ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to review and evaluate critically the development of psychological tests for Mexican Americans and Latinos residing in the United States. To accomplish this objective, we first present an anthropologically informed definition of culture, one that respects the dynamic and social nature of culture (Lopez & Guarnaccia, 2000). The implication of this contemporary definition is that test developers, researchers, and examiners respect the changeable nature of culture and look to the social world to ascribe meaning to research findings and test results. We then review selected advances in test development as they relate to Latina/os in general and Mexican Americans in particular. Our main interest is to identify how culture is considered and to evaluate such considerations. We limit the scope of this chapter to the assessment of cognitive-intellectual functioning and psychodiagnosis because they represent central aspects of psychological assessment and are among the most widely studied. Based on the critical evaluation, we then recommend ways in which test development can better incorporate a cultural perspective.
