Concern on how interest inventories are being used in career counseling and other preventive interventions has resulted in heightened sensitivity to the impact of interest inventories and the emergence of the concept exploration validity. Various aspects of exploration validity were assessed using three different interest inventories. The…

The usefulness of vocational interest measures has been questioned by those who have studied the predictive validity of expressed choice. The predictive validities of measured interest for decided and undecided students, expressed choice and measured interest, and expressed choice and measured interest when they are congruent and incongruent were…

Several advantages to the use of factor scores as independent variables in a multiple regression equation were found. To help select the most desirable type of factor score on which to calculate a regression equation, computer-based Monte Carlo methods were used to compare the predictive accuracy upon replication of regression of five…

The conceptual, construct, and predictive validity of available instruments for coding relational control is considered in this paper. It approaches conceptual validity by offering a logical analysis that compares each instrument with formative ideas in interactional theory. It then advances data concerning the construct and predictive validity of…

Discriminant analysis was used to predict the performance of medical students on a certifying examination, using available measures approximately seven months in advance of the examination. The purpose was to identify those students having the greatest chance of failing in order to provide them with remedial help. The linear discriminant function…

A study was conducted to develop an instrument which would require a relatively short time to complete and would predict an adult's probable performance on a five-part General Educational Development (GED) test. It was believed that the cloze procedure (a measure of reading comprehension in which every fifth word is deleted from a reading passage…

This paper deals with one view of cognitive social learning and its applications to the psychological analysis of moral competence and moral conduct. The concept of cognitive and behavioral construction competencies is explained and cognitive competencies are said to be among the very best predictors of "honesty" in conduct. Moral…

The role of attitudes in the conduct of buyer behavior is examined in the context of two competitive models of attitude structure and attitude-behavior relationship. Specifically, the objectives of the study were to compare the Fishbein and Sheth models on the criteria of predictive as well as cross validities. Data on both the models were…

Several criteria for assessing bias in educational tests are presented and discussed. These criteria were developed in accordance with basic notions of fairness, equality, and expanded life options for women. In terms of prescriptions for test developers, the criteria are: (1) tests should be constructed of items which contain either no sex…

Evidence indicates that college grades have increased on the average and that the college-bound population has decreased in traditional kinds of academic skills, based on observed declines on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT). But the relationship between these traditional skills and grades appears not to have…

Three quantitative measures which assess instructional material in terms of the rationale of adapting are reported. The first index is termed the consequence ratio, which evaluates diagnostic items in terms of how effectively time is used. The second measure, termed predictive validity, evaluates the accuracy of diagnostic test predictions. The…

Assesses the validity of a 20-item scale that purportedly measures long term memory records--in this case, frightening mass media. Evidence for validity emerged in that subjects' scale scores were related to negative emotion, negative cognitions, and skin conductance during film clips of scary movies. (NKA)

A study examined the predictive validity of two methods of prior knowledge assessment: free association and prediction. Subjects, 72 sixth graders from suburban public and private schools, were divided into four groups: standard free association; standard free association plus prediction; definitional free association; and definitional free…

The majority of depressive symptoms, prevalent among adults (without a history of a depressive disorder) entering alcohol treatment, usually abate within 2 to 3 weeks of abstinence without specific depression-focussed intervention, but some hospitalized alcoholics experience significant depressive symptoms despite sustained abstinence. Such…

The Parenting Alliance Inventory (PAI) was administered to 186 mothers and 75 fathers with a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds who had at least one child between 2 and 6 years of age. Subjects were recruited from child care facilities, pediatric practices, and public recreational facilities in central Virginia. Extrafamilial child caregivers…