GUIDELINES FOR
ADAPTING TESTS
Carlos A. Almenara, PhD
Online and Offline Resources In Psychological Assessment
PSY494P122 (May 7th, 2014)
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INTERNATIONAL
TEST COMMISSION
(ITC)
International Test Commission Guidelines
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 The project began in 1992
 Translation
 Adaptation
 Score equivalences
http://www.intestcom.org/upload/sitefiles/40.pdf
International Test Commission Guidelines
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 Several organizations participated:
 European Association of Psychological Assessment (EAPA)
 European Test Publishers Group (ETPG)
 International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology
(IACCP)
 International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP)
 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational
Achievement (IEA)
 International Language Testing Association (ILTA)
 International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS)
http://www.intestcom.org/upload/sitefiles/40.pdf
International Test Commission Guidelines
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 A committee of 12 representatives from
these organizations worked for several
years
 They prepared 22 guidelines
 These guidelines were field-tested
http://www.intestcom.org/upload/sitefiles/40.pdf
International Test Commission Guidelines
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 Finally, these guidelines were approved by
the ITC for distribution to:
National psychological societies
Test publishers
Researchers
http://www.intestcom.org/upload/sitefiles/40.pdf
International Test Commission Guidelines
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 The guidelines are organized in 4 categories:
 Context
 Test Development and Adaptation
 Administration
 Documentation/Score Interpretations
http://www.intestcom.org/upload/sitefiles/40.pdf
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CONTEXT
International Test Commission Guidelines
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 CONTEXT
 Effects of cultural differences which are not relevant or
important to the main purposes of the study should be
minimized to the extent possible.
 The amount of overlap in the construct measured by
the test or instrument in the populations of interest
should be assessed.
http://www.intestcom.org/upload/sitefiles/40.pdf
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TEST DEVELOPMENT
AND
ADAPTATION
International Test Commission Guidelines
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 Test Development and Adaptation
 Full account of linguistic and cultural differences
 Provide evidence that:
 the language used is appropriate
 the techniques and procedures are familiar
 the item content and stimulus are familiar
 Compile evidence on the equivalence
 Data collection design permits item equivalence
 Apply appropriate statistical techniques
 Provide information of validity
 Non equivalent items shouldn’t be used
http://www.intestcom.org/upload/sitefiles/40.pdf
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ADMINISTRATION
International Test Commission Guidelines
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 Administration
 Anticipate the problems and take actions to remedy them
 Being sensitive on factors affecting scores
 Environmental factors influencing administration should be
similar across populations
 The test manual should specify all aspects of the
administration required in a new cultural context
 Being unobtrusive and the interaction should be minimized
http://www.intestcom.org/upload/sitefiles/40.pdf
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INTERPRETATIONS
International Test Commission Guidelines
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 Documentation/Scores Interpretation
 Provide documentation about the changes made along with
evidence of the equivalence
 Comparisons across populations can only be made at the level
of invariance
 Account of the sociocultural effects in the interpretation of
results
http://www.intestcom.org/upload/sitefiles/40.pdf
International Test Commission Guidelines
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 Recommended readings:
 Hambleton, R. K., Merenda, P. F., & Spielberger, C. D. (Eds.). (2005). Adapting
educational and psychological tests for cross-cultural assessment. New Jersey:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [Chapter 1]
 Hambleton, R. K., & Zenisky, A. L. (2011). Translating and adapting tests for crosscultural
assessments. In D. Matsumoto & F. J. R. van de Vijver (Eds.), Cross-cultural
research methods in psychology (pp. 46–74). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
 Oakland, T. (2012). Principles, standards, and guidelines that impact test development.
In M. M. Leach, M. J. Stevens, G. Lindsay, A. Ferrero, & Y. Korkut (Eds.), The Oxford
handbook of international psychological ethics (pp. 201–215). New York, NY: Oxford
University Press.
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QUESTIONS?
NEXT CLASS
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 Reading:
 Sources of knowledge and perspectives (Willis, Inman, &
Valenti, 2010)