Final answer:
In psychological testing, response distortion can be caused by social desirability bias, question wording effects, interviewer bias, confirmation bias, and substitution heuristic. These biases may lead to inaccuracies in capturing true responses, thus compromising the validity of test results.
Step-by-step explanation:
Biases that cause response distortion in psychological testing come in various forms and can significantly affect the accuracy of test results. One noted example, the 'Bradley effect', showcases how social desirability bias leads respondents to provide answers they believe are acceptable rather than their true opinions. This bias is characterized by respondents’ reluctance to admit to potentially socially undesirable attitudes, in this case, a bias against a minority candidate.
Similarly, the wording of questions can influence answers due to what is known as question wording effects. Survey accuracy may also be compromised by interviewer bias, where the identity of the interviewer influences responses. This bias can be affected by various factors, including the interviewer's social class, race, or gender, hence altering the respondent's willingness to provide truthful answers.
In addition to these, cognitive biases like confirmation bias—the tendency to favor information that confirms preexisting beliefs, and the substitution heuristic—a tendency to replace a complex question with a simpler one, can distort responses. Each of these biases can contribute to a misrepresentation of the respondents' true beliefs or opinions, which can undermine the validity of psychological testing and survey results.