The Development of Psychological Assessment in Brazil and Current and Future Challenges

Abstract

Brazilian psychological assessment possesses several indicators that prove its quality, although by the early 1990s, the use of psychological tests in evaluative processes had fallen into disrepute in society. The present article recounts the history of Brazilian psychological assessment, told through the lens of the creation of a working group (WG) of the Associação Nacional de Pesquisa e Pós-graduação em Psicologia (ANPEPP, National Association for Research and Graduate Studies in Psychology) and its subsequent achievements. The construction of the Sistema de Avaliação dos Testes Psicológicos (SATEPSI, Psychological Testing Assessment System) and its deployment, collectively, by the profession’s regulating agency with the collaboration of scientific associations as well as of the WG and ANPEPP are also mentioned. Many initiatives were reunited, rehabilitating the credibility of the practice of assessment. The authors stress the advances that still need to be made, such as widening research with minority groups and including new statistical analyses and technologies that will impact the development of psychological assessment.