This paper extracts the characteristics of the view of ability in educational practices during the period of rapid growth in Japan, focusing on the influence of these perceptions on the Ministry of Education's educational policies. The analysis draws on the debate about "vocational aptitude tests" and "observation guidance."…

It can be difficult to navigate the tasks of repertoire selection and part assignments in a way that produces a successful performance product while also being educationally beneficial to all students. However, researchers have explored methods of ensuring these goals through repertoire selection. In this article, I present ideas for how educators…

Goldhammer (this issue) proposes an interesting approach to dealing with the speededness of item responses. Rather than modeling speed as a latent variable that varies from person to person, he proposes to use experimental conditions that are expected to fix the speed, thereby eliminating individual differences on this dimension in order to make…

The main challenge of ability tests relates to the difficulty of items, whereas speed tests demand that test takers complete very easy items quickly. This article proposes a conceptual framework to represent how performance depends on both between-person differences in speed and ability and the speed-ability compromise within persons. Related…

This study investigated evaluations and advice communicated to male and female technology interns experiencing work difficulties, using a 2 (workplace issue: ability or interpersonal) ×2 (intern gender: male vs. female) between-subjects experimental design. Technology professionals rated hypothetical interns on competence, qualifications,…

In this paper, we report on the design and implementation of a state of the art Student Information System (SIS) being developed in a moderate size Alberta, Canada school jurisdiction. The SIS design is premised upon transparency, balanced, comprehensive, and multi-method assessments that links qualitative and quantitative data in support of…

This study tested the specificity-generality hypothesis regarding moderation of aptitude test validity by job ability requirement differences using 24,482 Air Force enlistees in 37 jobs. Moderating effects due to job differences were not found, and job ability differences did not moderate the relationship between the amount of "g"…

Studied the constructs underlying the Ball Aptitude Battery (Ball Foundation; BAB) in 3 studies involving 329 and 365 adults and 175 ninth graders and in a reanalysis (study 4) of previous BAB data. Results show that "g" plays a significant but not dominant role in the BAB, which measures abilities needed for assessing person-job fit.…

Analyzed several data sets to compare the prediction possible from a uniform general factor score with that produced by a separately tailored set of regression weights when those weights are applied to a new cross-validation sample. Found that with smaller samples, the uniform general factor score was clearly superior. (Author/ABB)

The differentiation hypothesis suggests that the degree to which general intelligence ("g") pervades performance on mental tests is greater at lower ability levels. Analysis of data from Differential Aptitude Test results for over 10,500 Irish school children ages 14 to 17 years supports the differentiation hypothesis. (SLD)

Double cross-validation of a test battery against multiple criterion variables found the first general factor accounts for most criterion variance in cross-validated regression weights. Small contributions are made by mechanical/technical and psychomotor factors. It appears a common general factor plays the major role in validity for a range of…

Examines five themes in "Testing for Competence Rather than for "Intelligence" (D. C. McClelland, "American Psychologist," 1973), and reviews relevant literature. Despite wide acceptance of McClelland's views, other evidence that does not show that competency testing surpasses cognitive ability testing in predicting…

Job analyses were compared with employees' self-ratings of abilities across 54 occupations. Participants totaled 2,272 workers (1,119 women and 1,153 men) who took the Career Decision-Making System as part of an effort to expand its concurrent validity evidence. The results supported the validity of self-assessment of aptitudes in career…

This article examines the potential contribution of latent trait models to the study of intelligence. Nontechnical introductions to both unidimensional and multidimensional latent trait models are given. Multidimensional latent trait models can be used to test alternative multiple component theories of test item processing. (Author/CTM)

Meta-analysis of 225 hypothesis tests of measures of memory for order (MFO) and the relationship of MFO and measures of general ability demonstrate a significant relationship between MFO and standardized test scores. Fifty-one independent samples were tested. MFO task quality was a significant predictor of effect size. (SLD)