Mental competency testing - I'm all for it
Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at 09:17AM
(Nikki) Haley wants to require mental competency tests for politicians older than 75. In other words, her leading opponents. In other words, ageism. David Banks, Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 11, 2023
Ageism or common sense? Each year at my health checkup, I get a little cognitive test along with my blood pressure levels. I am given three words (captain, chair, window) early in the exam. Then toward the end of it, I am asked to remember and repeat the words back to the physician. I am also asked to draw a clock (I always ask “digital or analog” hoping for the chuckle that never comes) and then asked to draw the hands to indicate a certain time. So far I have passed.
Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test (which at least I had the cognitive ability to find online) is the test Halley suggests using. It asks for long strings of words and numbers to be memorized and repeated back - a test similar to the one I have described above. I don’t know how well I would do since my short term memory has never been all that good.
So thank heavens I am not in public office and subject to such tests. But if such tests are good to evaluate the competence of our political leaders, might we also want to use them on other folks who rely on their brains as well? And why wait until age 75 to give such tests? Why not give them every year to all workers? I’d just as soon my 27-year-old trash hauler didn’t have an impairment that would cause her to put my recycling into the regular trash. I would like my dentist to remember which tooth needed a root canal. I rely on my auto mechanic to use the right motor oil in my car. Perhaps voluntary cognitive checks could a type of endorsement used in promoting one’s services? “Our hair stylists all pass a cognitive ability test each year!”
I have long advocated for competence in adults making educational decisions. Johnson’s Test Fairness Plan: Require no high school tests that the adults who insist on them can’t pass was written quite some time ago.
But when it comes to politicians, I would be less insistent on a cognitive or fact-based test than I would on a morality test. (Yes, such things exist.) I can tolerate a forgetful person. I can even identify with an ignorant soul. But I dislike people who are selfish, dishonest, mean, intolerant, and sneaky. A politician’s score on a test that measures these traits would certainly influence my vote.
Reader Comments (4)
I had my first memory test . My doctor said it was required by Medicare.
I tried to make a joke about the digital clock too! Maybe that is part of the sneaky test. :-)
Or they could ask us for the letters tha make up a smiley…
Hmmm, you didn't mention whether you passed or not, Jane.
Doug
I wonder how many people would be out of a job if they took a cognitive test like you mention. This reminds me of when Strom Thurmond was in office at a very old age and I asked my husband how in the world he could even function in his position at his age. He reminded me that his staff did most of the work and not him.Even though people can pass a test like you mention, doesn't really mean they can do their job well, it just means they passed the test.
I remember when I was notified that I was not "highly qualified"as a special ed self contained high school teacher even though I had a MA +30 and was nationally board certified. I had to pass a Praxis test for the elementary level. I never studied and passed the test with flying colors. Meanwhile I had a colleague that had elementary certification and was considered highly qualified, yet she was fired that year because she was incompetent.
Hi Pat,
You are certainly correct that tests are certainly not infallible! Good that we all remember that.
Hope you are having a good spring.
Doug