ABSTRACT
For decades traditional projective tests have been used cross-culturally. It became evident that the clinical utility of such instruments was limited due to test bias. Specific to projective instruments, there was a lack of cultural congruency (e.g., racial features, contextual or cultural setting) between the images in the projective cards (e.g., Caucasian) and the test taker. The use of such instruments with African American or Black test takers often led to shorter story length and lack of cultural identification (Brunson, 1981; Dlepu, 1981; Duzant, 2005; Matthews-Evans, 1992; Squire, 1985; Thompson, 1949; Triplett, 1981; Weaver, 1978). It became evident that there was a profound need for the development of tests that examined specific cultural issues and other relevant factors (e.g., race, language, level of acculturation) (Dana, 1996). Several problems are attributed to the administration, scoring, and interpretation of psychological tests that are not culturally congruent with the test population. First, the tests’ normative data should be congruent with the examinees’ cultural background. According to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (2002, p. 12), “psychologists use assessment instruments whose validity and reliability have been established for use with members of the population tested.”
