Silk Purse or Sow's Ear? An MMPI Commonground
Transcript of Silk Purse or Sow's Ear? An MMPI Commonground
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Regional Research Institute Regional Research Institute
1996
Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
Richard H Dana Portland State University
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1
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
Richard H Dana
Portland State University
Southern Oregon State College
I-This response to Velasquez et al 1996 was written
for Dr Amado Padilla Editor Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences who subsequently decided not to
publish these papers
I
Running head MMPI COMMONGROUND
l
2
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Abstract
~ Velasquez et al allege that rounding up the usual
suspects in my article on culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics provides information that is
inaccurate raises unanswered questions and can
discourage assessors reluctant to take extra
precautions required with Hispanic clients They
contribute an overview of history and current research
that leads to their own recommendations Using the
idiom of usual and unusual suspects further
investigation of all suspects appears necessary
Juxtaposition of two sets of assessment
recommendations-theirs and mine-suggests that an
ostensible battleground can become a commonground to
better inform assessors of cultural competence issues
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
3
Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
Introduction
A draft of a subsequently published paper (Dana
1988) presented at the Seattle MMPI meeting resulted in
the hurried departure of some attendees I have waited
for the other shoe to drop believing that this might
happen in a Contemporary Psychology review of my book
(Dana 1993) but gratified that an MMPI establishment
reaction to my paper (Dana 1995b) has finally been
forthcoming (Velsquez Butcher Garrido amp Cabiya )
Their paper not only provides access to literature not
as yet published or presented when my paper was written
but also responds to several issues I have repeatedly
presented that have never been publicly acknowledged I
will comment on all of their alleged usual suspects
but there are also several infrequently acknowledged
unusual suspects These new suspects assume overshy
arching importance and include the cultural basis qf
MMPI assumptionstest construction the invidious nature
of group comparisons and use of now controversial
statistical methods It should be noted that in the
original scenario one of the usual sus~ects was indeed
the guilty party
4
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Usual Suspects
The Original MMPI
The MMPI is a 50-odd year old suspect that is not
fundamentally different than its offspring the MMPI-2
The original small and unrepresentative criterion groups
and item-keying have preserved an antiquated psychiatric
diagnostic system as the impliicit theoretical rationale
for the clinical scales as noted by Cronbach (1990) and
reiterated by Helmes and Reddon (1993) The MMPI-2
clinical scales remain linked to these derelict original
criterion group samples with resulting limitations on
their generality Thus the Minnesota culture bias in
the 1940 sample representativeness remains in the itemshy
keying to transcend the use of more recent norms
(Helmes amp Reddon 1993) In addition the MMPI-2
standardization underrepresents Hispanics in numbers and
overrepresents their social economic and educational
status
While I do not prefer the MMPI over MMPI-2 for use
with Hispanics my comments on the documented persistshy
ence of MMPI-2 scores significantly inflated by cultural
variance on L K 3 and 4 led to theconclusion that
the MMPI-2 is neither better nor worse for Hispanics
(p 309) with regard to a potential for pathologization
As quoted out-of-context by Vel~squez et aI this
5
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
conclusion became a generality instead of an explicit
caveat
MMPI vs DSM-IV
The heart of my disagreement with Velasquez et al
does lie in the use of both the MMPIMMPI-2 and DSM-IV
as if they were genuine etics The continuing use of
standard psychological tests that are inherently
discriminatory is precisely the reason for my paper As
a result psychologists and consumers alike must
continue to foster research and dialogue to provide
feasible corrections until tests appear that have
cross-cultural validation histories to proclaim
themselves as less discriminatory less prejudicial and
less pathologizing than the MMPIMMPI-2
I take the literature seriously that indicts
standard psychological tests as potentially
pathologizing caricaturing and dehumanizing as a
result of confounding culture with psychopathologyor
personality constructs More useful tests are gradually
replacing the MMPIMMPI-2 Nonetheless a vested
interest represented by substantially more than 5000
publications means that these tests will continue to be
with us for some time There is an ethical imperative
to render their continued usage less prejudicial for
millions of potential assessees
6
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
MMPI Corrections
Velasquez et al are accurate in stating that
corrections can introduce error and empirically-based
formulas have not been used to date In the absence of
such formulas however moderator variables do
constitute a call for action by attempting to reduce
surplus meaning in the term culture that can lead to
more refined estimates of the variance in MMPIMMPI-2
scale scores attributable to culture
However Velasquez et al apparently share the
conservative view demonstrated by the APA Ethics
Committees negative reaction Personal communication
Jones (2 December 1994) to my recommendation that
acculturation scales such as the ARSMAARSMA-II be
routinely applied in ethical multicultural assessment
practice (Dana 1994) These scales are referred to as
special scales by Velasquez et al and their
conservative approach to applications is acknowledged as
a disagreement but not as a source of confusion
This plea for reconsideration of the need for
special norms was not intended to void the use of the
MMPIMMPI-2 but to emphasize that eoriections for
cultural orientation status within each Hispanic
subgroup can be accomplished in this manner (eg
Arnold Montgomery Castenada amp Longoria 1994)
7
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
I appreciated the highlighting of translation
developments since my article was published I
certainly prefer to share information rather than make
pejorative judgments about the absence of such
awareness My test interpretation discussion may be
shallow but I choose to emphasize that constructive
and important research is occurring in this critical and
neglected area Anglo assessors have not been
adequately informed of the magnitude of within-group
differences and a penchant of researchers has been to
lump subjects into small self-identified or surname
groups that over include or exclude ethnic minorities
(Okazaki amp Sue 1995) The sources of relevant
culture-and-subculture-specific information need to be
available for assessors This usual suspect is a
fam~liar and formidible felon who routinely deprives
assessees of dignity and humanity
ReconstructedRestandardized Hispanic MMPI
It becomes a matter of informed opinion whether or
not new emic tests are indeed required for Hispanics and
I respect others views that differ from my own I do
not believe many new emic tests willbe forthcoming but
I must reiterate that for traditional and bicultural
persons from any non-Anglo cultural group strong
arguments for use of available emic measures can be
--------------------
8
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
made To argue that standardization and norms answer
this question for Hispanics in the MMPIMMPI-2 is absurd
in view of their underinclusion in standardization
samples
Their documentation of the frequency of MMPIMMPI-2
usage with Hispanics appears to reinforce my contention
that these tests must be rendered as fair and nonshy
discriminatory as feasible by our after-the-fact
research and interpretation efforts I applaud the
recitation of accomplishments in assessment of Hispanics
in their Tables 1 and 2 as well as the projections of
future research efforts although I wish the lists of
studies yielding these tables were available I
recently asked one of these authors for a copy of one
such unpublished compendium and it was not included with
other unrequested reprints
Unusual Suspects
Assumptions and Test Construction
Seemingly overlooked during the long life and
successful worldwide marketing of a ubiquitous MMPI is
the fact that i~ was constructed by psychologists who
shared a Eurocentric world view and culture-specific
beliefs regarding science and psychometrics Of equal
~----------------------------------------~ concern is a test construction format that has rendered
cross-cultural construct validation extremely difficurt
9
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
without resort to relating test scores to extra-test
measures of behavior (eg Timbrook amp Graham 1994) or
content measures (eg Wrobel amp Lachar 1995) As a
result translation adequacy became a primary focus of
research attention although even meticulous
translations cannot ensure measurement equivalence
(Ellis 1989) Conceptual and metric issues must
eventually assume equal importance in establishing
equivalence of measures (Brislin 1993) C~nceptual
equivalence requires similarity of meaning across
cultural groups and the distributions of scale items
should be examined for range and outliers before factor
analysis is done Metric equivalence requires an
identical metric across groups so that the meaning of
the same test scores is invariant across groups
Group Comparisons
The assessment of cultural groups in this country
has been predicated on performance comparisons of these
groups on standard psychological tests Standard
psychological tests however are emic in nature because
they represent middle-class Anglo-American culture
primarily Their method origins their ~heoretical
assumptions if any and their contents are
Euro-American To be sure standardizations do reflect
non-European origin populations in this country
10
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
sometimes by represenative sampling but rarely by
recognizing gross dissimilarities not only in social
class income and education but also in the presence of
culture-specific response sets in persons of color and
Anglo-Americans Attempts have been made to rectify
this lack of fairness by careful matching on demographic
variables assumed to affect whatever the particular test
measures For example a drastic reduction of group
difference MMPI items was obtained by carefully matching
subjects (Dahlstrom Lachar amp Dahlstrom 1986) As
members of other cultural groups become more like their
Anglo contemporaries in standardization samples the
cultural variance on that test is diminished only for
those persons rather than for the particular cultural
group
Unfortunately there is no easy solution for
standard psychological tests constructed without benefit
of contemporary psychometric sophistication It dqes
not appear feasible to redesign these tests for each
group separately in order to examine the appropriateness
of test content Nor is there professional enthusiasm
for providing new culture-specific nor~s particularly
because each cultural group has extreme within-group
differences A third option comparing scores of
cultural orientation status groups to provide a
11
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
correction is feasible (Arnold et al 1994) By
definition group comparisons are always invidious
whenever the standard of comparison is ernie Hence the
concern with cross-cultural validation research
Statistics
Helms (1992) has indicated that cultural bias may
compromise the assumptions undergirding conventional
statistics Furthermore the interpretation of the null
hypothesis has been questioned as being inappropriate
for detecting cultural bias in assessment (Malgady
1996) He suggests that a statement of bias in the form
of cross-cultural variance as the null hypothesis should
prevail until research demonstrations suggest otherwise
Recomme ations Inform Professional Assessors
In my MMPI paper I did not attempt to present a
culturally-based framework for assessing Hispanics but
merely an annotated glossary of potential corrections
and deliberately did not package this information ~n a recommendations section Velasquez et al do provide
MMPI-2MMPI-A recommendations that may be compared with
guidelines I prepared in another context for use of
projective tests with Hispanics (Table 1) (Dana 1995a)
Insert Table 1 about here
12
middot
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
In comparing these recommendation both sources
include attention to the clients primary language
recognition and understanding of ethnicity
acculturation relevant interpretation procedures and
awareness of the role of therapeutic assessment In
addition Velpoundsquez et al include careful attention to
the assessment setting referral questions and use of
results Standard administration procedures and use of
the complete MMPI-2 are also emphasized I suggest in
addition adherence to an acceptable service delivery
style informed concern with DSM limitations for this
population and use of culturally relevant clinical
inferences and personality conceptualizations
Although the assessment instruments differ these
sets of recommendations are clearly complementary and
are designed to serve client interests by recognizing
cultural issues and providing a credible cultural
context for the entire assessment process I appl~ud
the opportunity to juxtapose two perspectives which
demonstrate integration of assessment and cultural
knowledge into practice to dispel legitimate assessor
concerns when venturing into areas their graduate
training typically did not emphasize (Bernal amp Castro
1994) Finally knowledge of Hispanic culture assumes
equal importance with assessment technology but
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
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1
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
Richard H Dana
Portland State University
Southern Oregon State College
I-This response to Velasquez et al 1996 was written
for Dr Amado Padilla Editor Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences who subsequently decided not to
publish these papers
I
Running head MMPI COMMONGROUND
l
2
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Abstract
~ Velasquez et al allege that rounding up the usual
suspects in my article on culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics provides information that is
inaccurate raises unanswered questions and can
discourage assessors reluctant to take extra
precautions required with Hispanic clients They
contribute an overview of history and current research
that leads to their own recommendations Using the
idiom of usual and unusual suspects further
investigation of all suspects appears necessary
Juxtaposition of two sets of assessment
recommendations-theirs and mine-suggests that an
ostensible battleground can become a commonground to
better inform assessors of cultural competence issues
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
3
Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
Introduction
A draft of a subsequently published paper (Dana
1988) presented at the Seattle MMPI meeting resulted in
the hurried departure of some attendees I have waited
for the other shoe to drop believing that this might
happen in a Contemporary Psychology review of my book
(Dana 1993) but gratified that an MMPI establishment
reaction to my paper (Dana 1995b) has finally been
forthcoming (Velsquez Butcher Garrido amp Cabiya )
Their paper not only provides access to literature not
as yet published or presented when my paper was written
but also responds to several issues I have repeatedly
presented that have never been publicly acknowledged I
will comment on all of their alleged usual suspects
but there are also several infrequently acknowledged
unusual suspects These new suspects assume overshy
arching importance and include the cultural basis qf
MMPI assumptionstest construction the invidious nature
of group comparisons and use of now controversial
statistical methods It should be noted that in the
original scenario one of the usual sus~ects was indeed
the guilty party
4
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Usual Suspects
The Original MMPI
The MMPI is a 50-odd year old suspect that is not
fundamentally different than its offspring the MMPI-2
The original small and unrepresentative criterion groups
and item-keying have preserved an antiquated psychiatric
diagnostic system as the impliicit theoretical rationale
for the clinical scales as noted by Cronbach (1990) and
reiterated by Helmes and Reddon (1993) The MMPI-2
clinical scales remain linked to these derelict original
criterion group samples with resulting limitations on
their generality Thus the Minnesota culture bias in
the 1940 sample representativeness remains in the itemshy
keying to transcend the use of more recent norms
(Helmes amp Reddon 1993) In addition the MMPI-2
standardization underrepresents Hispanics in numbers and
overrepresents their social economic and educational
status
While I do not prefer the MMPI over MMPI-2 for use
with Hispanics my comments on the documented persistshy
ence of MMPI-2 scores significantly inflated by cultural
variance on L K 3 and 4 led to theconclusion that
the MMPI-2 is neither better nor worse for Hispanics
(p 309) with regard to a potential for pathologization
As quoted out-of-context by Vel~squez et aI this
5
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
conclusion became a generality instead of an explicit
caveat
MMPI vs DSM-IV
The heart of my disagreement with Velasquez et al
does lie in the use of both the MMPIMMPI-2 and DSM-IV
as if they were genuine etics The continuing use of
standard psychological tests that are inherently
discriminatory is precisely the reason for my paper As
a result psychologists and consumers alike must
continue to foster research and dialogue to provide
feasible corrections until tests appear that have
cross-cultural validation histories to proclaim
themselves as less discriminatory less prejudicial and
less pathologizing than the MMPIMMPI-2
I take the literature seriously that indicts
standard psychological tests as potentially
pathologizing caricaturing and dehumanizing as a
result of confounding culture with psychopathologyor
personality constructs More useful tests are gradually
replacing the MMPIMMPI-2 Nonetheless a vested
interest represented by substantially more than 5000
publications means that these tests will continue to be
with us for some time There is an ethical imperative
to render their continued usage less prejudicial for
millions of potential assessees
6
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
MMPI Corrections
Velasquez et al are accurate in stating that
corrections can introduce error and empirically-based
formulas have not been used to date In the absence of
such formulas however moderator variables do
constitute a call for action by attempting to reduce
surplus meaning in the term culture that can lead to
more refined estimates of the variance in MMPIMMPI-2
scale scores attributable to culture
However Velasquez et al apparently share the
conservative view demonstrated by the APA Ethics
Committees negative reaction Personal communication
Jones (2 December 1994) to my recommendation that
acculturation scales such as the ARSMAARSMA-II be
routinely applied in ethical multicultural assessment
practice (Dana 1994) These scales are referred to as
special scales by Velasquez et al and their
conservative approach to applications is acknowledged as
a disagreement but not as a source of confusion
This plea for reconsideration of the need for
special norms was not intended to void the use of the
MMPIMMPI-2 but to emphasize that eoriections for
cultural orientation status within each Hispanic
subgroup can be accomplished in this manner (eg
Arnold Montgomery Castenada amp Longoria 1994)
7
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
I appreciated the highlighting of translation
developments since my article was published I
certainly prefer to share information rather than make
pejorative judgments about the absence of such
awareness My test interpretation discussion may be
shallow but I choose to emphasize that constructive
and important research is occurring in this critical and
neglected area Anglo assessors have not been
adequately informed of the magnitude of within-group
differences and a penchant of researchers has been to
lump subjects into small self-identified or surname
groups that over include or exclude ethnic minorities
(Okazaki amp Sue 1995) The sources of relevant
culture-and-subculture-specific information need to be
available for assessors This usual suspect is a
fam~liar and formidible felon who routinely deprives
assessees of dignity and humanity
ReconstructedRestandardized Hispanic MMPI
It becomes a matter of informed opinion whether or
not new emic tests are indeed required for Hispanics and
I respect others views that differ from my own I do
not believe many new emic tests willbe forthcoming but
I must reiterate that for traditional and bicultural
persons from any non-Anglo cultural group strong
arguments for use of available emic measures can be
--------------------
8
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
made To argue that standardization and norms answer
this question for Hispanics in the MMPIMMPI-2 is absurd
in view of their underinclusion in standardization
samples
Their documentation of the frequency of MMPIMMPI-2
usage with Hispanics appears to reinforce my contention
that these tests must be rendered as fair and nonshy
discriminatory as feasible by our after-the-fact
research and interpretation efforts I applaud the
recitation of accomplishments in assessment of Hispanics
in their Tables 1 and 2 as well as the projections of
future research efforts although I wish the lists of
studies yielding these tables were available I
recently asked one of these authors for a copy of one
such unpublished compendium and it was not included with
other unrequested reprints
Unusual Suspects
Assumptions and Test Construction
Seemingly overlooked during the long life and
successful worldwide marketing of a ubiquitous MMPI is
the fact that i~ was constructed by psychologists who
shared a Eurocentric world view and culture-specific
beliefs regarding science and psychometrics Of equal
~----------------------------------------~ concern is a test construction format that has rendered
cross-cultural construct validation extremely difficurt
9
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
without resort to relating test scores to extra-test
measures of behavior (eg Timbrook amp Graham 1994) or
content measures (eg Wrobel amp Lachar 1995) As a
result translation adequacy became a primary focus of
research attention although even meticulous
translations cannot ensure measurement equivalence
(Ellis 1989) Conceptual and metric issues must
eventually assume equal importance in establishing
equivalence of measures (Brislin 1993) C~nceptual
equivalence requires similarity of meaning across
cultural groups and the distributions of scale items
should be examined for range and outliers before factor
analysis is done Metric equivalence requires an
identical metric across groups so that the meaning of
the same test scores is invariant across groups
Group Comparisons
The assessment of cultural groups in this country
has been predicated on performance comparisons of these
groups on standard psychological tests Standard
psychological tests however are emic in nature because
they represent middle-class Anglo-American culture
primarily Their method origins their ~heoretical
assumptions if any and their contents are
Euro-American To be sure standardizations do reflect
non-European origin populations in this country
10
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
sometimes by represenative sampling but rarely by
recognizing gross dissimilarities not only in social
class income and education but also in the presence of
culture-specific response sets in persons of color and
Anglo-Americans Attempts have been made to rectify
this lack of fairness by careful matching on demographic
variables assumed to affect whatever the particular test
measures For example a drastic reduction of group
difference MMPI items was obtained by carefully matching
subjects (Dahlstrom Lachar amp Dahlstrom 1986) As
members of other cultural groups become more like their
Anglo contemporaries in standardization samples the
cultural variance on that test is diminished only for
those persons rather than for the particular cultural
group
Unfortunately there is no easy solution for
standard psychological tests constructed without benefit
of contemporary psychometric sophistication It dqes
not appear feasible to redesign these tests for each
group separately in order to examine the appropriateness
of test content Nor is there professional enthusiasm
for providing new culture-specific nor~s particularly
because each cultural group has extreme within-group
differences A third option comparing scores of
cultural orientation status groups to provide a
11
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
correction is feasible (Arnold et al 1994) By
definition group comparisons are always invidious
whenever the standard of comparison is ernie Hence the
concern with cross-cultural validation research
Statistics
Helms (1992) has indicated that cultural bias may
compromise the assumptions undergirding conventional
statistics Furthermore the interpretation of the null
hypothesis has been questioned as being inappropriate
for detecting cultural bias in assessment (Malgady
1996) He suggests that a statement of bias in the form
of cross-cultural variance as the null hypothesis should
prevail until research demonstrations suggest otherwise
Recomme ations Inform Professional Assessors
In my MMPI paper I did not attempt to present a
culturally-based framework for assessing Hispanics but
merely an annotated glossary of potential corrections
and deliberately did not package this information ~n a recommendations section Velasquez et al do provide
MMPI-2MMPI-A recommendations that may be compared with
guidelines I prepared in another context for use of
projective tests with Hispanics (Table 1) (Dana 1995a)
Insert Table 1 about here
12
middot
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
In comparing these recommendation both sources
include attention to the clients primary language
recognition and understanding of ethnicity
acculturation relevant interpretation procedures and
awareness of the role of therapeutic assessment In
addition Velpoundsquez et al include careful attention to
the assessment setting referral questions and use of
results Standard administration procedures and use of
the complete MMPI-2 are also emphasized I suggest in
addition adherence to an acceptable service delivery
style informed concern with DSM limitations for this
population and use of culturally relevant clinical
inferences and personality conceptualizations
Although the assessment instruments differ these
sets of recommendations are clearly complementary and
are designed to serve client interests by recognizing
cultural issues and providing a credible cultural
context for the entire assessment process I appl~ud
the opportunity to juxtapose two perspectives which
demonstrate integration of assessment and cultural
knowledge into practice to dispel legitimate assessor
concerns when venturing into areas their graduate
training typically did not emphasize (Bernal amp Castro
1994) Finally knowledge of Hispanic culture assumes
equal importance with assessment technology but
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
2
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Abstract
~ Velasquez et al allege that rounding up the usual
suspects in my article on culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics provides information that is
inaccurate raises unanswered questions and can
discourage assessors reluctant to take extra
precautions required with Hispanic clients They
contribute an overview of history and current research
that leads to their own recommendations Using the
idiom of usual and unusual suspects further
investigation of all suspects appears necessary
Juxtaposition of two sets of assessment
recommendations-theirs and mine-suggests that an
ostensible battleground can become a commonground to
better inform assessors of cultural competence issues
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
3
Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
Introduction
A draft of a subsequently published paper (Dana
1988) presented at the Seattle MMPI meeting resulted in
the hurried departure of some attendees I have waited
for the other shoe to drop believing that this might
happen in a Contemporary Psychology review of my book
(Dana 1993) but gratified that an MMPI establishment
reaction to my paper (Dana 1995b) has finally been
forthcoming (Velsquez Butcher Garrido amp Cabiya )
Their paper not only provides access to literature not
as yet published or presented when my paper was written
but also responds to several issues I have repeatedly
presented that have never been publicly acknowledged I
will comment on all of their alleged usual suspects
but there are also several infrequently acknowledged
unusual suspects These new suspects assume overshy
arching importance and include the cultural basis qf
MMPI assumptionstest construction the invidious nature
of group comparisons and use of now controversial
statistical methods It should be noted that in the
original scenario one of the usual sus~ects was indeed
the guilty party
4
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Usual Suspects
The Original MMPI
The MMPI is a 50-odd year old suspect that is not
fundamentally different than its offspring the MMPI-2
The original small and unrepresentative criterion groups
and item-keying have preserved an antiquated psychiatric
diagnostic system as the impliicit theoretical rationale
for the clinical scales as noted by Cronbach (1990) and
reiterated by Helmes and Reddon (1993) The MMPI-2
clinical scales remain linked to these derelict original
criterion group samples with resulting limitations on
their generality Thus the Minnesota culture bias in
the 1940 sample representativeness remains in the itemshy
keying to transcend the use of more recent norms
(Helmes amp Reddon 1993) In addition the MMPI-2
standardization underrepresents Hispanics in numbers and
overrepresents their social economic and educational
status
While I do not prefer the MMPI over MMPI-2 for use
with Hispanics my comments on the documented persistshy
ence of MMPI-2 scores significantly inflated by cultural
variance on L K 3 and 4 led to theconclusion that
the MMPI-2 is neither better nor worse for Hispanics
(p 309) with regard to a potential for pathologization
As quoted out-of-context by Vel~squez et aI this
5
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
conclusion became a generality instead of an explicit
caveat
MMPI vs DSM-IV
The heart of my disagreement with Velasquez et al
does lie in the use of both the MMPIMMPI-2 and DSM-IV
as if they were genuine etics The continuing use of
standard psychological tests that are inherently
discriminatory is precisely the reason for my paper As
a result psychologists and consumers alike must
continue to foster research and dialogue to provide
feasible corrections until tests appear that have
cross-cultural validation histories to proclaim
themselves as less discriminatory less prejudicial and
less pathologizing than the MMPIMMPI-2
I take the literature seriously that indicts
standard psychological tests as potentially
pathologizing caricaturing and dehumanizing as a
result of confounding culture with psychopathologyor
personality constructs More useful tests are gradually
replacing the MMPIMMPI-2 Nonetheless a vested
interest represented by substantially more than 5000
publications means that these tests will continue to be
with us for some time There is an ethical imperative
to render their continued usage less prejudicial for
millions of potential assessees
6
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
MMPI Corrections
Velasquez et al are accurate in stating that
corrections can introduce error and empirically-based
formulas have not been used to date In the absence of
such formulas however moderator variables do
constitute a call for action by attempting to reduce
surplus meaning in the term culture that can lead to
more refined estimates of the variance in MMPIMMPI-2
scale scores attributable to culture
However Velasquez et al apparently share the
conservative view demonstrated by the APA Ethics
Committees negative reaction Personal communication
Jones (2 December 1994) to my recommendation that
acculturation scales such as the ARSMAARSMA-II be
routinely applied in ethical multicultural assessment
practice (Dana 1994) These scales are referred to as
special scales by Velasquez et al and their
conservative approach to applications is acknowledged as
a disagreement but not as a source of confusion
This plea for reconsideration of the need for
special norms was not intended to void the use of the
MMPIMMPI-2 but to emphasize that eoriections for
cultural orientation status within each Hispanic
subgroup can be accomplished in this manner (eg
Arnold Montgomery Castenada amp Longoria 1994)
7
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
I appreciated the highlighting of translation
developments since my article was published I
certainly prefer to share information rather than make
pejorative judgments about the absence of such
awareness My test interpretation discussion may be
shallow but I choose to emphasize that constructive
and important research is occurring in this critical and
neglected area Anglo assessors have not been
adequately informed of the magnitude of within-group
differences and a penchant of researchers has been to
lump subjects into small self-identified or surname
groups that over include or exclude ethnic minorities
(Okazaki amp Sue 1995) The sources of relevant
culture-and-subculture-specific information need to be
available for assessors This usual suspect is a
fam~liar and formidible felon who routinely deprives
assessees of dignity and humanity
ReconstructedRestandardized Hispanic MMPI
It becomes a matter of informed opinion whether or
not new emic tests are indeed required for Hispanics and
I respect others views that differ from my own I do
not believe many new emic tests willbe forthcoming but
I must reiterate that for traditional and bicultural
persons from any non-Anglo cultural group strong
arguments for use of available emic measures can be
--------------------
8
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
made To argue that standardization and norms answer
this question for Hispanics in the MMPIMMPI-2 is absurd
in view of their underinclusion in standardization
samples
Their documentation of the frequency of MMPIMMPI-2
usage with Hispanics appears to reinforce my contention
that these tests must be rendered as fair and nonshy
discriminatory as feasible by our after-the-fact
research and interpretation efforts I applaud the
recitation of accomplishments in assessment of Hispanics
in their Tables 1 and 2 as well as the projections of
future research efforts although I wish the lists of
studies yielding these tables were available I
recently asked one of these authors for a copy of one
such unpublished compendium and it was not included with
other unrequested reprints
Unusual Suspects
Assumptions and Test Construction
Seemingly overlooked during the long life and
successful worldwide marketing of a ubiquitous MMPI is
the fact that i~ was constructed by psychologists who
shared a Eurocentric world view and culture-specific
beliefs regarding science and psychometrics Of equal
~----------------------------------------~ concern is a test construction format that has rendered
cross-cultural construct validation extremely difficurt
9
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
without resort to relating test scores to extra-test
measures of behavior (eg Timbrook amp Graham 1994) or
content measures (eg Wrobel amp Lachar 1995) As a
result translation adequacy became a primary focus of
research attention although even meticulous
translations cannot ensure measurement equivalence
(Ellis 1989) Conceptual and metric issues must
eventually assume equal importance in establishing
equivalence of measures (Brislin 1993) C~nceptual
equivalence requires similarity of meaning across
cultural groups and the distributions of scale items
should be examined for range and outliers before factor
analysis is done Metric equivalence requires an
identical metric across groups so that the meaning of
the same test scores is invariant across groups
Group Comparisons
The assessment of cultural groups in this country
has been predicated on performance comparisons of these
groups on standard psychological tests Standard
psychological tests however are emic in nature because
they represent middle-class Anglo-American culture
primarily Their method origins their ~heoretical
assumptions if any and their contents are
Euro-American To be sure standardizations do reflect
non-European origin populations in this country
10
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
sometimes by represenative sampling but rarely by
recognizing gross dissimilarities not only in social
class income and education but also in the presence of
culture-specific response sets in persons of color and
Anglo-Americans Attempts have been made to rectify
this lack of fairness by careful matching on demographic
variables assumed to affect whatever the particular test
measures For example a drastic reduction of group
difference MMPI items was obtained by carefully matching
subjects (Dahlstrom Lachar amp Dahlstrom 1986) As
members of other cultural groups become more like their
Anglo contemporaries in standardization samples the
cultural variance on that test is diminished only for
those persons rather than for the particular cultural
group
Unfortunately there is no easy solution for
standard psychological tests constructed without benefit
of contemporary psychometric sophistication It dqes
not appear feasible to redesign these tests for each
group separately in order to examine the appropriateness
of test content Nor is there professional enthusiasm
for providing new culture-specific nor~s particularly
because each cultural group has extreme within-group
differences A third option comparing scores of
cultural orientation status groups to provide a
11
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
correction is feasible (Arnold et al 1994) By
definition group comparisons are always invidious
whenever the standard of comparison is ernie Hence the
concern with cross-cultural validation research
Statistics
Helms (1992) has indicated that cultural bias may
compromise the assumptions undergirding conventional
statistics Furthermore the interpretation of the null
hypothesis has been questioned as being inappropriate
for detecting cultural bias in assessment (Malgady
1996) He suggests that a statement of bias in the form
of cross-cultural variance as the null hypothesis should
prevail until research demonstrations suggest otherwise
Recomme ations Inform Professional Assessors
In my MMPI paper I did not attempt to present a
culturally-based framework for assessing Hispanics but
merely an annotated glossary of potential corrections
and deliberately did not package this information ~n a recommendations section Velasquez et al do provide
MMPI-2MMPI-A recommendations that may be compared with
guidelines I prepared in another context for use of
projective tests with Hispanics (Table 1) (Dana 1995a)
Insert Table 1 about here
12
middot
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
In comparing these recommendation both sources
include attention to the clients primary language
recognition and understanding of ethnicity
acculturation relevant interpretation procedures and
awareness of the role of therapeutic assessment In
addition Velpoundsquez et al include careful attention to
the assessment setting referral questions and use of
results Standard administration procedures and use of
the complete MMPI-2 are also emphasized I suggest in
addition adherence to an acceptable service delivery
style informed concern with DSM limitations for this
population and use of culturally relevant clinical
inferences and personality conceptualizations
Although the assessment instruments differ these
sets of recommendations are clearly complementary and
are designed to serve client interests by recognizing
cultural issues and providing a credible cultural
context for the entire assessment process I appl~ud
the opportunity to juxtapose two perspectives which
demonstrate integration of assessment and cultural
knowledge into practice to dispel legitimate assessor
concerns when venturing into areas their graduate
training typically did not emphasize (Bernal amp Castro
1994) Finally knowledge of Hispanic culture assumes
equal importance with assessment technology but
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
3
Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
Introduction
A draft of a subsequently published paper (Dana
1988) presented at the Seattle MMPI meeting resulted in
the hurried departure of some attendees I have waited
for the other shoe to drop believing that this might
happen in a Contemporary Psychology review of my book
(Dana 1993) but gratified that an MMPI establishment
reaction to my paper (Dana 1995b) has finally been
forthcoming (Velsquez Butcher Garrido amp Cabiya )
Their paper not only provides access to literature not
as yet published or presented when my paper was written
but also responds to several issues I have repeatedly
presented that have never been publicly acknowledged I
will comment on all of their alleged usual suspects
but there are also several infrequently acknowledged
unusual suspects These new suspects assume overshy
arching importance and include the cultural basis qf
MMPI assumptionstest construction the invidious nature
of group comparisons and use of now controversial
statistical methods It should be noted that in the
original scenario one of the usual sus~ects was indeed
the guilty party
4
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Usual Suspects
The Original MMPI
The MMPI is a 50-odd year old suspect that is not
fundamentally different than its offspring the MMPI-2
The original small and unrepresentative criterion groups
and item-keying have preserved an antiquated psychiatric
diagnostic system as the impliicit theoretical rationale
for the clinical scales as noted by Cronbach (1990) and
reiterated by Helmes and Reddon (1993) The MMPI-2
clinical scales remain linked to these derelict original
criterion group samples with resulting limitations on
their generality Thus the Minnesota culture bias in
the 1940 sample representativeness remains in the itemshy
keying to transcend the use of more recent norms
(Helmes amp Reddon 1993) In addition the MMPI-2
standardization underrepresents Hispanics in numbers and
overrepresents their social economic and educational
status
While I do not prefer the MMPI over MMPI-2 for use
with Hispanics my comments on the documented persistshy
ence of MMPI-2 scores significantly inflated by cultural
variance on L K 3 and 4 led to theconclusion that
the MMPI-2 is neither better nor worse for Hispanics
(p 309) with regard to a potential for pathologization
As quoted out-of-context by Vel~squez et aI this
5
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
conclusion became a generality instead of an explicit
caveat
MMPI vs DSM-IV
The heart of my disagreement with Velasquez et al
does lie in the use of both the MMPIMMPI-2 and DSM-IV
as if they were genuine etics The continuing use of
standard psychological tests that are inherently
discriminatory is precisely the reason for my paper As
a result psychologists and consumers alike must
continue to foster research and dialogue to provide
feasible corrections until tests appear that have
cross-cultural validation histories to proclaim
themselves as less discriminatory less prejudicial and
less pathologizing than the MMPIMMPI-2
I take the literature seriously that indicts
standard psychological tests as potentially
pathologizing caricaturing and dehumanizing as a
result of confounding culture with psychopathologyor
personality constructs More useful tests are gradually
replacing the MMPIMMPI-2 Nonetheless a vested
interest represented by substantially more than 5000
publications means that these tests will continue to be
with us for some time There is an ethical imperative
to render their continued usage less prejudicial for
millions of potential assessees
6
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
MMPI Corrections
Velasquez et al are accurate in stating that
corrections can introduce error and empirically-based
formulas have not been used to date In the absence of
such formulas however moderator variables do
constitute a call for action by attempting to reduce
surplus meaning in the term culture that can lead to
more refined estimates of the variance in MMPIMMPI-2
scale scores attributable to culture
However Velasquez et al apparently share the
conservative view demonstrated by the APA Ethics
Committees negative reaction Personal communication
Jones (2 December 1994) to my recommendation that
acculturation scales such as the ARSMAARSMA-II be
routinely applied in ethical multicultural assessment
practice (Dana 1994) These scales are referred to as
special scales by Velasquez et al and their
conservative approach to applications is acknowledged as
a disagreement but not as a source of confusion
This plea for reconsideration of the need for
special norms was not intended to void the use of the
MMPIMMPI-2 but to emphasize that eoriections for
cultural orientation status within each Hispanic
subgroup can be accomplished in this manner (eg
Arnold Montgomery Castenada amp Longoria 1994)
7
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
I appreciated the highlighting of translation
developments since my article was published I
certainly prefer to share information rather than make
pejorative judgments about the absence of such
awareness My test interpretation discussion may be
shallow but I choose to emphasize that constructive
and important research is occurring in this critical and
neglected area Anglo assessors have not been
adequately informed of the magnitude of within-group
differences and a penchant of researchers has been to
lump subjects into small self-identified or surname
groups that over include or exclude ethnic minorities
(Okazaki amp Sue 1995) The sources of relevant
culture-and-subculture-specific information need to be
available for assessors This usual suspect is a
fam~liar and formidible felon who routinely deprives
assessees of dignity and humanity
ReconstructedRestandardized Hispanic MMPI
It becomes a matter of informed opinion whether or
not new emic tests are indeed required for Hispanics and
I respect others views that differ from my own I do
not believe many new emic tests willbe forthcoming but
I must reiterate that for traditional and bicultural
persons from any non-Anglo cultural group strong
arguments for use of available emic measures can be
--------------------
8
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
made To argue that standardization and norms answer
this question for Hispanics in the MMPIMMPI-2 is absurd
in view of their underinclusion in standardization
samples
Their documentation of the frequency of MMPIMMPI-2
usage with Hispanics appears to reinforce my contention
that these tests must be rendered as fair and nonshy
discriminatory as feasible by our after-the-fact
research and interpretation efforts I applaud the
recitation of accomplishments in assessment of Hispanics
in their Tables 1 and 2 as well as the projections of
future research efforts although I wish the lists of
studies yielding these tables were available I
recently asked one of these authors for a copy of one
such unpublished compendium and it was not included with
other unrequested reprints
Unusual Suspects
Assumptions and Test Construction
Seemingly overlooked during the long life and
successful worldwide marketing of a ubiquitous MMPI is
the fact that i~ was constructed by psychologists who
shared a Eurocentric world view and culture-specific
beliefs regarding science and psychometrics Of equal
~----------------------------------------~ concern is a test construction format that has rendered
cross-cultural construct validation extremely difficurt
9
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
without resort to relating test scores to extra-test
measures of behavior (eg Timbrook amp Graham 1994) or
content measures (eg Wrobel amp Lachar 1995) As a
result translation adequacy became a primary focus of
research attention although even meticulous
translations cannot ensure measurement equivalence
(Ellis 1989) Conceptual and metric issues must
eventually assume equal importance in establishing
equivalence of measures (Brislin 1993) C~nceptual
equivalence requires similarity of meaning across
cultural groups and the distributions of scale items
should be examined for range and outliers before factor
analysis is done Metric equivalence requires an
identical metric across groups so that the meaning of
the same test scores is invariant across groups
Group Comparisons
The assessment of cultural groups in this country
has been predicated on performance comparisons of these
groups on standard psychological tests Standard
psychological tests however are emic in nature because
they represent middle-class Anglo-American culture
primarily Their method origins their ~heoretical
assumptions if any and their contents are
Euro-American To be sure standardizations do reflect
non-European origin populations in this country
10
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
sometimes by represenative sampling but rarely by
recognizing gross dissimilarities not only in social
class income and education but also in the presence of
culture-specific response sets in persons of color and
Anglo-Americans Attempts have been made to rectify
this lack of fairness by careful matching on demographic
variables assumed to affect whatever the particular test
measures For example a drastic reduction of group
difference MMPI items was obtained by carefully matching
subjects (Dahlstrom Lachar amp Dahlstrom 1986) As
members of other cultural groups become more like their
Anglo contemporaries in standardization samples the
cultural variance on that test is diminished only for
those persons rather than for the particular cultural
group
Unfortunately there is no easy solution for
standard psychological tests constructed without benefit
of contemporary psychometric sophistication It dqes
not appear feasible to redesign these tests for each
group separately in order to examine the appropriateness
of test content Nor is there professional enthusiasm
for providing new culture-specific nor~s particularly
because each cultural group has extreme within-group
differences A third option comparing scores of
cultural orientation status groups to provide a
11
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
correction is feasible (Arnold et al 1994) By
definition group comparisons are always invidious
whenever the standard of comparison is ernie Hence the
concern with cross-cultural validation research
Statistics
Helms (1992) has indicated that cultural bias may
compromise the assumptions undergirding conventional
statistics Furthermore the interpretation of the null
hypothesis has been questioned as being inappropriate
for detecting cultural bias in assessment (Malgady
1996) He suggests that a statement of bias in the form
of cross-cultural variance as the null hypothesis should
prevail until research demonstrations suggest otherwise
Recomme ations Inform Professional Assessors
In my MMPI paper I did not attempt to present a
culturally-based framework for assessing Hispanics but
merely an annotated glossary of potential corrections
and deliberately did not package this information ~n a recommendations section Velasquez et al do provide
MMPI-2MMPI-A recommendations that may be compared with
guidelines I prepared in another context for use of
projective tests with Hispanics (Table 1) (Dana 1995a)
Insert Table 1 about here
12
middot
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
In comparing these recommendation both sources
include attention to the clients primary language
recognition and understanding of ethnicity
acculturation relevant interpretation procedures and
awareness of the role of therapeutic assessment In
addition Velpoundsquez et al include careful attention to
the assessment setting referral questions and use of
results Standard administration procedures and use of
the complete MMPI-2 are also emphasized I suggest in
addition adherence to an acceptable service delivery
style informed concern with DSM limitations for this
population and use of culturally relevant clinical
inferences and personality conceptualizations
Although the assessment instruments differ these
sets of recommendations are clearly complementary and
are designed to serve client interests by recognizing
cultural issues and providing a credible cultural
context for the entire assessment process I appl~ud
the opportunity to juxtapose two perspectives which
demonstrate integration of assessment and cultural
knowledge into practice to dispel legitimate assessor
concerns when venturing into areas their graduate
training typically did not emphasize (Bernal amp Castro
1994) Finally knowledge of Hispanic culture assumes
equal importance with assessment technology but
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
4
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Usual Suspects
The Original MMPI
The MMPI is a 50-odd year old suspect that is not
fundamentally different than its offspring the MMPI-2
The original small and unrepresentative criterion groups
and item-keying have preserved an antiquated psychiatric
diagnostic system as the impliicit theoretical rationale
for the clinical scales as noted by Cronbach (1990) and
reiterated by Helmes and Reddon (1993) The MMPI-2
clinical scales remain linked to these derelict original
criterion group samples with resulting limitations on
their generality Thus the Minnesota culture bias in
the 1940 sample representativeness remains in the itemshy
keying to transcend the use of more recent norms
(Helmes amp Reddon 1993) In addition the MMPI-2
standardization underrepresents Hispanics in numbers and
overrepresents their social economic and educational
status
While I do not prefer the MMPI over MMPI-2 for use
with Hispanics my comments on the documented persistshy
ence of MMPI-2 scores significantly inflated by cultural
variance on L K 3 and 4 led to theconclusion that
the MMPI-2 is neither better nor worse for Hispanics
(p 309) with regard to a potential for pathologization
As quoted out-of-context by Vel~squez et aI this
5
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
conclusion became a generality instead of an explicit
caveat
MMPI vs DSM-IV
The heart of my disagreement with Velasquez et al
does lie in the use of both the MMPIMMPI-2 and DSM-IV
as if they were genuine etics The continuing use of
standard psychological tests that are inherently
discriminatory is precisely the reason for my paper As
a result psychologists and consumers alike must
continue to foster research and dialogue to provide
feasible corrections until tests appear that have
cross-cultural validation histories to proclaim
themselves as less discriminatory less prejudicial and
less pathologizing than the MMPIMMPI-2
I take the literature seriously that indicts
standard psychological tests as potentially
pathologizing caricaturing and dehumanizing as a
result of confounding culture with psychopathologyor
personality constructs More useful tests are gradually
replacing the MMPIMMPI-2 Nonetheless a vested
interest represented by substantially more than 5000
publications means that these tests will continue to be
with us for some time There is an ethical imperative
to render their continued usage less prejudicial for
millions of potential assessees
6
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
MMPI Corrections
Velasquez et al are accurate in stating that
corrections can introduce error and empirically-based
formulas have not been used to date In the absence of
such formulas however moderator variables do
constitute a call for action by attempting to reduce
surplus meaning in the term culture that can lead to
more refined estimates of the variance in MMPIMMPI-2
scale scores attributable to culture
However Velasquez et al apparently share the
conservative view demonstrated by the APA Ethics
Committees negative reaction Personal communication
Jones (2 December 1994) to my recommendation that
acculturation scales such as the ARSMAARSMA-II be
routinely applied in ethical multicultural assessment
practice (Dana 1994) These scales are referred to as
special scales by Velasquez et al and their
conservative approach to applications is acknowledged as
a disagreement but not as a source of confusion
This plea for reconsideration of the need for
special norms was not intended to void the use of the
MMPIMMPI-2 but to emphasize that eoriections for
cultural orientation status within each Hispanic
subgroup can be accomplished in this manner (eg
Arnold Montgomery Castenada amp Longoria 1994)
7
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
I appreciated the highlighting of translation
developments since my article was published I
certainly prefer to share information rather than make
pejorative judgments about the absence of such
awareness My test interpretation discussion may be
shallow but I choose to emphasize that constructive
and important research is occurring in this critical and
neglected area Anglo assessors have not been
adequately informed of the magnitude of within-group
differences and a penchant of researchers has been to
lump subjects into small self-identified or surname
groups that over include or exclude ethnic minorities
(Okazaki amp Sue 1995) The sources of relevant
culture-and-subculture-specific information need to be
available for assessors This usual suspect is a
fam~liar and formidible felon who routinely deprives
assessees of dignity and humanity
ReconstructedRestandardized Hispanic MMPI
It becomes a matter of informed opinion whether or
not new emic tests are indeed required for Hispanics and
I respect others views that differ from my own I do
not believe many new emic tests willbe forthcoming but
I must reiterate that for traditional and bicultural
persons from any non-Anglo cultural group strong
arguments for use of available emic measures can be
--------------------
8
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
made To argue that standardization and norms answer
this question for Hispanics in the MMPIMMPI-2 is absurd
in view of their underinclusion in standardization
samples
Their documentation of the frequency of MMPIMMPI-2
usage with Hispanics appears to reinforce my contention
that these tests must be rendered as fair and nonshy
discriminatory as feasible by our after-the-fact
research and interpretation efforts I applaud the
recitation of accomplishments in assessment of Hispanics
in their Tables 1 and 2 as well as the projections of
future research efforts although I wish the lists of
studies yielding these tables were available I
recently asked one of these authors for a copy of one
such unpublished compendium and it was not included with
other unrequested reprints
Unusual Suspects
Assumptions and Test Construction
Seemingly overlooked during the long life and
successful worldwide marketing of a ubiquitous MMPI is
the fact that i~ was constructed by psychologists who
shared a Eurocentric world view and culture-specific
beliefs regarding science and psychometrics Of equal
~----------------------------------------~ concern is a test construction format that has rendered
cross-cultural construct validation extremely difficurt
9
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
without resort to relating test scores to extra-test
measures of behavior (eg Timbrook amp Graham 1994) or
content measures (eg Wrobel amp Lachar 1995) As a
result translation adequacy became a primary focus of
research attention although even meticulous
translations cannot ensure measurement equivalence
(Ellis 1989) Conceptual and metric issues must
eventually assume equal importance in establishing
equivalence of measures (Brislin 1993) C~nceptual
equivalence requires similarity of meaning across
cultural groups and the distributions of scale items
should be examined for range and outliers before factor
analysis is done Metric equivalence requires an
identical metric across groups so that the meaning of
the same test scores is invariant across groups
Group Comparisons
The assessment of cultural groups in this country
has been predicated on performance comparisons of these
groups on standard psychological tests Standard
psychological tests however are emic in nature because
they represent middle-class Anglo-American culture
primarily Their method origins their ~heoretical
assumptions if any and their contents are
Euro-American To be sure standardizations do reflect
non-European origin populations in this country
10
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
sometimes by represenative sampling but rarely by
recognizing gross dissimilarities not only in social
class income and education but also in the presence of
culture-specific response sets in persons of color and
Anglo-Americans Attempts have been made to rectify
this lack of fairness by careful matching on demographic
variables assumed to affect whatever the particular test
measures For example a drastic reduction of group
difference MMPI items was obtained by carefully matching
subjects (Dahlstrom Lachar amp Dahlstrom 1986) As
members of other cultural groups become more like their
Anglo contemporaries in standardization samples the
cultural variance on that test is diminished only for
those persons rather than for the particular cultural
group
Unfortunately there is no easy solution for
standard psychological tests constructed without benefit
of contemporary psychometric sophistication It dqes
not appear feasible to redesign these tests for each
group separately in order to examine the appropriateness
of test content Nor is there professional enthusiasm
for providing new culture-specific nor~s particularly
because each cultural group has extreme within-group
differences A third option comparing scores of
cultural orientation status groups to provide a
11
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
correction is feasible (Arnold et al 1994) By
definition group comparisons are always invidious
whenever the standard of comparison is ernie Hence the
concern with cross-cultural validation research
Statistics
Helms (1992) has indicated that cultural bias may
compromise the assumptions undergirding conventional
statistics Furthermore the interpretation of the null
hypothesis has been questioned as being inappropriate
for detecting cultural bias in assessment (Malgady
1996) He suggests that a statement of bias in the form
of cross-cultural variance as the null hypothesis should
prevail until research demonstrations suggest otherwise
Recomme ations Inform Professional Assessors
In my MMPI paper I did not attempt to present a
culturally-based framework for assessing Hispanics but
merely an annotated glossary of potential corrections
and deliberately did not package this information ~n a recommendations section Velasquez et al do provide
MMPI-2MMPI-A recommendations that may be compared with
guidelines I prepared in another context for use of
projective tests with Hispanics (Table 1) (Dana 1995a)
Insert Table 1 about here
12
middot
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
In comparing these recommendation both sources
include attention to the clients primary language
recognition and understanding of ethnicity
acculturation relevant interpretation procedures and
awareness of the role of therapeutic assessment In
addition Velpoundsquez et al include careful attention to
the assessment setting referral questions and use of
results Standard administration procedures and use of
the complete MMPI-2 are also emphasized I suggest in
addition adherence to an acceptable service delivery
style informed concern with DSM limitations for this
population and use of culturally relevant clinical
inferences and personality conceptualizations
Although the assessment instruments differ these
sets of recommendations are clearly complementary and
are designed to serve client interests by recognizing
cultural issues and providing a credible cultural
context for the entire assessment process I appl~ud
the opportunity to juxtapose two perspectives which
demonstrate integration of assessment and cultural
knowledge into practice to dispel legitimate assessor
concerns when venturing into areas their graduate
training typically did not emphasize (Bernal amp Castro
1994) Finally knowledge of Hispanic culture assumes
equal importance with assessment technology but
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
5
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
conclusion became a generality instead of an explicit
caveat
MMPI vs DSM-IV
The heart of my disagreement with Velasquez et al
does lie in the use of both the MMPIMMPI-2 and DSM-IV
as if they were genuine etics The continuing use of
standard psychological tests that are inherently
discriminatory is precisely the reason for my paper As
a result psychologists and consumers alike must
continue to foster research and dialogue to provide
feasible corrections until tests appear that have
cross-cultural validation histories to proclaim
themselves as less discriminatory less prejudicial and
less pathologizing than the MMPIMMPI-2
I take the literature seriously that indicts
standard psychological tests as potentially
pathologizing caricaturing and dehumanizing as a
result of confounding culture with psychopathologyor
personality constructs More useful tests are gradually
replacing the MMPIMMPI-2 Nonetheless a vested
interest represented by substantially more than 5000
publications means that these tests will continue to be
with us for some time There is an ethical imperative
to render their continued usage less prejudicial for
millions of potential assessees
6
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
MMPI Corrections
Velasquez et al are accurate in stating that
corrections can introduce error and empirically-based
formulas have not been used to date In the absence of
such formulas however moderator variables do
constitute a call for action by attempting to reduce
surplus meaning in the term culture that can lead to
more refined estimates of the variance in MMPIMMPI-2
scale scores attributable to culture
However Velasquez et al apparently share the
conservative view demonstrated by the APA Ethics
Committees negative reaction Personal communication
Jones (2 December 1994) to my recommendation that
acculturation scales such as the ARSMAARSMA-II be
routinely applied in ethical multicultural assessment
practice (Dana 1994) These scales are referred to as
special scales by Velasquez et al and their
conservative approach to applications is acknowledged as
a disagreement but not as a source of confusion
This plea for reconsideration of the need for
special norms was not intended to void the use of the
MMPIMMPI-2 but to emphasize that eoriections for
cultural orientation status within each Hispanic
subgroup can be accomplished in this manner (eg
Arnold Montgomery Castenada amp Longoria 1994)
7
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
I appreciated the highlighting of translation
developments since my article was published I
certainly prefer to share information rather than make
pejorative judgments about the absence of such
awareness My test interpretation discussion may be
shallow but I choose to emphasize that constructive
and important research is occurring in this critical and
neglected area Anglo assessors have not been
adequately informed of the magnitude of within-group
differences and a penchant of researchers has been to
lump subjects into small self-identified or surname
groups that over include or exclude ethnic minorities
(Okazaki amp Sue 1995) The sources of relevant
culture-and-subculture-specific information need to be
available for assessors This usual suspect is a
fam~liar and formidible felon who routinely deprives
assessees of dignity and humanity
ReconstructedRestandardized Hispanic MMPI
It becomes a matter of informed opinion whether or
not new emic tests are indeed required for Hispanics and
I respect others views that differ from my own I do
not believe many new emic tests willbe forthcoming but
I must reiterate that for traditional and bicultural
persons from any non-Anglo cultural group strong
arguments for use of available emic measures can be
--------------------
8
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
made To argue that standardization and norms answer
this question for Hispanics in the MMPIMMPI-2 is absurd
in view of their underinclusion in standardization
samples
Their documentation of the frequency of MMPIMMPI-2
usage with Hispanics appears to reinforce my contention
that these tests must be rendered as fair and nonshy
discriminatory as feasible by our after-the-fact
research and interpretation efforts I applaud the
recitation of accomplishments in assessment of Hispanics
in their Tables 1 and 2 as well as the projections of
future research efforts although I wish the lists of
studies yielding these tables were available I
recently asked one of these authors for a copy of one
such unpublished compendium and it was not included with
other unrequested reprints
Unusual Suspects
Assumptions and Test Construction
Seemingly overlooked during the long life and
successful worldwide marketing of a ubiquitous MMPI is
the fact that i~ was constructed by psychologists who
shared a Eurocentric world view and culture-specific
beliefs regarding science and psychometrics Of equal
~----------------------------------------~ concern is a test construction format that has rendered
cross-cultural construct validation extremely difficurt
9
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
without resort to relating test scores to extra-test
measures of behavior (eg Timbrook amp Graham 1994) or
content measures (eg Wrobel amp Lachar 1995) As a
result translation adequacy became a primary focus of
research attention although even meticulous
translations cannot ensure measurement equivalence
(Ellis 1989) Conceptual and metric issues must
eventually assume equal importance in establishing
equivalence of measures (Brislin 1993) C~nceptual
equivalence requires similarity of meaning across
cultural groups and the distributions of scale items
should be examined for range and outliers before factor
analysis is done Metric equivalence requires an
identical metric across groups so that the meaning of
the same test scores is invariant across groups
Group Comparisons
The assessment of cultural groups in this country
has been predicated on performance comparisons of these
groups on standard psychological tests Standard
psychological tests however are emic in nature because
they represent middle-class Anglo-American culture
primarily Their method origins their ~heoretical
assumptions if any and their contents are
Euro-American To be sure standardizations do reflect
non-European origin populations in this country
10
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
sometimes by represenative sampling but rarely by
recognizing gross dissimilarities not only in social
class income and education but also in the presence of
culture-specific response sets in persons of color and
Anglo-Americans Attempts have been made to rectify
this lack of fairness by careful matching on demographic
variables assumed to affect whatever the particular test
measures For example a drastic reduction of group
difference MMPI items was obtained by carefully matching
subjects (Dahlstrom Lachar amp Dahlstrom 1986) As
members of other cultural groups become more like their
Anglo contemporaries in standardization samples the
cultural variance on that test is diminished only for
those persons rather than for the particular cultural
group
Unfortunately there is no easy solution for
standard psychological tests constructed without benefit
of contemporary psychometric sophistication It dqes
not appear feasible to redesign these tests for each
group separately in order to examine the appropriateness
of test content Nor is there professional enthusiasm
for providing new culture-specific nor~s particularly
because each cultural group has extreme within-group
differences A third option comparing scores of
cultural orientation status groups to provide a
11
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
correction is feasible (Arnold et al 1994) By
definition group comparisons are always invidious
whenever the standard of comparison is ernie Hence the
concern with cross-cultural validation research
Statistics
Helms (1992) has indicated that cultural bias may
compromise the assumptions undergirding conventional
statistics Furthermore the interpretation of the null
hypothesis has been questioned as being inappropriate
for detecting cultural bias in assessment (Malgady
1996) He suggests that a statement of bias in the form
of cross-cultural variance as the null hypothesis should
prevail until research demonstrations suggest otherwise
Recomme ations Inform Professional Assessors
In my MMPI paper I did not attempt to present a
culturally-based framework for assessing Hispanics but
merely an annotated glossary of potential corrections
and deliberately did not package this information ~n a recommendations section Velasquez et al do provide
MMPI-2MMPI-A recommendations that may be compared with
guidelines I prepared in another context for use of
projective tests with Hispanics (Table 1) (Dana 1995a)
Insert Table 1 about here
12
middot
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
In comparing these recommendation both sources
include attention to the clients primary language
recognition and understanding of ethnicity
acculturation relevant interpretation procedures and
awareness of the role of therapeutic assessment In
addition Velpoundsquez et al include careful attention to
the assessment setting referral questions and use of
results Standard administration procedures and use of
the complete MMPI-2 are also emphasized I suggest in
addition adherence to an acceptable service delivery
style informed concern with DSM limitations for this
population and use of culturally relevant clinical
inferences and personality conceptualizations
Although the assessment instruments differ these
sets of recommendations are clearly complementary and
are designed to serve client interests by recognizing
cultural issues and providing a credible cultural
context for the entire assessment process I appl~ud
the opportunity to juxtapose two perspectives which
demonstrate integration of assessment and cultural
knowledge into practice to dispel legitimate assessor
concerns when venturing into areas their graduate
training typically did not emphasize (Bernal amp Castro
1994) Finally knowledge of Hispanic culture assumes
equal importance with assessment technology but
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
6
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
MMPI Corrections
Velasquez et al are accurate in stating that
corrections can introduce error and empirically-based
formulas have not been used to date In the absence of
such formulas however moderator variables do
constitute a call for action by attempting to reduce
surplus meaning in the term culture that can lead to
more refined estimates of the variance in MMPIMMPI-2
scale scores attributable to culture
However Velasquez et al apparently share the
conservative view demonstrated by the APA Ethics
Committees negative reaction Personal communication
Jones (2 December 1994) to my recommendation that
acculturation scales such as the ARSMAARSMA-II be
routinely applied in ethical multicultural assessment
practice (Dana 1994) These scales are referred to as
special scales by Velasquez et al and their
conservative approach to applications is acknowledged as
a disagreement but not as a source of confusion
This plea for reconsideration of the need for
special norms was not intended to void the use of the
MMPIMMPI-2 but to emphasize that eoriections for
cultural orientation status within each Hispanic
subgroup can be accomplished in this manner (eg
Arnold Montgomery Castenada amp Longoria 1994)
7
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
I appreciated the highlighting of translation
developments since my article was published I
certainly prefer to share information rather than make
pejorative judgments about the absence of such
awareness My test interpretation discussion may be
shallow but I choose to emphasize that constructive
and important research is occurring in this critical and
neglected area Anglo assessors have not been
adequately informed of the magnitude of within-group
differences and a penchant of researchers has been to
lump subjects into small self-identified or surname
groups that over include or exclude ethnic minorities
(Okazaki amp Sue 1995) The sources of relevant
culture-and-subculture-specific information need to be
available for assessors This usual suspect is a
fam~liar and formidible felon who routinely deprives
assessees of dignity and humanity
ReconstructedRestandardized Hispanic MMPI
It becomes a matter of informed opinion whether or
not new emic tests are indeed required for Hispanics and
I respect others views that differ from my own I do
not believe many new emic tests willbe forthcoming but
I must reiterate that for traditional and bicultural
persons from any non-Anglo cultural group strong
arguments for use of available emic measures can be
--------------------
8
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
made To argue that standardization and norms answer
this question for Hispanics in the MMPIMMPI-2 is absurd
in view of their underinclusion in standardization
samples
Their documentation of the frequency of MMPIMMPI-2
usage with Hispanics appears to reinforce my contention
that these tests must be rendered as fair and nonshy
discriminatory as feasible by our after-the-fact
research and interpretation efforts I applaud the
recitation of accomplishments in assessment of Hispanics
in their Tables 1 and 2 as well as the projections of
future research efforts although I wish the lists of
studies yielding these tables were available I
recently asked one of these authors for a copy of one
such unpublished compendium and it was not included with
other unrequested reprints
Unusual Suspects
Assumptions and Test Construction
Seemingly overlooked during the long life and
successful worldwide marketing of a ubiquitous MMPI is
the fact that i~ was constructed by psychologists who
shared a Eurocentric world view and culture-specific
beliefs regarding science and psychometrics Of equal
~----------------------------------------~ concern is a test construction format that has rendered
cross-cultural construct validation extremely difficurt
9
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
without resort to relating test scores to extra-test
measures of behavior (eg Timbrook amp Graham 1994) or
content measures (eg Wrobel amp Lachar 1995) As a
result translation adequacy became a primary focus of
research attention although even meticulous
translations cannot ensure measurement equivalence
(Ellis 1989) Conceptual and metric issues must
eventually assume equal importance in establishing
equivalence of measures (Brislin 1993) C~nceptual
equivalence requires similarity of meaning across
cultural groups and the distributions of scale items
should be examined for range and outliers before factor
analysis is done Metric equivalence requires an
identical metric across groups so that the meaning of
the same test scores is invariant across groups
Group Comparisons
The assessment of cultural groups in this country
has been predicated on performance comparisons of these
groups on standard psychological tests Standard
psychological tests however are emic in nature because
they represent middle-class Anglo-American culture
primarily Their method origins their ~heoretical
assumptions if any and their contents are
Euro-American To be sure standardizations do reflect
non-European origin populations in this country
10
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
sometimes by represenative sampling but rarely by
recognizing gross dissimilarities not only in social
class income and education but also in the presence of
culture-specific response sets in persons of color and
Anglo-Americans Attempts have been made to rectify
this lack of fairness by careful matching on demographic
variables assumed to affect whatever the particular test
measures For example a drastic reduction of group
difference MMPI items was obtained by carefully matching
subjects (Dahlstrom Lachar amp Dahlstrom 1986) As
members of other cultural groups become more like their
Anglo contemporaries in standardization samples the
cultural variance on that test is diminished only for
those persons rather than for the particular cultural
group
Unfortunately there is no easy solution for
standard psychological tests constructed without benefit
of contemporary psychometric sophistication It dqes
not appear feasible to redesign these tests for each
group separately in order to examine the appropriateness
of test content Nor is there professional enthusiasm
for providing new culture-specific nor~s particularly
because each cultural group has extreme within-group
differences A third option comparing scores of
cultural orientation status groups to provide a
11
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
correction is feasible (Arnold et al 1994) By
definition group comparisons are always invidious
whenever the standard of comparison is ernie Hence the
concern with cross-cultural validation research
Statistics
Helms (1992) has indicated that cultural bias may
compromise the assumptions undergirding conventional
statistics Furthermore the interpretation of the null
hypothesis has been questioned as being inappropriate
for detecting cultural bias in assessment (Malgady
1996) He suggests that a statement of bias in the form
of cross-cultural variance as the null hypothesis should
prevail until research demonstrations suggest otherwise
Recomme ations Inform Professional Assessors
In my MMPI paper I did not attempt to present a
culturally-based framework for assessing Hispanics but
merely an annotated glossary of potential corrections
and deliberately did not package this information ~n a recommendations section Velasquez et al do provide
MMPI-2MMPI-A recommendations that may be compared with
guidelines I prepared in another context for use of
projective tests with Hispanics (Table 1) (Dana 1995a)
Insert Table 1 about here
12
middot
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
In comparing these recommendation both sources
include attention to the clients primary language
recognition and understanding of ethnicity
acculturation relevant interpretation procedures and
awareness of the role of therapeutic assessment In
addition Velpoundsquez et al include careful attention to
the assessment setting referral questions and use of
results Standard administration procedures and use of
the complete MMPI-2 are also emphasized I suggest in
addition adherence to an acceptable service delivery
style informed concern with DSM limitations for this
population and use of culturally relevant clinical
inferences and personality conceptualizations
Although the assessment instruments differ these
sets of recommendations are clearly complementary and
are designed to serve client interests by recognizing
cultural issues and providing a credible cultural
context for the entire assessment process I appl~ud
the opportunity to juxtapose two perspectives which
demonstrate integration of assessment and cultural
knowledge into practice to dispel legitimate assessor
concerns when venturing into areas their graduate
training typically did not emphasize (Bernal amp Castro
1994) Finally knowledge of Hispanic culture assumes
equal importance with assessment technology but
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
7
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
I appreciated the highlighting of translation
developments since my article was published I
certainly prefer to share information rather than make
pejorative judgments about the absence of such
awareness My test interpretation discussion may be
shallow but I choose to emphasize that constructive
and important research is occurring in this critical and
neglected area Anglo assessors have not been
adequately informed of the magnitude of within-group
differences and a penchant of researchers has been to
lump subjects into small self-identified or surname
groups that over include or exclude ethnic minorities
(Okazaki amp Sue 1995) The sources of relevant
culture-and-subculture-specific information need to be
available for assessors This usual suspect is a
fam~liar and formidible felon who routinely deprives
assessees of dignity and humanity
ReconstructedRestandardized Hispanic MMPI
It becomes a matter of informed opinion whether or
not new emic tests are indeed required for Hispanics and
I respect others views that differ from my own I do
not believe many new emic tests willbe forthcoming but
I must reiterate that for traditional and bicultural
persons from any non-Anglo cultural group strong
arguments for use of available emic measures can be
--------------------
8
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
made To argue that standardization and norms answer
this question for Hispanics in the MMPIMMPI-2 is absurd
in view of their underinclusion in standardization
samples
Their documentation of the frequency of MMPIMMPI-2
usage with Hispanics appears to reinforce my contention
that these tests must be rendered as fair and nonshy
discriminatory as feasible by our after-the-fact
research and interpretation efforts I applaud the
recitation of accomplishments in assessment of Hispanics
in their Tables 1 and 2 as well as the projections of
future research efforts although I wish the lists of
studies yielding these tables were available I
recently asked one of these authors for a copy of one
such unpublished compendium and it was not included with
other unrequested reprints
Unusual Suspects
Assumptions and Test Construction
Seemingly overlooked during the long life and
successful worldwide marketing of a ubiquitous MMPI is
the fact that i~ was constructed by psychologists who
shared a Eurocentric world view and culture-specific
beliefs regarding science and psychometrics Of equal
~----------------------------------------~ concern is a test construction format that has rendered
cross-cultural construct validation extremely difficurt
9
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
without resort to relating test scores to extra-test
measures of behavior (eg Timbrook amp Graham 1994) or
content measures (eg Wrobel amp Lachar 1995) As a
result translation adequacy became a primary focus of
research attention although even meticulous
translations cannot ensure measurement equivalence
(Ellis 1989) Conceptual and metric issues must
eventually assume equal importance in establishing
equivalence of measures (Brislin 1993) C~nceptual
equivalence requires similarity of meaning across
cultural groups and the distributions of scale items
should be examined for range and outliers before factor
analysis is done Metric equivalence requires an
identical metric across groups so that the meaning of
the same test scores is invariant across groups
Group Comparisons
The assessment of cultural groups in this country
has been predicated on performance comparisons of these
groups on standard psychological tests Standard
psychological tests however are emic in nature because
they represent middle-class Anglo-American culture
primarily Their method origins their ~heoretical
assumptions if any and their contents are
Euro-American To be sure standardizations do reflect
non-European origin populations in this country
10
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
sometimes by represenative sampling but rarely by
recognizing gross dissimilarities not only in social
class income and education but also in the presence of
culture-specific response sets in persons of color and
Anglo-Americans Attempts have been made to rectify
this lack of fairness by careful matching on demographic
variables assumed to affect whatever the particular test
measures For example a drastic reduction of group
difference MMPI items was obtained by carefully matching
subjects (Dahlstrom Lachar amp Dahlstrom 1986) As
members of other cultural groups become more like their
Anglo contemporaries in standardization samples the
cultural variance on that test is diminished only for
those persons rather than for the particular cultural
group
Unfortunately there is no easy solution for
standard psychological tests constructed without benefit
of contemporary psychometric sophistication It dqes
not appear feasible to redesign these tests for each
group separately in order to examine the appropriateness
of test content Nor is there professional enthusiasm
for providing new culture-specific nor~s particularly
because each cultural group has extreme within-group
differences A third option comparing scores of
cultural orientation status groups to provide a
11
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
correction is feasible (Arnold et al 1994) By
definition group comparisons are always invidious
whenever the standard of comparison is ernie Hence the
concern with cross-cultural validation research
Statistics
Helms (1992) has indicated that cultural bias may
compromise the assumptions undergirding conventional
statistics Furthermore the interpretation of the null
hypothesis has been questioned as being inappropriate
for detecting cultural bias in assessment (Malgady
1996) He suggests that a statement of bias in the form
of cross-cultural variance as the null hypothesis should
prevail until research demonstrations suggest otherwise
Recomme ations Inform Professional Assessors
In my MMPI paper I did not attempt to present a
culturally-based framework for assessing Hispanics but
merely an annotated glossary of potential corrections
and deliberately did not package this information ~n a recommendations section Velasquez et al do provide
MMPI-2MMPI-A recommendations that may be compared with
guidelines I prepared in another context for use of
projective tests with Hispanics (Table 1) (Dana 1995a)
Insert Table 1 about here
12
middot
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
In comparing these recommendation both sources
include attention to the clients primary language
recognition and understanding of ethnicity
acculturation relevant interpretation procedures and
awareness of the role of therapeutic assessment In
addition Velpoundsquez et al include careful attention to
the assessment setting referral questions and use of
results Standard administration procedures and use of
the complete MMPI-2 are also emphasized I suggest in
addition adherence to an acceptable service delivery
style informed concern with DSM limitations for this
population and use of culturally relevant clinical
inferences and personality conceptualizations
Although the assessment instruments differ these
sets of recommendations are clearly complementary and
are designed to serve client interests by recognizing
cultural issues and providing a credible cultural
context for the entire assessment process I appl~ud
the opportunity to juxtapose two perspectives which
demonstrate integration of assessment and cultural
knowledge into practice to dispel legitimate assessor
concerns when venturing into areas their graduate
training typically did not emphasize (Bernal amp Castro
1994) Finally knowledge of Hispanic culture assumes
equal importance with assessment technology but
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
--------------------
8
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
made To argue that standardization and norms answer
this question for Hispanics in the MMPIMMPI-2 is absurd
in view of their underinclusion in standardization
samples
Their documentation of the frequency of MMPIMMPI-2
usage with Hispanics appears to reinforce my contention
that these tests must be rendered as fair and nonshy
discriminatory as feasible by our after-the-fact
research and interpretation efforts I applaud the
recitation of accomplishments in assessment of Hispanics
in their Tables 1 and 2 as well as the projections of
future research efforts although I wish the lists of
studies yielding these tables were available I
recently asked one of these authors for a copy of one
such unpublished compendium and it was not included with
other unrequested reprints
Unusual Suspects
Assumptions and Test Construction
Seemingly overlooked during the long life and
successful worldwide marketing of a ubiquitous MMPI is
the fact that i~ was constructed by psychologists who
shared a Eurocentric world view and culture-specific
beliefs regarding science and psychometrics Of equal
~----------------------------------------~ concern is a test construction format that has rendered
cross-cultural construct validation extremely difficurt
9
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
without resort to relating test scores to extra-test
measures of behavior (eg Timbrook amp Graham 1994) or
content measures (eg Wrobel amp Lachar 1995) As a
result translation adequacy became a primary focus of
research attention although even meticulous
translations cannot ensure measurement equivalence
(Ellis 1989) Conceptual and metric issues must
eventually assume equal importance in establishing
equivalence of measures (Brislin 1993) C~nceptual
equivalence requires similarity of meaning across
cultural groups and the distributions of scale items
should be examined for range and outliers before factor
analysis is done Metric equivalence requires an
identical metric across groups so that the meaning of
the same test scores is invariant across groups
Group Comparisons
The assessment of cultural groups in this country
has been predicated on performance comparisons of these
groups on standard psychological tests Standard
psychological tests however are emic in nature because
they represent middle-class Anglo-American culture
primarily Their method origins their ~heoretical
assumptions if any and their contents are
Euro-American To be sure standardizations do reflect
non-European origin populations in this country
10
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
sometimes by represenative sampling but rarely by
recognizing gross dissimilarities not only in social
class income and education but also in the presence of
culture-specific response sets in persons of color and
Anglo-Americans Attempts have been made to rectify
this lack of fairness by careful matching on demographic
variables assumed to affect whatever the particular test
measures For example a drastic reduction of group
difference MMPI items was obtained by carefully matching
subjects (Dahlstrom Lachar amp Dahlstrom 1986) As
members of other cultural groups become more like their
Anglo contemporaries in standardization samples the
cultural variance on that test is diminished only for
those persons rather than for the particular cultural
group
Unfortunately there is no easy solution for
standard psychological tests constructed without benefit
of contemporary psychometric sophistication It dqes
not appear feasible to redesign these tests for each
group separately in order to examine the appropriateness
of test content Nor is there professional enthusiasm
for providing new culture-specific nor~s particularly
because each cultural group has extreme within-group
differences A third option comparing scores of
cultural orientation status groups to provide a
11
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
correction is feasible (Arnold et al 1994) By
definition group comparisons are always invidious
whenever the standard of comparison is ernie Hence the
concern with cross-cultural validation research
Statistics
Helms (1992) has indicated that cultural bias may
compromise the assumptions undergirding conventional
statistics Furthermore the interpretation of the null
hypothesis has been questioned as being inappropriate
for detecting cultural bias in assessment (Malgady
1996) He suggests that a statement of bias in the form
of cross-cultural variance as the null hypothesis should
prevail until research demonstrations suggest otherwise
Recomme ations Inform Professional Assessors
In my MMPI paper I did not attempt to present a
culturally-based framework for assessing Hispanics but
merely an annotated glossary of potential corrections
and deliberately did not package this information ~n a recommendations section Velasquez et al do provide
MMPI-2MMPI-A recommendations that may be compared with
guidelines I prepared in another context for use of
projective tests with Hispanics (Table 1) (Dana 1995a)
Insert Table 1 about here
12
middot
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
In comparing these recommendation both sources
include attention to the clients primary language
recognition and understanding of ethnicity
acculturation relevant interpretation procedures and
awareness of the role of therapeutic assessment In
addition Velpoundsquez et al include careful attention to
the assessment setting referral questions and use of
results Standard administration procedures and use of
the complete MMPI-2 are also emphasized I suggest in
addition adherence to an acceptable service delivery
style informed concern with DSM limitations for this
population and use of culturally relevant clinical
inferences and personality conceptualizations
Although the assessment instruments differ these
sets of recommendations are clearly complementary and
are designed to serve client interests by recognizing
cultural issues and providing a credible cultural
context for the entire assessment process I appl~ud
the opportunity to juxtapose two perspectives which
demonstrate integration of assessment and cultural
knowledge into practice to dispel legitimate assessor
concerns when venturing into areas their graduate
training typically did not emphasize (Bernal amp Castro
1994) Finally knowledge of Hispanic culture assumes
equal importance with assessment technology but
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
9
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
without resort to relating test scores to extra-test
measures of behavior (eg Timbrook amp Graham 1994) or
content measures (eg Wrobel amp Lachar 1995) As a
result translation adequacy became a primary focus of
research attention although even meticulous
translations cannot ensure measurement equivalence
(Ellis 1989) Conceptual and metric issues must
eventually assume equal importance in establishing
equivalence of measures (Brislin 1993) C~nceptual
equivalence requires similarity of meaning across
cultural groups and the distributions of scale items
should be examined for range and outliers before factor
analysis is done Metric equivalence requires an
identical metric across groups so that the meaning of
the same test scores is invariant across groups
Group Comparisons
The assessment of cultural groups in this country
has been predicated on performance comparisons of these
groups on standard psychological tests Standard
psychological tests however are emic in nature because
they represent middle-class Anglo-American culture
primarily Their method origins their ~heoretical
assumptions if any and their contents are
Euro-American To be sure standardizations do reflect
non-European origin populations in this country
10
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
sometimes by represenative sampling but rarely by
recognizing gross dissimilarities not only in social
class income and education but also in the presence of
culture-specific response sets in persons of color and
Anglo-Americans Attempts have been made to rectify
this lack of fairness by careful matching on demographic
variables assumed to affect whatever the particular test
measures For example a drastic reduction of group
difference MMPI items was obtained by carefully matching
subjects (Dahlstrom Lachar amp Dahlstrom 1986) As
members of other cultural groups become more like their
Anglo contemporaries in standardization samples the
cultural variance on that test is diminished only for
those persons rather than for the particular cultural
group
Unfortunately there is no easy solution for
standard psychological tests constructed without benefit
of contemporary psychometric sophistication It dqes
not appear feasible to redesign these tests for each
group separately in order to examine the appropriateness
of test content Nor is there professional enthusiasm
for providing new culture-specific nor~s particularly
because each cultural group has extreme within-group
differences A third option comparing scores of
cultural orientation status groups to provide a
11
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
correction is feasible (Arnold et al 1994) By
definition group comparisons are always invidious
whenever the standard of comparison is ernie Hence the
concern with cross-cultural validation research
Statistics
Helms (1992) has indicated that cultural bias may
compromise the assumptions undergirding conventional
statistics Furthermore the interpretation of the null
hypothesis has been questioned as being inappropriate
for detecting cultural bias in assessment (Malgady
1996) He suggests that a statement of bias in the form
of cross-cultural variance as the null hypothesis should
prevail until research demonstrations suggest otherwise
Recomme ations Inform Professional Assessors
In my MMPI paper I did not attempt to present a
culturally-based framework for assessing Hispanics but
merely an annotated glossary of potential corrections
and deliberately did not package this information ~n a recommendations section Velasquez et al do provide
MMPI-2MMPI-A recommendations that may be compared with
guidelines I prepared in another context for use of
projective tests with Hispanics (Table 1) (Dana 1995a)
Insert Table 1 about here
12
middot
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
In comparing these recommendation both sources
include attention to the clients primary language
recognition and understanding of ethnicity
acculturation relevant interpretation procedures and
awareness of the role of therapeutic assessment In
addition Velpoundsquez et al include careful attention to
the assessment setting referral questions and use of
results Standard administration procedures and use of
the complete MMPI-2 are also emphasized I suggest in
addition adherence to an acceptable service delivery
style informed concern with DSM limitations for this
population and use of culturally relevant clinical
inferences and personality conceptualizations
Although the assessment instruments differ these
sets of recommendations are clearly complementary and
are designed to serve client interests by recognizing
cultural issues and providing a credible cultural
context for the entire assessment process I appl~ud
the opportunity to juxtapose two perspectives which
demonstrate integration of assessment and cultural
knowledge into practice to dispel legitimate assessor
concerns when venturing into areas their graduate
training typically did not emphasize (Bernal amp Castro
1994) Finally knowledge of Hispanic culture assumes
equal importance with assessment technology but
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
10
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
sometimes by represenative sampling but rarely by
recognizing gross dissimilarities not only in social
class income and education but also in the presence of
culture-specific response sets in persons of color and
Anglo-Americans Attempts have been made to rectify
this lack of fairness by careful matching on demographic
variables assumed to affect whatever the particular test
measures For example a drastic reduction of group
difference MMPI items was obtained by carefully matching
subjects (Dahlstrom Lachar amp Dahlstrom 1986) As
members of other cultural groups become more like their
Anglo contemporaries in standardization samples the
cultural variance on that test is diminished only for
those persons rather than for the particular cultural
group
Unfortunately there is no easy solution for
standard psychological tests constructed without benefit
of contemporary psychometric sophistication It dqes
not appear feasible to redesign these tests for each
group separately in order to examine the appropriateness
of test content Nor is there professional enthusiasm
for providing new culture-specific nor~s particularly
because each cultural group has extreme within-group
differences A third option comparing scores of
cultural orientation status groups to provide a
11
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
correction is feasible (Arnold et al 1994) By
definition group comparisons are always invidious
whenever the standard of comparison is ernie Hence the
concern with cross-cultural validation research
Statistics
Helms (1992) has indicated that cultural bias may
compromise the assumptions undergirding conventional
statistics Furthermore the interpretation of the null
hypothesis has been questioned as being inappropriate
for detecting cultural bias in assessment (Malgady
1996) He suggests that a statement of bias in the form
of cross-cultural variance as the null hypothesis should
prevail until research demonstrations suggest otherwise
Recomme ations Inform Professional Assessors
In my MMPI paper I did not attempt to present a
culturally-based framework for assessing Hispanics but
merely an annotated glossary of potential corrections
and deliberately did not package this information ~n a recommendations section Velasquez et al do provide
MMPI-2MMPI-A recommendations that may be compared with
guidelines I prepared in another context for use of
projective tests with Hispanics (Table 1) (Dana 1995a)
Insert Table 1 about here
12
middot
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
In comparing these recommendation both sources
include attention to the clients primary language
recognition and understanding of ethnicity
acculturation relevant interpretation procedures and
awareness of the role of therapeutic assessment In
addition Velpoundsquez et al include careful attention to
the assessment setting referral questions and use of
results Standard administration procedures and use of
the complete MMPI-2 are also emphasized I suggest in
addition adherence to an acceptable service delivery
style informed concern with DSM limitations for this
population and use of culturally relevant clinical
inferences and personality conceptualizations
Although the assessment instruments differ these
sets of recommendations are clearly complementary and
are designed to serve client interests by recognizing
cultural issues and providing a credible cultural
context for the entire assessment process I appl~ud
the opportunity to juxtapose two perspectives which
demonstrate integration of assessment and cultural
knowledge into practice to dispel legitimate assessor
concerns when venturing into areas their graduate
training typically did not emphasize (Bernal amp Castro
1994) Finally knowledge of Hispanic culture assumes
equal importance with assessment technology but
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
11
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
correction is feasible (Arnold et al 1994) By
definition group comparisons are always invidious
whenever the standard of comparison is ernie Hence the
concern with cross-cultural validation research
Statistics
Helms (1992) has indicated that cultural bias may
compromise the assumptions undergirding conventional
statistics Furthermore the interpretation of the null
hypothesis has been questioned as being inappropriate
for detecting cultural bias in assessment (Malgady
1996) He suggests that a statement of bias in the form
of cross-cultural variance as the null hypothesis should
prevail until research demonstrations suggest otherwise
Recomme ations Inform Professional Assessors
In my MMPI paper I did not attempt to present a
culturally-based framework for assessing Hispanics but
merely an annotated glossary of potential corrections
and deliberately did not package this information ~n a recommendations section Velasquez et al do provide
MMPI-2MMPI-A recommendations that may be compared with
guidelines I prepared in another context for use of
projective tests with Hispanics (Table 1) (Dana 1995a)
Insert Table 1 about here
12
middot
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
In comparing these recommendation both sources
include attention to the clients primary language
recognition and understanding of ethnicity
acculturation relevant interpretation procedures and
awareness of the role of therapeutic assessment In
addition Velpoundsquez et al include careful attention to
the assessment setting referral questions and use of
results Standard administration procedures and use of
the complete MMPI-2 are also emphasized I suggest in
addition adherence to an acceptable service delivery
style informed concern with DSM limitations for this
population and use of culturally relevant clinical
inferences and personality conceptualizations
Although the assessment instruments differ these
sets of recommendations are clearly complementary and
are designed to serve client interests by recognizing
cultural issues and providing a credible cultural
context for the entire assessment process I appl~ud
the opportunity to juxtapose two perspectives which
demonstrate integration of assessment and cultural
knowledge into practice to dispel legitimate assessor
concerns when venturing into areas their graduate
training typically did not emphasize (Bernal amp Castro
1994) Finally knowledge of Hispanic culture assumes
equal importance with assessment technology but
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
12
middot
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
In comparing these recommendation both sources
include attention to the clients primary language
recognition and understanding of ethnicity
acculturation relevant interpretation procedures and
awareness of the role of therapeutic assessment In
addition Velpoundsquez et al include careful attention to
the assessment setting referral questions and use of
results Standard administration procedures and use of
the complete MMPI-2 are also emphasized I suggest in
addition adherence to an acceptable service delivery
style informed concern with DSM limitations for this
population and use of culturally relevant clinical
inferences and personality conceptualizations
Although the assessment instruments differ these
sets of recommendations are clearly complementary and
are designed to serve client interests by recognizing
cultural issues and providing a credible cultural
context for the entire assessment process I appl~ud
the opportunity to juxtapose two perspectives which
demonstrate integration of assessment and cultural
knowledge into practice to dispel legitimate assessor
concerns when venturing into areas their graduate
training typically did not emphasize (Bernal amp Castro
1994) Finally knowledge of Hispanic culture assumes
equal importance with assessment technology but
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
13
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
assessor recourse to technology alone without such
contextual knowledge is a formidible obstacle to
culturally competent assessment
There is a commonground in this exchange that
should not become a battleground because of the
selectivity of facts and the unsteadiness of observers
(Wyatt 1967 p 13) Professional psychologists and
consumers of our services may all be losers when
interpretations of research assumptions and findings are
ridiculed or trivialized for ostensibly discouraging
assessors by being dated fragmentary and
contradictory
Both the usual and unusual suspects appear
worthy of intense scrutiny and full investigation by the
profe~sional assessment community I cannot believe
that conveying information to practitioners is a
turn-off as suggested by Velasquez et al To the
contrary there is a primary instructional role in
facilitating culturally competent assessment services
providing support and reassurance that their own doubts
may be countered by an informed caution in practice
believe this exchange of viewpoints is valuable to
professional assessors because Velasquez et aI and
myself share the conviction that the cross-cultural use
I
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
14
of MMPIMMPI-2 for Hispanics needs to be carefully and
publicly examined
Table 1
Guidelines for Use of Projective Tests With Hispanics
Description
Recognize huge intri~~Qup differshyences among_three major resident groups~ immigrant refugees~ and sojourners Erom 17 countries often with biracial origins
Language Always use first language of client Translatorsinterpreters create special problems Be aware of frequent preference for services in Spanish 90 are Spanish-speaking
Service Delivery Proper social etiquette mandatory Simpatia includes respeto personshyalismo platicando Confianza ~n confianza is expected
Acculturation Evaluation of acculturation status required before test selection administration Provide campes for subsequent tesi interpret+tion
Interpretation Predicated on cultural experience Clinical knowledge world vie~~ values Inference group identity seif-co~cept
healthillness beliefs language Hispanic personality theory
Interpretation Construct validation for Hispanic Test Scores popul~tions regui~ede Normative Data Separate norms are needed to
provide corrections for acculturation stamiddottus
Psychiatric Recognize DSM-IV limitations Use Diagnosis culture-specific syndromes and
cultural formulation for Hispanics
Personality Use existing sources of person-Theory ~ ali~y theoryempirical data
relevant to each Hispanic subgroup
Shared Test Recognize cultural considerations Findings in providing edb~ck to client
family
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
15
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Note-used with permission from the Spanish
Rorschach Society
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
16
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
References
Arnold B R Montgomery G T Castenada I amp
Longoria R (1994) Acculturation and performance
of Hispanics on selected Halstead-Reitan
neuropsychological tests Assessment 1 239-248
Bernal M E amp Castro P G (1994) Are clinical
psychologists prepared for service and research with
ethnic minorities Report of a decade of progress
American Psychologist 49 797-805
Brislin R W (1993) Understanding cultures
influence on behavior New York Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Cronbach L J (1990) Essenials of psychological
testing (5th ed) New York Harper amp Row
Dahlstrom W G Lachar D amp Dahlstrom L E
(1986) MMPI patterns of American minorities
Minneapolis MN University of Minnesota Press
Dana R H (1988) Culturally diverse groups anq MMPI
inerpretation Professional Psychology Research and
Practice ~ 490-495
Dana R H (1993) Multicultural assessment
perspectives for professional psychology Boaton
Allyn amp Bacon
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
17
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
Dana R H (1994) Testing and assessment ethics for
all persons Beginning and agenda Professional
Psychology Research and Practice 25 349-354
Dana R H (1995) Orientaciones para la evaluacibn de
hispanos en los Estados Unidos de Norteamerica
utilizando la prueba de Rorschach y el Test de
Apercepci6n Tem~tica Revista de la Sociedad del
Rorschach y Methodos Proyectivos 8 176-187
Dana R H (1995b) Culturally competent MMPI
assessment of Hispanics Hispanic Journal of
Behavioral Sciences 11 305-319
Ellis B (1989) Differential item functioning
Implications for test translations Journal of
Applied Psychology I 74 912-921
Helmes E amp Reddon J R (1993) A perspective on
developments in assessing psychopathology A critical
review of the MMPI and MMPI-2 Psychological
Bulletin 113 453-471
Helms J E (1992) Why is there no study of cultural
equivalence in standardized cognitive ability
testing American Psychologist 47 1083-1101
Jones S E (2 December 1994) Letter with summary of
actions Ad Hic Policy and Education Committee APA
Ethnic Committee
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-
- --- - - -
RESPONSE TO VELASQUEZ ET AL
18
Malgady R G (1996) The question of cultural bias
in assessment and diagnosis of ethnic minority
clients Lets reject the Null Hypothesis
professional Psychology Research and Practice 37
73-77
Okazaki S amp Sue S (1995) Methodological issues
in assessment research with ethnic minorities
Psychological Assessment 1 367-375
Timbrook R E amp Graham J R (1994) Ethnic
differences on the the MMPI-2 Psychological
Assessment Q 212-217
Velasquez R J Butcher J N Garrido M amp Cabiya
J J Danas culturally competent MMPI asseseement
of Hispanics A case of rounding up the usual
suspects Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Wrobel N H amp Lachar D (1995) Racial differences
in adolescent self-report A comparative validity
study using homogeneous MMPI content measures
Psychological Assessment 1 140-147
Wyatt F K (1967) How objective is objectivity
Reflections on the scope and limitations of a basic
tenet in the study of personality Journal of
Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment ll
3-19
-----~------------
- Silk Purse or Sows Ear An MMPI Commonground
-
- Let us know how access to this document benefits you
- Citation Details
-
- tmp1392415052pdf4ub49
-