Intended for parents, this guide discusses the effects of standardized tests on children, using test items from recent standardized reading tests which have been administered to children aged 7 to 13 and children's responses to these items. For each item, comments are made about the ambiguity of the item; the various interpretations that can be…

Indices of appropriateness of a test for an individual are discussed, and two data sets are evaluated. With the first data set, three indices of test appropriateness are obtained for response patterns on achievement tests from an experimental study of the effects of test anxiety and time pressure with 173 3rd and 4th grade students. Relationships…

The purpose of the present study was to empirically investigate the stability and accuracy of one suggested method for matching test difficulty to examinee ability level. Students' answers to traditional classroom tests were rescored by computer as if the examinations had been flexilevel tests. The scores thus obtained were found to correlate…

Instructions are provided on how to create and take computer aided admissible probability measurement (CAAPM) tests using programs available on PLATO IV. Admissible probability measurement is a testing procedure that permits a user to express a degree of uncertainty as to the correctness of alternative answers. Section II describes PLATO IV, an…

The feasibility of measuring responding desirably with attitude-opinion items is discussed, and an index based on 16 such items is presented. Estimates of reliability and validity for this index, and examples of its use as a covariate (control) in attitude research are presented. Similarities and differences from related scales are discussed.…

Two types of test scores were analyzed to examine whether sixty teachers were unable to use Kohlberg's measurement system for determining stages of moral thought because they were stage scoring invalidly on the basis of content. This proved to be the case. (Author/JKS)

The ability of respondents to properly execute Thurstone scaling procedures as opposed to Likert scaling procedures was investigated in a sample of high school students. Results indicate difficulty among respondents using Thurstone-type instructions to resist giving Likert-type responses. (JKS)

To control for response bias in student ratings of college teachers, an index of rater error was used that was theoretically independent of actual performance. Partialing out the effects of this extraneous response bias enhanced validity, but partialing out overall effectiveness resulted in reduced convergent and discriminant validities.…

A study investigated possible relationships between performance on the National Board of Medical Examiners Part I exam and personality types to identify learning styles that may predict difficulty with that kind of testing. Results show the tests are most difficult for the personality types most easily admitted to medical school. (MSE)

The response-shift phenomenon is demonstrated in a typical classroom setting. Retrospective pre-ratings in self-report instruments are shown to yield more accurate estimates of pre-instruction knowledge than simple pre-ratings. (Author/CM)

The relative importance of different cognitive subprocesses in Bender performance was studied with Black middle-class first graders. Results suggest that the Bender owes much of its clinical validity to loadings across all stages of human information processing. Kagan's hypothesis on conceptual tempo in Bender performance is also analyzed. (SJL)

This article outlines the advantages and disadvantages of various question types in tests for library classes, including selected-response, constructed-response and alternative-response test items. It examines a test case in which students in a for-credit library course were given a take home quiz with search story problems. Sample "search story"…

Differential responses to Female and Male Lawyer scale items on the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) were analyzed for 67 male and 35 female law students. The results are discussed. Because there is an implicit bias in maintaining separate sex scales, the author suggests the SCII should be considered an intermediate step to a combined…

The Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and worry and emotionality items from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) (Form Y) were administered to college students from three metropolitan colleges as part of several psychological experiments. The TAI was administered to a total of 543 students, and the STAI A-State items were administered twice to a…

Undergraduates responded to an objective test in electronics and classified each item by domain (one of 14 topics covered in their text), and by type of knowledge (definition, fact, principle, or interpretation). These judgments were compared to their instructor's "standard" judgments. From these data, an index of item-domain divergence…