Conditions under which confidence estimation facilitates problem solving were examined in a study assessing spelling, mathematics, and reasoning. Participants who used a confidence estimation procedure and whose teacher valued and nurtured warranted uncertainty performed better on spelling and improved more than did other participants. (Author/RD)

Presents the results of an investigation to determine if the position of a distractor in a multiple choice question influences the degree of difficulty of an item. The data support the hypothesis that the placement of the distractor immediately before the key alters the difficulty of the item significantly. (Authors/SA)

Analyzes the differences in responses of 94 bilingual South African college students to questionnaires in both English and Afrikaans. Concludes that the use of translated questionnaires need not lead to biased results. (FMW)

Biases that can influence the validity of tests are discussed, such as (1) cultural biases affecting students from ethnic minorities, and (2) biases that affect students with disabilities including those related to test content, instructional format, motivation or cognitive arousal, competition, and physical access to testing materials and…

This article explores psychometric characteristics of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS), one of the most widely used instruments to assess the prevalence of violent and other high-risk behaviors in secondary school settings. Response patterns were analyzed for a subset of 414 youths who indicated that they had carried a weapon to…

This study examined the influence of survey validity screening on the results from three group-administered school surveys administered to samples totaling approximately 5500 students in 19 schools. The estimated levels of risk behaviors, antisocial behaviors, and victim experiences were substantially reduced when respondents who gave multiple…

The proportionality model assumes that total testing time is proportional to the number of test items and the number of options per multiple choice test item. This assumption was examined, using test items having from two to five options. The model was not supported. (Author/GDC)

Using both the Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) and the Purdue University Scales, 727 undergraduates rated 32 instructors. The BARS had less halo effect, more leniency error, and lower interrater reliability. Both formats were valid. The two tests did not differ in rate discrimination or susceptibility to rating bias. (Author/GDC)

The relationship between anxiety and learning was examined within the context of drive theory and trait-state anxiety theory. Results indicated that trait anxiety had a causal influence on state anxiety and on test performance. The possibility of a reciprocal relationship between state anxiety and performance was suggested. (Author/BH)

Effects of an applicant's information management strategy while responding to a job application item requesting illegal candidate information and moderating effects of applicant sex and position were studied for 12 hypothetical school job applicants with 108 graduate student raters. The interactions of strategy, sex, and position have important…

Analyzes in detail some of the incorrect responses made by subjects (culturally disadvantaged Israeli children) performing on cloze tests and suggests what may be inferred about the cognitive processing employed by the subjects that leads them to make such responses. Results indicate the need for further detailed linguistic analysis of responses…

Nine indices of response pattern appropriateness were compared, based on item response theory, with respect to their relation to the total test score and their effectiveness in detecting unusual response patterns. The ability to differentiate between three groups was compared: cooperative examinees, uncooperative examinees, and randomly generated…

A validation study used 136 college students to test 37 specific hypotheses. Three general conclusions include: (1) validity was supported; (2) significant differences were found in faculty ratings according to racial composition and student scores; and (3) significant associations exist between the scores and variables such as age and educational…

The development of a low cost input system is discussed in terms of the appropriateness of imposing program-controlled answering strategies on candidates attempting a conventional multiple choice objective question achievement test. Systems used for the management of learning and strategies students use to answer tests are highlighted. (Author/EJS)

A method for obtaining medical students' evaluations of multiple-instructor courses is described. Objectives of the evaluation method are: to increase response rate; to reduce administrative problems; to obtain evaluations at the time of the lecture; to avoid overburdening students; and to avoid confusion. (MH)