The Musical Aptitude Profile (MAP) and four levels of the Iowa Tests of Music Literacy (ITML) were administered to university non-music majors to investigate the use of the "in doubt" test item response. The "in doubt" response was not used indiscriminately by the university students on either test battery. (Author)

Questionnaires are vulnerable to joking and suffer from lack of agreement regarding the unitary traits through which scales are validated. Eight basic requirements for construction of factor-true scales are established and it is shown that one or more of the requirements is missing for 80 percent of recently published questionnaires. (Author)

A literature review and bibliography on questionnaire construction are presented. The broad definition of questionnaire includes scales, structured interview forms, survey forms, and similar paper and pencil instruments used to elicit responses and collect information. A comprehensive literature search of journal articles, books, and reports in…

A format is suggested for testing using free association techniques. In this system, students are given key words or phrases and asked to relate as much relevant information as they can. Scoring techniques, strengths, and weaknesses of such open-ended approaches are discussed, along with possible suggestions for implementation. (PB)

The problem of response set is important for questionnaire designers and interpreters, but the public is affected as well if policy is determined on the basis of unsupported conclusions. This study focused on one of the most researched response sets, extreme responding (ER), or extreme checking styles, and its relationship to one dimension of…

A method for measuring recognition memory (free of distractors) and false recognition was based on the assumption that the subject was "honest." A distractor-free test of word recognition (a single-item test trial in which the 36 targets were presented prior to the 36 distractors) was compared with a traditional target-distractor…

Basic mathemagenic concepts were tested under instructional conditions. Research areas of interest were the effect of two different types of adjunct questions and adjunct question positions on problem solving ability on prose materials. (Author/DEP)

Over the years many criticisms have been offered against the multiple choice test format. Ambiguous, and emphasizing isolated information, they are also the most difficult objective tests to construct. Over-interpretation is a danger of multiple choice examinations with students picking subtle answers the test makers consider incorrect. Yet, the…

Seven undergraduate volunteers studied a written passage on Atomic Structure and then, while answering a set of 24 multiple-choice items, talked aloud about the strategies they were using for option selection. The tape recordings of their verbal responses were analyzed for latency, memory references, and inference references. The items testing…

This paper provides substantial evidence in favor of the continued use of conventional objective testing procedures in lieu of either the Coombs' cross-out technique or the Dressel and Schmid free-choice response procedure. From the studies presented in this paper, the tendency is for the cross-out and the free choice methods to yield a decrement…

Compares various item option scoring methods with respect to coefficient alpha and a concurrent validity coefficient. Scoring methods compared were: formula scoring, a priori scoring, empirical scoring with an internal criterion, and two modifications of formula scoring. The empirically determined scoring system is seen as superior. (RC)

This study evaluates the usefulness of conceptualizing intraindividual stability as a personality construct. The feasibility of developing a psychometric scale which might be used to reliably predict individual stability in self-description, self-concept, and other behavioral domains is assessed. (MS)

Responses to various fixed test-response formats were examined for "reliability" due to systematic error; Cronbach's alphas up to .67 were obtained. Of formats tested, four-point Likert Scales were least affected while forms of lines and faces were most problematic. Possible modification in alpha to account for systematic bias is…

Findings regarding formats and scoring formulas for multiple-choice test items with more than one correct response are presented. Strong cluing effects in the Type K format, increasing the correct score percentage and reducing test reliability, recommend using the Type X format. Alternative scoring methods are discussed. (Author/CM)