Table VI:
| Situational Bias | Mismatches between examiner and examinee regarding the societal rules of language, e.g., sarcastic answers to obvious questions. (Examiner: What time does the clock say? Examinee: Everybody knows clocks don't talk.) |
| Directions Bias | Test directions involve linguistic complexities unfamiliar to the examinee, e.g., "None of the following is true except . . ." is incorrectly interpreted as "all of the following are true except . . ." |
| Value Bias | Examinee is required to exhibit a particular moral or ethical preference, e.g., "One who is dishonest is a) an offender, b) a politician, c) an ambassador, d) an officer." One might presume each choice to be reasonable. |
| Linguistic Bias | Test presumes that examinee is competent in standard English, e.g., "Which sentence is ungrammatical? a) They saw Rose. b) You done it wrong. c) My brother has never eaten. d) Don't use too much." A nonstandard English speaker might see each as grammatical. |
| Format Bias | Test procedures or requirements are inconsistent with examinee's cognitive and/or learning style, e.g., "Select the best answer to the following . . ." One might consider answers to be either right or wrong, thereby no such thing as a best answer if all are correct. |
| Cultural Misinterpretation | Examiner erroneously interprets cultural practices of examinee, e.g., a child who exhibits silence as a natural reaction to an unfamiliar adult examiner is diagnosed as nonverbal, or a child who does not respond quickly to test items is labeled unknowledgeable. |
| Stimulus Bias | Examiner presents stimuli rich in objects and analytical materials to an examinee who prefers a field dependent cognitive style, and is more likely to be responsive to materials rich in social content. |