THE USE OF TESTS AS AN INDICATOR OF THE MODELS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ACTION:
A STUDY AMONG PORTUGUESE PSYCHOLOGISTS
Abstract
After a brief analysis of factors that explain the increasing
and decreasing of psychological testing, some aspects concerning this use in Portugal are described. Most of Portuguese psychologists, specially
those that work in the school context do not spend a significative
amount of time with testing and only organisational psychologists think
that tests should be used more in future. The results show a positive relation
between a higher utilisation of tests and an attitude of acceptance by
other professionals with whom the psychologists work. The existence of
norms and the comparability between subjects are the most positively
evaluated aspects by organisational psychologists. The intelligence and
aptitudes tests, and in some way the personality scales, are the most positively
evaluated ones, while the achievement tests are less evaluated.
The projective technics are only appreciated for purposes of therapeutic
assessment and clinical diagnosis. Finally, psychologists think they have
the responsability of deciding about tests utilisation and about who should
receive the results. However, most of them think that professional associations
should decide about deontological aspects.
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