Self-destructiveness can be viewed in two ways: as performing an act which one knows cognitively is not conducive to one's welfare but nonetheless leads to some pleasurable affect (e.g., overeating, smoking); or not performing an act one knows one should perform but which has some negative affective consequences (e.g., dental checkups, saving…

Provides information regarding the production and properties of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) data to facilitate the assessment of their appropriateness for research. Reports on assessments of validity and reliability, a factor analysis of characteristics, and possible sex bias. Cautions about using the DOT to study changes in…

Examined the psychometric properties of the Peer Nomination Inventory of Depression (PNID). Reliability proved highly acceptable. Content validity was determined by experts' judgments. Subjects with high PNID scores exhibited depressed intellectual functioning, poor social behavior, and diminished ebullience. (Author)

Describes development of Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis (ADAD), a 150-item instrument with a structured interview format, which produces a comprehensive evaluation of the life problem areas pertinent to the needs of adolescent drug abuse clients. A series of validity and reliability tests are described, along with characteristics of the…

Describes process used in constructing Student Developmental Task and Lifestyle Inventory (SDTLI), instrument designed to measure certain aspects of Chickering's theory of psychosocial development of traditional-age college students. Summarizes reliability and validity studies. Discusses use of SDTLI. (NB)

Applied linguistics and psychometrics have influenced language testing, providing additional tools for investigating factors affecting language test performance and assuring measurement reliability. An examination is presented of language testing, including the theoretical issues involved, the methodological advances, language test development,…

Ideal measurement of food use in school-aged children possesses validity, reliability, interpretability, and feasibility. The article discusses dietary records and recalls and measures of patterns in food use. Issues to consider when constructing children's food frequency are food list, time intervals, response set, context of questioning, and…

The Internet has significantly changed the way people conduct business, communicate, and live. In this article, the authors' focus is on how the Internet influences the practice of psychology as it relates to testing and assessment. The report includes 5 broad sections: background and context, new problems yet old issues, issues for special…

Describes the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD), a newly developed questionnaire designed to evaluate families according to the McMaster Model of Family Functioning. Discusses the procedures used to develop the FAD and presents scale means and scale reliabilities from a sample of 503 individuals. (Author/JAC)

Monte Carlo research with TAILOR, a program using implied orders as a basis for tailored testing, is reported. TAILOR typically required about half the available items to estimate, for each simulated examinee, the responses on the remainder. (Author/CTM)

The author discusses issues in the development of admissions tests by home study schools. He covers the construction of tests, emphasizing (1) consistency, (2) validity, and (3) normative data sampling. (CH)

Demonstrates how Rasch models can be used to study differences in item salience within and across time points, and that even if a test does not fulfill assumptions of the Rasch model, it can be used to obtain information on item functioning across participants and over time. Illustrates method using longitudinal data from Baltimore Prevention…

The completion of the first ten years of this journal is an occasion for review and reflection. The main issues that have been addressed over the ten years are summarized in four main sections: Purposes, International Trends, Quality Concerns and Assessment for Learning. Each of these illustrates the underlying significance of the themes of…

Although vocabulary tests have not been well suited to subdivisions that yield scores for different attributes, they have often been used in this manner. The question of whether such subscores can be justified from a measurement standpoint was studied. Items of a vocabulary test were classifed into three categories; the words were presented in…

Presents formulation of death acceptance involving components of confrontation and integration. Describes Klug Death Acceptance Scale to measure death acceptance and provides data on scale's reliability, validity, and suggested norms. (Author/NB)