by the needs of third parties rather than

the client/patient? (Standards 3.05, Multiple Relationships; 3.07, Third-Party

Requests for Services; and 3.08, Exploitative Relationships)

Am I competent to administer the aversive treatment? (Standards 2.01a,

Boundaries of Competence, and 2.05, Delegation of Work to Others)

If aversive treatment is the only remaining option to best serve the needs of

the client/patient, how can harm be minimized?

Have I established appropriate monitoring procedures and termination criteria?

􀀵 Prescribing psychologists trained in addiction treatments opened a group practice to

provide assessment and individual and group therapy for substance abuse and comorbid

disorders. Occasionally, some clients who were long-term cocaine users could not

overcome their cravings despite positive responses to therapy. In such cases, the team

would offer the client a chemical aversion therapy with empirical evidence of treatment

efficacy. The therapy was supervised by a member of the team who was a prescribing

psychologist and who had acquired additional training in this technique (see

also Standard 2.01, Competence).

􀀵 Prior to initiating the aversion therapy, clients/patients were required to undergo a

physical examination by a physician to rule out those for whom the treatment posed

a potential medical risk. The treatment consisted of drinking a saltwater solution

containing a chemical that would induce nausea. Saltwater was used to avoid creating

a negative association with water. As soon as the client began to feel nauseated,

he or she was instructed to ingest a placebo form of crack cocaine using drug paraphernalia.

A bucket was available for vomiting. Patients were monitored by a physician

assistant and the prescribing psychologist during the process and recovery for

any medical or iatrogenic psychological side effects (Standard 3.09, Cooperation With

Other Professionals). Following the recommended minimum number of sessions,

patients continued in individual psychotherapy, and positive and negative reactions to

the aversion therapy continued to be monitored (see Bordnick et al., 2004).

Need to Know: When HMOs

Refuse to Extend Coverage

When health maintenance organizations refuse psychologists’ request to extend coverage for

clients/patients whose reimbursement quotas have been reached, psychologists may be in

violation of Standard 3.04 if they (a) did not take reasonable steps at the outset of therapy to

estimate and communicate to patients and their insurance company the number of sessions

anticipated, (b) did not familiarize themselves with the insurers’ policy, (c) recognized a need

for continuing treatment but did not communicate with insurers in an adequate or timely

fashion, or (d) were unprepared to handle client/patient response to termination of services.

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——99

Often, violation of Standard 3.04 will occur in connection with the violation of

other standards in this code that detail the actions required to perform psychological

activities in an ethically responsible manner. For example:

􀀴 Providing testimony on the poor parenting skills of an individual whom the psychologist

has never personally examined that contributed to that individual’s loss of child

custody (Standard 9.01b, Bases for Assessments)

􀀴 Engaging in a sexual relationship with a current therapy client/patient that was a

factor leading to the breakup of the client’s/patient’s marriage (Standard 10.05,

Sexual Intimacies With Current Therapy Clients/Patients)

􀀴 Asking students to relate their personal experience in psychotherapy to past and current

theories on mental health treatment when this requirement was not stipulated in

admissions or program materials, causing some students to drop out of the program

(Standard 7.04, Student Disclosure of Personal Information)

􀀴 Deceiving a research participant about procedures that the investigator expected

would cause some physical pain (Standard 8.07b, Deception in Research)

􀀴 Invalidating the life experience of clients from diverse cultural backgrounds by defining

their cultural values or behaviors as deviant or pathological and denying them culturally

appropriate care (D. W. Sue & Sue, 2003; Standard 2.01b, Boundaries of Competence).

Some contexts require more stringent protections against harm. For example,

psychologists working within institutions that use seclusion or physical restraint

techniques to treat violent episodes or other potentially injurious patient behaviors

must ensure that these extreme methods are employed only upon evidence of their

effectiveness, when other treatment alternatives have failed, and when the use of

such techniques is in the best interest of the patient and not for punishment, for

staff convenience or anxiety, or to reduce costs (Jerome, 1998).

􀀴 The director of psychological services for a children’s state psychiatric inpatient ward

approved the employment of time-out procedures to discipline patients who were disruptive

during educational classes. A special room was set up for this purpose. The director

did not, however, set guidelines for how the time-out procedure should be implemented.

For example, he failed to set limits on the length of time a child could be kept in the room

and not require staff monitoring, did not ensure the room was protected against fire

hazard, and did not develop policies that would permit patients to leave the room for

appropriate reasons. The director was appalled to learn that staff had not monitored

a 7-year-old who was kept in the room for over an hour and was discovered crying and

self-soiled (see, e.g., Dickens v. Johnson County Board of Education, 1987; Goss v. Lopez,

1975; Hayes v. Unified School District, 1989; Yell, 1994).

Psychotherapy and Counseling Harms

Psychologists should also be aware of psychotherapies or counseling techniques

that may cause harm (Barlow, 2010). If psychological interventions are powerful

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100——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

enough to improve mental health, it follows that they can be equally effective in worsening

it. In the normative practice of mental health treatment, the diversity of patient/

client mental health needs and the fluid nature of differential diagnosis will mean that

some therapeutic approaches will fail to help alleviate a mental health problem. In such

circumstances, psychologists will turn to other techniques, seek consultation, or offer

an appropriate referral. In other circumstances, negative symptoms are expected to

increase then subside during the natural course of evidence-based treatment (e.g.,

exposure therapy). When treating naturally deteriorating conditions (e.g., Alzheimer’s

disease), a worsening of symptoms does not necessarily indicate treatment harms

(Dimidjian & Hollon, 2010). By contrast, harmful psychotherapies are defined as those

that produce outcomes worse than what would have occurred without treatment

(Dimidjian & Hollon, 2010; Lilienfeld, 2007). Such harmful effects are easiest to detect

for mental health problems whose natural course is constant. In all these circumstances,

failure to terminate treatment when it becomes clear that continuation would

be harmful is a violation of Standard 3.04 and Standard 10.10a, Terminating Therapy.

Need to Know: How to Detect Harm

in Psychotherapy and Counseling

Psychologists should be aware of the evolving body of knowledge on potential contributors

to the harmful effects of psychotherapy and keep in mind the following suggestions

drawn from Beutler, Blatt, Alimohamed, Levy, and Angtuaco (2006), Castonguay, Boswell,

Constantino, Goldfried, and Hill (2010), and Lilienfeld (2007):

Obtain training in and keep up to date on the flexible use of interventions and

treatment alternatives to avoid premature use of clinical interpretations, rigid theoretical

frameworks, and singular treatment modalities.

Be familiar with the degree to which each client/patient and treatment setting match

those reported for a specific EBP and look for multiple knowledge sources as support

for different approaches (readers may also want to refer to the Need to Know section

on “Navigating the Online Search for Evidence-Based Practices” in Chapter 5).

Monitor change suggesting client/patient deterioration or lack of improvement;

continuously evaluate what works and what interferes with positive change.

Attend to treatment-relevant characteristics such as culture, sexual orientation,

religious beliefs, and disabilities and be aware of the possibility of over- or underdiagnosing

these clients’/patients’ mental health needs.

Carefully attend to client’s/patient’s disclosures of frustration with treatment and

use the information self-critically to evaluate the need to modify diagnosis, adjust

treatment strategy, or strengthen relational factors that may be jeopardizing the

therapeutic alliance.

Equipoise and Randomized Clinical Trials

Important questions of treatment efficacy and effectiveness driving the conduct

of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) for mental health treatments raise, by their very

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——101

nature, the possibility that some participants will fail to respond to experimental

treatment conditions or experience a decline in mental health during the trial. To

comply with Standard 3.04, research psychologists should develop procedures to

identify and address such possibilities. Such steps can include (a) scientifically and

clinically informed inclusion and exclusion criteria for patient participation, (b) the

establishment of a data safety monitoring board to evaluate unanticipated risks that

may emerge during a clinical trial, and (c) prior to the initiation of the research,

establishing criteria based on anticipated risks for when a trial should be stopped to

protect the welfare of participants. For additional information on guidance from the

Office of Human Research Protections, readers can refer to http://www.hhs.gov/

ohrp/policy/advevntguid.html.

􀀵 There is professional and scientific disagreement over the risks and benefits of

prescribing methylphenidate (e.g., brand name Ritalin) for treatment of attentiondeficit/

hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children less than 6 years of age. An interdisciplinary

team of behavioral and prescribing psychologists sought to empirically

test the advantage of adding psychopharmaceutical treatment to CBT for 3- to

5-year-old children previously diagnosed with ADHD. To avoid unnecessarily exposing

children to the potential side effects of medication, the team decided that preschoolers

would first participate in a multi-week parent training and behavioral

treatment program and that only those children whose symptoms did not significantly

improve with the behavioral intervention would continue on to the medication

clinical trial.

3.05 Multiple Relationships

(a) A multiple relationship occurs when a psychologist is in a professional role with a person and

(1) at the same time is in another role with the same person, (2) at the same time is in a relationship

with a person closely associated with or related to the person with whom the psychologist

has the professional relationship, or (3) promises to enter into another relationship in the future

with the person or a person closely associated with or related to the person. A psychologist

refrains from entering into a multiple relationship if the multiple relationship could reasonably be

expected to impair the psychologist’s objectivity, competence, or effectiveness in performing his

or her functions as a psychologist, or otherwise risks exploitation or harm to the person with

whom the professional relationship exists.

Multiple relationships that would not reasonably be expected to cause impairment or risk

exploitation or harm are not unethical.

Individual psychologists may perform a variety of roles. For example, during

the course of a year, a psychologist might see clients/patients in private practice,

teach at a university, provide consultation services to an organization, and conduct

research. In some instances, these multiple roles will involve the same person or

persons who have a close relationship with one another and may be concurrent or

sequential.

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102——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

Not All Multiple Relationships Are Unethical

Multiple relationships that would not reasonably be expected to cause impairment

or risk exploitation or harm are not unethical. For example, it is not unethical

for psychologists to serve as clinical supervisors or dissertation mentors for students

enrolled in one of their graduate classes because supervision, mentoring, and

teaching are all educational roles.

Standard 3.05 does not prohibit attendance at a client’s/patient’s, student’s,

employee’s, or employer’s family funeral, wedding, or graduation; the participation

of a psychologist’s child in an athletic team coached by a client/patient; gift giving

or receiving with those with whom one has a professional role; or entering into a

social relationship with a colleague as long as these relationships would not reasonably

be expected to lead to role impairment, exploitation, or harm. Incidental

encounters with clients/patients at religious services, school events, restaurants,

health clubs, or similar places are also not unethical as long as psychologists react

to these encounters in a professional manner. Nonetheless, psychologists should

always consider whether the particular nature of a professional relationship might

lead to a client’s/patient’s misperceptions regarding an encounter. If so, it is advisable

to keep a record of such encounters. For example:

􀀵 A client with a fluctuating sense of reality coupled with strong romantic transference

feelings for a treating psychologist misinterpreted two incidental encounters with his

psychologist as planned romantic meetings. The client subsequently raised these incidents

in a sexual misconduct complaint against the psychologist. The psychologist’s

recorded notes, made immediately following each encounter, were effective evidence

against the invalid accusations.

Posttermination Nonsexual Relationships

The standard does not have an absolute prohibition against posttermination

nonsexual relationships with persons with whom psychologists have had a previous

professional relationship. However, such relationships are prohibited if the

posttermination relationship was promised during the course of the original

relationship or if the individual was exploited or harmed by the intent to have the

posttermination relationship. Psychologists should be aware that posttermination

relationships can become problematic when personal knowledge acquired

during the professional relationship becomes relevant to the new relationship

(see S. K. Anderson & Kitchener, 1996; Sommers-Flanagan, 2012).

􀀵 A psychologist in independent practice abruptly terminated therapy with a patient

who was an editor at a large publishing company so that the patient could review a

book manuscript that the psychologist had submitted to the company.

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——103

Clients in Individual and Group Therapy

In most instances, treating clients/patients concurrently in individual and

group therapy does not represent a multiple relationship because the practitioner

is working in a therapeutic role in both contexts (R. E. Taylor & Gazda, 1991), and

Standard 3.05 does not prohibit such practice. Psychologists providing individual

and group therapy to the same clients/patients should consider instituting special

protections against inadvertently revealing to a therapy group information shared

by a client/patient in individual sessions. As in all types of professional practice,

psychologists should avoid recommending an additional form of therapy based on

the psychologist’s financial interests rather than the client’s/patient’s mental health

needs (Knauss & Knauss, 2012; Standard 3.06, Conflict of Interest).

Need to Know: Ethical “Hot Spots”

of Combined Therapy

Brabender and Fallon (2009) have identified ethical “hot spots” of combined therapy that

should be addressed at the outset of plans to engage clients/patients in individual and

group therapy. First, clients/patients should know that they have a choice in being offered

an additional therapy beyond what they expected, and their concerns about costs in time

and money should be respected and discussed (Standard 10.01, Informed Consent to

Therapy; 10.03, Group Therapy). Second, the psychologists should describe how private

information disclosed in individual therapy will be protected from transfer during group

sessions (Standard 4.02, Discussing the Limits of Confidentiality). Finally, psychologists

should explain their policies on client/patient decisions to choose to terminate one of the

treatment modalities (Standard 10.10a, Terminating Therapy).

Judging the Ethicality of Multiple Roles

Several authors have provided helpful decision-making models for judging

whether a multiple relationship may place the psychologist in violation of Standard

3.04 (Brownlee, 1996; Gottlieb, 1993; Oberlander & Barnett, 2005; Younggren &

Gottlieb, 2004). The majority looks at multiple relationships in terms of a continuum

of risk. From these models, the ethical appropriateness of a multiple relationship

becomes increasingly questionable with

increased incompatibility in role functions and objectives;

the greater power or prestige the psychologist has over the person with whom

there is a multiple role;

the greater the intimacy called for in the roles;

the longer the role relationships are anticipated to last;

the more vulnerable the client/patient, student, supervisee, or other subordinate

is to harm; and

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104——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

the extent to which engaging in the multiple relationship meets the needs of

the psychologist rather than the needs of the client/patient.

Potentially Unethical Multiple Relationships

Entering Into Another Role

Psychologists may encounter situations in which the opportunity to enter a new

relationship emerges with a person with whom they already have an established

professional role. The following examples illustrate multiple relationships that,

with rare exception, would be prohibited by Standard 3.05a because each situation

could reasonably be expected to impair psychologists’ ability to competently and

objectively perform their roles or lead to exploitation or harm.

􀀴 A psychologist agreed to see a student in the psychologist’s introductory psychology

course for brief private counseling for test anxiety. At the end of the semester, to avoid

jeopardizing the student’s growing academic self-confidence, the psychologist refrained

from giving the student a legitimate low grade for poor class performance. The psychologist

should have anticipated that the multiple relationship could impair her objectivity and

effectiveness as a teacher and create an unfair grading environment for the rest of the class.

􀀴 A company hired a psychologist for consultation on how to prepare employees for a

shift in management anticipated by the failing mental health of the chief executive

officer (CEO). A few months later, the psychologist agreed to a request by the board

of directors to counsel the CEO about retiring. The CEO did not want to retire and told

the psychologist about the coercive tactics used by the board. The psychologist realized

too late that this second role undermined both treatment and consultation

effectiveness because the counseling role played by the psychologist would be viewed

as either exploitative by the CEO or as disloyal by the board of directors.

􀀴 A school psychologist whose responsibilities in the school district included discussing

with parents the results of their children’s psychoeducational assessments regularly

recommended to parents that they bring their children to his private practice for

consultation and possible therapy.

􀀴 As part of their final class assignment, a psychologist required all students in her

undergraduate psychology class to participate in a federally funded research study

that she was conducting on college student drinking behaviors.

􀀴 A psychologist treating an inmate for anxiety disorder in a correctional facility agreed

with a request by the prison administrator to serve on a panel determining the

inmate’s parole eligibility (Anno, 2001).

􀀴 A graduate student interning at an inpatient psychiatric hospital asked her patients if

they would agree to participate in her dissertation research.

􀀴 An applied developmental psychologist conducting interview research on moral

development and adolescent health risk behaviors, often found herself giving advice

to adolescent female participants who asked for her help during the interviews.

Forensic Roles

Forensic psychologists may be called upon for a variety of assessment roles that

differ in their goals and responsibilities from those of treating psychologists.

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——105

Whereas the responsibility of the treating psychologist is to help clients/patients

achieve mental health, the responsibility of forensic psychologists serving as experts

for the court, the defense, or plaintiff is to provide objective information to assist

the finder of facts in legal determinations. In most instances, psychologists who take

on both roles concurrently or sequentially will be in violation of Standard 3.05a.

For example, in the treatment context, the format, information sought, and

psychologist–client/patient relationship are guided by the psychologist’s professional

evaluation of client/patient needs. Information obtained in a standardized or

unstructured manner or in response to practitioner empathy and other elements of

the therapeutic alliance is a legitimate means of meeting treatment goals.

However, when mixed with the forensic role, the subjective nature of such inquiries

and the selectivity of information obtained impair the psychologist’s objectivity

and thus ability to fulfill forensic responsibilities. Moreover, the conflicting objectives

of the treating and forensic roles will be confusing and potentially intimidating to

clients/patients, thereby undermining the psychologist’s effectiveness in functioning

under either role. Gottlieb and Coleman (2012) advise forensic psychologists to play

only one role in legal matters and to notify parties if a role change is contemplated.

􀀴 A forensic psychologist was hired by the court to conduct a psychological evaluation

for a probation hearing of a man serving a jail sentence for spousal abuse. At the end

of the evaluation, the psychologist suggested that if the inmate were released, he and

his wife should consider seeing her for couple’s therapy.

Bush et al. (2006) suggest that one potential exception to multiple relationships

in forensic contexts may be seen in psychologists who transition from the role of

forensic evaluator to trial consultant. For example, in some contexts it might be

ethically permissible for a psychologist originally retained by a defense attorney to

evaluate a client to also perform consultative services to the attorney regarding the

testimony of other psychologists during a trial if (a) the psychologist provided

only an oral report on his or her diagnostic impressions and (b) the psychologist

would not be called on to provide court testimony. Psychologists should, however,

approach such a multiple relationship with caution if, by ingratiating themselves

with the attorney, they intentionally or unintentionally bias their evaluation or

otherwise violate Standard 3.05a, Multiple Relationships, or 3.06, Conflict of Interest.

(For additional discussion of the role of forensic experts, see the Hot Topics in

Chapters 8 and 12 on psychologists providing testimony in courts.)

Personal–Professional Boundary Crossings

Involving Clients/Patients, Students,

Research Participants, and Subordinates

Boundaries serve to support the effectiveness of psychologists’ work and create

a safe place for clients/patients, students, employees, and other subordinates to

benefit from the psychologists’ services (Burian & Slimp, 2000; Russell & Peterson,

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106——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

1998). Boundaries protect against a blurring of personal and professional domains

that could jeopardize psychologists’ objectivity and confidence of those with whom

they work that psychologists will act in their best interests. Unethical multiple relationships

often emerge after psychologists have engaged in a pattern that “progresses

from apparently benign and perhaps well-intended boundary crossings to

increasingly intrusive and harmful boundary violations and multiple relationships”

(Oberlander & Barnett, 2005, p. 51). Boundary crossings can thus place psychologists

on a slippery slope leading to ethical misconduct (Gutheil & Gabbard, 1993;

Norris, Gutheil, & Strasburger, 2003; Sommers-Flanagan, 2012).

Clients/patients, students, research participants, and supervisees have less experience,

knowledge, and power compared with psychologists providing assessment, treatment,

teaching, mentoring, or supervision. Consequently, they are unlikely to recognize

inappropriate boundary crossings or to express their concerns. It is the psychologist’s

responsibility to monitor and ensure appropriate boundaries between professional and

personal communications and relationships (Gottlieb, Robinson, & Younggren, 2007).

Sharing aspects of their personal history or current reactions to a situation with

those they work with is not unethical if psychologists limit these communications

to meet the therapeutic, educational, or supervisory needs of those they serve.

􀀵 A graduate student expressed to his dissertation mentor his feelings of inadequacy

and frustration upon learning that a manuscript he had submitted for publication was

rejected. The mentor described how she often reacted similarly when first receiving

such information but framed this disclosure within a “lesson” for the student on rising

above the initial emotion to objectively reflect on the review and improve his chances

of having a revised manuscript accepted.

􀀵 A psychologist in private practice was providing CBT to help a client conquer feelings

of inadequacy and panic attacks that were interfering with her desired career

advancement. After several sessions, the psychologist realized that the client’s distorted

belief regarding the ease with which other people and the psychologist, in

particular, attained their career goals was interfering with the effectiveness of the

treatment. The psychologist shared with the client a brief personal story regarding

how he experienced and reacted to a career obstacle, limiting the disclosure to elements

the client could use in framing her own career difficulties.

Boundary crossings can become boundary violations when psychologists share personal

information with clients/patients, students, or employees to satisfy their own needs.

􀀴 A psychologist repeatedly confided to his graduate research assistant about the economic

strains his marriage was placing on his personal and professional life. After

several weeks, the graduate student began to pay for the psychologist’s lunches when

they were delivered to the office.

􀀴 A psychologist providing services at a college counseling center was having difficulties

with her own college-aged son’s drinking habits. She began to share her concerns

about her son with her clients and sometimes asked their advice.

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——107

Research

Boundary crossings can also lead to bidirectional coercion, exploitation, or

harm. For example, the intimacy between researchers and study participants inherent

in ethnographic and participant observation research can create ambiguous or

blurred personal–professional boundaries that can threaten the validity of data

collected (Fisher, 2004, 2011). Study participants may feel bound by a personal

relationship with an investigator to continue in a research project they find distressing,

or investigators may feel pressured to yield to participant demands for involvement

in illegal behaviors or for money or other resources above those allocated for

participation in the research (Singer et al., 1999).

􀀴 A psychologist was conducting ethnographic research on the lives of female sex workers

who were also raising young children. In an effort to establish a sense of trust with

the sex workers, she spent many months in the five-block radius where they worked,

sharing stories with them about her own parenting experiences. One day, when the

police were conducting a drug raid in the area, a participant the psychologist had

interviewed numerous times begged the psychologist to hold her marijuana before

the police searched her, crying that she would lose her child if the drugs were discovered.

The psychologist felt she had no choice but to agree to hide the drugs because

of the personal worries about the safety of her own children that she had shared with

the participant (adapted from Fisher, 2011).

Nonsexual Physical Contact

Nonsexual physical contact with clients/patients, students, or others over whom

the psychologist has professional authority can also lead to role misperceptions that

interfere with the psychologist’s professional functions. While Standard 3.05 does

not prohibit psychologists from hugging, handholding, or putting an arm around

those with whom they work in response to a special event (e.g., graduation, termination

of therapy, promotion), or showing empathy for emotional crises (e.g.,

death in the family, recounting of an intense emotional event), such actions can be

the first step toward an easing of boundaries that could lead to an unethical multiple

relationship.

Whenever such circumstances arise, psychologists should evaluate, before

they act, the appropriateness of the physical contact by asking the following

questions:

Is the initiation of physical contact consistent with the professional goals of

the relationship?

How might the contact serve to strengthen or jeopardize the future functioning

of the psychologist’s role?

How will the contact be perceived by the recipient?

Does the act serve the immediate needs of the psychologist rather than the

immediate or long-term needs of the client/patient, student, or supervisee?

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108——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

Is the physical contact a substitute for more professionally appropriate

behaviors?

Is the physical contact part of a continuing pattern of behavior that may

reflect the psychologists’ personal problems or conflicts?

Need to Know: Professional Boundaries

and Self-Disclosure Over the Internet

The Internet has complicated psychologists’ control over access to personal information.

Psychologists can control some information disclosed on the Internet through

carefully crafted professional blogs, participation on professional or scientific listservs,

and credentials or course curricula posted on individual or institutional websites.

However, accidental self-disclosure (Zur, Williams, Lehavot, & Knapp, 2009) can occur

when clients/patients, students, employees, or others (a) pay for legal online background

checks that may include information on divorce or credit ratings, (b) conduct

illegal searches of cell phone records, or (c) use search engines to find information that

the psychologist may not be aware is posted online. Even when psychologists refuse

“friending” requests, it is increasingly easy for individuals to find information on social

networks such as Facebook through the millions of interconnected links and “mutual

friends” who may have personal postings from and photos of the psychologist on their

websites (Luo, 2009; L. Taylor, McMinn, Bufford, & Change, 2010; Zur et al., 2009).

Given the risks of accidental self-disclosure, psychologists should consider the following

to limit access to personal information (Barnett, 2008; Lehavot, Barnett, & Powers,

2010; Nicholson, 2011):

Set one’s social network settings to restrict access to specifically authorized

visitors only.

Consider whether posted personal information, if accessed, would cause harm to

those with whom you work; undermine your therapeutic, teaching, consultation, or

research effectiveness; or compromise the public’s trust in the discipline.

Periodically search one’s name online using different combinations (e.g., Dr. Jones,

Edward Jones, Jones family).

Consult with experts on how to remove personal or inaccurate information from

the Internet.

When appropriate discuss your Internet policies during informed consent or the

beginning of other professional relationships (see “Need to Know: Setting an Internet

Search and Social Media Policy During Informed Consent” in Chapter 13).

Relationships With Others

Psychologists also encounter situations in which a person closely associated with

someone with whom they have a professional role seeks to enter into a similar professional

relationship. For example, the roommate of a current psychotherapy client/

patient might ask the psychologist for an appointment to begin psychotherapy. A

CEO of a company that hires a psychologist to conduct personnel evaluations might

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——109

ask the psychologist to administer psychological tests to the CEO’s child to determine

whether the child has a learning disability. With few exceptions, entering into

such relationships would risk a violation of Standard 3.05a because it could reasonably

be expected that the psychologist’s ability to make appropriate and objective

judgments would be impaired, which in turn would jeopardize the effectiveness of

services provided and result in harm.

Receiving referrals from current or recent clients/patients should raise ethical

red flags. In many instances, accepting into treatment a friend, relative, or others

referred by a current client can create a real or perceived intrusion on the psychologist–

patient relationship. For example, a current client/patient may question whether the

psychologist has information about him or her gained from the person he or she

referred or whether the psychologist is siding with one person or the other if there

is a social conflict. Psychologists must also guard against exploiting clients/patients

by explicitly or implicitly encouraging referrals to expand their practice (see also

Standard 3.06, Conflict of Interest).

Some have suggested that treating psychologists should consider a referral from

a current client/patient in the same way they would evaluate the therapeutic meaning

of a “gift” (E. Shapiro & Ginzberg, 2003). In all circumstances, psychologists

must evaluate the extent to which accepting a referral can impair their objectivity

and conduct of their work or lead to exploitation or harm. One way of addressing

this issue is to clearly state to current patients the psychologist’s policy of not

accepting patient referrals and, if a situation arises requiring an immediate need for

treatment, to provide a professional referral to another psychologist (see also

Standard 2.02, Providing Services in Emergencies).

When practicing psychologists receive referrals from former clients/patients, it is

prudent to consider (a) whether the former client/patient may need the psychologist’s

services in the future, (b) whether information obtained about the new referral

during the former client’s/patient’s therapy is likely to impair the psychologist’s

objectivity, and (c) the extent to which the new referral’s beliefs about the former

client’s/patient’s relationship with the psychologist is likely to interfere with treatment

effectiveness.

Preexisting Personal Relationships

Psychologists may also encounter situations in which they are asked to take on a

professional role with someone with whom they have had a preexisting personal

relationship. Such multiple relationships are often unethical because the preexisting

relationship would reasonably be expected to impair the psychologist’s objectivity

and effectiveness.

􀀴 A psychologist agrees to spend a few sessions helping his nephew overcome anxiety

about going to school.

􀀴 At a colleague’s request, a psychologist agrees to administer a battery of tests to

assess whether the colleague has adult attention deficit disorder.

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Sexual Multiple Relationships

Sexual relationships with individuals with whom psychologists have a current

professional relationship are always unethical. Because of the strong potential for

harm involved in such multiple relationships, they are specifically addressed in

several standards of the Ethics Code that will be covered in greater detail in

Chapters 10 and 13 (Standards 7.07, Sexual Relationships With Students and

Supervisees; 10.05, Sexual Intimacies With Current Therapy Clients/Patients; 10.06,

Sexual Intimacies With Relatives or Significant Others of Current Therapy Clients/

Patients; 10.07, Therapy With Former Sexual Partners; and 10.08, Sexual Intimacies

With Former Therapy Clients/Patients).

“Reasonably Expected”

It is important to note that the phrase “could reasonably be expected” indicates

that violations of Standard 3.05a may be judged not only by whether actual impairment,

harm, or exploitation has occurred but also by whether most psychologists

engaged in similar activities in similar circumstances would determine that entering

into such a multiple relationship would be expected to lead to such harms.

􀀵 A judge asked a psychologist who had conducted a custody evaluation to provide

6-month mandated family counseling for the couple involved followed by a reevaluation

for custody. The psychologist explained to the judge that providing family counseling

to individuals whose parenting skills the psychologist would later have to

evaluate could reasonably be expected to impair her ability to form an objective

opinion independent of knowledge gained and the professional investment made in

the counseling sessions. She also explained that such a multiple relationship could

impair her effectiveness as a counselor if the parents refrained from honest engagement

in the counseling sessions for fear that comments made would be used against

them during the custody assessment. The judge agreed to assign the family to another

psychologist for counseling.

Unavoidable Multiple Relationships

In some situations, it may not be possible or reasonable to avoid multiple relationships.

Psychologists working in rural communities, small towns, American

Indian reservations, or small insulated religious communities or who are qualified

to provide services to members of unique ethnic or language groups for which

alternative psychological services are not available would not be in violation of this

standard if they took reasonable steps to protect their objectivity and effectiveness

and the possibility of exploitation and harm (Werth et al., 2010).

Such steps might include seeking consultation by phone from a colleague to

help ensure objectivity and taking extra precautions to protect the confidentiality

of each individual with whom the psychologist works. Psychologists can also

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——111

explain to individuals involved the ethical challenges of the multiple relationships,

describe the steps the psychologist will take to mitigate these risks, and

encourage individuals to alert the psychologist to multiple relational situations of

which the psychologist might not be aware and that might place his or her effectiveness

at risk.

􀀵 A rabbi in a small orthodox Jewish community also served as the community’s sole

licensed clinical psychologist. The psychologist was careful to clearly articulate to his

clients the separation of his role as a psychologist and his role as their rabbi. His work

benefited from his ability to apply his understanding of the orthodox faith and community

culture to help clients/patients with some of the unique psychological issues

raised. He had been treating a young woman in the community for depression when

it became clear that a primary contributor to her distress was her deep questioning of

her faith. The psychologist knew from his years in the community that abandoning

orthodox tenets would most likely result in the woman being ostracized by her family

and community. As a rabbi, the psychologist had experience helping individuals

grapple with doubts about their faith. However, despite the woman’s requests, he was

unwilling to engage in this rabbinical role as a part of the therapy, believing that helping

the woman maintain her faith would be incompatible with his responsibility as a

psychologist to help her examine the psychological facets of her conflicted feelings.

The rabbi contacted the director of an orthodox rabbinical school who helped him

identify an advanced student with experience in Jewish communal service who was

willing to come to the community once a week to provide a seminar on Jewish studies

and meet individually with congregants about issues of faith. The psychologist

explained the role conflict to his patient. They agreed that she would continue to see

the psychologist for psychotherapy and meet with the visiting rabbinical student to

discuss specific issues of faith. Readers may also wish to refer to the Hot Topic in

Chapter 13 on the role of religion and spirituality in psychotherapy.

Correctional and Military Psychologists

Psychologists working in correctional settings and those enlisted in the military

often face unique multiple relationship challenges. In some prisons, correctional

administrators believe that all employees should provide services as officers. As

detailed by Weinberger and Sreenivasan (2003), psychologists in such settings may

be asked to search for contraband, use a firearm, patrol to prevent escapes, coordinate

inmate movement, and deal with crises unrelated to their role as a psychologist.

Any one of these roles has the potential to undermine the therapeutic

relationship a psychologist establishes with individual inmates by blurring the roles

of care provider and security officer. Such potentially harmful multiple relationships

are also inconsistent with the Standards for Psychological Services in Jails,

Prisons, Correctional Facilities, and Agencies (Althouse, 2000).

As required by Standard 1.03, Conflicts Between Ethics and Organizational

Demands, prior to taking a position as a treating psychologist or whenever correctional

psychologists are asked to engage in a role that will compromise their health

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112——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

provider responsibilities, they should clarify the nature of the conflict to the administrator,

make known their commitment to the Ethics Code, and attempt to resolve

the conflict by taking steps to ensure that they do not engage in multiple roles that

will interfere with the provision of psychological services.

􀀵 A psychologist working in a correctional facility had successfully established his primary

role as that of mental health treatment provider with both prison officials and

inmates. He was not required to search his patients for contraband or to perform any

other security-related activities. As required of all facility staff, he received training in

the use of firearms and techniques to disarm prisoners who had weapons. On one

occasion, several newly admitted inmates suddenly began to attack some of the older

prisoners with homemade knives. As one of the few correctional staff members present

at the scene, the psychologist assisted the security staff in disarming the inmates.

Although none of the attacking inmates were in treatment with him, he did discuss

the incident with his current patients to address any concerns they might have about

the therapeutic relationship.

Psychologists in the military face additional challenges (Kennedy & Johnson,

2009). W. B. Johnson, Bacho, Heim, and Ralph (2006) highlight multiple role obligations

that may create a conflict between responsibilities to individual military

clients/patients and to their military organization: (a) as commissioned officers,

psychologists’ primary obligation is to the military mission; (b) embedded psychologists

must promote the fighting power and combat readiness of individual

military personnel and the combat unit as a whole; (c) since many military psychologists

are the sole mental health providers for their unit, there is less room for

choice of alternative treatment providers; (d) there is less control and choice

regarding shifts between therapeutic and administrative role relationships (e.g.,

seeing as a patient a member about whom the psychologist previously had to render

an administrative decision); and (e) like rural communities, military communities

are often small, with military psychologists having social relationships with

individuals who may at some point become patients.

To minimize the potential harm that could emerge from such multiple relationships,

Johnson et al. (2006) suggest that military psychologists (a) strive for a neutral

position in the community, avoiding high-profile social positions; (b) assume

that every member of the community is a potential client/patient and attempt to

establish appropriate boundaries accordingly, for example, limiting self-disclosures

that would be expected in common social circumstances; (c) provide informed

consent immediately if a nontherapeutic role relationship transitions into a therapeutic

one; (d) be conservative in the information one “needs to know” in the

therapeutic role to avoid to the extent feasible threats to confidentiality that may

emerge when an administrative role is required; (e) collaborate with clients/

patients on how best to handle role transitions when possible and appropriate; and

(f) carefully document multiple role conflicts, how they were handled, and the

rationale for such decisions.

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——113

(b) If a psychologist finds that, due to unforeseen factors, a potentially harmful multiple relationship

has arisen, the psychologist takes reasonable steps to resolve it with due regard for the best

interests of the affected person and maximal compliance with the Ethics Code.

There will be instances when psychologists discover that they are involved in a

potentially harmful multiple relationship of which they had been unaware. Standard

3.05b requires that psychologists take reasonable steps to resolve the potential harms

that might arise from such relationships, recognizing that the best interests of the

affected person and maximal compliance with other standards in the Ethics Code

may sometimes require psychologists to remain in the multiple roles.

􀀵 A military psychologist provided therapy to an enlisted officer who was ordered to enter

treatment for difficulties in job-related performance. During treatment, the client and

psychologist were assigned to a field exercise in which the client would be under

the psychologist’s command. To reassign the client to a different officer for the exercise,

the psychologist would need to speak with a superior who was not a mental health

worker. Recognizing that the client’s involvement in therapy would have to be revealed

in such a discussion, the psychologist explained the situation to the enlisted member

and asked permission to discuss the situation with her superiors. The client refused to

give permission. The psychologist was the only mental health professional on the base,

so transferring the client to another provider was not an option. The psychologist therefore

developed a specific plan with the client for how they would relate to each other

during the field exercise and how they would discuss in therapy issues that arose. (This

case is adapted from one of four military cases provided by Staal & King, 2000.)

􀀵 A psychologist responsible for conducting individual assessments of candidates for an

executive-level position discovered that one of the candidates was a close friend’s

husband. Because information about this prior relationship was neither confidential

nor harmful to the candidate, the psychologist explained the situation to company

executives and worked with the organization to assign that particular promotion

evaluation to another qualified professional.

􀀵 A psychologist working at a university counseling center discovered that a counseling

client had enrolled in a large undergraduate class the psychologist was going to teach.

The psychologist discussed the potential conflict with the client and attempted to help

him enroll in a different class. However, the client was a senior and needed the class

to complete his major requirements. In addition, there were no appropriate referrals

for the student at the counseling center. Without revealing the student’s identity, the

psychologist discussed her options with the department chair. They concluded that

because the class was very large, the psychologist could take the following steps to

protect her objectivity and effectiveness as both a teacher and a counselor: (a) a

graduate teaching assistant would be responsible for grading exams and for calculating

the final course grade based on the average of scores on the exams and (b) the

psychologist would monitor the situation during counseling sessions and seek consultation

if problems arose.

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114——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

(c) When psychologists are required by law, institutional policy, or extraordinary circumstances

to serve in more than one role in judicial or administrative proceedings, at the outset they

clarify role expectations and the extent of confidentiality and thereafter as changes occur. (See

also Standards 3.04, Avoiding Harm, and 3.07, Third-Party Requests for Services.)

Standard 3.05c applies to instances when psychologists are required to serve in

more than one role in judicial or administrative proceedings because of institutional

policy or extraordinary circumstances. This standard does not permit psychologists

to take on these multiple roles if such a situation can be avoided. When

such multiple roles cannot be avoided, Standard 3.05c requires, as soon as possible

and thereafter as changes occur, that psychologists clarify to all parties involved the

roles that the psychologist is expected to perform and the extent and limits of confidentiality

that can be anticipated by taking on these multiple roles.

In most situations, psychologists are expected to avoid multiple relationships

in forensically relevant situations or to resolve such relationships when they

unexpectedly occur (Standard 3.05a and b). When such circumstances arise (e.g.,

performing a custody evaluation and then providing court-mandated family

therapy for the couple involved), the conflict can often be resolved by explaining

to a judge or institutional administrator the ethically problematic nature of the

multiple relationship (Standards 1.02, Conflicts Between Ethics and Law,

Regulations, and Other Governing Legal Authority; 1.03, Conflicts Between

Ethics and Organizational Demands).

􀀵 A psychologist in independent practice became aware that his neighbor had begun dating

one of the psychologist’s psychotherapy patients. Although telling the patient about

the social relationship could cause distress, it was likely that the patient would find out

about the relationship during conversations with the neighbor. The psychologist considered

reducing his social exchanges with the neighbor, but this proved infeasible. After

seeking consultation from a colleague, the psychologist decided that he could not ensure

therapeutic objectivity or effectiveness if the situation continued. He decided to explain

the situation to the patient, provide a referral, and assist the transition to a new therapist

during pretermination counseling (see also Standard 10.10, Terminating Therapy).

􀀵 A consulting psychologist developed a company’s sexual harassment policy. After the

policy was approved and implemented, the psychologist took on the position of counseling

employees experiencing sexual harassment. One of the psychologist’s clients

then filed a sexual harassment suit against the company. The psychologist was called

on by the defense to testify as an expert witness for the company’s sexual harassment

policy and by the plaintiff as a fact witness about the stress and anxiety observed during

counseling sessions. The psychologist (a) immediately disclosed to the company and

the employee the nature of the multiple relationship; (b) described to both the problems

that testifying might raise, including the limits of maintaining the confidentiality

of information acquired from either the consulting or counseling roles; and (c) ceased

providing sexual harassment counseling services for employees. Neither party agreed

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——115

3.06 Conflict of Interest

Psychologists refrain from taking on a professional role when personal, scientific, professional, legal,

financial, or other interests or relationships could reasonably be expected to (1) impair their objectivity,

competence, or effectiveness in performing their functions as psychologists or (2) expose the

person or organization with whom the professional relationship exists to harm or exploitation.

Psychologists strive to benefit from and establish relationships of trust with those with

whom they work through the exercise of professional and scientific judgments based on

their training and experience and established knowledge of the discipline (Principle A:

Beneficence and Nonmaleficence and Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility).

Standard 3.06 prohibits psychologists from taking on a professional role when competing

professional, personal, financial, legal, or other interests or relationships could reasonably

be expected to impair their objectivity, competence, or ability to effectively

perform this role. Psychologists, especially those with prescription privileges, should

also be sensitive to the effect of gifts from pharmaceutical or others who might exert

influence on professional decisions (Gold & Applebaum, 2011). Examples of conflicts

of interest sufficient to compromise the psychologist’s judgments include the following:

􀀴 Irrespective of patients’ treatment needs, to save money, a psychologist reduced the

number of sessions for certain patients after he had exceeded his yearly compensation

under a capitated contract with an HMO (see the Hot Topic in Chapter 9, “Managing

the Ethics of Managed Care”).

􀀴 A member of a faculty-hiring committee refused to recuse herself from voting when a

friend applied for the position under the committee’s consideration.

􀀴 A psychologist in private practice agreed to be paid $1,000 for each patient he

referred for participation in a psychopharmaceutical treatment study.

􀀴 A research psychologist agreed to provide expert testimony on a contingent fee basis,

thereby compromising her role as advocate for the scientific data.

􀀴 A psychologist who had just purchased biofeedback equipment for his practice began

to overstate the effectiveness of biofeedback to his clients.

􀀴 A prescribing psychologist failed to disclose to patients her substantial financial

investment in the company that manufactured the medication the psychologist frequently

recommended.

􀀴 A psychologist used his professional website to recommend Internet mental health

services in which he had an undisclosed financial interest.

􀀴 A school psychologist agreed to conduct a record review for the educational placement

of the child of the president of a foundation that contributed heavily to the

private school that employed the psychologist.

to withdraw its request to the judge for the psychologist’s testimony. The psychologist

wrote a letter to the judge explaining the conflicting roles and asked to be recused from

testifying (see Hellkamp & Lewis, 1995, for further discussion of this type of dilemma).

HMO

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116——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

Conflicts of interest can extend to financial or other gains that accrue to psychologists

indirectly through the effect of their decisions on the interests of their

family members:

􀀴 An educational psychologist encouraged a school system she was consulting to purchase

learning software from a company that employed her husband.

􀀴 An organizational psychologist was hired by a company to provide confidential support

and referral services for employees with substance abuse problems. The psychologist

would refer employees he counseled to a private mental health group

practice in which his wife was a member.

􀀴 A research psychologist on the board of a private foundation encouraged the foundation

to fund a colleague’s proposal from which he would be paid as a statistical

consultant.

􀀴 A psychologist accepted a position on the board of directors from a company for

which she was currently conducting an independent evaluation of employee

productivity.

􀀴 A psychologist took on a psychotherapy client who was a financial analyst at the

brokerage company the psychologist used for his personal investments.

􀀴 A psychologist serving on her university’s IRB gave in to pressure to approve a study

with ethically questionable procedures because it would bring a substantial amount

of funding dollars to the university.

􀀵 A school psychologist refused the district superintendent’s request that she conduct

training sessions for teachers at an overcrowded school that would result in the misapplication

of behavioral principles to keep students docile and quiet.

Psychologists also have a fiduciary responsibility to avoid actions that would create

public distrust in the integrity of psychological science and practice (Principle B:

Fidelity and Responsibility). Accordingly, Standard 3.06 also prohibits taking on a

role that would expose a person or organization with whom a psychologist already

works to harm or exploitation. For example:

Psychologists in administrative positions have a responsibility to resist explicit

or implicit pressure to bias decisions regarding the adequacy of research participant

or patient protections to meet the needs of the institution’s financial interests.

Organizational and consulting psychologists should be wary of situations in

which an employer may request the psychologist to assist with managerial directives

that may be ethically inappropriate and harmful to the wellbeing of employees

(Lefkowitz, 2012).

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——117

Conflicts of Interest in Forensic Practice

Psychologists seek to promote accuracy and truthfulness in their work (Principle C:

Integrity). Forensic psychologists hired to provide expert testimony based on forensic

assessment or research relevant to the legal decision need to be aware of potential

conflicts of interest that may impair their objectivity or lead them to distort

their testimony. For example, psychologists providing expert testimony should not

provide such services on the basis of contingent fees (fees adjusted to whether a case

is won or lost) since this can exert pressure on psychologists to intentionally or

unintentionally modify their reports or testimony in favor of the retaining party.

However, if a psychologist is serving as a consultant to a legal team and will not be

testifying in court, a contingency fee may not be unethical as long as it does not lead

psychologists to distort facts in giving their advice (Heilbrun, 2001). Psychologists

should also avoid charging higher fees for testimony since this may motivate writing

a report that is more likely to lead to a request to testify (Heilbrun, 2001). Bush

et al. (2006) suggest psychologists set fixed rates (which may be required in some

states) and bill an hourly rate consistent for all activities.

Forensic psychologists hired by the defense team must also avoid explicit or

subtle pressure to use more or less sensitive symptom validation measures to assess

the mental status of the defendant. Psychologists should not submit to pressure by

a legal team to modify a submitted report. Amendments to the original report may

be added to correct factual errors, and if a report is rewritten, the rationale for the

changes should be given within the report (Bush et al., 2006; Martelli, Bush, &

Sasler, 2003). Interested readers may also refer to the Chapter 8 Hot Topic on

“Avoiding False and Deceptive Statements in Scientific and Clinical Expert

Testimony.”

Corporate Funding and Conflicts of Interest

in Research, Teaching, and Practice

The APA Task Force on External Funding (http://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/

external-funding.aspx) provides a detailed history of conflicts of interest in related

fields and provides specific recommendations for psychology (see also Pachter, Fox,

Zimbardo, & Antonuccio, 2007). Recommendations include the following:

When research is industry sponsored, psychologists should ensure that they

have input into study design, independent access to raw data, and a role in

manuscript submission.

Full public disclosure regarding financial conflicts of interest should be

included in all public statements.

Psychologists should be aware and guard against potential biases inherent in

accepting sponsor-provided inducements that might affect their selection of

textbooks or assessment instruments.

Practitioners should be alert to the influence on clients/patients of sponsorprovided

materials (e.g., mugs, pens, notepads) that might suggest endorsement

of the sponsor’s products.

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118——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

Many federal agencies, professional and scientific organizations, and academic

and other institutions have conflict of interest policies of which psychologists

should be aware.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Extramural Research

requires every institution receiving Public Health Service (PHS) research

grants to have written guidelines for the avoidance and institutional review

of conflict of interest. These guidelines must reflect state and local laws and

cover financial interests, gifts, gratuities and favors, nepotism, political participation,

and bribery. In addition, employees accepting grants or contracts

are expected to be knowledgeable of the granting and contracting organization’s

conflict-of-interest policy and to abide by it (http://grants.nih.gov/

grants/policy/coi/). In addition, the PHS Regulations 42 CFR Part 50

(Subpart F) and 45 CFR Part 94 provide conflict-of-interest guidelines for

individual investigators (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/

not95-179.html).

The APA Editor’s Handbook: Operating Procedures and Policies for APA

Publications (APA, 2006, Policy 1.03) requires that journal reviewers and editors

avoid either real or apparent conflict of interest by declining to review

submitted manuscripts from recent collaborators, students, or members of

their institutions or work from which they might obtain financial gain. When

such potential conflicts of interest arise or when editors or associate editors

submit their own work to the journal they edit, the Handbook recommends

that the editor (a) request a well-qualified individual to serve as ad hoc Action

Editor, (b) set up a process that ensures the Action Editor’s independence, and

(c) identify the Action Editor in the publication of the article. APA also

requires all authors to submit a Full Disclosure of Interests Form that certifies

whether the psychologist or his or her immediate family members have significant

financial or product interests related to information provided in the

manuscript or other sources of negative or positive bias (www.apa.org/pubs/

authors/disclosure_of_interests.pdf).

The APA Committee on Accreditation’s Conflict of Interest Policy for Site

Visitors includes prohibitions against even the appearance of a conflict of

interest for committee members and faculty in the program being visited.

Possible conflicts include former employment or enrollment in the program

or a family connection or close friend or professional colleague in the program

(http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/visits/conflict.aspx).

The NASP’s Professional Conduct Manual requires psychologists to avoid conflicts

of interest by recognizing the importance of ethical standards and the

separation of roles and by taking full responsibility for protecting and informing

the consumer of all potential concerns (NASP, 2010, V.A.1).

According to the SGFP (AP-LS Committee on the Revision of the Specialty

Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists, 2010), psychologists should not provide

services to parties to a legal proceeding on the basis of a contingent fee

(SGFP, IV.B).

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——119

3.07 Third-Party Requests for Services

When psychologists agree to provide services to a person or entity at the request of a third party,

psychologists attempt to clarify at the outset of the service the nature of the relationship with all

individuals or organizations involved. This clarification includes the role of the psychologist (e.g.,

therapist, consultant, diagnostician, or expert witness), an identification of who is the client, the

probable uses of the services provided or the information obtained, and the fact that there may

be limits to confidentiality. (See also Standards 3.05, Multiple Relationships, and 4.02, Discussing

the Limits of Confidentiality.)

Psychologists are often asked to conduct an assessment, provide psychotherapy,

or testify in court by third parties who themselves will not be directly involved in

the evaluation, treatment, or testimony.

In all these cases, Standard 3.07 requires psychologists at the outset of services

to explain to both the third party and those individuals who will receive psychological

services the nature of the psychologist’s relationship with all individuals or

organizations involved. This includes providing information about the role of the

psychologist (i.e., therapist, consultant, diagnostician, expert witness), identifying

whether the third party or the individual receiving the services is the client, who

will receive information about the services, and probable uses of information

gained or services provided.

􀀵 A company asked a psychologist to conduct preemployment evaluations of potential

employees. The psychologist informed each applicant evaluated that she was working

for the company, that the company would receive the test results, and that the information

would be used in hiring decisions.

􀀵 A school district hired a psychologist to evaluate students for educational placement.

The psychologist first clarified state and federal laws on parental rights regarding

educational assessments, communicated this information to the school superintendent

and the child’s guardian(s), and explained the nature and use of the assessments

and the confidentiality and reporting procedures the psychologist would use.

􀀵 A legal guardian requested behavioral treatment for her 30-year-old developmentally

disabled adult child because of difficulties he was experiencing at the sheltered workshop

where he worked. At the outset of services, using language compatible with the

client’s/patient’s intellectual level, the psychologist informed the client/patient that

the guardian had requested the treatment, explained the purpose of the treatment,

and indicated the extent to which the guardian would have access to confidential

information and how such information might be used.

􀀵 A defense attorney hired a psychologist to conduct an independent evaluation of a

plaintiff who claimed that the attorney’s client had caused her emotional harm. The

plaintiff agreed to be evaluated. The psychologist first explained to the plaintiff that

the defense attorney was the client and that all information would be shared with the

attorney and possibly used by the attorney to refute the plaintiff’s allegations in court.

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120——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

Legal Representatives Seeking to

Retain a Forensic Psychologist

In many instances, forensic psychologists will be retained by the attorney

representing the legal party’s interests. In such instances, the attorney is the psychologist’s

client. During the initial consultation with a legal representative seeking

the psychologist’s forensic services, psychologists should consider providing

the following information: (a) the fee structure for anticipated services; (b) previous

or current obligations, activities, or relationships that might be perceived as

conflicts of interest; (c) level and limitations of competence to provide forensic

services requested; and (d) any other information that might reasonably be

expected to influence the decision to contract with the psychologist (see AP-LS

Committee on the Revision of the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists,

2010; Standard 6.04a, Fees and Financial Arrangements).

Implications of HIPAA

Psychologists planning to share information with third parties should also carefully

consider whether such information is included under the HIPAA definition of

Protected Health Information (PHI), whether HIPAA regulations require prior

patient authorization for such release, or whether the authorization requirement

can be waived by the legal prerogatives of the third party (45 CFR 164.508 and

164.512). Psychologists should then clarify beforehand to both the third party and

recipient of services the HIPAA requirements for the release of PHI (see also “A

Word About HIPAA” in the Preface of this book).

3.08 Exploitative Relationships

Psychologists do not exploit persons over whom they have supervisory, evaluative, or other

authority such as clients/patients, students, supervisees, research participants, and employees.

(See also Standards 3.05, Multiple Relationships; 6.04, Fees and Financial Arrangements; 6.05,

Barter With Clients/Patients; 7.07, Sexual Relationships With Students and Supervisees; 10.05,

Sexual Intimacies With Current Therapy Clients/Patients; 10.06, Sexual Intimacies With Relatives

Once the evaluation commenced, the psychologist avoided using techniques that

would encourage the plaintiff to respond to the psychologist as a psychotherapist

(Hess, 1998).

􀀵 A judge ordered a convicted sex offender to receive therapy as a condition of parole.

The psychologist assigned to provide the therapy explained to the parolee that all

information revealed during therapy would be provided to the court and might be

used to rescind parole.

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——121

or Significant Others of Current Therapy Clients/Patients; 10.07, Therapy With Former Sexual Partners;

and 10.08, Sexual Intimacies With Former Therapy Clients/Patients.)

Standard 3.08 prohibits psychologists from taking unfair advantage of or manipulating

for their own personal use or satisfaction students, supervisees, clients/

patients, research participants, employees, or others over whom they have authority.

The following are examples of actions that would violate this standard:

􀀴 Repeatedly requiring graduate assistants to work overtime without additional

compensation

􀀴 Requiring employees to run a psychologist’s personal errands

􀀴 Taking advantage of company billing loopholes to inflate rates for consulting services

􀀴 Encouraging expensive gifts from psychotherapy clients/patients

􀀴 Using “bait-and-switch” tactics to lure clients/patients into therapy with initial low

rates that are hiked after a few sessions

Violations of Standard 3.08 often occur in connection with other violations of

the Ethics Code. For example:

􀀴 Psychologists exploit the trust and vulnerability of individuals with whom they work

when they have sexual relationships with current clients/patients or students

(Standards 10.05, Sexual Intimacies With Current Therapy Clients/Patients, and 7.07,

Sexual Relationships With Students and Supervisees).

􀀴 Exploitation occurs when a psychologist accepts nonmonetary remuneration from

clients/patients, the value of which is substantially higher than the psychological services

rendered (Standard 6.05, Barter With Clients/Patients).

􀀴 Psychologists exploit patients with limited resources who they know will require longterm

treatment plans when they provide services until the patients’ money or insurance

runs out and then refer them to low-cost or free alternative treatments.

􀀴 It is exploitative to charge clients/patients for psychological assessments for

which the client/patient had not initially agreed to and that are unnecessary for

the agreed on goals of the psychological evaluation (Standard 6.04a, Fees and

Financial Arrangements).

􀀴 School psychologists exploit their students when, in their private practice, they provide

fee-for-service psychological testing to students who could receive these services

free of charge from the psychologist in the school district in which they work

(Standard 3.05a, Multiple Relationships; see also the Professional Conduct Manual

for School Psychology, National Association of School Psychologists, 2010, http://

www.nasponline.org/standards/ProfessionalCond.pdf).

Standard 3.08 does not prohibit psychologists from having a sliding-fee scale or

different payment plans for different types or amount of services, as long as the fee

practices are fairly and consistently applied.

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122——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

Recruitment for Research Participation

Institutional populations are particularly susceptible to research exploitation.

Prisoners and youth held for brief periods in detention centers, for example, are

highly vulnerable because of their restricted autonomy and liberty, often compounded

by their low socioeconomic status, poor education, and poor health

(Gostin, 2007). Incarcerated persons have few expectations regarding privacy protections

and may view research participation as a means of seeking favor with or

avoiding punishment from prison guards or detention officials. Inpatients in psychiatric

centers or nursing homes are also vulnerable to exploitive recruitment practices

that touch upon their fears that a participation refusal will result in denial of other

needed services. Investigators should ensure through adequate informed consent

procedures and discussion with institutional staff that research participation is not

coerced (Fisher, 2004; Fisher et al., 2002; Fisher & Vacanti-Shova, 2012; see also

Standards 8.02, Informed Consent to Research, and 8.06, Offering Inducements for

Research Participation).

3.09 Cooperation With Other Professionals

When indicated and professionally appropriate, psychologists cooperate with other professionals

in order to serve their clients/patients effectively and appropriately. (See also Standard 4.05,

Disclosures.)

Individuals who come to psychologists for assessment, counseling, or therapy

are often either receiving or in need of collateral medical, legal, educational, or

social services. Collaboration and consultation with, and referral to, other professionals

are thus often necessary to serve the best interests of clients/patients.

Standard 3.09 requires psychologists to cooperate with other professionals when it

is appropriate and will help serve the client/patient most effectively. For example:

􀀵 With permission and written authorization of the parent, a clinical child psychologist

spoke with a child’s teacher to help determine if behaviors suggestive of attention

deficit disorder exhibited at home and in the psychologist’s office were consistent

with the child’s classroom behavior.

􀀵 With consent from the parent, a school psychologist contacted a social worker who

was helping a student’s family apply for public assistance to help determine the availability

of collateral services (e.g., substance abuse counseling).

􀀵 A psychologist with prescribing privileges referred a patient to a physician for diagnosis

of physical symptoms thought by the patient to be the result of a psychological

disorder that was more suggestive of a medical condition.

In schools, hospitals, social service agencies, and other multidisciplinary settings,

a psychologist may have joint responsibilities with other professionals for the

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——123

assessment or treatment of those with whom they work. In such settings, psychologists

should develop a clear agreement with the other professionals regarding overlapping

and distinct role responsibilities and how confidential information should

be handled in the best interests of the students or clients/patients. The nature of

these collaborative arrangements should be shared with the recipients of the services

or their legal guardians.

Implications of HIPAA

Psychologists who are covered entities under HIPAA should be familiar with

situations in which regulations requiring patients’ written authorization for

release of PHI apply to communications with other professionals (45 CFR 164.510,

164.512). They should also be aware of rules governing patients’ rights to know

when such disclosures have been made (45 CFR 164.520, Notice of Privacy

Practices, and 45 CFR 164.528, Accounting of Disclosures of Protected Health

Information).

3.10 Informed Consent

(a) When psychologists conduct research or provide assessment, therapy, counseling, or consulting

services in person or via electronic transmission or other forms of communication, they obtain

the informed consent of the individual or individuals using language that is reasonably understandable

to that person or persons except when conducting such activities without consent is

mandated by law or governmental regulation or as otherwise provided in this Ethics Code. (See

also Standards 8.02, Informed Consent to Research; 9.03, Informed Consent in Assessments; and

10.01, Informed Consent to Therapy.)

Informed consent is seen by many as the primary means of protecting the selfgoverning

and privacy rights of those with whom psychologists work (Principle E:

Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity). Required elements of informed consent for

specific areas of psychology are detailed in Standards 8.02, Informed Consent to

Research; 9.03, Informed Consent in Assessments; and 10.01, Informed Consent to

Therapy. The obligations described in Standard 3.10 apply to these other consent standards.

Language

In research, assessment, and therapy, psychologists must obtain informed consent

using language reasonably understandable by the person asked to consent. For

example, psychologists must use appropriate translations of consent information

for individuals for whom English is not a preferred language or who use sign language

or Braille. Psychologists should also adjust reading and language comprehension

levels of consent procedures to an individual’s developmental or educational

level or reading or learning disability.

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124——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

Culture

Individuals from recently immigrated or disadvantaged cultural communities

may lack familiarity with assessment, treatment or research procedures, and

terminology typically used in informed consent documents (Fisher, in press).

These individuals may also be unfamiliar with or distrust statements associated

with voluntary choice and other client/patient or research participant rights

described during informed consent. Standard 3.10 requires sensitivity to the

cultural dimensions of individuals’ understanding of and anticipated responses

to consent information and tailor informed consent language to such dimensions.

This may also require psychologists to include educational components

regarding the nature of and individual rights in agreeing to psychological services

or research participation. For individuals not proficient in English, written

informed consent information must be translated in a manner that considers

cultural differences in health care or scientific concepts that present challenges

in a word-for-word translation. When using interpreters to conduct informed

consent procedures, psychologists must follow the requirements of Standard 2.05,

Delegation of Work to Others, in ensuring their competence, training, and

supervision. Readers may also wish to refer to Hot Topic “Multicultural Ethical

Competence” in Chapter 5.

Consent via Electronic Transmission

Standard 3.10a requires that informed consent be obtained when research,

assessment, or therapy is conducted via electronic transmission such as the telephone

or the Internet. Psychologists need to take special steps to identify the language

and reading level of those from whom they obtain consent via electronic

media. In addition, psychologists conducting work via e-mail or other electronic

communications should take precautions to ensure that the individual who gave

consent is in fact the individual participating in the research or receiving the psychologist’s

services (i.e., use of a participant/client/patient password).

Exemptions

Some activities are exempt from the requirements of Standard 3.10. For example,

psychologists conducting court-ordered assessments or evaluating military

personnel may be prevented from obtaining consent by law or governmental regulation.

In addition, several standards in the Ethics Code detail conditions under

which informed consent may be waived (Standards 8.03, Informed Consent for

Recording Voices and Images in Research; 8.05, Dispensing With Informed Consent

for Research; and 8.07, Deception in Research). HIPAA also permits certain exemptions

from patient authorization requirements relevant to research and practice,

which are discussed in later chapters on standards for research, assessment, and

therapy (see also “A Word About HIPAA” in the Preface of this book).

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——125

(b) For persons who are legally incapable of giving informed consent, psychologists nevertheless

(1) provide an appropriate explanation, (2) seek the individual’s assent, (3) consider such persons’

preferences and best interests, and (4) obtain appropriate permission from a legally authorized

person, if such substitute consent is permitted or required by law. When consent by a legally

authorized person is not permitted or required by law, psychologists take reasonable steps to

protect the individual’s rights and welfare.

Adults who have been declared legally incompetent and most children younger

than 18 years of age do not have the legal right to provide independent consent to

receive psychological services or participate in psychological research. In recognition

of these individuals’ rights as persons, Standard 3.10b requires that psychologists

obtain their affirmative agreement to participate in psychological activities after

providing them with an explanation of the nature and purpose of the activities and

their right to decline or withdraw from participation. The phrase “consider such

persons’ preferences and best interests” indicates that although in most instances,

psychologists respect a person’s right to dissent from participation in psychological

activities, this right can be superseded if failure to participate would deprive persons

of psychological services necessary to protect or promote their welfare.

For individuals who are legally incapable of giving informed consent, psychologists

must also obtain permission from a legally authorized person if such substitute

consent is permitted or required by law. Psychologists working with children

in the foster care system and in juvenile detention centers and those working with

institutionalized adults with identified cognitive or mental disorders leading to

decisional impairment must carefully determine who has legal responsibility for

substitute decision making. Psychologists should be aware that in some instances,

especially for children in foster care, legal guardianship may change over time.

Informed Consent in Research and Practice

Involving Children and Adolescents

In law and ethics, guardian permission is required to protect children from consent

vulnerabilities related to immature cognitive skills, lack of emotional preparedness

and experience in clinical or research settings, and actual or perceived

power differentials between children and adults (Fisher & Vacanti-Shova, 2012;

Koocher & Henderson Daniel, 2012). Despite these limitations, the landmark

“Convention on the Rights of the Child” (United Nations General Assembly, 1989)

established international recognition that children should have a voice in decisions

that affect their well-being. Out of respect for their developing autonomy, the APA

Ethics Code and federal regulations governing research (DHHS, 2009) require the

informed assent of children capable of providing assent. Psychologists working

with children should be familiar with the growing body of empirical data on the

development of children’s understanding of the nature of medical and mental

health treatment and research and with rights-related concepts such as confidentiality

and voluntary assent or dissent (Bruzzese & Fisher, 2003; Condie & Koocher, 2008;

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126——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

D. Daniels & Jenkins, 2010; Field & Behrman, 2004; Fisher, 2002a; Gibson, Stasiulis,

Gutfreund, McDonald, & Dade, 2011; Koelch et al., 2009; V. A. Miller, Drotar, &

Kodish, 2004; Unguru, 2011).

Need to Know: Ethically Appropriate

Child and Adolescent Assent Procedures

When creating the content and language of ethically appropriate assent procedures, psychologists

should be guided by the following (Chenneville, Sibille, & Bendell-Estroff, 2010;

Fisher & Vacanti-Shova, 2012; Masty & Fisher, 2008):

Empirical literature on children’s understanding of the nature and purpose of

mental health treatment or research, confidentiality protections and limitations,

and the voluntary nature of participation (Standard 2.01, Boundaries of

Competence)

Scientific and clinical knowledge of the relationship between specific pediatric

mental health disorders and the cognitive and emotional capacity to assent

(Standard 2.04, Bases for Scientific and Professional Judgments)

Individual evaluation, when relevant, of the child’s appreciation of his or her

mental health status and treatment needs, understanding of the risks and benefits

of assent or dissent, the information he or she may want or need to make an

informed assent decision, and whether an assessment of assent capacity is

required

The child’s experience with his or her own health care decision making and preference

for the degree of involvement the child wishes to have in the treatment or

research participation decision

Children should never be asked to assent or dissent to participation if their choice

will not be respected, that is, in situations in which assessment or intervention is

necessary to identify or alleviate a mental health problem (see also the discussion

of assent to pediatric clinical trials in Chapter 11)

Emancipated and Mature Minors

There are instances when guardian permission for treatment or research is not

required or possible for children younger than 18 years of age. For example, emancipated

minor is a legal status conferred on persons who have not yet attained the

age of legal competency (as defined by state law) but are entitled to treatment as if

they have such status by virtue of assuming adult responsibilities, such as selfsupport,

marriage, or procreation. Mature minor is someone who has not reached

adulthood (as defined by state law) but who, according to state law, may be treated

as an adult for certain purposes (e.g., consenting to treatment for venereal disease,

drug abuse, or emotional disorders). Psychologists working with children need to

be familiar with the definition of emancipated and mature minors in the specific

states in which they work. When a child is an emancipated or mature minor,

informed consent procedures should follow Standard 3.10a.

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——127

Best Interests of the Child

The requirement for guardian permission may be inappropriate if there is serious

doubt whether the guardian’s interests adequately reflect the child’s interests

(e.g., cases of child abuse or neglect, genetic testing of a healthy child to assist in

understanding the disorder of a sibling) or cannot reasonably be obtained (e.g.,

treatment or research involving runaways). In such cases, the appointment of a

consent advocate can protect the child’s rights and welfare by verifying the minor’s

understanding of assent procedures, supporting the child’s preferences, ensuring

participation is voluntary, and monitoring reactions to psychological procedures.

Psychologists conducting research need to be familiar with federal regulations

regarding waiver of parental permission (45 CFR 46.408c) and have such waivers

approved by an IRB (Standard 8.01, Institutional Approval; Fisher, Hoagwood, &

Jensen, 1996; Fisher & Vacanti-Shova, 2012). Psychologists conducting therapy

need to be familiar with their state laws regarding provision of therapy to children

and adolescents without parental consent (Fisher, Hatashita-Wong, & Isman, 1999;

Koocher & Henderson Daniel, 2012).

Adults With Cognitive Impairments Who

Do Not Have Legal Guardians

There may be adults, such as those with Alzheimer’s disease or developmental

disabilities, who do not have a legal guardian but whose ability to fully understand

consent-relevant information is impaired (APA, 2012b). For example, clinical geropsychologists

frequently work with older persons with progressive dementia living

in nursing homes and assisted-living and residential care facilities where substitute

decision making is typically handled informally by family members or others. In

addition to obtaining consent from the individual, psychologists can seek additional

protections for the individual by encouraging a shared decision-making

process with or seeking additional permission from these informal caretakers

(Fisher, 1999, 2002b, 2003b; Fisher, Cea, Davidson, & Fried, 2006; see also the Hot

Topic, “Goodness-of-Fit Ethics for Informed Consent Involving Adults With

Impaired Decisional Capacity,” at the end of this chapter).

HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

HIPAA requires that if, under applicable law, a person has authority to act on

behalf of an individual who is an adult or minor in making decisions related to

health care, a covered entity must treat such a person (called a personal representative)

as the individual. Exceptions are permitted if there is reason to believe that the

patient has been abused or is endangered by the personal representative or that

treating the individual as a personal representative would not be in the best interests

of the client/patient (45 CFR 164.502g). This requirement refers to courtappointed

guardians or holders of relevant power of attorney of adults with

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128——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

impaired capacities, parents who are generally recognized as personal representatives

of their minor children, and individuals designated as a representative by the

patient. To comply with both Standard 3.10b and the HIPAA Notice of Privacy

Practices (see “A Word About HIPAA” in the Preface of this book), psychologists

should provide the Notice of Privacy Practices to both the individual’s legal guardian

or personal representative and the client/patient.

(c) When psychological services are court ordered or otherwise mandated, psychologists inform

the individual of the nature of the anticipated services, including whether the services are court

ordered or mandated and any limits of confidentiality, before proceeding.

When informed consent is prohibited by law or other governing authority, psychologists

must nonetheless respect an individual’s right to know the nature of

anticipated services, whether the services were court ordered or mandated by

another governing authority, and the limits of confidentiality before proceeding.

Military Psychologists

When regulations permit, military psychologists should inform active-duty personnel

of the psychologist’s duty to report information revealed during assessment

or therapy to appropriate military agencies violations of the Uniform Code of

Military Justice.

Court-Ordered Assessments

Psychologists conducting a court-ordered forensic assessment must inform the

individual tested (a) why the assessment is being conducted, (b) that the findings

may be entered into evidence in court, and (c) if known to the psychologist, the

extent to which the individual and his or her attorney will have access to the information.

The psychologist should not assume the role of legal adviser but can advise

the individual to speak with his or her attorney when a testee asks about potential

legal consequences of noncooperation.

(d) Psychologists appropriately document written or oral consent, permission, and assent. (See

also Standards 8.02, Informed Consent to Research; 9.03, Informed Consent in Assessments; and

10.01, Informed Consent to Therapy.)

Standard 3.10d requires psychologists conducting research or providing health

or forensic services to document that they have obtained consent or assent from an

individual and permission by a legal guardian or substitute decision maker. In most

instances, individuals will sign a consent, assent, or permission form. Sometimes,

oral consent is appropriate, such as when obtaining a young child’s assent, when

working with illiterate populations, when there is concern that confidentiality may

be at risk (i.e., in war-torn countries where consent documents may be confiscated

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——129

by local authorities), or when a signature would risk identification in anonymous

surveys. In these situations, documentation can be provided by a note in the psychologist’s

records, or, in the case of anonymous, web-based or mail surveys, by the

participants’ checking a box to indicate that they have read the consent information

and agree to participate.

Implications of HIPAA

Appropriate documentation can also be related to legal requirements. For

example, HIPAA requires that all valid client/patient authorizations for the use and

disclosure of PHI be signed and dated by the individual or the individual’s personal

representative (45 CFR 164.508[c][1][vi]).

3.11 Psychological Services Delivered

To or Through Organizations

(a) Psychologists delivering services to or through organizations provide information beforehand

to clients and when appropriate those directly affected by the services about (1) the nature and

objectives of the services, (2) the intended recipients, (3) which of the individuals are clients,

(4) the relationship the psychologist will have with each person and the organization, (5) the

probable uses of services provided and information obtained, (6) who will have access to the

information, and (7) limits of confidentiality. As soon as feasible, they provide information about

the results and conclusions of such services to appropriate persons.

The informed consent procedures described in Standard 3.10, Informed Consent,

are often not appropriate or sufficient for consulting, program evaluation, job effectiveness,

or other psychological services delivered to or through organizations. In

such contexts, Standard 3.11 requires that organizational clients, employees, staff, or

others who may be involved in the psychologists’ activities be provided information

about (a) the nature, objectives, and intended recipients of the services; (b) which

individuals are clients and the relationship the psychologist will have with those

involved; (c) the probable uses of and who will have access to information gained;

and (d) the limits of confidentiality. Psychologists must provide results and conclusions

of the services to appropriate persons as early as is feasible.

􀀵 An industrial–organizational psychologist was hired to evaluate whether a company’s

flexible-shift policy had lowered employee absentee rates. In addition to a review of

employee records, the evaluation would include interviews with supervisors and employees

on the value and limits of the policy. The psychologist prepared a document for all

supervisors and employees explaining (a) the purpose of the evaluation, (b) the nature of

and reason for employee record review and the interviews, (c) that the evaluation would

be used to help the company decide if it should maintain or modify its current flexible-shift

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130——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

(b) If psychologists will be precluded by law or by organizational roles from providing such information

to particular individuals or groups, they so inform those individuals or groups at the outset of the service.

Standard 3.11b pertains to situations in which psychological services not requiring

informed consent are mandated by law or governmental regulations, and the law or

regulations restrict those affected by the services from receiving any aspect of the

information listed in Standard 3.11a.

policy, (d) that no one in the company would have access to the identities of the individuals

interviewed, and (e) that the results and conclusions would be presented to the

company’s board of directors in a manner that protected confidentiality.

􀀵 A psychologist was hired by a school district to observe teacher management of student

behavior during lunch and recess to help the district determine how many teachers were

required for such activities and whether additional staff training was needed for these

responsibilities. The psychologist held a meeting for all teaching staff who would be

involved in the observations. At the meeting, the psychologist explained why the school

district was conducting the research, how long it would last, the ways in which notes and

summaries of observations would be written to protect the identities of individual teachers,

that a detailed summary of findings would be presented to the school superintendent,

and that, with the district’s permission, teachers would receive a summary report.

􀀵 A psychologist providing court-ordered therapy to a convicted pedophile submitted a

report to the court regarding the therapy client’s attendance and responsiveness to treatment.

The therapist was prohibited from releasing the report to the client. At the beginning

of therapy, the psychologist had informed the client that such a report would be

written and that the client would not have access to the report through the psychologist.

􀀵 A company stipulated that the results of a personality inventory conducted as part of an

employee application and screening process would not be available to applicants.

Psychologists informed applicants about these restrictions prior to administering the tests.

􀀵 An inmate of a correctional institution was required to see the staff psychologist after

repeatedly engaging in disruptive and violent behaviors that were jeopardizing the

safety of the staff and other prisoners. The psychologist explained to the inmate that

in this situation, she was acting on the request of prison officials to help the inmate

control his behaviors. She also informed the inmate that she would be submitting

formal reports on the sessions that might be used by prison officials to determine if

the inmate would be assigned to a more restrictive facility.

Implications of HIPAA

Standard 3.11b may also apply to health care settings in which institutional

policy dictates that testing results are sent to another professional responsible for

interpreting and communicating the results to the client/patient. However, the

nature of such institutional policies may be changing in light of HIPAA regulations

providing greater client/patient access to PHI and control of disclosures of PHI.

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——131

3.12 Interruption of Psychological Services

Unless otherwise covered by contract, psychologists make reasonable efforts to plan for facilitating

services in the event that psychological services are interrupted by factors such as the psychologist’s

illness, death, unavailability, relocation, or retirement or by the client’s/patient’s

relocation or financial limitations. (See also Standard 6.02c, Maintenance, Dissemination, and

Disposal of Confidential Records of Professional and Scientific Work.)

Planned and unplanned interruptions of psychological services often occur. For

example, a psychologist can leave a job at a mental health care facility for a new

position, take parental or family leave, interrupt services for a planned medical

procedure, or retire from private practice. Clients/patients may move out of state or

have a limited number of sessions covered by insurance.

When interruption of services can be anticipated, Standard 3.12 requires psychologists

to make reasonable efforts to ensure that needed service is continued. Such efforts

can include (a) discussing the interruption of services with the clients/patients and

responding to their concerns, (b) conducting pretermination counseling, (c)referring

the client/patient to another mental health practitioner, and, if feasible and clinically

appropriate, (d) working with the professional who will be responsible for the client’s/

patient’s case (see also Standard 10.10, Terminating Therapy).

􀀵 A psychologist providing Internet-mediated psychological services to clients in a distant

rural community included in her informed consent information the address of a

website she created providing continuously updated information on the names, credentials,

and contact information of local and electronically accessible backup professionals

available to assist clients if the psychologist was not immediately available

during an emergency.

Standard 3.12 also requires psychologists to prepare for unplanned interruptions

such as sudden illness or death. In most cases, it would suffice to have a

trusted professional colleague prepared to contact clients/patients if such a

situation arises. Pope and Vasquez (2007) recommend that psychologists create

a professional will, including directives on the person designated to assume

primary responsibility, backup personnel, coordinated planning, office security

and access, easy to locate schedule, avenues of communication, client records

and contact information, client notification, colleague notification, professional

liability coverage, attorney for professional issues, and billing records

and procedures.

The phrase “reasonable efforts” reflects awareness that some events are unpredictable

and even the best-laid plans may not be adequate when services are interrupted.

The phrase “unless otherwise covered by contract” recognizes that there may be

some instances when psychologists are prohibited by contract with a commercial or

health care organization from following through on plans to facilitate services.

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HOT TOPIC

Goodness-of-Fit Ethics for Informed Consent

to Research and Treatment Involving Adults

With Impaired Decisional Capacity

An outgrowth of the person-centered care movement has been growing recognition that adults with cognitive

disorders have rights, including the right to make decisions related to their own health care, independent living,

financial management, and participation in research (McKeown, Clarke, Ingleton, & Repper, 2010). The process of

obtaining informed consent presents unique ethical challenges for mental health treatment and research involving

adults with schizophrenia, developmental disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease, and other disorders characterized

by fluctuating, declining, or long-term impairments in decisional capacity. The heterogeneity of cognitive strengths

and deficits within each of these diagnostic groups means that judgments about each individual’s decisional

capacity cannot be based solely on his or her diagnosis (Kaup, Dunn, Saks, Jeste, & Palmer, 2011; Pierce, 2010).

Obtaining informed consent from these populations raises a fundamental ethical question: How can psychologists

balance their ethical obligation to respect the dignity and autonomy of persons with mental disorders to make

their own decisions with the obligation to ensure that ill-informed or incompetent choices do not jeopardize their

welfare or leave them open to exploitation (Fisher, 1999)?

Legal Status, Diagnostic Labels, and Consent Capacity

Some adults with serious mental disorders have been declared legally incompetent to consent. Removal of a

person’s legal status as a consenting adult does not, however, deprive him or her of the moral right to be

involved in treatment or research participation decisions. For these adults, APA Ethics Code Standard 3.10b

requires that psychologists obtain the appropriate permission from a legally authorized person and provide an

appropriate explanation to the prospective client/patient or research participant, consider such person’s preferences

and best interests, and seek the individual’s assent.

The implementation of ethically appropriate consent procedures is more complex for the many situations

in which individuals diagnosed with neurological or other mental health disorders retain the legal status of a

consenting adult, though their capacity for making informed, rational, and voluntary decisions may be compromised.

Each person with a serious mental disorder is unique. Sole reliance on a diagnostic label to determine

a client’s/patient’s capacity to make treatment or research participation decisions risks depriving persons

with mental disorders of equal opportunities for autonomous choice.

Fitting Consent Procedures

to Enhance Decisional Capacities and Protections

Thomas Grisso and Paul Appelbaum (Appelbaum & Grisso, 2001; Grisso & Appelbaum, 1998) have developed

the most well-known model of consent capacity for clinical research and treatment. Based on a psycho-legal

perspective, it consists of four increasingly complex consent components: choice, understanding, appreciation,

and reasoning. This model has given rise to several empirically validated instruments (Dunn, Nowrangi, Palmer,

Jeste, & Saks, 2006). However, in the case of Alzheimer’s Disease for example, practitioners do not agree on

the salience of these components for deciding a client’s/patient’s consent capacity (Volicer & Ganzine, 2003).

From an ethical perspective, assessing capacity is a necessary but insufficient basis for determining whether

an individual should be granted or deprived of the right to autonomously consent to treatment, assessment,

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Chapter 6 Standards on Human Relations——133

or research. In her Goodness-of-Fit Ethics (GFE) for informed consent, Fisher argues that the burden of consent

capacity must be shared by psychologists and the individuals from whom consent is sought (Fisher, 2002a,

2002b, 2003). According to GFE, just and respectful informed consent processes require psychologists not only

to identify the consent strengths and vulnerabilities of the specific individuals or groups with whom they will

work, but also to take responsibility to create consent procedures that can minimize vulnerabilities, enhance

consent strengths, and provide consent supports when feasible (Fisher, 2005b; Fisher & Masty, 2006; Fisher &

Ragsdale, 2006; Fisher & Vacanti-Shova, 2012).

Goodness-of-Fit and Components of Consent

This section describes the four components of Grisso and Appelbaum’s model and discusses how the informed

consent process can be enhanced through goodness-of-fit procedures.

Choice

Evidencing a choice reflects the ability to actively indicate consent or dissent. For example, some adults

suffering from catatonia or Parkinson’s dementia may be unable to communicate a choice verbally or nonverbally.

While these individuals may understand some of the consent information presented and may have a

participation preference, their inability to communicate agreement or dissent will require stringent safeguards

against harmful or exploitative consent procedures.

In such settings, creating a goodness of fit between person and consent context often requires respectful

inclusion of a consent surrogate who has familiarity with the patient’s preference history. The proxy can help

ensure that the consent decision reflects, to the extent feasible, the patient’s attitudes, hopes, and concerns.

Once proxy consent has been obtained, respect for personhood and protection of individual welfare requires

psychologists to be alert to patient expressions of anxiety, fatigue, or distress that indicate an individual’s dissent

or desire to withdraw from participation.

Understanding

Understanding reflects comprehension of factual information about the nature, risks, and benefits of treatment

or research. When understanding is hampered by problems of attention or retention, psychologists can

incorporate consent enhancement techniques into their procedures such as incorporating pictorial representations

of treatment or research procedures, presenting information in brief segments, or using repetition. Person–

consent context fit also requires identifying which information is and is not critical to helping an individual

make an informed choice. For example, when seeking consent for a behavioral intervention for aggressive

disorders in a residence for adults with developmental disabilities, it may be important for clients to understand

the specific types of behaviors targeted (e.g., hitting other residents), the reward system that will be used

(e.g., points toward going to movies or other special activities), and who will be responsible for monitoring the

behavior, for example, residential staff (Cea & Fisher, 2003; Fisher et al., 2006). Although individuals should be

informed about the confidentiality and privacy of their records, psychologists should consider whether it is

important to limit the right to make autonomous decisions to only those individuals who understand details

of residential policies regarding the protection of residents’ health records, especially if the confidentiality

protections do not differ from those that are a natural and ongoing part of the residential experience.

Appreciation

Appreciation refers to the capacity to comprehend the personal consequences of consenting or dissenting

to treatment or research. For example, an adult with a dual diagnosis may understand that treatment will require

limiting aggressive behavior but not appreciate the difficulties he or she may have in adhering to the behavioral

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134——PART II ENFORCEABLE STANDARDS

rules. An individual suffering from schizophrenia may understand that clinical research is testing treatment

effectiveness but may not appreciate that he or she has a disorder that requires treatment.

A sliding-scale approach based on the seriousness of personal consequences of the consent decision can

be helpful in evaluating the ethical weight that should be given to the client’s/patient’s or prospective research

participant’s capacity for appreciation. For example, understanding may be sufficient for consent decisions to

standard or experimental interventions that present minimal risk and are supplemental to current treatment

programs. On the other hand, appreciation may be essential when the treatment or experimental intervention

may expose the individual to the risk of serious side effects or offer an opportunity to receive needed services

not otherwise available.

Reasoning

Reasoning reflects the ability to weigh the risks and benefits of consent or dissent. For example, an adult

with schizophrenia with paranoid features may understand the nature of a treatment and appreciate its potential

for reducing his anxiety but may reason that the risks outweigh the potential benefits because the psychologist

offering the treatment is part of a government conspiracy to undermine his freedom. There is also

preliminary evidence that severe empathic deficits may confound reasoning about research participation even

when other cognitive skills are preserved (Supady, Voelkel, Witzel, Gubka, & Northoff, 2011). At the same time,

psychologists should be cautious about the legal consequences of erroneously assuming that paper-and-pencil

assessments of reasoning associated with decisional capacity are sufficient to evaluate “performative capacity”

defined as the ability of individuals to perform particular tasks (Appelbaum, 2009).

Asking individuals with questionable reasoning capacity to select a family member, friend, or other trusted

person to be present during an informed consent discussion can be empowering and avoid the risk of triggering a

legal competency review solely for the purposes of a single mental health treatment or research participation decision

(Fisher, 2002a; Fisher et al., 2006; Roeher Institute, 1996).

Consent and Empowerment

People with long-standing, declining, or transient disorders related to decisional capacities may be accustomed

to other people making decisions for them and may not understand or have experience applying the concept

of autonomy. In institutional contexts, individuals with mental disorders may fear disapproval from doctors or

residence supervisors or feel that they must be compliant in deference to the authority of the requesting psychologist.

Some may have little experience in exercising their rights or, if they are living in a community residence,

may be fearful of discontinuation of other services. Baeroe (2010) has described current approaches to

competency evaluations and surrogate consent in health care settings as arbitrary and inconsistently applied.

She questions whether the capacity decision of a single practitioner and the health care decision of a single

guardian are sufficient means of respecting patient autonomy, particularly for individuals with borderline

decision-making capacity. While recognizing the potential strain on institutional resources, she recommends a

“collective deliberation” for hospitalized patients with ambiguous capacity that would include the patient, his

or her guardian, health care workers with specific knowledge about the patient, and patient advocates.

To empower and respect the autonomy of patients or prospective research participants, psychologists can

study the nature of consent misconception among diagnostic groups and use this knowledge to develop brief

interventions to enhance consent capacity (Cea & Fisher, 2003; Fisher et al., 2006; Kaup et al., 2011; Mittal et al.,

2007). Modifying the consent setting to reduce the perception of power inequities, providing opportunities to

practice decision making, demonstrating that other services will not be compromised, and drawing on the

support of trusted family members and peers can strengthen the goodness of fit between person and consent

setting and ensure that informed consent is obtained within a context of justice and care

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PSY week 2 rewriting work

July 1, 2025/in Psychology Questions /by Besttutor

Respond to the following questions in 200-250

§ What makes the psychoanalytic-social perspective of personality unique?

§ What are the main components of each of the psychoanalytic-social personality theories? What are some of the main differences between theories?

§ Choose one of the psychoanalytic-social personality theories, and apply it to your own life. Explain your own personality and personality development through this theory.

Psychoanalytic-Social Personality Perspective

Running head: PSYCHOANALYTIC-SOCIAL PERSONALITY PERSPECTIVE

1

 

 

PSYCHOANALYTIC-SOCIAL PERSONALITY PERSPECTIVE

5

 

 

 

Psychoanalytic-Social Personality Perspective

What makes the psychoanalytic-social perspective of personality unique?

Our personality is who we are, who we become. Personality is a major interest within study of psychology because it can be used to better understand who people are. It helps us understand why people react differently in same situations, as well as the consistency of their responses. A simple breakdown shows that the Psychoanalytic social theory was created upon the theory that cultural and social conditions, particularly the various experiences one would have during their childhood, play a big role in shaping a person’s personality. Those who did not have their needs for love and affection fulfilled during their childhood develop some sort of aggression toward their parents, because of this aggression they could develop some level of anxiety. It could be an understood culture that is not controlled by any sort of cultural values, but this could be a hard task to complete. “Erikson envisioned a psychoanalytic approach that would consider social and cultural realities rather than focusing exclusively on the individual, as Freud had done. James Cote and Charles Levine have developed such a psychoanalytic social psychology in their research and theorizing” (Cloninger, 2013).

What are the main components of each of the psychoanalytic-social personality theories? What are some of the main differences between theories?

The psychoanalytic-social personality theories are composed of the individual psychological theory, psychosocial development, and interpersonal psychoanalytic theory. In the individual psychological theory, Alder proposed that people should be characterized by a social perspective, and not biological. In other words, Alder argued that we should focus on a person’s individual goals and how it shapes an individual. Adler’s inferiority complex is a concept that a person is overcome with a feeling of lack of self-worth. This suggest that each person has a felt minus, since all people began life as a newborn, inferior to others and relying on the needs of others for their survival. Any short comings may encourage an individual to excel further to achieve their desire outcome the “aggressive drive”. Likewise, Erikson’s psychosocial development theory argues that a person develops based on its culture or society. The main components of this theory are the psychosocial stages which incorporate culture starting from infancy. Erikson further explains his theory with the epigenetic principle, which states that psychosocial development based on a biological model. Karen Horney’s psychoanalytic-social personality theory’s main components consist of neurosis and psychoanalysis involving inner conflicts. Langenderfer (1999), “The personality she gave is an example of children and how parents as well as other socializing factors influence their personality. For instance, a normal child goes through life having certain characteristics of themselves when relating experiences with school, hobbies, and home. However, when looking at a child that is neurotic the environmental factors isolates their true self.” Horney believes that Freud’s theory about sexuality and continuous compulsives, is interfering with an individual, the family, and social factors where there is organization of values, and attitudes. Freud believes they are compulsive drives from nature, involving every human being. She believes they are compulsive drives but become neurotic by a human feeling isolated, helpless, afraid, and hostile.

Choose one of the psychoanalytic-social personality theories, and apply it to your own life. Explain your own personality and personality development through this theory.

Erikson’s eight stages of the life cycle is the most intriguing to myself. McLeod (2013), “According to Erikson, the ego develops as it successfully resolves crises that are distinctly social in nature. These involve establishing a sense of trust in others, developing a sense of identity in society, and helping the next generation prepare for the future”. As you progress through the life cycle, you encounter different events that influence your personality over time. Completing a stage successfully results in a healthy personality. Whereas failure to complete a stage results in a reduced ability to complete the future stages. Growing up my parents set expectations for me based off my age. Every life lesson I was taught was so that I would be able to successfully make it to the next life cycle. Because of the guidance I received from my parents, I didn’t encounter all of the crisis described in Erikson’s life cycles. The next life cycle for myself is Generativity vs Stagnation. I can achieve the virtue of care by giving back to society, being productive at work, and becoming involved in the community. From the experiences of my past, I can create a wonderful future with a healthy personality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Cloninger, S. C. (2013). Theories of Personality: Understand Persons (6th ed.). : .

Langenderfer, G. (1999). Karen Horney. Retrieved from http://muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/horney.htm

McLeod, S. (2013). Erik Erikson. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html

 

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Complete the Strategic section in the “Model Matrix” worksheet.

July 1, 2025/in Psychology Questions /by Besttutor

cid:D7D4B297-EEAE-4174-AD01-F87097282051@canyon.com

PCN-518 Topic 4: The Six Stages of Kohlberg

 

Scenario:

A female adolescent’s parents place a low priority on the value of an education. In fact, they prefer that she care for younger siblings instead of studying or completing a high school education. It is March. The student has told her parents that she has in-school suspension for the rest of the school year in order to have time to study, as she dreams of attending college one day.

 

Directions: Read the scenario listed above. Complete all sections of the matrix provided below from the perspective of an individual in each of the six stages of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development and the information from the provided scenario. Use complete sentences and include proper scholarly citations for any sources used.

 

Level 1: Preconventional Morality

Stage Adolescent’s Perspective Rationale for your Responses
 

Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation

 

The adolescent should take care of her younger siblings because her parents want her to do so. A child assumes that those with authority hand down a set of rules which the child must obey unquestionably. In this case, the adolescent must unquestionably obey her parents’ desire for her to quit school to take care of her siblings (Gibbs, 2013).

 

 

 

Stage 2: Instrumental Relativist Orientation/Exchange of Favors

 

The child can go to the in-school suspension to improve her chances of going to college one day, or obey her parents and stay at home to take care of her siblings. The child recognizes that there is no single right view handled down by authorities and different individuals have different opinions. Everyone is free to pursue his/her own personal interests because everything is relative (Gibbs, 2013).
 
 

Stage 3: Conventional Level/Good Boy or Girl

 

The adolescent should live up to her parents’ expectations of her taking care of her siblings. She should exhibit good intentions to her siblings by taking care of them.

 

Goswami (2008) argues that children see morality as being more complex; people should conform to the expectations of their family and community and be good mannered. People should exhibit good behavior by having good feelings and motives such as empathy, love trust as well as concern for others.

 

 

Stage 4: Maintaining the Social Order

 

Should go to the in-school program to enhance her knowledge. In this stage, the respondent is more concerned with the society in its entirety. They emphasize on respecting authority, obeying laws and performing one’s duties to maintain the social order. One should not break the law whenever he/she feels they have a good reason (Gibbs, 2013).

 

 
 

Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights

 

Adolescent should continue with her studies as it is her right to get basic education Respondents believe that a good society is based on a social contract which they freely enter. They argue that basic rights should be protected (Goswami, 2008).
 

Stage 6: Universal Principles

 

Adolescent should go to school as getting an education is a protected right. According to Gibbs (2013), Respondents in this stage almost consider the society as good. They believe people need to protect certain individual rights, and settle disputes democratically.

 

 

 

 

 

References

Gibbs, J. C. (2013). Moral development and reality: Beyond the theories of Kohlberg, Hoffman, and Haidt. Oxford University Press.

Goswami, U. (Ed.). (2008). Blackwell handbook of childhood cognitive development. John Wiley & Sons.

© 2017. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.

© 2017. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.

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APA Format for a needs assessment paper

July 1, 2025/in Psychology Questions /by Besttutor

MILT 375

 

APA Format Paper Instructions

 

This assignment will prepare you for developing well-written and formatted papers for this course, and others in which you use APA formatting. The paper is to be 4 pages that demonstrate your ability and understanding of APA format and writing style.

 

The paper will consist of:

 

1. A Title/Cover Page: This page of the assignment will have your running head and page number, your title of the assignment, your name, and specific information necessary for any APA research paper. Make sure this page and every page is formatted with correct spacing, content positioning, type font, size of font, etc.

 

2. Abstract Page: Write this abstract as the one you would write for your Needs Assessment paper. It is very important that you read the APA manual to understand what an abstract is supposed to be. Make sure it is in the correct tense and correct format. You will not be able to give your reader your final findings as indicated in number 3 in the instructions for the Needs Assessment paper, yet you can write the rest of the abstract with a fair amount of accuracy. Remember, this paper is an “exercise” to get a head start, demonstrate your ability to develop a good APA formatted paper, and receive feedback on this before you submit the other 2 writing assignments for the course.

 

3. Paper Body Page: This page will consist of 2 basic components. The first will be a brief introduction paragraph. Introduce the Needs Assessment Paper. Even though you have not done a lot of reading or research yet, this should be fairly easy to do. The second component is a correctly formatted demonstration of all 5 APA level headings. You will need to use each heading with a single sentence telling your instructor which level it is. See the example of the first heading below.

 

Level 1 heading

 

A level 1 heading is bold face font, centered and uses upper and lower case font.

 

4. Reference Page: Use your page 4 to demonstrate your ability to cite references correctly. You will need to format the page while citing a website/internet article, a research article, book, the Bible, and an eBook. Use care to make sure all spacing, capitals, abbreviations, etc. are done according to APA.

 

Submit this assignment by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday of Module/Week 3.

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Movie Worksheet

July 1, 2025/in Psychology Questions /by Besttutor

INTRODUCTION to “AWAKENINGS”

from www.filmeducaton.org/pdf/film/awakenings.pdf

 

In the winter of 1916-1917, an epidemic of a rare disease occurred, springing up, as virus

diseases sometimes do, seemingly out of nowhere. It spread over Europe and then to other

parts of the world and affected some five million people. The onset of the disease was sudden

and took different forms. Some people developed acute restlessness or insomnia or

dementia. Others fell into a trance-like sleep or coma. These different forms were recognised

and identified by the physician Constantin von Economo as one disease, which he called

encephalitis lethargica, or sleepy sickness.

 

Many people died of the disease. Of those who survived, some recovered completely. The

majority remained partly disabled, prone to symptoms reminiscent of Parkinson’s disease.

The worst affected sank into a kind of ‘sleep’, unable to move or speak, without any will of

their own, or hope, but conscious and with their memories intact. They were placed in

hospitals or asylums. Ten years after the epidemic had begun, it just as remarkably

disappeared. Fifty years later, the epidemic had been forgotten.

 

In 1966, when Dr. Oliver Sacks, a neurologist trained in London, took up his post at Mount

Carmel, a hospital in New York, he found there a group of eighty people who were the

forgotten survivors of the forgotten epidemic. It was clear that hundreds of thousands had

died in institutions. Dr. Sacks called them ‘the lepers of the present century’. In his book,

‘Awakenings’, he tells of his attempts to understand the nature of their affliction, but also of his

growing appreciation of them as individuals, with their own unique histories and experience.

 

In 1969, Dr. Sacks tried out a remarkable new drug, L-DOPA. For some of his patients, there

then followed a rapid and brief return to something like normality. They were suddenly

restored to the world of the late nineteen sixties. His book documents this remarkable

awakening, as experienced by twenty of his patients. L-DOPA was not, however, the magic

cure that it first seemed. The normality that it promoted soon broke down, with patients

subject to all kinds of bizarre behaviours.

 

In the film of ‘Awakenings’, Robert de Niro plays Leonard Lowe, someone affected by sleepy

sickness as a young man. He is in a state of near sleep, unable to move or speak. Every day,

his mother comes into hospital to care for him, as she has for many years. Robin Williams

plays Dr. Malcolm Sayer, the neurologist who, like Dr. Sacks himself in 1966, takes up a post

at a New York hospital, discovering there the forgotten survivors of the sleepy sickness

epidemic. He finds himself drawn to this group of chronically disabled people, and especially

to Leonard.

 

Robert de Niro’s Leonard is based on the Leonard L. who Sacks describes in his book – an

intelligent and courageous man with a wry sense of humour, who is able only to communicate

in a very limited way, using a letter board. Sacks says how thoroughly De Niro

prepared himself for his role, spending a great deal of time with post-encephalitic patients in

an effort to understand something of how it feels to be so chronically disabled, and to

represent as accurately as possible the quality of if disablement.

 

In the film, we are shown Leonard’s awakening under L-DOPA. Leonard sees the world to

which he has awoken truly wonderful. He has lost many years of his life. Now he wants to

live. He wants his independence. Briefly, we see him determined to achieve this before his

damaged nervous system pulls him back into a catatonic state.

 

 

In the book ‘Awakenings’, Dr. Sacks writes that Leonard says to him after the last futile trial of

another drug:

“Now I accept the whole situation. It was wonderful, terrible, dramatic and comic. It is finally –

sad, and that’s all there is to it. I’ve learned a great deal in the last three years. I’ve broken

through barriers which I had all life. And now, I’ll stay myself and you can keep your L-DOPA.”

 

A note about sleepy sickness:

Encephalitis lethargica (sleepy sickness, or sleeping sickness, as it is called in the U.S.A.) is

caused by a virus attacks the brain. In particular, it attacks a part of the mid-brain – the

substantia nigra – damaging the nerve cells this area and severely reducing their ability to

produce the chemical nerve impulse transmitter, dopamine. In respect, the disease is similar

to Parkinson’s disease. The cerebral cortex (the part of the brain concerned with conscious

awareness, thought and memory) is unaffected. When in the early 1960’s a substance (LDOPA) closely related to dopamine was found to alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson’s

disease, there was the hope that it would do the same for post-encephalitic patients, that is,

people suffering from the after-effects of sleepy sickness. In event, the effect of L-DOPA on

such people was variable and unpredictable. For some, except for a brief return something

close to normality, it was a failure. For others, its effects were beneficial over a longer period,

and for a few, there was a return to a long lasting near normality. The drug raised enormous

expectations in those who been worst affected by sleepy sickness, who for thirty or forty years

had been in a kind of catatonic sleep. Tragically, for some of them, their awakening was all

too brief

 

 

 

 

Leonard’s poem:

 

THE PANTHER by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-2926)

 

His vision, from the constantly passing bars,

has grown so weary that it cannot hold

anything else. It seems to him there are

a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world.

 

As he paces in cramped circles, over and over,

the movement of his powerful soft strides

is like a ritual dance around a centre

in which a mighty will stands paralysed.

 

Only at times, the curtain of the pupils

lifts, quietly -. An image enters in,

rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles,

plunges into the heart and is gone.

 

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Intelligence Theory pp

July 1, 2025/in Psychology Questions /by Besttutor

Develop an 8- to 12-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation with speaker notes on the following topics:

  • How intelligence is measured
  • The characteristics of a good measure of intelligence
  • The benefits of testing for intelligence
  • The criticism of intelligence testing

 

Contrast intelligence theories, from early theories to more contemporary ideas on intelligence.

Format your presentation consistent with APA guidelines

Gateway THEME Measuring intelligence is worthwhile, but tests provide limited definitions of intelligent behavior.

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9781285519517, Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior with Concept Maps and Reviews, Thirteenth Edition, Coon/Mitterer – © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.

 

 

Unlike other species, humans owe their success more to thinking abilities and intelligence than to physical strength or speed. That’s why our species is called Homo sapiens (from the Latin for man and wise). Our intelligence makes us highly adaptable creatures. We live in deserts, jungles, mountains, frenzied cities, placid retreats, and space stations.

Consider Stephen Hawking. He can’t walk or talk. When he was 13, Lou Gehrig’s disease began to slowly destroy nerve cells in his spinal cord, short-circuiting messages between his brain and muscles. Today, he is confined to a wheelchair and “speaks” by manually controlling a speech syn- thesizer. Yet, despite his severe disabilities, his brain is unaffected by the disease and remains fiercely active. He can still think. Stephen is a theoretical physicist and one of the best-known sci- entific minds of modern times. With courage and determination, he has used his intellect to advance our understanding of the universe.

What do we mean when we say that a person like Stephen Hawking is “smart” or “intelligent”? Can intelligence be measured? Can intelligence tests predict life success? What are the conse- quences of having extremely high or low intelligence? These questions and others concerning intelligence have fascinated psychologists for more than 100 years. Let’s see what has been learned and what issues are still debated.

Gateway QUESTIONS 9.1 How do psychologists define intelligence? 9.2 What are typical IQ tests like? 9.3 How do IQ scores relate to sex, age, and

occupation? 9.4 What does IQ tell us about genius?

9.5 What causes intellectual disability? 9.6 How do heredity and environment affect

intelligence? 9.7 Are there alternate views of intelligence? 9.8 Is there a downside to intelligence testing?

303

Intelligence

9781285519517, Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior with Concept Maps and Reviews, Thirteenth Edition, Coon/Mitterer – © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.

 

 

Chapter 9304

Defining Intelligence— Intelligence Is … You Know, It’s …

Gateway Question 9.1: How do psychologists define intelligence? Like many important concepts in psychology, intelligence cannot be observed directly. Nevertheless, we feel certain it exists. Let’s compare two children:

When she was 14 months old, Anne wrote her own name. She taught her- self to read at age 2. At age 5, she astounded her kindergarten teacher by bringing an iPad to class—on which she was reading an encyclopedia. At 10, she breezed through an entire high school algebra course in 12 hours.

Billy, who is 10 years old, can write his name and can count, but he has trouble with simple addition and subtraction problems and finds multipli- cation impossible. He has been held back in school twice and is still incapa- ble of doing the work his 8-year-old classmates find easy.

Anne is considered a genius; Billy, a slow learner. There seems little doubt that they differ in intelligence.

Wait! Anne’s ability is obvious, but how do we know that Billy isn’t just lazy? That’s the same question that Alfred Binet faced in 1904 (Benjafield, 2010; Jarvin & Sternberg, 2003). The French minister of education wanted to find a way to distinguish slower students from the more capable (or the capable but lazy). In a flash of bril- liance, Binet and an associate created a test made up of “intellec- tual” questions and problems. Next, they learned which questions an average child could answer at each age. By giving children the test, they could tell whether a child was performing up to his or her potential (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2009; Kaufman, 2000).

Binet’s approach gave rise to modern intelligence tests. At the same time, it launched an ongoing debate. Part of the debate is related to the basic difficulty of defining intelligence (Sternberg, Grigorenko, & Kidd, 2005).

Defining Intelligence Isn’t there an accepted definition of intelligence? Traditionally, yes. Intelligence is the global capacity to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with the environment (Wechsler, 1939). The core of intelligence is usually thought to consist of a small set of general mental abilities (called the g-factor) in the areas of reasoning, problem solving, knowledge, memory, and successful adaptation to one’s surroundings (Barber, 2010; Sternberg, 2004).

Intelligence has traditionally been considered a cognitive, not an emotional, capacity. Is there such a thing as emotional intelligence? To find out, see Chapter 10, pages 363–364.

BRIDGES

Beyond this, however, there is much disagreement. In fact, many psychologists simply accept an operational definition of intelligence by spelling out the procedures they use to measure it (Neukrug & Fawcett, 2010). Thus, by selecting items for an intel- ligence test, a psychologist is saying in a very direct way, “This is

what I mean by intelligence.” A test that measures memory, reason- ing, and verbal fluency offers a very different definition of intelli- gence than one that measures strength of grip, shoe size, length of the nose, or the person’s best Guitar Hero score (Goldstein, 2011).

Aptitudes As a child, Hedda displayed an aptitude for art. Today, Hedda is a successful graphic artist. How does an aptitude like Hedda’s differ from general intelligence? An aptitude is a capacity for learning certain abilities. Persons with mechanical, artistic, or musical apti- tudes are likely to do well in careers involving mechanics, art, or music, respectively (• Figure 9.1).

Are there tests for aptitudes? How are they different from intelli- gence tests? Aptitude tests measure a narrower range of abilities than do intelligence tests (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2009). For example, special aptitude tests predict whether you will succeed in a single

RANGE OF ABILITIES

Multiple aptitude tests

Special aptitude tests

Intelligence tests

Modern intelligence tests are widely used to measure cognitive abilities. When properly administered, such tests provide an operational definition of intelligence.

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• Figure 9.1 Special aptitude tests measure a person’s potential for achieve- ment in a limited area of ability, such as manual dexterity. Multiple aptitude tests measure potentials in broader areas, such as college work, law, or medicine. Intelli- gence tests measure a very wide array of aptitudes and mental abilities.

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9781285519517, Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior with Concept Maps and Reviews, Thirteenth Edition, Coon/Mitterer – © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.

 

 

Intelligence 305

Intelligence An overall capacity to think rationally, act purposefully, and deal effectively with the environment.

g-factor A general ability factor proposed to underly intelligence; the core of general intellectual ability that involves reasoning, problem-solving ability, knowledge, and memory.

Operational definition The operations (actions or procedures) used to measure a concept.

Aptitude A capacity for learning certain abilities. Special aptitude test Test to predict a person’s likelihood of succeeding in

a particular area of work or skill. Multiple aptitude test Test that measures two or more aptitudes. General intelligence test A test that measures a wide variety of mental

abilities. Psychometric test Any scientific measurement of a person’s mental

functions. Reliability The ability of a test to yield the same score, or nearly the same

score, each time it is given to the same person. Validity The ability of a test to measure what it purports to measure. Objective test A test that gives the same score when different people

correct it. Test standardization Establishing standards for administering a test and

interpreting scores. Norm An average score for a designated group of people.

area, such as clerical work or computer programming (• Figure 9.2). Multiple aptitude tests measure two or more types of ability. These tests tend to be more like intelligence tests. The well-known SAT Reasoning Test (SAT), which measures aptitudes for language, math, and reasoning, is a multiple aptitude test. So are the tests required to enter graduate schools of law, medicine, business, and dentistry. The broadest aptitude measures are general intelligence tests, which assess a wide variety of mental abilities (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2005).

Psychologists use a variety of aptitude tests to select people for employment and to advise people about choosing careers. For more information, see Chapter 18, pages 608–611.

BRIDGES

Reliability and Validity Whether it is an intelligence test or aptitude test or, for that matter, any other kind of psychometric test—any measurement of a per- son’s mental functions—there will always be two questions you should ask about the test: “Is it reliable?” and “Is it valid? ”

To what does reliability refer? If you weigh yourself several times in a row, a reliable bathroom scale gives the same weight each time. Likewise, a reliable psychometric test must give approximately the same score each time a person takes it (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2009). In other words, the scores should be consistent and highly corre- lated. It is easy to see why unreliable tests have little value. Imagine a medical test for pregnancy or breast cancer, for instance, which gives positive and negative responses for the same woman on the same day.

To check the reliability of a test, we could give it to a large group of people. Then, each person could be tested again a week later to establish test-retest reliability. We also might want to know whether scores on one half of the test items match scores on the other half (split-half reliability). If two versions of a test are avail-

able, we could compare scores on one version to scores on the other (equivalent-forms reliability).

Just because a psychometric test is reliable, however, does not mean that it should be trusted; test validity is also important. To see why this is the case, try creating an IQ test with ten questions only you could possibly answer. Your test would be very reliable. Each time you give the test, everyone scores zero, except you, who scores 100  percent (so you thereby proclaim yourself the only human with any intelligence). Even though we all have days when it seems we are the only smart person left on the planet, it should be obvious this is a silly example. A test must also have validity; it should measure what it claims to measure (Neukrug & Fawcett, 2010). By no stretch of the imagination could a test of intelligence be valid if the person who wrote it is the only one who can pass it.

How is validity established? Validity is usually demonstrated by comparing test scores to actual performance. This is called criterion validity. For example, scores on a test of legal aptitude might be com- pared with grades in law school. If high test scores correlate with high grades, or some other standard (criterion) of success, the test might be valid. Unfortunately, many “free” tests you encounter, such as those found in magazines and on the Internet, have little or no validity.

Objective Testing Let’s return to your “I’m the Smartest Person in the World IQ Test” for a final point. Is your test objective? Actually, it might be. If your IQ test gives the same score when corrected by different people, it is an objective test. However, objectivity is not enough to guaran- tee a fair test. Useful tests must also be standardized (Neukrug & Fawcett, 2010).

Test standardization refers to two things. First, it means that standard procedures are used in giving the test. The instructions, answer forms, amount of time to work, and so forth, are the same for everyone. Second, it means finding the norm, or average score,

1. If the driver turns in the direction shown, which direction will wheel Y turn? A B

2. Which wheel will turn the slowest? Driver X Y

Y

B

A

X

Driver

• Figure 9.2 Sample questions like those found on tests of mechanical apti- tude. (The answers are A and the Driver.)

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.

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Chapter 9306

made by a large group of people like those for whom the test was designed. Without standardization, we couldn’t fairly compare the scores of people taking the test at different times. And without norms, there would be no way to tell whether a score is high, low, or average.

Later in this chapter, we will address the question of whether intelligence tests are valid. For now, let’s take a practical approach and learn about some popular standardized IQ tests.

Testing Intelligence—The IQ and You

Gateway Question 9.2: What are typical IQ tests like? American psychologists quickly saw the value of Alfred Binet’s test. In 1916, Lewis Terman and others at Stanford University revised it for use in North America. After more revisions, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SB5) continue to be widely used. The original Stanford-Binet assumed that a child’s intellectual abilities improve with each passing year. Today, the Stanford-Binet (or SB5) is still primarily made up of age-ranked questions. Naturally, these questions get a little harder at each age level. The SB5 is appropriate for people from age 2 to 85� years and scores on the test are very reliable (Raid & Tippin, 2009; Roid, 2003).

Five Aspects of Intelligence The SB5 measures five cognitive factors (types of mental abilities) that make up general intelligence. These are fluid reasoning, knowl- edge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and working memory. Each factor is measured with verbal questions (those involving words and numbers), and nonverbal questions (items that use pictures and objects). Let’s see what each factor looks like.

Fluid Reasoning Questions like the following are used to test Fluid Reasoning:

How are an apple, a plum, and a banana different from a beet? An apprentice is to a master as a novice is to an ____________. “I knew my bag was going to be in the last place I looked, so I

looked there first.” What is silly or impossible about that?

Other items ask people to fill in the missing shape in a group of shapes, and to tell a story that explains what’s going on in a series of pictures.

Knowledge The Knowledge factor assesses the person’s knowledge about a wide range of topics.

Why is yeast added to bread dough? What does cryptic mean? What is silly or impossible about this picture? (For example, a

bicycle has square wheels.)

Quantitative Reasoning Test items for Quantitative Reasoning measure a person’s ability to solve problems involving numbers. Here are some samples:

If I have six marbles and you give me another one, how many marbles will I have?

Given the numbers 3, 6, 9, 12, what number would come next? If a shirt is being sold for 50 percent of the normal price, and

the price tag is $60, what is the cost of the shirt?

Visual-Spatial Processing People who have visual-spatial skills are good at putting picture puzzles together and copying geometric shapes (such as triangles, rectangles, and circles). Visual-Spatial Processing questions ask test takers to reproduce patterns of blocks and choose pictures that show how a piece of paper would look if it were folded or cut. Verbal questions can also require visual-spatial abilities:

Suppose that you are going east, then turn right, then turn right again, then turn left. In what direction are you facing now?

Working Memory The Working Memory part of the SB5 measures the ability to use short-term memory. Some typical memory tasks include the following:

Correctly remember the order of colored beads on a stick. After hearing several sentences, name the last word from each

sentence. Repeat a series of digits (forward or backward) after hearing

them once. After seeing several objects, point to them in the same order as

they were presented.

If you were to take the SB5, it would yield a score for your general intelligence, verbal intelligence, nonverbal intelligence, and each of the five cognitive factors (Bain & Allin, 2005). For another per- spective on the kinds of tasks used in the SB5, see “Intelligence— How Would a Fool Do It?”

The Wechsler Tests Is the Stanford-Binet the only intelligence test? Many other IQ tests have been developed. Psychologist David Wechsler (1939) designed one widely used alternative. Whereas the original Stanford-Binet was better suited for children and adolescents, the first Wechsler test was specifically designed to test adult intelligence. The current version is the Wechsler Adult Intelli- gence Scale—Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). With newer versions of the Stanford-Binet and a children’s version of the Wechsler scales (currently the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children— Fourth Edition or WISC-IV; see Baron, 2005), both alternatives are now widely used across all ages.

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Intelligence 307

Performance intelligence Intelligence measured by solving puzzles, assembling objects, completing pictures, and other nonverbal tasks.

Verbal intelligence Intelligence measured by answering questions involving vocabulary, general information, arithmetic, and other language- or symbol-oriented tasks.

Individual intelligence test A test of intelligence designed to be given to a single individual by a trained specialist.

Group intelligence test Any intelligence test that can be administered to a group of people with minimal supervision.

Like the Stanford-Binet, the Wechsler tests yield a single overall intelligence score. In addition, these tests also separate scores for performance (nonverbal) intelligence and verbal (language- or symbol-oriented) intelligence. The abilities measured by the Wechsler tests and some sample test items are listed in ■ Table 9.1.

Group Tests The SB5 and the Wechsler tests are individual intelligence tests, which are given to a single person by a trained specialist. In con- trast, group intelligence tests can be given to a large group of people with minimal supervision. Group tests usually require people to read, to follow instructions, and to solve problems of logic, reasoning, mathematics, or spatial skills. The first group intelligence test was the Army Alpha, developed for World War I military inductees. As you can see in ■ Table 9.2, intelligence test- ing has come a long way since then.

Scholastic Aptitude Tests If you’re wondering if you have ever taken an intelligence test, the answer is probably yes. As mentioned earlier, the SAT Reasoning Test is a multiple aptitude test. So are the American College Test (ACT) and the College Qualification Test (CQT). Each of these group tests is designed to predict your chances for success in col-

Adapted from Wechsler, D. (2008). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). San Antonio, TX: Pearson.

Sample Items Similar to Those Used on the WAIS-IV

Verbal Comprehension Sample Items or Descriptions

Similarities In what way are a wolf and a coyote alike?

In what way are a screwdriver and a chisel alike?

Vocabulary The test consists of asking, “What is a ____________?” or “What does ____________ mean?” The words range from more to less familiar and difficult.

Information How many wings does a butterfly have?

Who wrote Romeo and Juliet?

Perceptual Reasoning

Block Design Copy designs with blocks (as shown at right).

Matrix Reasoning Select the item that completes the matrix.

Visual Puzzles Choose the pieces which go together to form a figure.

Working Memory

Digit Span Repeat from memory a series of digits, such as 8 5 7 0 1 3 6 2, after hearing it once.

Arithmetic Four girls divided 28 jellybeans equally among themselves. How many jellybeans did each girl receive?

If 3 peaches take 2 minutes to find and pick, how long will it take to find and pick a dozen peaches?

Processing Speed

Symbol Search Match symbols appearing in separate groups.

NO

NO

NO

Symbol Search

Coding Fill in the symbols: 3 21244 1 31 2 3 4

X III I 0

■ TABLE 9.1

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Chapter 9308

Intelligence—How Would a Fool Do It?Human Diversity

You have been asked to sort some objects into categories. Wouldn’t it be smart to put the clothes, containers, implements, and foods in separate piles? Not necessarily. When members of the Kpelle culture in Libe- ria were asked to sort objects, they grouped them together by function. For example, a potato (food) would be placed together with a knife (implement). When the Kpelle were asked why they grouped the objects this way, they often said that was how a wise man would do it. The researchers finally asked the Kpelle, “How would a fool do it?” Only then did the Kpelle sort the objects into the nice, neat categories that we Westerners prefer.

This anecdote, related by cultural psy- chologist Patricia Greenfield (1997), raises serious questions about general definitions of intelligence. For example, among the Cree of northern Canada, “smart” people are the ones who have the skills needed to find food on the frozen tundra (Darou, 1992). For the Puluwat people in the South Pacific, smart means having ocean-going naviga- tion skills necessary to get from island to is- land (Sternberg, 2004). And so it goes, as each culture teaches its children the kinds of “intelligence” valued in that culture— how the wise man would do it, not the fool (Barber, 2010; Correa-Chávez, Rogoff, & Arauz, 2005).

How important do you think the mental abilities assessed in modern intelligence tests are to this Bushman hunter in Africa’s Kalahari Desert?

Sh ut

te rs

to ck

Items from the Army Alpha Subtest on “Common Sense”

The Army Alpha was given to World War I army recruits in the United States as a way to identify potential officers. In these sample questions, note the curious mixture of folk wisdom, scientific information, and moralism (Kessen & Cahan, 1986). Other parts of the test were more like modern intelligence tests.

1. If plants are dying for lack of rain, you should

h water them

h ask a florist’s advice

h put fertilizer around them

2. If the grocer should give you too much money in making change, what is the right thing to do?

h buy some candy for him with it

h give it to the first poor man you meet

h tell him of his mistake

3. If you saw a train approaching a broken track you should

h telephone for an ambulance

h signal the engineer to stop the train

h look for a piece of rail to fit in

4. Some men lose their breath on high mountains because

h the wind blows their breath away

h the air is too rare

h it is always cold there

5. We see no stars at noon because

h they have moved to the other side of the earth

h they are much fainter than the sun

h they are hidden behind the sky

■ TABLE 9.2

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is

Copyright © 2013 Cengage Learning, Inc.

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Intelligence 309

Mental age The average mental ability displayed by people of a given age. Chronological age A person’s age in years. Intelligence quotient (IQ) An index of intelligence defined as mental age

divided by chronological age and multiplied by 100. Deviation IQ An IQ obtained statistically from a person’s relative standing

in his or her age group; that is, how far above or below average the person’s score was relative to other scores.

lege. Because the tests measure general knowledge and a variety of mental aptitudes, each can also be used to estimate intelligence.

Intelligence Quotients What is an “IQ”? Imagine that a child named Yuan can answer intelligence test questions that an average 7-year-old can answer. We could say that 7 is her mental age (average intellectual perfor- mance). How smart is Yuan? Actually, we can’t say yet, because we don’t know how old Yuan is. If she is 10, she’s not very smart. If she’s 5, she is very bright. Thus, although mental age is a good measure of actual ability, it says nothing about whether overall intelligence is high or low, compared with other people of the same age.

Thus, to estimate a child’s intelligence, we also need to know her chronological age (age in years). Then, we can relate mental age to chronological age. This yields an IQ, or intelligence quotient. A quotient results from dividing one number into another. When the Stanford-Binet was first used, IQ was defined as mental age (MA) divided by chronological age (CA) and multiplied by 100. (Multi- plying by 100 changes the IQ into a whole number rather than a decimal.)

MA CA

� 100 � IQ

An advantage of the original IQ was that intelligence could be compared among children with different chronological and mental ages. For instance, 10-year-old Justin has a mental age of 12. Thus, his IQ is 120:

1MA2 12 1CA2 10

� 100 � 120 (IQ)

Justin’s friend Suke also has a mental age of 12. However, Suke’s chronological age is 12, so his IQ is 100:

1MA2 12 1CA2 12

� 100 � 100 (IQ)

The IQ shows that 10-year-old Justin is brighter than his 12-year- old friend Suke, even though their intellectual skills are about the same. Notice that a person’s IQ will be 100 when mental age equals chronological age. Therefore, an IQ score of 100 is defined as aver- age intelligence.

Then does a person with an IQ score below 100 have below average intelligence? Not unless the IQ is well below 100. Average intelli- gence is usually defined as any score from 90 to 109. The impor- tant point is that IQ scores will be over  100 when mental age is higher than age in years. IQ scores below 100 occur when a per- son’s age in years exceeds his or her mental age. An example of this situation would be a 15-year-old with an MA of 12:

12 15

� 100 � 80 (IQ)

Deviation IQs Although the preceding examples may give you insight into IQ scores, it’s no longer necessary to directly calculate IQs. Instead, modern tests use deviation IQs. Tables supplied with the test are used to convert a person’s relative standing in the group to an IQ score. That is, they tell how far above or below average the person’s score falls. For example, if you score at the 50th percentile, half the people your age who take the test score higher than you and half score lower. In this case, your IQ score is 100. If you score at the 84th percentile, your IQ score is 115. If you score at the 97th per- centile, your IQ score is 130. (For more information, see the Statis- tics appendix near the end of this book.)

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Chapter 9310

OK, so how does Stephen Hawking score? When Hawking was once asked about his IQ, he claimed he didn’t know and joked, “People who boast about their IQ are losers.”

The Stability of IQ How old do children have to be before their IQ scores become stable? IQ scores are not very dependable until about age 6 (Schuerger & Witt, 1989). IQ scores measured at age  3 correlate poorly with those measured at age 27. In other words, knowing a child’s IQ at age 3 tells us very little about what his or her IQ will be 24 years later. (Recall that a perfect correlation is 1.00 and a correlation of 0.00 occurs when scores are unrelated.) However, IQs do become more reliable as children grow older. Knowing a child’s IQ at age 11 is a good predictor of his or her IQ later in life (Gow et al., 2010). After middle childhood, a person’s IQ scores usually change very little from year to year (Canivez & Watkins, 1998; Gow et al., 2010; Larsen, Hartmann, & Nyborg, 2008). (See • Figure 9.3).

Variations in Intelligence— The Numbers Game

Gateway Question 9.3: How do IQ scores relate to sex, age, and occupation? IQ scores are classified as shown in ■ Table 9.3. A look at the per- centages reveals a definite pattern. The distribution (or scattering) of IQ scores approximates a normal (bell-shaped) curve. That is, most

15 27 39 51

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Age (years)

C or

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tio n

co ef

fic ie

nt

0.6 3 63 75 87

• Figure 9.3 The stability or reliability of IQ scores increases rapidly in early childhood. Scores are very consistent from early adulthood to late middle age. (Adapted from Gow et al., 2010; Larsen, Hart- mann, & Nyborg, 2008; Schuerger & Witt, 1989.)

Distribution of Adult IQ Scores on the WAIS-IV

IQ Description Percent

Above 130 Very superior 2.2

120–129 Superior 6.7

110–119 Bright normal 16.1

90–109 Average 50.0

80–89 Dull normal 16.1

70–79 Borderline 6.7

Below 70 Intellectually disabled 2.2

■ TABLE 9.3

Derived from Wechsler, D. (2008). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). San Antonio, TX: Pearson.

Knowledge Builder Intelligence Tests

RECITE 1. The first successful intelligence test was developed by

__________________________________. 2. If we define intelligence by the obtained score on a written test, we

are using a. a circular definition b. an abstract definition c. an operational

definition d. a chronological definition 3. Place an “R” or a “V” after each operation to indicate whether it would

be used to establish the reliability (R) or the validity (V) of a test. a. Compare score on one half of test items to score on the other

half. ( ) b. Compare scores on test to grades, performance ratings, or other

measures. ( ) c. Compare scores from the test after administering it on two sepa-

rate occasions. ( ) d. Compare scores on alternate forms of the test. ( )

4. Establishing norms and uniform procedures for administering a test are elements of standardization. T or F?

5. The WAIS-IV is a group intelligence test. T or F? 6. IQ was originally defined as __________________ times 100. 7. Scores on modern intelligence tests are based on one’s deviation

IQ (relative standing among test takers) rather than on the ratio between mental age and chronological age. T or F?

REFLECT Think Critically

8. How well do you think a member of Kpelle culture in Liberia would score on the SB5?

Self-Reflect

If you were going to write an intelligence test, what kinds of questions would you ask? How much would your questions resemble those on standard intelligence tests? Would you want to measure any mental skills not covered by established tests?

Answers: 1. Alfred Binet 2. c 3. a. (R), b. (V), c. (R), d. (R) 4. T 5. F 6. MA/CA 7. T 8. You are right if you suspect the answer is most likely “poorly.” The more important question is what this means. Is the person “slow” or might there be some question about the test itself (Gardner, 2008; Hen- rich, Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010)? Stay tuned for more on this important issue.

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Intelligence 311

Normal curve A bell-shaped curve characterized by a large number of scores in a middle area, tapering to very few extremely high and low scores.

Fluid intelligence The ability to solve novel problems involving perceptual speed or rapid insight.

Crystallized intelligence The ability to solve problems using already acquired knowledge.

scores fall close to the average and very few are found at the extremes. • Figure 9.4 shows this characteristic of measured intelligence.

IQ and Sex On average, do males and females differ in intelligence? IQ scores cannot answer this question because test items were selected to be equally difficult for both sexes. However, whereas males and females do not appear to differ in overall intelligence, general intel- ligence tests allow us to compare the intellectual strengths and weaknesses of men and women (Hyde, 2007). For decades, women, as a group, performed best on items that require verbal ability, vocabulary, and rote learning. Men, in contrast, were best at items that require spatial visualization and math (Clements et al., 2006; Calvin et al., 2010). Today, such male-female differences have almost disappeared among children and young adults. The small differences that remain appear to be based on a tendency for par- ents and educators to encourage males, more than females, to learn math and spatial skills (Ceci & Williams, 2010).

IQ and Age How much are IQs affected by age? Don’t be confused by • Figure 9.3. The rising curve in that figure indicates that the consistency of IQ scores from year to year increases with age. Actual IQ test scores stay relatively stable as people age with a small, gradual increase until about age 40 and a small slow decline therafter (Larsen, Hart- mann, & Nyborg, 2008; Thompson & Oehlert, 2010).

This trend, of course, is an average. Actual IQs reflect a person’s education, maturity, and experience, as well as innate intelligence. Some people make fairly large gains in IQ, whereas others have siz- able losses. How do the two groups differ? In general, those who gain in IQ are exposed to intellectual stimulation during early adulthood. Those who decline typically suffer from chronic ill- nesses, drinking problems, or unstimulating lifestyles (Honzik, 1984; Nisbett, 2009a,b).

After middle age, the picture gets a bit more complex. Intellec- tual skills involved in fluid intelligence—solving novel problems

involving perceptual speed or rapid insight—decline rapidly after middle age (Brody, 1992; Lawrence, Myerson, & Hale, 1998). By way of compensation, crystallized intelligence—solving prob- lems using already acquired knowledge —can actually increase or, at least, decline very little until advanced age. In other words, younger people are generally “quick learners” (fluid intelligence) but tend to be “wet behind the ears” (lack experience or crystalized intelligence). Older people might be a little “slower on the uptake” but tend to “know the ropes.” Since IQ tests such as the SB5 and WAIS test for components of both fluid intelligence and crystal- lized intelligence, overall, age-related losses are small for most healthy, well-educated individuals (Rindermann, Flores-Mendoza, & Mansur-Alves, 2010; Weintraub 2003).

IQ and Achievement How do IQ scores relate to success in school, jobs, and other endeav- ors? IQ differences of a few points tell us little about a person. But if we look at a broader ranges of scores, the differences do become meaningful. For example, a person with an IQ of 100 would probably struggle with college, whereas one with an IQ of 120 would do just fine.

The correlation between IQ and school grades is at least .50—a sizable association (Calvin et al., 2010; Mayes et al., 2009). If grades depended solely on IQ, the connection would be even stronger. However, motivation, special talents, off- campus educational opportunities, and many other factors influ- ence grades and school success. The same is true of “real world” success beyond school (Strenze, 2007). IQ is also not a good predictor of success in art, music, writing, dramatics, science, and leadership. Tests of creativity are much more strongly related to achievement in these areas (Kaufman, 2009; Preckel, Holling, & Wiese, 2006).

As you might expect, IQ is also related to job status. Persons holding white-collar, professional positions average higher IQs than those in blue-collar settings. For example, accountants, lawyers, and engineers average about  125 in IQ. In contrast, miners and farm workers average about 90 (Brody, 1992). It is important to note, however, that a range of IQ scores can be found in all occupations. Many people of high intelligence, because of choice or circumstance, have “low-ranking” jobs.

Does the link between IQ and occupation show that professional jobs require more intelligence? Not as clearly as you might think. Higher status jobs often require an academic degree. As a result, hiring for professional jobs is biased in favor of a particular type of intelligence, namely, the kind measured by intelligence tests

Pe rc

en t

Intellectually disabled

Borderline

40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Mean = 101.8 IQ

20

16

12

8

24

4

Dull normal

Average

Bright normal

Superior

Very superior

• Figure 9.4 Distribution of Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test scores for 3184 children. (Adapted from Terman & Merrill, 1937/1960.)

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Chapter 9312

(McClelland, 1994; Neisser et al., 1996). This bias probably inflates the apparent association between professional jobs and IQ. The more IQ-like tests are used to select people for jobs, the stronger the association between IQ and job status. In fact, it can be argued that high status groups use such tests to protect their “territory” (Tittle & Rotolo, 2000).

When IQs are extreme—below 70 or above 140—their link to an individual’s potential for success becomes unmistakable. Only about 3  percent of the population falls in these ranges. Nevertheless, millions of people have exceptionally high or low IQs. Discussions of the intellectually gifted and intellectually disabled follow.

The Intellectually Gifted—Smart, Smarter, Smartest

Gateway Question 9.4: What does IQ tell us about genius? How high is the IQ of a genius? Only 2  people out of  100 score above  130 on IQ tests. These bright individuals are usually described as “gifted.” Less than one-half of one percent of the population scores above 140. These people are certainly gifted or perhaps even “geniuses.” However, some psychologists reserve the term genius for people with even higher IQs or those who are exceptionally creative (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2011).

Gifted Children Do high IQ scores in childhood predict later ability? To directly answer this question, Lewis Terman selected 1,500 children with IQs of 140 or more. Terman followed this gifted group (the “Ter- mites,” as he called them) into adulthood. By doing so, Terman corrected several popular misconceptions about high intelligence (Dai, 2010; Reis & Renzulli, 2010; Shurkin, 1992).

Misconception: The gifted tend to be peculiar, socially backward people. Fact: On the contrary, Terman’s gifted subjects, and gifted people in

general, are socially skilled and above average in leadership (Feldhusen & Westby, 2003).

Misconception: Early ripe means later rot; the gifted tend to fizzle out as adults.

Fact: This is false. When they were retested as adults, Terman’s subjects again scored in the upper IQ ranges.

Misconception: The very bright are physically inferior “eggheads,” “nerds,” or weaklings.

Fact: As a group, the gifted were above average in height, weight, and physical appearance.

Misconception: Highly intelligent persons are more susceptible to mental illness (“Genius is next to insanity”).

Fact: Terman demonstrated conclusively that the gifted enjoy better than average mental health and a greater resistance to mental illness. In general, the highly gifted tend to be very well adjusted psychologically (Dai, 2010; Garland & Zigler, 1999).

Misconception: Intelligence has little to do with success, especially in practical matters.

Fact: The success of Terman’s subjects was striking. Far more of them than average completed college, earned advanced degrees, and held pro- fessional positions. As a group, the gifted produced dozens of books, thou- sands of scientific articles, and hundreds of short stories and other publications (Shurkin, 1992; Terman & Oden, 1959). As noted earlier, IQ scores are not generally good predictors of real-world success. However, when scores are in the gifted range, the likelihood of outstanding achieve- ment does seem to be higher.

Giftedness and Achievement Were all the Termites superior as adults? No. Remember that high IQ reveals potential. It does not guarantee success. As adults, some of Terman’s gifted subjects committed crimes, were unemployable, or were unhappy misfits. Nor does a lower IQ guarantee failure. Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, whom many regard as a genius, had an IQ of 122 (Michalko, 2001).

How did Terman’s more successful Termites differ from the less successful? Most of them had educated parents who valued learning and encouraged them to do the same. In general, successful gifted persons tend to have strong intellectual determination—a desire to know, to excel, and to persevere (Winner, 2003). Gifted or not, most successful persons tend to be persistent and motivated to learn (Reis & Renzulli, 2010). No one is paid to sit around being capable of achievement. What you do is always more important than what you should be able to do. That’s why a child’s talents are most likely to blossom when they are nurtured with support, encouragement, education, and effort (Callahan, 2006).

Identifying Gifted Children How might a parent spot an unusually bright child? Early signs of giftedness are not always purely “intellectual.” Giftedness can be either the possession of a high IQ or of special talents or aptitudes. The following signs may reveal that a child is gifted: a tendency to seek out older children and adults; an early fascination with expla- nations and problem solving; talking in complete sentences as early as 2 or 3 years of age; an unusually good memory; precocious talent in art, music, or number skills; an early interest in books, along with early reading (often by age 3); showing of kindness, understanding, and cooperation toward others (Dai, 2010; Distin, 2006).

Notice that this list goes beyond straight g-factor, or general “academic” intelligence. Children may be gifted in ways other than having a high IQ. In fact, if artistic talent, mechanical aptitude, musical aptitude, athletic potential, and so on are considered, many children have a special “gift” of one kind or another. Limiting giftedness to high IQ can shortchange children with special talents or potentials. This is especially true of ethnic minority children, who may be the victims of subtle biases in standardized intelligence tests. These children, as well as children with physical disabilities, are less likely to be recognized as gifted (Castellano & Frazier, 2011; Ford & Moore, 2006).

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Intelligence 313

Giftedness Either the possession of a high IQ or special talents or aptitudes.

Intellectual disability (formerly mental retardation) The presence of a developmental disability, a formal IQ score below 70, or a significant impairment of adaptive behavior.

GATE Programs Being exceptionally bright is not without its problems. Usually, parents and teachers must make adjustments to help gifted chil- dren make the most of their talents ( Jolly et al., 2011). The gifted child may become bored in classes designed for average children. This can lead to misbehavior or clashes with teachers who think the gifted child a show-off or smart aleck. Extremely bright chil- dren may also find classmates less stimulating than older children or adults. In recognition of these problems, many schools now provide special Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) classes for gifted children. Such programs combine classroom enrich- ment with fast-paced instruction to satisfy the gifted child’s appetite for intellectual stimulation (Dai, 2010). Since 1988, the federally funded Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Children and Youth Education Act has provided ongoing funds for research into gifted and talented education programs (Reis & Renzulli, 2010).

All children benefit from enriched environments. For a discussion of enrichment and some guidelines for parents, see Chapter 3, pages 87–88.

BRIDGES

In the next section, we will discuss intellectual disability.

Intellectual Disability— A Difference That Makes a Difference

Gateway Question 9.5: What causes intellectual disability? Before you begin, take a few moments to read “Meet the Rain Man,” in which you will find information about a remarkable mixture of brilliance and intellectual disability. And please keep Kim Peek in mind as you read on. There is usually much more to intellectually disabled people than can be shown by the results of IQ testing (Treffert, 2010). It is especially important to realize that intellectu- ally disabled persons have no handicap when feelings are concerned. They are easily hurt by rejection, teasing, or ridicule. Likewise, they respond warmly to love and acceptance. They have a right to self- respect and a place in the community (Montreal Declaration on Intellectual Disabilities, 2004). This is especially important during childhood, when support from others adds greatly to the person’s chances of becoming a well-adjusted member of society.

Levels of Intellectual Disability A person with mental abilities far below average is termed intel- lectually disabled (the former term, mentally retarded, is now regarded by many as offensive). According to the current definition

It is wise to remember that there are many ways in which a child may be gifted. Many schools now offer Gifted and Talented Edu- cation programs for students with a variety of special abilities—not just for those who score well on IQ tests.

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Chapter 9314

listed in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Sta- tistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), intellectual disabil- ity begins at an IQ of approximately 70 or below and is classified as shown in ■ Table 9.4 (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The listed IQ ranges are approximate because IQ scores normally vary a few points. The terms in the right-hand column are listed only to give you a general impression of each IQ range. Currently, a person’s ability to perform adaptive behaviors (basic skills such as dressing, eating, communicating, shopping, and working) also fig- ures into evaluating this disability (American Psychiatric Associa- tion, 2000; Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2011).

A new edition of the DSM, the DSM-5, is scheduled for pub- lication in 2012. It is quite likely that the new definitions of levels

of intellectual disability will deemphasize IQ and focus more heavily on impairment of adaptive behaviors (American Psychiat- ric Association, 2010). After all, why label someone with fairly good adaptive skills “severely intellectually disabled” just because his or her IQ falls within a prescribed range? The end result of such labels is, too often, a placing of needless limitations on the educational goals of intellectually disabled persons (Harris, 2010; Kirk et al., 2011).

Are the intellectually disabled usually placed in institutions? No. Total care is usually only necessary for the profoundly disabled (IQ below 25). Many of these individuals live in group homes or with their families. Those who are severely disabled (IQ of 25–40) and moderately disabled (IQ of 40–55) are capable of mastering basic language and self-help skills. Many become self-supporting by working in sheltered workshops (special simplified work environ- ments). The mildly disabled (IQ of 55–70) make up about 85 per- cent of all those affected. This group can benefit from carefully structured education. As adults, these persons, as well as the bor- derline disabled (IQ 70–85), are capable of living alone and they may marry. However, they tend to have difficulties with many of the demands of adult life (Zetlin & Murtaugh, 1990).

Causes of Intellectual Disability What causes intellectual disability? In 30  to 40 percent of cases, no known biological problem can be identified. In many such instances, the degree of disability is mild, in the 50–70 IQ range.

Levels of Intellectual Disability

IQ Range

Degree of Intellectual Disability

Educational Classification

Required Level of Support

50–55 to 70 Mild Educable Intermittent

35–40 to 50–55 Moderate Trainable Limited

20–25 to 35–40 Severe Dependent Extensive

Below 20–25 Profound Life support Pervasive

■ TABLE 9.4

(Adapted from American Psychiatric Association, 2000.)

Meet the Rain ManThe Clinical File

Meet Kim Peek, the model for Dustin Hoff- man’s character in the Academy Award– winning movie Rain Man (Peek & Hanson, 2007). Kim began memorizing books at 18 months of age. By the time of his death in 2009, he could recite from memory more than 9,000 books. He knew all the ZIP codes and area codes in the United States and could give accurate travel directions be- tween any two major U.S. cities. He could also discuss hundreds of pieces of classical music in detail and could play most of it quite well. Amazingly, though, for someone with such skills, Kim had difficulty with ab- stract thinking and tests of general intelli- gence. He was poorly coordinated and couldn’t button his own clothes (Treffert, 2010; Treffert & Christensen, 2005).

Kim Peek had savant syndrome, in which a person of limited intelligence shows exceptional mental ability in one or more narrow areas, such as mental arithmetic, cal-

endar calculations, art, or music (Crane et al., 2010; Young, 2005).

Do savants have special mental powers not shared by most people? According to one the- ory, many savants have suffered some form of damage to their left hemispheres, freeing them from the “distractions” of language, concepts, and higher-level thought. This al- lows them to focus with crystal clarity on music, drawing, prime numbers, license plates, TV commercials, and other specific in- formation (Young, 2005). Another theory holds that the performances of many sa- vants result from intense practice (Miller, 1999). Perhaps each of us harbors embers of mental brilliance that intense practice could fan into full flame (Snyder et al., 2006; Tref- fert, 2010).

Although savant syndrome hasn’t been fully explained, it does show that extraordi- nary abilities can exist apart from general intelligence.

Once, four months after reading a novel, Kim was asked about a character. He immediately named the character, gave the page number on which a description appeared, and accurately recited several paragraphs about the character (Treffert & Christensen, 2005).

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Intelligence 315

Savant syndrome The possession of exceptional mental ability in one or more narrow areas, such as mental arithmetic, calendar calculations, art, or music by a person of limited general intelligence.

Familial intellectual disability Mild intellectual disability associated with homes that are intellectually, nutritionally, and emotionally impoverished.

Down Syndrome A genetic disorder caused by the presence of an extra chromosome; results in intellectual disability.

Fragile X syndrome A genetic form of intellectual disability caused by a defect in the X chromosome.X

Often, other family members are also mildly disabled. Familial intellectual disability, as this is called, occurs mostly in very poor households, in which nutrition, intellectual stimulation, medical care, and emotional support may be inadequate. This suggests that familial intellectual disability is based largely on an impoverished environment. Thus, better nutrition, education, and early childhood enrichment programs could prevent many cases of intellectual disability (Beirne-Smith, Patton, & Shan- non, 2006).

About half of all cases of intellectual disability are organic, or related to physical disorders (Das, 2000). These include birth injuries (such as lack of oxygen during delivery), and fetal damage (prenatal damage from disease, infection, or drugs). Metabolic disorders, which affect energy production and use in the body, also cause intellectual disability. Some forms of intel- lectual disability are linked to genetic abnormalities, such as missing genes, extra genes, or defective genes. Malnutrition and exposure to lead, PCBs, and other toxins early in childhood can also cause organic intellectual disability (Beirne-Smith, Patton, & Shannon, 2006). Let’s briefly look at several distinctive problems.

Down Syndrome In 1 out of 800 babies, the disorder known as Down syndrome causes moderate to severe intellectual disability and a shortened life expectancy of around 49 years. It is now known that Down syndrome children have an extra 21st chromosome. This condi- tion, which is called trisomy-21, results from flaws in the par- ents’ egg or sperm cells. Thus, although Down syndrome is genetic, it is not usually hereditary (it doesn’t “run in the family”).

The age of parents is a major factor in Down syndrome. As people age, their reproductive cells are more prone to errors dur- ing cell division. This raises the odds that an extra chromosome will be present. As you can see in the following figures, the older a

woman is, the greater the risk (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2010):

Mother’s age Incidence of Down syndrome Under 30 1/11000 Early 40s 1/105 Late 40s 1/12

Fathers, and possibly especially older fathers, also add to the risk; in a small percentage of cases, the father is the source of the extra chromosome (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2010). Older adults who plan to have children should carefully consider the odds shown here.

There is no “cure” for Down syndrome. However, these chil- dren are usually loving and responsive, and they make progress in a caring environment. At a basic level, Down syndrome children can do most of the things that other children can, only slower. The best hope for Down syndrome children, therefore, lies in specially tai- lored educational programs that enable them to lead fuller lives.

Fragile X Syndrome The second most common form of genetic intellectual disability (after Down syndrome) is fragile X syndrome (Hallahan, Kauff- man, & Pullen, 2011). Unlike Down syndrome, fragile X syn- drome is hereditary—it does run in families. The problem is related to a thin, frail-looking area on the X (female) chromosome. Because fragile X is sex linked (like color-blindness), boys are most often affected, at a rate of about 1 out of every 3800 (National Fragile X Foundation, 2011).

Fragile X males generally have long, thin faces and big ears. Physically, they are usually larger than average during childhood, but smaller than average after adolescence. Up to three-fourths of all fragile X males suffer from hyperactivity and attention disor- ders. Many also have a peculiar tendency to avoid eye contact with others.

Fragile X males are only mildly intellectually disabled during early childhood, but they are often severely or profoundly intel- lectually disabled as adults. When learning adaptive behaviors, they tend to do better with daily living skills than with language and social skills (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2011).

Phenylketonuria (PKU) The problem called phenylketonuria (FEN-ul-KEET-uh-NURE- ee-ah) is a genetic disease. Children who have PKU lack an impor- tant enzyme. This causes phenylpyruvic (FEN-ul-pye-ROO-vik)

This young woman exhibits the classical features of Down syndrome: Distinctive features of this problem are almond-shaped eyes, a slightly protruding tongue, a stocky build, and stubby hands with deeply creased palms.

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Chapter 9316

acid (a destructive chemical) to collect within their bodies. PKU is also linked to very low levels of dopamine, an important chemical messenger in the brain. If PKU goes untreated, severe intellectual disability typically occurs by age 3.

PKU can be detected in newborn babies by routine medical testing. Affected children are usually placed on a diet low in phe- nylalinine, the substance the child’s body can’t handle. Carefully following this diet will usually prevent intellectual disability (Grosse, 2010). (Phenylalinine is present in many foods. You might be interested to know that it is also found in Aspartame, the artificial sweetener in diet colas.)

Microcephaly The word microcephaly (MY-kro-SEF-ah-lee) means small- headedness. The microcephalic person suffers a rare abnormality in which the skull is extremely small or fails to grow. This forces the brain to develop in a limited space, causing severe intellectual dis- ability (Szabó et al., 2010). Although they are typically institution- alized, microcephalic persons are usually affectionate, well-behaved, and cooperative.

Hydrocephaly Hydrocephaly (HI-dro-SEF-ah-lee: “water on the brain”) is caused by a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid within brain cavities. Pressure from this fluid can damage the brain and enlarge the head. Hydro- cephaly is not uncommon—about 10,000 hydocephalic babies are born each year in the United States and Canada. However, thanks to new medical procedures, most of these infants will lead nearly normal lives. A surgically implanted tube drains fluid from the brain into the abdomen and minimizes brain damage. Although affected children usually score below average on mental tests, severe intellectual disability usually can be prevented (Rourke et al., 2002).

Cretinism Cretinism (KREET-un-iz-um) is another type of intellectual disabil- ity that appears in infancy. It results from an insufficient supply of thyroid hormone. In some parts of the world, cretinism is caused by a lack of iodine in the diet (the thyroid glands require iodine to func- tion normally). Iodized salt has made this source of intellectual dis- ability rare in developed nations. Cretinism causes stunted physical and intellectual growth that cannot be reversed. Fortunately, cretin- ism is easily detected in infancy. Once detected, it can be treated with thyroid hormone replacement, before permanent damage occurs.

Heredity and Environment— Super Rats, Family Trees, and Video Games

Gateway Question 9.6: How do heredity and environment affect intelligence? Is intelligence inherited? This seemingly simple question is loaded with controversy. Some psychologists believe that intelligence is strongly affected by heredity. Others feel that environment is dominant. Let’s examine some evidence for each view.

In a classic study of genetic factors in learning, Tryon (1929) managed to breed separate strains of “maze-bright” and “maze-

Knowledge Builder Variations in Intelligence

RECITE 1. The distribution of IQs approximates a _________________________

(bell-shaped) curve. 2. Differences in the intellectual strengths of men and women have

grown larger in recent years. T or F?

3. The association between IQ and high-status professional jobs proves that such jobs require more intelligence. T or F?

4. Only about 6 percent of the population scores above 140 on IQ tests. T or F?

5. An IQ score below 90 indicates intellectual disability. T or F? 6. Many cases of intellectual disability without known organic causes

appear to be ______________________________. Match: 7. ____ PKU A. Too little thyroid hormone 8. ____ Microcephaly B. Very small brain 9. ____ Hydrocephaly C. 47 chromosomes 10. ____ Cretinism D. Lack of an important enzyme 11. ____ Down syndrome E. Excess of cerebrospinal fluid 12. ____ Fragile X F. Abnormal female chromosome

G. Caused by a lack of oxygen at birth

REFLECT Think Critically

13. Lewis Terman took great interest in the lives of many of the “Ter- mites.” He even went so far as to advise them about what kinds of careers they should pursue. What error of observation did Terman make?

Self-Reflect

If you measure the heights of all the people in your psychology class, most people will be clustered around an average height. Very few will be extremely tall or extremely short. Does this ring a bell? Do you think it’s normal? (It is, of course; most measured human characteristics form a normal curve, just as IQs do.)

Do you think that giftedness should be defined by high IQ or having special talents (or both)? To increase your chances of succeeding in today’s society, would you prefer to be smart or talented (or both)? How about smart, talented, motivated, and lucky!?

As a psychologist you are asked to assess a child’s degree of intellec- tual disability. Will you rely more on IQ or the child’s level of adaptive behavior? Would you be more confident in your judgment if you took both factors into account?

Answers: 1. normal 2. F 3. F 4. F 5. F 6. familial 7. D 8. B 9. E 10. A 11. C 12. F 13. Terman may have unintentionally altered the behavior of the people he was studying. Although Terman’s observations are generally regarded as valid, he did break a basic rule of scientific observation.

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Intelligence 317

Phenylketonuria A genetic disease that allows phenylpyruvic acid to accumulate in the body.

Microcephaly A disorder in which the head and brain are abnormally small.y Hydrocephaly A buildup of cerebrospinal fluid within brain cavities. Cretinism Stunted growth and intellectual disability caused by an

insufficient supply of thyroid hormone. Eugenics Selective breeding for desirable characteristics. Fraternal twins Twins conceived from two separate eggs. Identical twins Twins who develop from a single egg and have identical

genes.

dull” rats (animals that were extremely “bright” or “stupid” at learning mazes). After several generations of breeding, the slowest “super rat” outperformed the best “dull” rat. This and other studies of eugenics (selective breeding for desirable characteristics) sug- gest that some traits are highly influenced by heredity.

That may be true, but is maze-learning really a measure of intel- ligence? No, it isn’t. Tryon’s study seemed to show that intelligence is inherited, but later researchers found that the “bright” rats were simply more motivated by food and less easily distracted during testing. When they weren’t chasing after rat chow, the “bright” rats were no more intelligent than the supposedly dull rats. Thus, Try- on’s study did demonstrate that behavioral characteristics can be influenced by heredity. However, it was inconclusive concerning intelligence. Because of such problems, animal studies cannot tell us with certainty how heredity and environment affect intelli- gence. Let’s see what human studies reveal.

Hereditary Influences Most people are aware of a moderate similarity in the intelligence between parents and their children, or between brothers and sis- ters. As • Figure 9.5 shows, the closer two people are on a family tree, the more alike their IQs are likely to be.

Does that indicate that intelligence is hereditary? Not necessarily. Brothers, sisters, and parents share similar environments as well as similar genes (Grigorenko, 2005). To separate heredity and envi- ronment, we need to make some selected comparisons.

Twin Studies Notice in • Figure 9.5 that the IQ scores of fraternal twins are more alike than those of ordinary brothers and sisters. Fraternal twins come from two separate eggs fertilized at the same time. They are no more genetically alike than ordinary siblings. Why, then, should the twins’ IQ scores be more similar? The reason is environmental: Parents treat twins more alike than ordinary sib- lings, resulting in a closer match in IQs.

More striking similarities are observed with identical twins, who develop from a single egg and have identical genes. At the top of • Figure 9.5 you can see that identical twins who grow up in the same family have highly correlated IQs. This is what we would expect with identical heredity and very similar environments. Now, let’s consider what happens when identical twins are reared apart. As you can see, the correlation drops, but only from .86 to .72. Psychologists who emphasize genetics believe figures like these show that differences in adult intelligence are roughly 50 percent hereditary ( Jacobs et al., 2008; Neisser et al., 1996).

How do environmentalists interpret the figures? They point out that some separated identical twins differ by as much as 20  IQ points. In every case in which this occurs, there are large educa- tional and environmental differences between the twins. Also, separated twins are almost always placed in homes socially and educationally similar to those of their birth parents. This would tend to inflate apparent genetic effects by making the separated

twins’ IQs more alike. Another frequently overlooked fact is that twins grow up in the same environment before birth (in the womb). If this environmental similarity is taken into account, intelligence would seem to be less than 50 percent hereditary (Devlin, Daniels, & Roeder, 1997; Turkheimer et al., 2003).

Identical twins also tend to have similar personality traits. This suggests that heredity contributes to personality as well as intelligence. For more information, see Chapter 12, pages 425–427.

BRIDGES

Environmental Influences Some evidence for an environmental view of intelligence comes from families having one adopted child and one biological child. As • Figure 9.6 shows, parents contribute genes and environment

Unrelated persons

Parents and children

Siblings

Fraternal twins

Identical twins

Correlation coefficient

.86 .72

.62

.41 .24

.35 .31

.25 0.0

No data available

Reared apart

Reared together

.1 1.0.2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9

• Figure 9.5 Approximate correlations between IQ scores for persons with varying degrees of genetic and environmental similarity. Notice that the correla- tions grow smaller as the degree of genetic similarity declines. Also note that a shared environment increases the correlation in all cases. (Adapted from Bouchard, 1983; Henderson, 1982.)

Environment

Environment

Genes

Adopted child

Biological childParent

Parent

• Figure 9.6 Comparison of an adopted child and a biological child reared in the same family. (Adapted from Kamin, 1981.)

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Chapter 9318

to their biological child. With an adopted child they contribute only environment. If intelligence is highly genetic, the IQs of bio- logical children should be more like their parents’ IQs than the IQs of adopted children are. However, studies show that children reared by the same mother resemble her in IQ to the same degree. It doesn’t matter whether they share her genes (Kamin, 1981; Weinberg, 1989).

IQ and Socioeconomic Status How much can environment alter intelligence? It depends on the quality of the environment (Turkheimer et al., 2003). One way to look at environmental effects is to compare children adopted by parents of high or low socioeconomic status (SES). As you might predict, children who grow up in high SES homes develop higher IQs than those reared by lower SES parents. Presumably, the higher SES homes provide an enriched environment, with better nutrition, greater educational opportunities, and other advantages (Capron & Duyme, 1992).

More importantly, children adopted out of low SES environ- ments can experience great relative gains in intelligence. That is, the IQs of low SES children may be more dramatically infuenced by environmental factors than the IQs of high SES children (Hen- rich, Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010). In one study, striking increases in IQ occurred in 25 children who were moved from an orphanage and were eventually adopted by parents who gave them love, a fam- ily, and a stimulating home environment. Once considered intel- lectually disabled and unadoptable, the children gained an average of 29 IQ points. A second group of initially less intellectually dis- abled children, who stayed in the orphanage, lost an average of 26 IQ points (Skeels, 1966).

A particularly dramatic environmental effect is the fact that 14  nations have shown average IQ gains of from 5  to 25  points during the last 30  years (Dickens & Flynn, 2001; Flynn, 2007).

Referred to as the Flynn effect, after New Zealand psychologist James Flynn, these IQ boosts, averaging 15 points, occurred in far too short a time to be explained by genetics. It is more likely that the gains reflect environmental forces, such as improved education, nutrition, and living in a technologically complex society (Barber, 2010; Johnson, 2005). If you’ve ever tried to play a computer game or set up a wireless network in your home, you’ll understand why people may be getting better at answering IQ test questions (Neis- ser, 1997). The highlight “You Mean Video Games Might Be Good for Me?” explores this idea further.

If environment makes a difference, can intelligence be taught? The traditional answer is “No.” Brief coaching, for instance, has little positive effect on aptitude and intelligence test scores (Brody, 1992). More encouraging results can be found in early childhood education programs, which provide longer-term stimulating intel- lectual experiences for disadvantaged children (Kirk et al., 2011). In one study, children from low-income families were given enriched environments from early infancy through preschool. By age 2, their IQ scores were already higher than those in a control group. More important, they were still 5 points higher 7 years later (Campbell & Ramey, 1994). High-quality enrichment programs such as Head Start can prevent children from falling behind in school (Barnet & Barnet, 1998; Ramey, Ramey, & Lanzi, 2001).

Later schooling can also have an impact on IQ. Stephen Ceci found that people who leave school lose up to 6 points in IQ per year. Dropping out of school in the eighth grade can reduce a per- son’s adult IQ by up to 24 points. Conversely, IQ rises as people spend more time in school (Ceci, 1991). Israeli psychologist Reuven Feuerstein (FOY-er-shtine) and his colleagues have devel- oped a program they call Instrumental Enrichment. Through hundreds of hours of guided problem solving, students learn to avoid the thinking flaws that lower IQ scores (Feuerstein et al., 1986). Feuerstein and others have shown that such training can

You Mean Video Games Might Be Good for Me?Critical Thinking

Even though the Flynn effect suggests that environmental factors influence intelli- gence (Flynn, 2007; Schooler, 1998), we are left with the question “Which factors?” Psy- chologist Steven Johnson (2005) believes that contemporary culture is responsible. Although he agrees that much popular media content is too violent or sexual in nature, he points out that video games, the Internet, and even television are becoming more complex. As a result, they demand ever greater cognitive effort from us. In other words, it is as important to understand how we experience the environment as it is to understand what we experience.

For example, early video games, such as Pong or PacMan, offered simple, repetitive visual experiences. In contrast, today’s best- selling games, such as Call of Duty or The Sims, offer rich, complicated experiences that can take 40 or more hours of intense problem-solving to complete. Furthermore, players must usually figure out the rules by themselves. Instructions for completing popular games, which have been created by fans, are typically much longer than chapters in this textbook. Only a complex and engag- ing game would prompt players to use such instructions, much less write them for others to use (Johnson, 2005).

According to Johnson, other forms of popular culture have also become more complex, including the Internet and com- puter software. Even popular television has become more cognitively demanding. For example, compared with television dramas of the past, modern dramas weave plot lines and characters through an entire sea- son of programs. In the end, popular cul- ture may well be inviting us to read, reflect, and problem-solve more than ever before (Jaeggi et al., 2008). (Before you uncritically embrace video games, read “You Mean Video Games Might Be Bad for Me?” in Chapter 6.)

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Intelligence 319

Early childhood education program Programs that provide stimulating intellectual experiences, typically for disadvantaged preschoolers.

Reaction time The amount of time a person must look at a stimulus to make a correct judgment about it.

improve thinking abilities and even raise IQs (Feuerstein et al., 2004; Skuy et al., 2002; Tzuriel & Shamir, 2002).

With our growing understanding of how people think and with the tireless aid of computers, it may become common in schools to “teach intelligence.” Most importantly, improved education and training in thinking skills can improve the intellectual abilities of all children, regardless of what their IQ scores are (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2011; Hunt, 1995). Even if “teaching intelli- gence” doesn’t raise IQ scores, it can give children the abilities they need to think better and succeed in life (Perkins & Grotzer, 1997).

Summary To sum up, few psychologists seriously believe that heredity is not a major factor in intelligence, and all acknowledge that environment affects it. Estimates of the impact of heredity and environment continue to vary. But ultimately, both camps agree that improving social conditions and education can raise intelligence.

There is probably no limit to how far down intelligence can go in an extremely poor environment. On the other hand, hered- ity does seem to impose upper limits on IQ, even under ideal conditions. It is telling, nevertheless, that gifted children tend to come from homes in which parents spend time with their chil- dren, answer their questions, and encourage intellectual explora- tion (Dai, 2010).

Impoverished and unstimulating environments can severely restrict mental development during early childhood. See Chapter 3, pages 87–88, for more information.

BRIDGES

The fact that intelligence is partly determined by heredity tells us little of any real value. Genes are fixed at birth. Improving the environments in which children learn and grow is the main way in which we can assure that they reach their full potential (Ormrod, 2011; Turkheimer, 1998).

As a final summary, it might help to think of inherited intel- lectual potential as a rubber band that is stretched by outside forces. A long rubber band may be stretched more easily, but a shorter one can be stretched to the same length if enough force is applied. Of course, a superior genetic gift may allow for a higher maximum IQ. In the final analysis, intelligence reflects develop- ment as well as potential, nurture as well as nature (Grigorenko, 2005; Kalat, 2009).

Beyond Psychometric Intelligence—Intelligent Alternatives to “g”

Gateway Question 9.7: Are there alternate views of intelligence? Until now, we have treated intelligence psychometrically, as a qual- ity that can be measured, like height or weight. Other approaches share the goal of understanding intelligence in more detail. Specifi-

cally, let’s have a look at four other approaches to the study of intelligence:

• Some psychologists are investigating the neural basis for intelli- gence. How, they ask, does the nervous system contribute to differences in IQ?

• A second approach views intelligent behavior as an expression of thinking skills. Cognitive psychologists believe that the nervous system is like a fast computer—it’s of little value unless you know how to use it.

• Speaking of computers, would it make sense to understand human intelligence by programming computers? That is one goal of the field of artificial intelligence.

• A fourth trend involves newer, broader definitions of intelli- gence. Many psychologists have begun to question the narrow focus on analytic thinking found in traditional IQ tests.

The Intelligent Nervous System Do more intelligent people have superior nervous systems? It is natural to assume that intelligence, like other human abilities, can be local- ized in the nervous system. But where and how does Steven Hawk- ing’s nervous system allow him to be so intelligent? This is cur- rently a vibrant research field (Banich & Compton, 2011). We can only briefly explore a few threads here.

One possibility is that intelligent people have faster nervous systems. Maybe Steven Hawking’s brain is just faster than the rest of us. To investigate this possibility, researchers measure how fast people process various kinds of information (Bates, 2005). For example, psychologists have looked at people’s reaction time, the time it takes people to respond to a stimulus (see • Figure 9.7). The flurry of brain activity that follows exposure to a stimulus can also be recorded. Such studies attempt to measure a person’s

(a) (b)

• Figure 9.7 Stimuli like those used in reaction time tasks. The participant views stimulus (a) followed almost immediately by (b), ensuring that (a) is only briefly visible. The participant’s task is to press one key if the left-hand segment of (a) is shorter and another if it is longer. Participants with higher IQs are generally faster and more accurate at tasks like this (Bates, 2005; Petrill et al., 2001).

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Chapter 9320

speed of processing, which is assumed to reflect the brain’s speed and efficiency (Reed, Vernon, & Johnson, 2004; Waiter et al., 2009). In general, people higher in measured IQ perform faster on reaction time tasks like that shown in • Figure 9.7 (McCrory & Cooper, 2005). In addition, brain areas that control higher mental abilities usually become more active during reaction time testing (Deary et al., 2001; Waiter et al., 2009). Such observa- tions suggest that having a quick nervous system is part of what it means to be quick, smart, swift, or brainy.

Which brain areas control higher mental abilities? You may recall from Chapter  2 that the frontal lobes and especially pre- frontal cortex are related to more complex behaviors. Maybe those parts of Steven Hawking’s brain are just bigger than the rest of us.

Although brain imaging studies confirm the role the frontal lobes play in intelligence, there is more to the story. As you can see in • Figure 9.8, even though these brain images reveal that parts of frontal cortex are larger in people with higher IQs, the same is true for other parts of cortex (Haier et al, 2004). Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that a function as complex as intelli- gence relies on activity of many different brain areas. Also, noticeable differences between younger (UNM) and older (UCI) participants suggest that the way the brain expresses intelligence changes as we age. Clearly, we do not yet have a complete picture of the relationship between the nervous system and intelligence.

Intelligent Information Processing Much intelligent behavior is an expression of good thinking skills. Cognitive psychologist David Perkins believes that how smart you are depends on three factors:

• Relatively fixed neural intelligence (the speed and efficiency of the nervous system);

• Experiential intelligence (specialized knowledge and skills acquired over time);

• Reflective intelligence (an ability to become aware of one’s own thinking habits).

Little can be done to change neural intelligence. However, by add- ing to personal knowledge and learning to think better, people can become more intelligent (Perkins, 1995; Ritchhart & Perkins, 2005). The effects of Feuerstein’s Instrumental Enrichment pro- gram (described earlier) are a good example of how reflective intel- ligence can be improved.

Many psychologists now believe that to make full use of innate intelligence a person must have good metacognitive skills. Meta means “beyond,” so metacognitive skills go above and beyond ordi- nary thinking. Such skills involve an ability to manage your own thinking and problem solving. Typically this means breaking prob- lems into parts, establishing goals and subgoals, monitoring your progress, and making corrections. Learning metacognitive skills is the surest avenue to becoming more intelligent (Hunt, 1995; Ku & Ho, 2010).

Metacognitive skills are a large part of what it means to be a reflective thinker. See the “Psychology of Studying,” pages 1–8, to remind yourself (You did read it, right?) how to sharpen your metacognitive skills to become a better student.

BRIDGES

Artificial Intelligence Whereas most efforts have focused on measuring intelligence in humans, a small group of psychologists and computer scientists have taken an entirely different approach. Their basic idea is to build machines that display artificial intelligence (AI). This usu- ally refers to creating computer programs capable of doing things that require intelligence when done by people (Russell & Norvig, 2003). As computer scientist Aaron Sloman explains it, “Human brains don’t work by magic, so whatever it is they do should be

UNM Gray Matter UCI Gray Matter UNM White Matter UCI White Matter

• Figure 9.8 MRI identification of cortical areas whose size is correlated with IQ. The left hemisphere is shown in the top row; the right is on the bottom. Participants were drawn from two universities, a younger group from the University of New Mexico (UNM) and an older group from the University of California at Irvine (UCI). Brain areas pictured in red and yellow are larger in people with higher IQs. (From Haier et al., 2004).

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Intelligence 321

Speed of processing The speed with which a person can mentally process information.

Neural intelligence The innate speed and efficiency of a person’s brain and nervous system.

Experiential intelligence Specialized knowledge and skills acquired through learning and experience.

Reflective intelligence An ability to become aware of one’s own thinking habits.

Metacognitive skills An ability to manage one’s own thinking and problem solving efforts.

Artificial intelligence (AI) Refers to both the creation of computer programs capable of doing things that require intelligence when done by people, and to the resulting programs themselves.

doable by machine” (Brooks, 2009). The resulting programs can then help us understand how people do those same things.

Consider, for example, IBM’s “Watson” supercomputer, which outperforms even expert humans at playing the television game Jeopardy (Markoff, 2011). Similarly, Aaron Sloman’s robot, the “Cubinator,” does a spiffy job of solving Rubik’s Cube puzzles. Slo- man hopes the Cubinator’s expertise will help him better under- stand how humans do mathematics (Sloman, 2008).

How smart are computers and robots? Don’t worry, they are not very smart yet. Let’s say you are exchanging instant messages with someone you don’t know. You are allowed to make any comments and ask any questions you like, for as long as you like. In reality, the “person” you are communicating with is a computer. Do you think a computer could fool you into believing it was human? If it did, wouldn’t that qualify it as “intelligent”? You may be surprised to learn that, to date, no machine has come close to passing this test (Moor, 2003).

The problem computers face is that we humans can mentally “shift gears” from one topic to another with incredible flexibility. In contrast, machine “intelligence” is currently “blind” outside its underlying set of rules (D’Mello, Graesser, & King, 2010). As a tiny example, u cann understnd wrds thet ar mizpeld. Computers are very literal and easily stymied by such errors.

Regardless, AI has been successful at very specific tasks (such as playing chess or solving a Rubik’s Cube). Much of current AI is based on the fact that many tasks—from harmonizing music to diagnosing disease—can be reduced to a set of rules applied to a collection of information. AI is valuable in situations in which speed, vast mem- ory, and persistence are required. In fact, AI programs are better at

some tasks than humans are. An example is world chess champion Garry Kasparov’s loss, in 1997, to a computer called “Deep Blue.”

Artificial Intelligence and Cognition Although AI is a long way from duplicating general human intel- ligence, AI systems like the Cubinator offer a way to probe some of our specific cognitive skills, or intelligences. For instance, com- puter simulations and expert systems provide good examples of how AI is used as a research tool.

Computer simulations are programs that attempt to duplicate specific human behaviors, especially thinking, decision making, and problem solving. Here, the computer acts as a “laboratory” for testing models of cognition. If a computer program behaves as humans do (including making the same errors), then the program may be a good model of how we think.

Expert systems are computer programs that respond as a human expert would (Giarratano & Riley, 2005; Mahmoodabadi et al., 2010). They have demystified some human abilities by converting complex skills into clearly stated rules a computer can follow. Expert systems can predict the weather, analyze geological forma- tions, diagnose disease, play chess, read, tell when to buy or sell stocks, and perform many other tasks.

Eventually, AI will almost certainly lead to robots that recognize voices and that speak and act “intelligently” in specific areas of abil- ity. To achieve this, should intelligence be directly programmed into computers? Or should computers be designed to learn from experi- ence, like the human brain does? (Sporns, 2011). Only time will tell.

Multiple Intelligences Defining intelligence as a g-factor (general ability) has been contro- versial. For example, consider William, a grade-school student two years behind in reading, who shows his teacher how to solve a dif- ficult computer-programming problem. Or what about his class- mate, Malika, who is poor in math but plays intricate pieces of piano music? Both of these children show clear signs of what we earlier referred to as aptitudes. And, as we have seen, autistic savants like Kim Peek have even more extreme intellectual strengths and weaknesses. Such observations have convinced many psychologists that it is time to forge new, broader definitions of intelligence. Their basic goal is to better predict “real-world” success—not just the likelihood of success in school (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2006).

The “Cubinator” solving a Rubik’s Cube at the 2007 Rubik’s Cube World Champi- onships. The winner, in 10 seconds, was a person. The Cubinator took 26 seconds. To what extent is the way the Cubinator comes up with solutions helpful for understanding how humans do it?

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Chapter 9322

Knowledge Builder Heredity, Environment, and Alternate

Views of Intelligence RECITE 1. Selective breeding for desirable characteristics is called

______________________________. 2. The closest similarity in IQs would be observed for

a. parents and their children b. identical twins reared apart c. frater- nal twins reared together d. siblings reared together

3. Most psychologists believe that intelligence is 90 percent hereditary. T or F?

4. Except for slight variations during testing, IQ cannot be changed. T or F? 5. Reaction time has been used as a measure of ___________________

intelligence. a. experiential b. neural c. reflective d. analytical

6. According to Howard Gardner’s theory, which of the following is not measured by traditional IQ tests? a. intrapersonal skills b. spatial skills c. logical skills d. linguistic skills

REFLECT Think Critically

7. Dropping out of school can lower tested IQ and attending school can raise it. What do these observations reveal about intelligence tests?

8. Is it ever accurate to describe a machine as “intelligent”?

Frames of Mind One such psychologist is Howard Gardner of Harvard University. Gardner (2003, 2004, 2008) theorizes that there are actually eight distinctly different kinds of intelligence. These are different mental “languages” that people use for thinking. Each is listed below, with examples of pursuits that make use of them.

1. Language (linguistic abilities)—writer, lawyer, comedian. 2. Logic and math (numeric abilities)—scientist, accountant,

programmer. 3. Visual and spatial (pictorial abilities)—engineer, inventor,

artist. 4. Music (musical abilities)—composer, musician, music critic. 5. Bodily-kinesthetic (physical abilities)—dancer, athlete, surgeon. 6. Intrapersonal (self-knowledge)—poet, actor, minister. 7. Interpersonal (social abilities)—psychologist, teacher,

politician. 8. Naturalist (an ability to understand the natural environ-

ment)—biologist, medicine man, organic farmer.

To simplify a great deal, people can be “word smart,” “number smart,” “picture smart,” “music smart,” “body smart,” “self smart,” “people smart,” and/or “nature smart.”

Most of us are probably strong in only a few types of intelli- gence. In contrast, geniuses like Albert Einstein seem to be able to use nearly all of the intelligences, as needed, to solve problems.

If Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences is correct, tradi- tional IQ tests measure only a part of real-world intelligence— namely, linguistic, logical-mathematical, and spatial abilities. A further implication is that our schools may be wasting a lot of human potential (Campbell, Campbell, & Dickinson, 2003). For

example, some children might find it easier to learn math or read- ing if these topics were tied into art, music, dance, drama, and so on. Already, many schools are using Gardner’s theory to cultivate a wider range of skills and talents (Campbell, Campbell, & Dickin- son, 2003; Kornhaber & Gardner, 2006).

A Look Ahead As promised earlier, the Psychology in Action section of this chapter addresses questions concerning the validity of intelligence tests and their fairness to various groups. The issues raised go to the heart of the question “What is intelligence?” In addition to being highly interesting and culturally relevant, this topics should round out your understanding of intelligence.

According to Howard Gardner’s theory, bodily-kinesthetic skills reflect one of eight distinct types of intelligence.

Self-Reflect

Why do you think studies of hereditary and environmental influences on intelligence have provoked such emotional debate? Which side of the debate would you expect each of the following people to favor: teacher, parent, school administrator, politician, medical doctor, liberal, conserva- tive, bigot?

Would you rather have your own intelligence measured with a speed of processing test or a traditional IQ test? Why?

Here’s a mnemonic: New experiences reflect three kinds of intelligence. Can you define neural, experiential, and reflective intelligence in your own words?

Make your own list of specialized intelligences. How many items on your list correspond to the 8 intelligences identified by Gardner?

Answers: 1. eugenics 2. b 3. F 4. F 5. b 6. a 7. Such observations remind us that intelligence tests are affected by learning and that they measure knowledge as well as innate cognitive abilities. 8. Rule-driven expert sys- tems may appear “intelligent” within a narrow range of problem solving. However, they are idiots at everything else. This is usually not what we have in mind when discussing human intelligence.

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Intelligence 323

Multiple intelligences Howard Gardner’s theory that there are several specialized types of intellectual ability.

you may actually know what your IQ is. If not, the following self-administered test will provide a rough estimate of your IQ. Most people are curious about how they would score on an intelligence test. Why not give the Dove test a try?

If you scored 14 on this exam, your IQ is approximately 100, indicating average intelli- gence. If you scored 10 or less, you are intel- lectually disabled. With luck and the help of a special educational program, we may be able to teach you a few simple skills!

Isn’t the Dove Test a little unfair? No, it is very unfair. It was written in 1971 by African- American sociologist Adrian Dove as “a half serious attempt to show that we’re just not talking the same language.” Dove tried to slant his test as much in favor of urban, Afri- can American culture as he believes the typi- cal intelligence test is biased toward a Euro- pean American, middle-class background ( Jones, 2003). (Because of its age, the test is probably now also unfair even for younger African Americans.)

Dove’s test is a thought-provoking reply to the fact that African American children score an average of about 15 points lower on stan- dardized IQ tests than European American children. By reversing the bias, Dove has shown that intelligence tests are not equally valid for all groups. Psychologist Jerome Kagan once remarked, “If the Wechsler and Binet scales were translated into Spanish, Swahili, and Chinese and given to every 10-year-old in Latin America, East Africa, and China, the majority would obtain IQ scores in the mentally retarded range.”

Culture-Fair Testing Certainly we cannot believe that children of different cultures are all intellectually dis- abled. The fault must lie with the test (White, 2006). Cultural values, traditions, and experi- ences can greatly affect performance on tests designed for Western cultures (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2005; Neisser et al., 1996). For example, our culture places a high value on logic and formal reasoning. Other cultures regard intuition as an important part of what it means to be smart (Norenzayan et al., 2002). Imagine giving the Stanford-Binet to a

Intelligent Intelligence Testing—User Beware!Psychology in Action

Gateway Question 9.8: Is there a downside to intelligence testing? During their lifetimes, most people take an intelligence test, or one of the closely related scholastic aptitude tests. If you have ever taken an individually administered IQ test,

Time limit: 5 minutes. Circle the correct answer. 1. T-bone Walker got famous for playing

what? a. trombone b. piano c. T-flute

d. guitar e. “hambone” 2. A “gas head” is a person who has a a. fast-moving car. b. stable of “lace.”

c. “process.” d. habit of stealing cars. e. long jail record for arson

3. If you throw the dice and 7 is showing on the top, what is facing down? a. 7 b. snake eyes c. boxcars d. little

joes e. 11 4. Cheap chitlings (not the kind you

purchase at a frozen-food counter) will taste rubbery unless they are cooked long enough. How soon can you quit cooking them to eat and enjoy them? a. 45 minutes b. 2 hours c. 24 hours

d. 1 week (on a low flame) e. 1 hour

5. Bird or Yardbird was the jacket jazz lovers from coast to coast hung on a. Lester Young b. Peggy Lee

c. Benny Goodman d. Charlie Parker e. Birdman of Alcatraz

6. A “handkerchief head” is a. a cool cat. b. a porter. c. an Uncle

Tom. d. a hoddi. e. a preacher 7. Jet is

a. an East Oakland motorcycle club. b. one of the gangs in West Side Story. c. a news and gossip magazine. d. a way of life for the very rich

Dove Counterbalance Intelligence Test

8. “Bo Diddley” is a a. game for children. b. down-home

cheap wine. c. down-home singer. d. new dance. e. Moejoe call

9. Which word is most out of place here? a. splib b. blood c. gray d. spook

e. black 10. If a pimp is uptight with a woman who

gets state aid, what does he mean when he talks about “Mother’s Day”?

a. second Sunday in May b. third Sunday in June c. first of every month d. none of these e. first and fifteenth of every month

11. Many people say that “Juneteenth” ( June 10th) should be made a legal holiday because this was the day when

a. the slaves were freed in the United States. b. the slaves were freed in Texas. c. the slaves were freed in Jamaica. d. the slaves were freed in California. e. Martin Luther King was born. f. Booker T. Washington died

12. If a man is called a “blood,” then he is a a. fighter b. Mexican-American

c. Black d. hungry hemophile e. red man or Indian

13. What are the Dixie Hummingbirds? a. a part of the KKK b. a swamp

disease c. a modern gospel group d. a Mississippi Negro paramilitary strike force e. deacons

14. The opposite of square is a. round. b. up c. down d. hip

e. lame

Answers: 1. d 2. c 3. a 4. c 5. d 6. c 7. c 8. c 9. c 10. c 11. b 12. c 13. c 14. d

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Chapter 9324 Chapter 9324

in St. Louis and found that the African Amer- ican group averaged 36 points higher than the European American group.

Second, it is no secret that as a group African Americans are more likely than European Americans to live in environments that are physically, educationally, and intel- lectually impoverished. When unequal edu- cation is part of the equation, IQs may tell us little about how heredity affects intelligence (Sternberg, Grigorenko, & Kidd, 2005; Suzuki & Aronson, 2005). Indeed, one study found that placing poor African American children into European American adoptive families increased the children’s IQs by an average of 13 points, bringing them into line with those of European American children (Nisbett, 2005). That is, providing African American children with the same environ- mental experiences available to European American children erased IQ differences.

A tantalizing hint that lower African American IQ scores are not genetic is pro- vided by Ray Friedman and his colleagues at Vanderbilt University who administered a 20-item test to African American and Euro- pean American students. Before the election of Barack Obama, African American stu- dents performed more poorly than European American students. During the election, African American students performed just as well as their European American counter- parts. Apparently, President Obama is pro- viding a role model, inspiring better academic performance in African American students (Tite, 2009).

Further, although IQ predicts school per- formance, it does not predict later career suc- cess (McClelland, 1994). In this regard, “street smarts,” or what psychologist Robert Sternberg calls practical intelligence (Stemler & Sternberg, 2006), is often seen by minority cultures as more important than “book learn- ing,” or what Sternberg calls analytic intelli- gence (Sankofa et al., 2005).

Most psychologists have concluded that there is no scientific evidence that group dif- ferences in average IQ are based on genetics. In fact, studies that used actual blood group testing found no significant correlations between ethnic ancestry and IQ scores. This is because it does not even make genetic sense to talk about “races” at all—obvious external markers, like skin color, have little to do with underlying genetic differences (Bonham et al., 2005; Sternberg, 2007). Group differences in

IQ and Race Historically, African American children in the United States scored an average of about 15  points lower on standardized IQ tests than European-American children. As a group, Japanese American children scored above average in IQ. Could such differences be genetic? One persistent claim is that Afri- can Americans score below average in IQ because of their “genetic heritage” and because they are genetically incapable of climbing out of poverty (Hernstein & Mur- ray, 1994; Rushton & Jensen, 2005). Psy- chologists have responded to such claims with a number of counterarguments.

First, psychologists reiterate the point made by the Dove Test. The assumptions, biases, and content of standard IQ tests do not always allow meaningful comparisons between ethnic, cultural, or racial groups (White, 2006). As Leon Kamin (1981) says, “The important fact is that we cannot say which sex (or race) might be more intelligent, because we have no way of measuring ‘intelli- gence.’ We have only IQ tests.”

Kamin’s point is that the makers of IQ tests decided in advance to use test items that would give men and women equal IQ scores. It would be just as easy to put together an IQ test that would give African Americans and European Americans equal scores. Differ- ences in IQ scores are not a fact of nature, but a decision by the test makers. That’s why European Americans do better on IQ tests written by European Americans, and African Americans do better on IQ tests devised by African Americans. Another example of this fact is an intelligence test made up of 100  words selected from the Dictionary of Afro-American Slang. Williams (1975) gave the test to 100  African American and 100 European American high school students

young Bushman hunter. If tracking prey is what he values and is good at, then what would it mean if (when?) he got a low IQ score? (Feel free to reread “Intelligence— How Would a Fool Do It?” near the begin- ning of this chapter.)

To avoid this problem, some psychologists have tried to develop culture-fair tests that do not disadvantage certain groups. A culture- fair test is designed to minimize the impor- tance of skills and knowledge that may be more common in some cultures than in oth- ers. (For a sample of culture-fair test items, see • Figure 9.9.)

Culture-fair tests attempt to measure intelligence without, as much as possible, being influenced by a person’s verbal skills, cultural background, and educational level. Their value lies not just in testing people from other cultures. They are also useful for testing children in the United States who come from poor communities, rural areas, or ethnic minority families (Stephens et al., 1999). However, no intelligence test can be entirely free of cultural influences. For instance, our culture is very “visual,” because children are constantly exposed to television, movies, video games, and the like. Thus, compared with children in developing countries, a child who grows up in the United States may be better prepared to take both nonverbal tests and traditional IQ tests.

Since the concept of intelligence exhibits diversity across cultures, many psychologists have begun to stress the need to rethink the concept of intelligence itself (Greenfield, 1997; Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2005). If we are to find a truly culture-fair way to measure intelli- gence, we first need to identify those core cog- nitive skills that lie at the heart of human intel- ligence the world around (Gardner, 2008; Henrich, Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010).

?

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

?

(a) Sample series problem (b) Sample matrix problem

• Figure 9.9 Sample items like those often found on culture-fair intelligence tests. (a) Sample series problem. Which pattern correctly continues the series of patterns shown at the top left? (Number 4.) (b) Sample matrix problem. Which pattern fits best completes the matrix of patterns shown at the top right? (Number 1.) The idea is that the ability to read and the mastery of culturally relevant knowledge should not be necessary to do well. Nev- ertheless, do you think illiterate street orphans from Sao Paulo, Brazil, or Aboriginals living in the desert of the Aus- tralian outback would find these items as easy to complete as you did? If not, can you think of any alternative truly culture-fair ways to test intelligence across different cultures?

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Intelligence 325 Intelligence 325

Culture-fair test A test designed to minimize the importance of skills and knowledge that may be more common in some cultures than in others.

tests, overuse of class time to prepare students for the tests (instead of teaching general skills), and in the case of intelligence tests, the charge that tests are often biased. Also, most standardized tests demand passive rec- ognition of facts, assessed with a multiple- choice format. They do not, for the most part, test a person’s ability to think critically or creatively or to apply knowledge to solve problems. Various “high-stakes tests,” which can make or break a person’s career could be improved by: (1) removing all questions that favor one group over another; (2) using digi- tal video-based testing, when possible, to reduce the importance of verbal skills; and (3) providing a pre-test orientation for all test takers, so that people who can afford coach- ing won’t have an unfair advantage (Sackett et al., 2001).

High Stakes Testing Intelligence tests are a double-edged sword; we have learned much from their use yet they have the potential to do great harm. In the final analysis, it is impor- tant to remember—as Howard Gardner has pointed out—that creativity, motivation, physical health, mechanical aptitude, artistic ability, and numerous other qualities not mea- sured by intelligence tests contribute to the achievement of life goals. Also, remember that IQ is not intelligence. IQ is an index of intelligence (as narrowly defined by a particu- lar test). Change the test and you change the score. An IQ is not some permanent number stamped on the forehead of a child that for- ever determines his or her potential. The real issue is what skills people have, not what their test scores are (Hunt, 1995).

The Whole Human: Wisdom In the final analysis, intelligence reflects devel- opment as well as potential, nurture as well as nature (Grigorenko, 2005). Moreover, the fact that intelligence is partly determined by heredity tells us little of any real value. Genes are fixed at birth. Improving the environ- ments in which children learn and grow is the

group of college students with straight A’s to another group with poor grades, he found no differences in later career success (McClelland, 1994).

Standardized Testing In addition to IQ tests, 400  to 500  million standardized multiple-choice tests are given in schools and workplaces around the nation each year. Many, like the SAT Reasoning Test, may determine whether a person is admitted to college. Other tests—for employment, licensing, and certification—directly affect the lives of thousands by qualifying or dis- qualifying them for jobs.

Widespread reliance on standardized intel- ligence tests and aptitude tests raises questions about the relative good and harm they do. On the positive side, tests can open opportunities as well as close them. A high test score may allow a disadvantaged youth to enter college, or it may identify a child who is bright but emotionally disturbed. Test scores may also be fairer and more objective than arbitrary judg- ments made by admissions officers or employ- ment interviewers. Also, tests do accurately predict academic performance. The fact that academic performance does not predict later success may call for an overhaul of college course work, not an end to testing.

On the negative side, mass testing can occasionally exclude people of obvious abil- ity. In one case, a student who was seventh in his class at Columbia University, and a mem- ber of Phi Beta Kappa, was denied entrance to law school because he had low scores on the Law School Admissions Test. Other com- plaints relate to the frequent appearance of bad or ambiguous questions on standardized

IQ scores are based on cultural and environ- mental diversity, as much as on heredity (Neisser et al., 1996; Nisbett, 2005). To con- clude otherwise reflects political beliefs and biases, not scientific facts.

Questioning IQ—Beyond the Numbers Game African Americans are not the only segment of the population with reason to question the validity of intelligence testing and the role of heredity in determining intelligence. The clarifications they have won extend to others as well.

Consider the 9-year-old child confronted with this question on an intelligence test: “Which of the following does not belong with the others? Roller skates, airplane, train, bicycle.” If the child fails to answer “airplane,” does it reveal a lack of intelligence? It can be argued that an intelligent choice could be based on any of these alternatives: Roller skates are not typically used for transporta- tion; an airplane is the only nonland item; a train can’t be steered; a bicycle is the only item with just two wheels. The parents of a child who misses this question may have reason to be angry since educational systems tend to classify children and then make the label stick.

Court decisions have led some states to outlaw the use of intelligence tests in public schools. Criticism of intelligence testing has also come from the academic community. Har- vard University psychologist David McClel- land believes that IQ is of little value in predict- ing real competence to deal effectively with the world. McClelland concedes that IQ predicts school performance, but when he compared a

“Yes We Can.” President Obama’s intelligence is inspiring millions of Americans and others around the world to aspire to greater aca- demic success. His example is particularly important to African Americans.

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Chapter 9326 Chapter 9326

convergent thinking, intelligence, and reason, spiced with creativity and originality (Meeks & Jeste, 2009). People who are wise approach life with openness and tolerance (Helson & Srivastava, 2002).

tests may make a total mess of her life. Like- wise, people can be intelligent without being creative; and clear, rational thinking can lead to correct, but uninspired, answers (Solomon, Marshall, & Gardner, 2005). In many areas of human life, wisdom represents a mixture of

main way in which we can ensure that they reach their full potential (Grigorenko & Sternberg, 2003; White, 2006).

Perhaps most importantly, people can be intelligent without being wise. For example, a person who does well in school and on IQ

Chapter in Review Gateways to Intelligence

9.1 How do psychologists define intelligence? 9.1.1 Intelligence refers to the general capacity (or g-factor)

to act purposefully, think rationally, and deal effectively with the environment.

9.1.2 In practice, intelligence is operationally defined by intelligence tests, which provide a useful but narrow estimate of real-world intelligence.

9.1.3 General intelligence is distinguished from specific aptitudes. Special aptitude tests and multiple aptitude tests are used to assess a person’s capacities for learning various abilities. Aptitude tests measure a narrower range of abilities than general intelligence tests do.

9.1.4 To be of any value, a psychological test must be reliable (give consistent results). A worthwhile test must also have validity, meaning that it measures what it claims to measure. Widely used

intelligence tests are also objective (they give the same result when scored by different people) and standardized (the same procedures are always used in giving the test, and norms have been established so that scores can be interpreted).

9.2 What are typical IQ tests like? 9.2.1 The first practical intelligence test was assembled by

Alfred Binet. A modern version of Binet’s test is the Stanford- Binet Intelligence Scales—Fifth Edition (SB5).

9.2.2 A second major intelligence test is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). Wechsler’s children’s version is the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fourth Edi- tion (WISC-IV).

9.2.3 The SB5, WAIS-IV, and WISC-IV measure both ver- bal and performance intelligence.

Gateway QUESTIONS REVISITED

Knowledge Builder Intelligence Testing in Perspective

RECITE 1. The WAIS-IV, Stanford-Binet 5, and Dove Test are all culture-fair intel-

ligence scales. T or F? 2. The claim that heredity accounts for racial differences in average IQ

ignores environmental differences and the cultural bias inherent in standard IQ tests. T or F?

3. IQ scores predict school performance. T or F? 4. IQ is not intelligence; it is one index of intelligence. T or F?

REFLECT Think Critically

5. Assume that a test of memory for words is translated from English to Spanish. Would the Spanish version of the test be equal in difficulty to the English version?

Self-Reflect

Do you think it would be possible to create an intelligence test that is uni- versally culture-fair? What would its questions look like? Can you think of any type of question that wouldn’t favor the mental skills emphasized by some culture, somewhere in the world?

Funding for schools in some states varies greatly in rich and poor neighborhoods. Imagine that a politician opposes spending more money on disadvantaged students because she believes it would “just be a waste.” What arguments can you offer against her assertion?

In your own opinion, what are the advantages of using standardized tests to select applicants for college, graduate school, and professional schools? What are the disadvantages?

Answers: 1. F 2. T 3. T 4. T 5. Probably not, because the Spanish words might be longer or shorter than the same words in English. The Spanish words might also sound more or less alike than words on the original test. Translating an intelligence test into another language can subtly change the meaning and difficulty of test items.

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Intelligence 327

9.2.4 In addition to individual tests, intelligence tests have also been produced for use with groups. A group test of historical interest is the Army Alpha. The SAT, the ACT, and the CQT are group scholastic aptitude tests. Although narrower in scope than IQ tests, they bear some similarities to them.

9.2.5 Intelligence is expressed in terms of an intelligence quotient (IQ). IQ is defined as mental age (MA) divided by chronological age (CA) and then multiplied by 100. An “average” IQ of 100 occurs when mental age equals chronological age.

9.2.6 Modern IQ tests no longer calculate IQs directly. Instead, the final score reported by the test is a deviation IQ.

9.2.7 IQ scores become fairly stable at about age 6, and they become increasingly reliable thereafter.

9.3 How do IQ scores relate to sex, age, and occupation? 9.3.1 The distribution of IQ scores approximates a normal

curve. 9.3.2 There are no overall differences between males and

females in tested intelligence. However, very small sex differences may result from the intellectual skills our culture encourages males and females to develop.

9.3.3 On average, IQ scores continue to gradually increase until middle age. Later intellectual declines are moderate for most people until their 70s. Aging also involves a shift from fluid intel- ligence to crystallized intelligence.

9.3.4 IQ is related to school grades and job status. The sec- ond association may be somewhat artificial because educational credentials are required for entry into many occupations.

9.4 What does IQ tell us about genius? 9.4.1 People with IQs in the gifted or “genius” range of

above 140 tend to be superior in many respects. 9.4.2 By criteria other than IQ, a large proportion of chil-

dren might be considered gifted or talented in one way or another. Intellectually gifted children often have difficulties in average classrooms and benefit from special accelerated programs.

9.5 What causes intellectual disability? 9.5.1 People with the savant syndrome combine intellectual

disability with exceptional ability in a very limited skill. 9.5.2 The term intellectually disabled is applied to those

whose IQ falls below 70 or who lack various adaptive behaviors. 9.5.3 Current classifications of intellectual disability are:

mild (50–55 to 70), moderate (35–40 to 50–55), severe (20–25 to 35–40), and profound (below 20–25). Chances for educational success are related to the degree of intellectual disability.

9.5.4 Many cases of subnormal intelligence are thought to be the result of familial intellectual disability, a generally low level

of educational and intellectual stimulation in the home, coupled with poverty and poor nutrition.

9.5.5 About 50 percent of the cases of intellectual disabil- ity are organic, caused by birth injuries, fetal damage, metabolic disorders, or genetic abnormalities. The remaining cases are of undetermined cause.

9.5.6 Six distinct forms of organic intellectual disability are Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, phenylketonuria (PKU), microcephaly, hydrocephaly, and cretinism.

9.6 How do heredity and environment affect intelligence? 9.6.1 Studies of eugenics in animals and familial relation-

ships in humans demonstrate that intelligence is partially deter- mined by heredity. However, environment is also important, as revealed by changes in tested intelligence induced by schooling and stimulating environments.

9.6.2 There is evidence that some elements of intelligence can be taught. Intelligence, therefore, reflects the combined effects of both heredity and environment in the development of intellec- tual abilities.

9.7 Are there alternate views of intelligence? 9.7.1 Some psychologists are investigating the neural basis

for intelligence, especially the speed of processing various kinds of information and the size of brain areas related to intelligence.

9.7.2 Cognitive psychologists believe that successful intelli- gence depends on thinking and problem solving skills. Metacogni- tive skills, in particular, contribute greatly to intelligent behavior.

9.7.3 Artificial intelligence refers to any artificial system that can perform tasks that require intelligence when done by people. Two principal areas of artificial intelligence research on particular human skills are computer simulations and expert systems.

9.7.4 Many psychologists have begun to forge new, broader definitions of intelligence. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences is a good example of this trend.

9.8 Is there a downside to intelligence testing? 9.8.1 Traditional IQ tests often suffer from a degree of cul-

tural bias. 9.8.2 African Americans are unfairly stigmatized because of

historically poor performance on standardized IQ tests. 9.8.3 It is wise to remember that IQ is merely an index of

intelligence and that intelligence is narrowly defined by most tests. 9.8.4 The use of standard IQ tests for educational place-

ment of students (especially into special education classes) has been prohibited by law in some states. Whether this is desirable and beneficial to students is currently being debated.

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Chapter 9328

Fragile X Find out more about autism and fragile X syndrome from the National Fragile X Foundation.

Mind vs. Machine Read an amusing article about the Loebner Prize, one of the holy grails of artificial intelligence.

RuBot II, The Cubinator – A Rubik’s Cube Solving Robot Watch a robot solve a Rubik’s cube.

Multiple Intelligences in Education Learn more about Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences and how it is being applied in education.

Be Careful of How You Define Intelligence An article about cross- cultural differences in intelligence.

The Bell Curve Flattened An article that summarizes objections to The Bell Curve.

The Genographic Project Trace your own ancestry.

The Knowns and Unknowns of Intelligence From the APA, what is known about intelligence and intelligence tests.

Web Resources Internet addresses frequently change. To find an up-to-date list of URLs for the sites listed here, visit your Psychology CourseMate.

IQ Tests Provides links to a number of IQ tests.

American Mensa Mensa is an international society that has one qualification only for membership: an IQ score in the top 2 percent of the population on a standardized intelligence test.

Gifted Children Learn more about giftedness from the National Association for Gifted Children.

Helping Your Highly Gifted Child Advice for parents of gifted children.

Intellectual Disabilities Learn more about intellectual disability from the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).

Down Syndrome Find out more about Down syndrome from the National Down Syndrome Society.

MEDIA RESOURCES

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Intelligence 329

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CengageNOW is an easy-to-use online resource that helps you study in less time to get the grade you want—NOW. Take a pre-test for this chapter and receive a personalized study plan based on your results that will identify the topics you need to review and direct you to online resources to help you master those topics. Then take a post-test to help you determine the concepts you have mastered and what you will need to work on. If your textbook does not include an access code card, go to CengageBrain.com to gain access.

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Test

July 1, 2025/in Psychology Questions /by Besttutor

Who can complete my exam asap!!!! A functionalist would likely ask which one of the following questions about socially assistive robots? a. How will socially assistive robots affect interaction? b. What meanings do people assign to socially assistive robots? c. Who benefits from socially assistive robots and at whose expense? d. What are the intended and unintended consequences of socially assistive robots? 1 points Question 5 Which of the following is a false statement about the characteristics of high-quality sociological research? a. Sociological findings endure as long as the research process can be replicated. b. Once a sociological study is completed, findings are considered final. c. Sociologists strive to be objective. d. Sociologists invite others to critique their work. 1 points Question 6 Which one of the following phrases would Marx be least likely to use to describe capitalism? a. blood-sucking b. a boundless thirst c. a werewolf-like hunger d. socially conscious 1 points Question 7 The early sociologists were witnesses to the transforming effects of the a. the Industrial Revolution. b. World War II. c. World War I. d. War in Afghanistan. 1 points Question 8 Each of the _____ offers a central question to direct thinking and key concepts to organize answers. a. negotiated order b. social actions c. theoretical perspectives d. methods of research 1 points Question 9 _____ is the theorist most likely to draw attention to unconditional basic income as a response to widespread unemployment. a. Karl Marx b. Max Weber c. Auguste Comte d. Emile Durkheim 1 points Question 10 _____ is the sociologist who focused on the factors that strengthen, weaken, or otherwise shape the character of social ties. a. Karl Marx b. Emile Durkheim c. W.E.B Dubois d. Max Weber 1 points Question 11 Smart phones, introduced in 1996, are now a global-scale phenomenon. Some people in remote locations have embraced smart phone apps that connect them with health care providers anywhere in the world. This development illustrates the twin forces of a. industrialization and mechanization. b. globalization and glocalization. c. troubles and issues. d. human activity and media. 1 points Question 12 The _____ is the best perspective to draw upon for exploring human-robot interactions. a. social action theory b. functionalist c. symbolic interaction d. conflict 1 points Question 13 The defining feature of the Industrial Revolution was a. solidarity. b. mechanization. c. standardization. d. modernization. 1 points Question 14 The question “Who benefits from a particular pattern or social arrangement?” is of most interest to a(n) a. conflict theorist. b. symbolic interactionist. c. action theorist. d. functionalist. 1 points Question 15 “Knowing one another better reinforces the common connection such that the potential for caring and empathetic moral actions increase.” This statement summarizes the essence of a. sympathetic knowledge. b. double consciousness. c. solidarity. d. division of labor. 1 points Question 16 An employer tells workers “If you aren’t happy with the pay and working conditions here, go work somewhere else! It’s a free country.” Conflict theorists call this line of reasoning a. cultural relativity. b. sympathetic knowledge. c. good business practice. d. the façade of legitimacy. 1 points Question 17 The Communist Manifesto is a famous pamphlet that _____ co-authored with Fredrich Engels. a. Emile Durkheim. b. Karl Marx. c. Max Weber. d. W.E.B. DuBois. 1 points Question 18 When in a nation of 150 million workers, 24 million are unemployed, that is a. a crime. b. a trouble. c. an issue. d. personal tragedy. 1 points Question 19 Which of the following would be the best option to obtain a representative sample of students at your college? a. At random, draw a list of students from the most recent college registrar’s list. b. Stop students as they are walking to their cars in parking lots and ask them to participate. c. Ask all of the sociology majors to participate in the study. d. Ask students eating in the cafeteria at lunchtime to participate in an important study. 1 points Question 20 The term ___________________ describes a state in which ties attaching individuals to others in the society are weak. a. egoistic b. fatalistic c. altruistic d. anomic 1 points Question 21 Jared lives in a consumption-oriented culture. He decides to do historical research to understand how a country might develop a conservation-oriented way of life. Jared’s approach is influenced by a. Max Weber. b. Emile Durkheim. c. Karl Marx. d. Auguste Comte. 1 points Question 22 When Oreo cookies are transplanted into a new setting and then changed to fit local tastes, the process is known as a. globalization. b. industrialization. c. glocalization. d. the sociological imagination. 1 points Question 23 The high school dropout rate in the United States is greater than 25 percent. C. Wright Mills would classify this situation as a. an issue. b. a trouble. c. value-rational action. d. a social fact. 1 points Question 24 Lee’s research involving Snackbot showed that under the right conditions, people can form collegial (even social) relationships with workplace robots. This finding relates to the _____ perspective. a. functionalist b. symbolic interactionist c. social action d. conflict 1 points Question 25 Marx believed that ________ was the first economic system that could maximize the immense productive potential of human labor and ingenuity. a. democracy b. capitalism c. socialism d. communism 1 points Question 26 According to functionalists, poverty exists because a. somebody has to be on the bottom. b. it contributes in some way to the stability of an existing social order. c. the poor lack the drive to do better. d. the poor are largely unmotivated to work. 1 points Question 27 One unintended or unexpected disruption of socially assistive robots is that people may actually prefer the company of robots over fellow humans. This situation represents a. manifest dysfunction. b. manifest function. c. latent dysfunction. d. latent function. 1 points Question 28 As driveless technologies are developed we anticipate that 1.6 million long-distance truck drivers will be at risk of losing their jobs. This situation is an example of a. an issue. b. an opportunity. c. a trouble. d. a personal crisis. 1 points Question 29 Behavior influenced by the attention one receives from being the subject of a research study is the a. latent effect. b. experimental effect. c. Hawthorne effect. d. special subject effect. 1 points Question 30 Which one of the following aspects of the globalization process would Weber be most concerned? a. The ways in which globalization reduces wages. b. The ways in which globalization undermines behavior motivated by tradition. c. The way in which globalization creates hardships for low-income households. d. The way in which globalization undermines local ties. 1 points Question 31 Which of the following is something symbolic interactionists emphasize? a. outcomes b. negotiated order c. functions d. means of production 1 points Question 32 If an individual pursues a college degree because everyone in his or her family going back five generations is college-educated, the action can be classified as a. value-rational. b. instrumental rational c. traditional. d. affectional. 1 points Question 33 Which one of the following sociologists would most likely advocate for putting low-cost technologies such as smart phones into the hands of those who are disadvantaged? a. Max Weber b. Jane Addams c. Emile Durkheim d. Auguste Comte 1 points Question 34 A trial explanation predicting a relationship between independent and dependent variables is a(n) a. theory. b. fact. c. observation. d. hypothesis. 1 points Question 35 If one respondent gives different answers to the same question at two different points in time, the researcher should be concerned about a. reliability. b. the Hawthorne effect. c. representativeness. d. validity. 1 points Question 36 Which one of the following assumptions applies to the scientific method? a. Research findings can be manipulated to advance a good cause. b. Knowledge is acquired through observation. c. Truth is confirmed through faith. d. Research finding should not be replicated. 1 points Question 37 W.E.B. Dubois traced the origin of _________ to the scramble for Africa’s resources, beginning with the slave trade. a. disenchantment b. the color line c. troubles d. double consciousness 1 points Question 38 Which one of the following statements represents a criticism of the functionalist perspective? a. It leaves us wondering about a part’s overall effect. b. It focuses on the “small stuff.” c. It is too liberal. d. It focuses on the “have nots.” 1 points Question 39 Jamie gains first-hand knowledge about poverty by working at a food bank. This kind of knowledge is known as, a. social research. b. sympathetic knowledge. c. solidarity. d. double consciousness. 1 points Question 40 Researchers should maintain objectivity. This means they should a. not accept funding from outside sources. b. not let personal and subjective views about the topic influence observations or outcome of research. c. refuse to share data with others. d. stay away from topics in which they have a personal interest. 1 points Question 41 The actions of someone who always gives their best effort and never cuts corners would qualify as ____ action. a. affective b. instrumental rational c. traditional d. value rational 1 points Question 42 If socially assistive robots assume caregiving roles, a number of unanticipated consequences may occur such as the elimination of sexual abuse. This unanticipated consequence is a a. manifest function. b. latent function. c. manifest dysfunction. d. latent dysfunction. 1 points Question 43 Which one of the following statements describes the best way to apply the three perspectives? a. Most sociologists analyze an issue using one perspective. b. We can acquire a more complete view of something by applying all three perspectives. c. Only one perspective can give us a complete picture of a process or an event. d. The three perspectives should be viewed as opposing viewpoints. 1 points Question 44 Jane Addams maintained that Hull House a. was the equivalent of an applied university. b. was a failed experiment in social engineering. c. could not deliver services that helped working poor. d. was analogous to a community college. 1 points Question 45 Auguste Comte recommended that sociologists study a. the color line. b. the things people have created. c. conflict as in agent of change. d. the ties that bind. 1 points Question 46 The obesity rate in the United States is greater than 30 percent. According to Mills, the key to resolving this issue involves focusing on a. the character flaws of the 92 million plus Americans who are obese. b. getting people to eat less. c. addressing the underlying social forces that contribute to obesity. d. ways to get the obese to want to lose weight. 1 points Question 47 Which one of the following concepts applies to the façade of legitimacy? a. fair analysis b. misleading c. logical d. well-documented assertions 1 points Question 48 The question “Is this operational definition really measuring what it claims to measure?” addresses concerns surrounding a. correlations. b. sampling. c. validity. d. reliability. 1 points Question 49 The economic system accompanying and driving the Industrial Revolution was a. the welfare state. b. socialism. c. communism. d. capitalism. 1 points Question 50 The gay pride movement can be traced to 1897 in Berlin Germany and has spread to various locations around the world. 115 years later the first gay bar was established in Lamai Beach, Thailand. This movement illustrates the twin forces of a. industrialization and mechanization. b. troubles and issues. c. globalization and glocalization. d. human activity and media.

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1 and 2 quiz

July 1, 2025/in Psychology Questions /by Besttutor

For this assignment you are not required to write a complete draft of your Argument Essay. Instead, you are to select a topic for your Argument Essay and write a detailed outline of your essay based on the model in the instructions document.

  1. Review the ArgumentativeOutlineAssignment_Instructions.docx document      attached for additional instructions necessary to complete this      assignment.
  2. Review the Outline      Grading Rubric to prepare your paper, but remember that I give full      credit for completing the rough draft on time.
  3. Review the Student_AnnotatedSample_Salvaging-the-Old-Growth-Forest.pdf file as mentioned in the      instructions document for information regarding issue statements.
  4. Review the Argumentative_ModelEssay.docx document to see a student example of a written and formatted essay.
  5. Review the video (if needed) Submit an Assignment (Student) for instructions on how to submit your documents.

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Final 6078-A1 – Scientific Merit Evaluation Paper

July 1, 2025/in Psychology Questions /by Besttutor

INTRODUCTION

Throughout this course, you have learned about several research approaches in both qualitative and

quantitative methodology. Even though there are many ways in which researchers can solve research problems

with different research approaches and designs, there is one thing that all good scientific research has in

common: scientific merit.

At the beginning of the course, you were introduced to the concept of scientific merit. You learned that in order

for research to have scientific merit, it must achieve three things:

• It must contribute something new to the scientific knowledge base in the field. In order for research to

do this, a researcher must conduct a thorough literature review to identify a research problem. A

research problem is something that has not been addressed by previous research, and would be

meaningful to know. Often, the research problem is referred to as a gap in the literature.

• It must contribute to theory. Theories are the primary tools by which science organizes its

knowledge—the tools that allow the field to explain previous and current findings and predict future

ones. Research that has scientific merit can advance theories in several ways, including confirming,

extending, refuting, or proposing theories.

• It must meet the hallmarks of good research. This is the component that has been most emphasized in

this course as you have learned about the defining characteristics of the two methodologies and the

various approaches of both. But a researcher who has conducted high-quality research has only met this

criterion of scientific merit to the extent that the research design and procedures allowed the research

problem to be solved and the research questions to be answered. It is crucial to remember that the

purpose of research is to solve a research problem by investigating something that has not been

previously researched; that is, to fill the gap in the literature. Research methods are simply tools that

researchers use to do this. When researchers effectively use research methods to solve a research

problem, then we can say that the research has met the hallmarks of good research.

As a professional, you will be called upon to use research findings in the psychological literature. In order to do

this, you will be responsible for evaluating the scientific merit of the research that produced those findings.

While most research published in peer-reviewed journals can be trusted to have good scientific merit, it can be

risky not to evaluate research for yourself, especially research findings most pertinent to your work and career.

This course has given you the opportunity to learn how to do this for yourself, should you ever plan to do your

own research in the future. It has provided you with the necessary background regarding how to plan research

that has good scientific merit.

OBJECTIVES

To successfully complete this learning unit, you will be expected to:

1. Discuss hallmarks of good research.

2. Distinguish three dimensions of scientific merit.

3. Apply principles of scientific merit to chosen research study.

Scientific Merit – STUDIES

Readings

Leedy and Ormrod text to complete the following:

• Review the “What Is Research” section of Chapter 1, “The Nature and Tools of Research,” pages 3–7.

This review will put the details of research methods you have learned in the class into a larger

Perspectives

Transcript

• Review the Scientific Merit Presentation transcript piece. This will refresh your knowledge on

scientific merit to help you address this unit’s assignment.

SCIENTIFIC MERIT PAPER

Resources

Scientific Merit Paper Scoring Guide.

• Evaluates the scientific merit of the article by analyzing how the research advances the scientific knowledge base.

• Evaluates the scientific merit of the article by analyzing how the research contributes to research theory and the

field of study.

• Evaluates the scientific merit of the article by analyzing the scientific methods.

• Analyzes the validity and reliability of a selected research study and elaborates on how it contributes to scientific

merit.

• Analyzes the effectiveness of strategies selected for addressing ethical concerns in the design of a research study.

• Communicates in a manner that is completely scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for

members of the identified field of study, and uses APA style and formatting with few or no errors.

APA Style and Format.

Research Library.

Persistent Links and DOIs.

Using the research study you selected and attached, along with the course assignments for which

you deconstructed your research study, write a scientific merit paper. In your paper, address the following:

• Evaluate how a research study advances the scientific knowledge base of an identified field of study.

• Evaluate how a specific research study contributes to research theory and the field of study.

• Evaluate how the scientific methods of inquiry are applied to a specific research study.

• Evaluate the validity and reliability of a selected research study.

• Assess strategies for addressing ethical concerns in the design of a research study.

• Apply the terminology of research.

• Demonstrate both the depth and the breadth of your understanding of scientific research and

scientific merit by including relevant examples and supporting evidence.

Requirements

scientific merit by including relevant examples and supporting evidence.

Requirements

• The paper should be 10–12 pages long, not counting references, block quotes, or title page. Neither

an abstract nor table of content is required, and would not count in the paper length.

• Minimum of seven scholarly resources. It is expected that one of these resources will be the study you

selected for the Unit 2 assignment, and another will be the required textbook for the course, by

Leedy and Ormrod.

• Use APA style and formatting, including correct in-text citations, proper punctuation, double-spacing

throughout, proper headings and subheadings, no skipped lines before headings and subheadings,

proper paragraph and block indentation, no bolding, and no bullets.

• Include the permalink to your article on the title page of your paper.

Refer to the project description and the assignment scoring guide to make sure you meet the requirements

of this assignment.

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Compare and contrast the Groth typology of rape and the Massachusetts Treatment Center’s Classification Systems of rapists.

July 1, 2025/in Psychology Questions /by Besttutor

1. According to the U.S Department of Justice Archives, the new definition of rape is: “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim” (Sullivan, Rogers, & Moran, 2017). The Groth typology was developed almost forty years ago. This typology of rape is based on presumed motivations and aims that underline almost all rapes committed by adult males. Groth believed rape to be a “pseudo-sexual act”. He also believed that rape is a symptom of some psychological dysfunction, whether is temporary and transient or chronic and repetitive. Groth divided rape into three major categories. First, anger rape, second, power rape, and sadistic rape. He believed rape is always and foremost an aggressive act.

The Massachusetts Treatment Center’s Classification Systems of rapists has many similarities to Groth’s typology. The MTC has originally identified four major categories of rapists. One, displaced aggression, two, compensatory, three, sexually aggressive, and four, impulsive rapists. Anger rapists are similar to displaced aggression rapists, sadistic rapists are similar to sexual aggressive rapists. The MTC typology is more extensive and more complex because is based on ongoing research.

2.The Groth Typology was developed around forty years ago. Groth stated that there is always other motivations, rather than simple sexual arousal, for rapists. He divides rape into three different categories, including anger rape, power rape, and sadistic rape. Anger rape is typically brutal, degrading, and extremely forceful. Anger rapists have some internal anger, usually towards a specific woman, and take it out on their victims. Power rape is when the rapists is establishing dominance and control over their victim. The aggressiveness depends on how submissive the victim is. Victims of power rape are often kidnapped and experience multiple assaults. Sadistic rape involves the rapist experiencing arousal and pleasure of the victim’s torture and abuse.

Massachusetts Treatment Center’s Classification Systems of rapists is far more complex and researched than Groth’s. It continues to be researched and updated, unlike The Groth Typology. MTC also identifies four types of rapist, rather than three. The types include displaced aggression, compensatory, sexual aggressive, and impulse rapists. Although the two typologies are different, their division of types of rape are similar. Anger rape is similar to displaced aggression, sadistic rape is similar to sexual aggressive rape, and power rape is similar to compensatory rape. The final MTC type of rape is the impulse rape, in which rapists usually have no other history of sexual assault and committed it spontaneously when the opportunity was there. This type has no similarities with any of Groth’s types.

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https://getspsshelp.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/logo-8.webp 0 0 Besttutor https://getspsshelp.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/logo-8.webp Besttutor2025-07-01 10:40:162025-07-01 10:40:16Compare and contrast the Groth typology of rape and the Massachusetts Treatment Center’s Classification Systems of rapists.
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