New trends on intellectual assessment in Peru

Abstract

The history of intellectual assessment with children and youth in Peru is presented from the foundation of scientific psychology in Peru until now. Current practices are affected by the multicultural ethnolinguistic diversity of the country, the quality of the different training programs, as well as by Peruvian regulations for becoming an academic or a practitioner in Peru. Fitness of intelligence models and intellectual assessment of the Peruvian population are discussed. Credentials for administering intelligence tests and current practices that provoke controversy are also discussed. Future directions involve discussions on changing attitudes toward education accountability and social awareness in relation to intellectual assessment, legislation to foster better training for psychologists, and the need to consolidate theoretical models that include the context from a systemic perspective, as well as models that consider intelligence as a developmental variable. Moreover, revisions on the perspective of the nature of ability and the application of computerized technology to intelligence testing are both suggested, as is the need to focus on the relationship between ability testing and employability.

Keywords::

• intelligence
• measurement
• intellectual assessment
• Peru
• diversity
• multiculturalism

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sheyla Blumen

Dr. Sheyla Blumen is Full Professor of Psychology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). She currently serves as Chief Scientist of the Inter-Disciplinary Research Group Creativity, Technology, and Talent Development, is the Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Revista de Psicología, edited by the PUCP, and is a member of the editorial board of the Interamerican Journal of Psychology. She is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the School of Posgraduate Studies at the PUCP. She runs Mente Futura, a Foundation dedicated to the identification and support of highly able children and youths living under poverty conditions in Peru. In 2005, she received GDNet/World Bank Young Scientist Award in Applied Education, and on 2011 the Multi-Nation Eisenhower Fellowship. Her research interests are related to psychological assessment, high ability studies, the application of ICT in learning processes, the identification of giftedness, and the development of talents towards excellence.