FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For Further Information Contact:
Terry Donia 972.243.8543
terry.donia@bsrpinc.com

Get Ready, Get Set, Get Scammed?
“Psychological” Testing on the Worldwide Web

(Dallas, TX) -- Seeking a perfect soul mate? Looking for the ideal salesperson? Are those voices talking only to you? People increasingly turn to psychological tests for answers to some of life’s most perplexing problems, and their mission often takes them online. A blight of tests is now available to anyone on the World Wide Web. But hold on. Who’s testing the tests?

According to Dallas-based researcher George W. Dudley, “A psychological testing ghetto has sprung up on the Web.” He warns, “a collection of questions is not necessarily a 'test,' and simply calling a test 'psychological' doesn’t make it scientific.” Dudley, a noted behavioral scientist, says many of the so-called “tests” garishly touted on the Web won’t bear the weight of scrutiny. "Some are merely inept. Others are inept and potentially harmful.”

Charlatans, cranks, crackpots and cons find the unregulated and largely anonymous Web a tempting market for over-hyped, under-developed psychological tests, adds psychologist Bill Gordon. Unwary customers, hungry for information but lacking the know-how to tell real tests from pretenders, easily fall prey to gaudy promises of "70% accurate!" “At best they're getting parlor games," Gordon says, “about as useful as psychic hotlines.” At worst, capable people may be summarily discredited and personally traumatized by tests that offer negative, misleading, or flat-out incorrect assessments. To help consumers distinguish psychological care from psychobabble snares, Dudley and Gordon have assembled some practical guidelines for separating authentic test publishers from cyber-quacks. Their guidelines are available as a free online quiz, accompanied by a short background article, “Get Ready, Get Set, Get Scammed: Psychological Testing on the Worldwide Web.” Both are available at www.bsrpinc.com.

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Shannon L.Goodson