Abstract
Abstract : The HPCSA’s Policy on the Classification of psychometric measuring devices, instruments, methods and techniques, warns that it would be “unwise” (p.1) for the assessment profession to not pursue the adaption of existing and development of new, culturally fair tests. Even so, very few culturally relevant tests have been developed in South Africa (Foxcroft, Paterson, Le Roux, & Herbest, 2004). This is despite practitioners becoming more cognisant of the importance of using sound assessments, which maintain their validity across cultural groups (Paterson & Uys, 2005). There is an urgent need for the development and adaption of psychometric assessments in order to assure their validity in a multicultural South Africa. A test is deemed culturally fair if the test is void of test items that are a source of potential bias. A culture fair intelligence test should therefore accurately test an individual’s intelligence level regardless of their cultural or socio-economic background. Many psychologists believe that the idea that a test “can be completely absent of cultural bias” (Benson, 2003, p.1), that is culture free, is not possible. That being said, a culture fair, as opposed to culture free, test is a necessary and vital goal to strive towards should the assessment profession want to confirm to the regulations as outlined by the HPCSA and the employment Equity Act. In this pilot research project, I argue that the presence of a time limit as well as a formal testing situation could increase test anxiety, and therefore hamper the learner’s ability to supply answers that accurately reflect his/her intellectual ability. An adapted CFT1- R was administered to the sample. In order to establish the optimum time limit for each subtest, the following intervention was implemented during Adaptation of an intelligence test to assess its cultural fairness vii administration. Once the official time for the subtest had lapsed, the administrators marked each child’s progress at 30 second intervals. This continued until the child had finished the subtest, at which point the administrator made a note of the total time needed to complete the test. The results of the data analysis indicated that South African learners may require more time, when completing the CFT1-R, than their German counterparts. Findings also indicated that mother tongue tuition versus second language tuition could possibly influence the child’s ability to perform on a cognitive assessment. A further assumption that could be drawn from the findings is the effect of preschool education, both in terms of the child’s access to a preschool education as well as the quality of education that was received. These assumptions require further research. Adaptation of an intelligence test to assess its cultural fairness.
M.Ed. (Childhood Education)