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Methods for Detecting and Evaluating Cultural Bias in Neuropsychological Tests

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Handbook of Cross-Cultural Neuropsychology

Part of the book series: Critical Issues in Neuropsychology ((CINP))

Abstract

Since the early 1900s, near the time of Binet’s first offering, intelligence tests have been scrutinized for cultural biases in a variety of forms. Indeed, the issues of bias (or its potential) in psychological testing have been a source of recurring, characteristically intense, social controversy throughout the history of mental measurement (e.g., see Reynolds & Brown, 1984, for a review of early to mid-1900s controversies). Discussions of cultural bias in tests, especially aptitude and ability measures such as are common to neuropsychological examinations, frequently are accompanied by strongly emotion-laden polemics decrying the use of mental tests with members of ethnic minorities. Courts, legislatures, and the media have all become involved in the questions surrounding potential cultural bias in testing (e.g., see Brown, Reynolds, & Whitaker, in press; Elliott, 1987; Spitz, 1986).

This chapter is based substantively on a number of prior works of the author, most notably Reynolds (l982a), Reynolds and Kaiser (1992), Reynolds (1999), and Reynolds, Lowe, and Saenz (1999).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, 77843-4225, USA

    Cecil R. Reynolds

  2. Bastrop Mental Health Associates, Bastrop, Texas, 78602, USA

    Cecil R. Reynolds

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  1. Cecil R. Reynolds
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Northern Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

    Elaine Fletcher-Janzen

  2. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Tony L. Strickland

  3. UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Tony L. Strickland

  4. Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

    Cecil R. Reynolds

  5. Bastrop Mental Health Associates, Bastrop, Texas, USA

    Cecil R. Reynolds

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Reynolds, C.R. (2000). Methods for Detecting and Evaluating Cultural Bias in Neuropsychological Tests. In: Fletcher-Janzen, E., Strickland, T.L., Reynolds, C.R. (eds) Handbook of Cross-Cultural Neuropsychology. Critical Issues in Neuropsychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4219-3_15

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