Examining Intra- and Interpersonal Variables Involved in Neuropsychological and Personality Assessment: Are Asian Americans the "Model Examinees"?
by Chang, Jenss, Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA, 2011, 168 pages; 3481953

Abstract:

The present project investigated the role of ethnicity, Asian American (AA) cultural immersion level, and examiner-examinee racial match on commonly-used neuropsychological and personality measures (Studies One and Two, respectively). As hypothesized, culturally-different responding occurred between European Americans (EAs) and AAs on neuropsychology and personality tests. Specifically, AAs received higher scores on the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) and Developmental Test of Visual Perception - Adult and Adolescent Version (DTVP-A) variables. Contrary to prediction, AAs also scored higher on efficiency-related neuropsychological variables, indicating that they were able to simultaneously exercise fastidiousness and efficiency for these tasks. Results also revealed that AAs and EAs responded differently on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) and the Rorschach Inkblot Method. AAs endorsed more items related to anxiety, paranoia, and anxiety-related disorders on the PAI and provided more unconventional, Aggressive Content (AgC), and Cooperative Movement (COP) responses on the Rorschach. ANOVAs and Fisher's Least Square Differences (LSD) revealed that AA cultural immersion groups generally did not respond differently from one another on neuropsychological or personality tests. One exception was on the inanimate movement ( m) variable on the Rorschach, which suggested that more acculturated AAs experienced more situational anxiety while completing the task than enculturated, bicultural, and marginalized AAs. Last, examiner-examinee racial dis/similarity did not play a significant role in assessment as it does in psychotherapy settings. These studies propose that the neuropsychological and personality tests under investigation can be used with AA groups of varying cultural immersion statuses. Because the samples used in this project were limited to college-aged AA adults from the West Coast with a higher concentration of Chinese Americans and females, the results do not generalize to the broader AA population in the U.S. Future research should attempt to replicate these results with more diverse groups of AAs, including AAs of differing ages, education levels, geographical regions, genders, and socioeconomic statuses. On the whole, these results call for a more thoughtful and critical analysis from practitioners and researchers in order to promote the cultural sensitivity of the field.

 
AdviserSteve R. Smith
SchoolUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA
SourceDAI/B 73-03, p. , Dec 2011
Source TypeDissertation
SubjectsAsian American studies; Counseling psychology; Clinical psychology; Personality psychology
Publication Number3481953
Adobe PDF Access the complete dissertation:
 

» Find an electronic copy at your library.
  Use the link below to access a full citation record of this graduate work:
  http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl%3furl_ver=Z39.88-2004%26res_dat=xri:pqdiss%26rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation%26rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3481953
  If your library subscribes to the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) database, you may be entitled to a free electronic version of this graduate work. If not, you will have the option to purchase one, and access a 24 page preview for free (if available).

About ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
With over 2.3 million records, the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) database is the most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses in the world. It is the database of record for graduate research.

The database includes citations of graduate works ranging from the first U.S. dissertation, accepted in 1861, to those accepted as recently as last semester. Of the 2.3 million graduate works included in the database, ProQuest offers more than 1.9 million in full text formats. Of those, over 860,000 are available in PDF format. More than 60,000 dissertations and theses are added to the database each year.

If you have questions, please feel free to visit the ProQuest Web site - http://www.proquest.com - or call ProQuest Hotline Customer Support at 1-800-521-3042.