Oceania comprises those islands scattered through the Pacific Ocean bounded by Australia and Papua New Guinea to the west, the Hawaiian Islands to the north, New Zealand to the south, and Easter Island to the east. Although there are many cultures and nations in Oceania, psychological assessment as practiced today developed mainly in Australia and New Zealand. The history of testing and assessment in the chapter on Oceania is thus a history of testing and assessment in Australia, in New Zealand, and in the islands that in the twentieth century fell into the sphere of influence of those two countries. The chapter on Oceania seeks to briefly sketch the development of testing and assessment, its successes, and its limitations.

This chapter focuses on the development of psychological assessment in Brazil, Peru, Chile, and Bolivia. A brief history of psychological assessment is provided for each country, followed by discussion on the political, social, economic, and other environmental factors that have shaped the development and use of psychological assessment in these countries. The authors reflect critically on the various phases of the development of the psychology discipline in relation to the development and uptake of psychological assessment. The chapter concludes with challenges being experienced and steps for a way forward.

This chapter reviews the history and development of psychological assessment and testing in the region of Southeast Asia. Malaysia and Singapore are the focus of the chapter as both countries share similar yet significant historical, racial, and cultural backgrounds. Given that the field of psychological testing is more prominent in Western countries, it is natural for countries within Southeast Asia, or in this chapter, Malaysia and Singapore to adapt to Western cultures. The major question will then be pointing toward the validity and reliability of most psychological assessment and testing if they are used within Southeast Asia, with various native languages co-habiting within the societies. Thus, the aim of this review is to provide an update regarding the cross-cultural validity of psychological assessment in Southeast Asia, as well as to introduce instruments that are appropriately and culturally adapted and developed.

The Arab-Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan) has long been at the center of cultural, social, and geopolitical changes in the region, which have been central in shaping the development of psychological practice and science in the region. The region has been at the cross section of multiple foreign influences (French, British, US, Arab), all of whom have impacted academia. This resulted not only in multiple ideologies and schools of psychological thought that remain until today, but also in a trilingual academic system that further deepens the disconnect among psychologists and test-takers in the region. Additionally, the Levant’s experience of occupation, trauma, diaspora, and political instability has led to an increased need and interest in mental health services and displaced populations, and hence the measurement of related constructs. More recently, with increased funding for research on such populations, non-Arab researchers have gained a renewed interest in the region, which has led the way to increased collaborative efforts in the development of psychometric tools. This chapter discusses how these contemporary historical developments have impacted testing-related practices academia, research, and practice in clinical, educational, and industrial/organizational practice.

Tests and testing have evolved and developed, in part driven by scientific evolution, but mostly driven by the needs of societies that are served by psychologists and other specialists who use tests and other assessment methods. Society therefore provides the impetus for the development of testing, the incentives for the various stakeholders in this field, as well as occasional deterrents and limits in their usage. In this chapter we look at how testing assessment developed in the region of Eastern Europe, initially connected to early international evolutions at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century, being then more and more influenced by the dominant ideologies that have permeated this area of Europe in the second half of the twentieth century. Modern and contemporary evolutions in the development, adaptation, and use of tests and assessments in various areas of psychological practice, as well as the state of research in testing and assessment, in countries across the region of Eastern Europe, will be discussed.

To look forward, it is necessary to look back and learn from the past. Hence this diverse collection of histories provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on what a future assessment might look like globally. Across the regions the themes for the future of assessment were similar. These centered around the need to adapt tests, to incorporate more local or emic assessments, as well as the need to use more indigenous knowledge. There was a clear narrative of a lack of training and resources in countries that would typically be described as developing or as low- to middle-income countries. This need was also evident in countries that are relatively developed but engaged with psychological assessment later in their histories in comparison to the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, for example. Typically, countries that were colonized, especially those colonized by Britain, showed more developments in the field of assessment as they had more contact with early developments in the field. This chapter reflects on the international histories of assessment and provides an overarching view on what we assess, why we assess, who assesses, and how we assess. In so doing the chapter presents a possible blueprint for the way forward for assessment in the global village that will be equally accessible and applicable to all.

The field of psychological assessment has seen consistent growth for almost a century with significant expansion of the literature centered largely around research in Western Europe and North America. Comparatively, there has not been as much progress in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and this is typical of what pertains in many other non-Western countries. The measurement of constructs and development of psychological tests in SSA therefore have largely been based on Eurocentric theories and philosophies. This is partly because in SSA, scientific psychology is modeled on Western theories. There has not been enough research in SSA to develop relevant indigenous African theories. Therefore, assessment is still closely tied to Western theories which inform development of tests and measurements. In this chapter we trace the history of psychological assessment in Anglophone West Africa. We discuss the trajectory of the psychological assessment, the need for the development of indigenous psychological assessment in order to wean itself from its Eurocentric roots, and finally the challenges and the prospects in West Africa.

This chapter introduces the rationale for the book and provides some context for the chapters. Chapters are not just narrative accounts of the development of psychological assessment in a particular country or region. Authors were asked to situate the chapters somewhere between narrative and historiography. Hence the chapters assume a more critical stance in reporting the history of psychological assessment that recognizes that history is never fact and always represents the subjective position of the author. Authors have drawn from existing sources and research but have simultaneously explored the social positionings of such research. We hope that this allows for a richer and perhaps even more interesting account of the international history of psychological assessment. The book begins with the chapters from Africa, followed by those from the Arab-Levant, Europe, Asia, and Oceania, and concluding with chapters from the Americas.

The chapter narrates the history of psychological assessment both in ancient and modern times highlighting how assessment is done in various settings in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. The region has unity in terms of sociocultural, political, historical, economic, and educational factors. In terms of diversity, South Asia is one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the world. However, English is used as a language for communication and education. Being developing nations, South Asian countries are influenced dominantly by Western culture. Though the region has its own tradition the Western thoughts and theories have significantly influenced South Asian academic and professional disciplines. Likewise, the psychology of the Western world has significantly dominated the region’s views and understanding of human behavior. This chapter begins by providing a brief account of assessment in the region during pre-colonialism. Following this the history of assessment in India is presented, followed by Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan is presented.

Countries in Southern Africa face many social, development, economic, trade, education, health, diplomatic, defense, security, and political challenges. These countries also have a history of colonialism, liberatory struggle, and independence. Although the language of business and schooling is English for most of the countries, there are still huge chunks of the population that are illiterate and functionally illiterate. People also speak one or more indigenous languages. The majority of the countries in this region have high levels of unemployment and poverty. Ensuring that psychological assessments are appropriate and fair in these contexts is a huge challenge. When this challenge occurs in a poorly resourced setting against the background of social inequality, practitioners need to be highly resourceful, as well as culturally sensitive and ethically aware. This chapter discusses the historical development of psychological assessment in South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe demonstrating how the social and contextual factors interacted with assessment.