Rehabilitation and Psychological Evaluations of Claimants of Portuguese and Puerto Rican Background

This study outlines specific steps for guid in g bilingual psychologists in the administration of psychological testing instruments. The study delineates the discrimination of subtle behavioral responses, the identification of various forms of low motivation, evasiveness, and malingering during the as s essment procedure. One hundred disability immigrant claimants of Portu gu ese and Puerto Rican background took part in this study. Data on file from their psychological reports was analyzed and two hypotheses were tested. The findings indicate that there is a stron g relationship between the subjects' co gnitive functioning, t hei r adaptive behavior, and academic achievement in their natie countries. There was also a significant relat i onship revealed between low motivation/malingering behavior and cognitive fu nctioning . The res ul ts of this study cannot be genera lized to the rest of the Portuguese/or Puer t o Rican population. However, t~is study's results are relevant to the typical Portuguese and Puerto Ri ca r. c laimant who i s unemployed and is seekin g disability benefits in the s t ates of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. It is hoped that this study will help the respective Rehabilitation Commissions improve their ab i lit y to serve claimants of li mit ed Englisq abili ty by improving their assessment procedures ana in facilitating the identif i cation of more appropr i ate workin ~ environments and rehab i li t ation opportunitie~ . Steps for conductin g a structured bilingual interview are explained. The implications for the future training of psychologists are discussed in terms of non-discriminatory testin g assessment procedures, treatment and ethnic sensitivity, and public policy.

An Azorean immigrant family coming to an industrial country like the United States for the first time usually has never seen a fac t ory before, let alone worked in one.         1982) It states that performance in the Bender is apparentl y independent from drawing abilit y , but is significantly related to the amount of education.

Its members have probably lived all their lives in a pea
Several researchers (Piaget, 1980;1974;1967;Siegler, 1981)   It _ is hoped that this study wiil help the re h abili t ation comm issio n s i mprove their ab ilit y to serve claiman t s of li mited English ability by modifyin g its assessment proce dures and in facilitating t h e ope n in g of more appropriate work ing environments and rehabilitation opportu n ities.

3ilin gual Interview
As an increasingly number of claimants apply for benefits of non-Bngli~h spe akin g. back ground, it is important that th eir te s ti n g behavior, co gnitive, and cultural profiles be interpreted by bilingual/bicultural psychologists as the literature indicates (Oakland & Phillips, 1973, 1977M oitoza, 1984, 1980 .    ------II 6-In the Raven Matrices, the claimant has an inconsistent identification of correct responses and/or failin g in the easier items. These matrices increase in difficulty in sets A, Ab, and B.
------~ 7-Drawing of stick figures and the absence of mi nimal developmental features in the Draw-a-Person-Test. The claimant is asked to draw a complete person with all parts of the body and dressed with his/her proper clothes.
------II 8-Completing the nine drawings of the Bender Gestalt in less than three minutes ( unless they are drawn correctly).
------* 9-To have significant discrepancies between the digit span of the W AIS-Rand the similar test in the Wechsler Memory's digits forward and backward. Maximum discrepancy being no more than one digit when the tests are repeated. score I 11-Test intrascatter in the performance sub-tests of the WAIS-R which varies more than two standart deviations of the performance I.Q. _ ------I 12-Erratic scoring in the WAIS-R performance sub-tests. Claimant consistently scores in the very hard tasks but fails in the simpler tasks. .
------II13-Giving up easily most items in less than 60" in the Object Assembly, and in less than 30" in the Picture Arrangement . of the WAIS-R.
------I 15-Change of more than one standart deviations between present performance I.Q. on the WAIS-Rand the previous psychological evaluations in the last two years(and when it has not been reported any significant organic deterioration such as a stroke, or the result or a major car accident or illness J.
------I-Items that correlate with factor I II-Items that correlate with factor II * -Items that have been deleted from the Original Low Motivation Scale.

Appendix 2
Low Motivation Scale-Revised score I 1-Previous history or faking and malingering as reported in past medical, psychiatric, and psychological reports.
------2-During each½ hour claimant yawns more than ten times. . I 3-Claimant being unable to sit for less than ten minutes.
------II 5-In the Raven Matrices, the claimant has an inconsistent identification of correct responses and or failing in the easier items. These matrices increase in difficulty in sets A, Ab, and B.
------II 6-Completing the nine draw'ings of the Bender test in less than three minutes { unless they are drawn correctly).
------I 7-Test intrascatter in the performance sub-tests of the WAIS-R which varies more than two standart deviations of the performance I.Q.
------I 8-Erratic scoring in the WAIS-R performance sub--tests. Claimant consistently scores in the very hard tasks and fails in the simpler tasks.
------II 9-Giving up easily most items in less than 60" in the Object Assembly, and in less than 30" in the Picture Arrangement of the WAIS-R.
I 10-Change of more than present performance vious psychological years.