Physiological and Psychological Influences on Multicultural and Nonverbal Assessment

Abstract

One of the animals in George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1946) says, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others,” acknowledging in a humorous way the biological reality that animals, including humans, really are not created equal. Nor are all external environments equal. Some of us are born into affluent families, with all the advantages inherent in that situation; others are born into poverty, and face the associated problems. Similarly, assessment of individual differences is influenced by a variety of (internal and external) factors. For example, examinees are influenced by the biology they bring to the testing setting; also, they bring perceptions of the testing enterprise forged in their particular subcultural milieus. The assessment environment is typically created to increase the motivation of the examinee and to establish the best testing situation. In this chapter, I discuss some assessment influences emanating from an examinee’s physiological and psychological environment, and focus primarily on the impact of these variables on nonverbal assessment.