Abstract
The development of psychological testing and assessment in South Africa took place in a racially segregated society. Thus, the multicultural and multilingual society of South Africa presents issues and concerns for practice as an educational psychologist. Most of the psychological tests that are used in the field of educational psychology are based on the Euro-American principles of standardisation.
The study employed a non-empirical research design, more specifically a literature review. The study reviewed existing literature pertaining to psychological intelligence testing in South Africa. The aims of this research study were: (1) to explore positive and negative criticisms in terms of psychological intelligence tests in the South African context, (2) to report on availability of psychological intelligence testing within the South African context, (3) to report on factors that influence assessment results, (4) to provide recommendations for the use of psychological intelligence testing in South Africa for the domains of cognition.
The analysis of the research literature concluded that for fair, valid and ethical psychological testing and assessment practice in the South African context, all domains of functioning of the child should be considered. Educational psychologists may utilise four pillars of assessment, namely; normed reference tests, interviews, observations and informal assessments, qualitative interpretations of the psychological intelligence test and Curriculum Based Assessments, namely; reading comprehension and writing a paragraph for triangulation during the assessment process.
M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)