BCP BCP Ethics and Professional Standards Questions and Answers 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A psychometrist discovers that a colleague has been administering a cognitive assessment without following the standardized instructions. What is the most appropriate first step?
- Report the colleague to the licensing board immediately
- Discuss the concern directly with the colleague (Correct answer)
- Ignore the issue since it is not your responsibility
- Contact the client's family to inform them
Correct answer: Discuss the concern directly with the colleague
Ethical guidelines recommend addressing concerns with the colleague directly before escalating to formal reporting channels.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes the psychometrist's role regarding informed consent before testing?
- Informed consent is only the referring psychologist's responsibility
- The psychometrist should ensure the examinee understands the purpose and nature of testing (Correct answer)
- Consent is unnecessary for standardized assessments
- Verbal agreement from a family member is always sufficient
Correct answer: The psychometrist should ensure the examinee understands the purpose and nature of testing
Psychometrists share responsibility for ensuring examinees are informed about the testing process, even when working under supervision.
Question 3: A psychometrist is asked by an attorney to release raw test data from a client's neuropsychological evaluation. What should the psychometrist do?
- Release the data immediately as requested
- Refer the request to the supervising psychologist (Correct answer)
- Provide only a summary of the results
- Destroy the records to protect confidentiality
Correct answer: Refer the request to the supervising psychologist
Raw test data release decisions fall under the supervising psychologist's authority, not the psychometrist's independent judgment.
Question 4: Which ethical principle is most directly violated when a psychometrist uses a test outside its validated population norms?
- Beneficence
- Competence (Correct answer)
- Justice
- Integrity
Correct answer: Competence
Using a test beyond its validated norms reflects a failure in competence, as the practitioner should know the limitations of the instrument.
Question 5: A psychometrist notices that an examinee appears to be deliberately performing poorly on a cognitive measure. What is the most ethical course of action?
- Stop testing and refuse to score the results
- Document the behavioral observations and continue administering the test per protocol (Correct answer)
- Confront the examinee about suspected malingering
- Alter the scoring to compensate for suspected poor effort
Correct answer: Document the behavioral observations and continue administering the test per protocol
Documenting observations while maintaining standardized administration preserves test validity and provides the supervising psychologist with critical interpretive data.
Question 6: Under BCP ethical guidelines, what is the minimum record retention period a psychometrist should follow for test protocols and scoring sheets?
- 1 year after testing
- 3 years after testing
- As dictated by state law and institutional policy, typically 7 years (Correct answer)
- Records should be destroyed immediately after the report is finalized
Correct answer: As dictated by state law and institutional policy, typically 7 years
Record retention must comply with applicable state laws and institutional policies, which commonly require maintaining records for at least 7 years.
BCP BCP Ethics and Professional Standards Questions and Answers 2
A psychometrist discovers that a colleague has been administering a cognitive assessment without following the standardized instructions.
What is the most appropriate first step?