Although most scaling formats include an intermediate or neutral response category, little research has been devoted to the analysis of the meaning respondents attach to this category. Results obtained from ten different scales, across two types of item formats support the traditional method of scoring the ? answer.

Herman's Presatie Motivatie Test and Mehrabians's Resultant Achievement Motivation Test were found to be sensitive to systematic response bias. Results indicated that respondents could influence scores systematically on both measures and that the potential influence of external stimuli should be recognized by users of these tests. (Author/JKS)

Categories of questionnaire response sets and the ability to interpret response differences as related to soliciting student attitudes. (DAG)

Reports on an evaluation of answer changing on multiple choice tests. States that any change a student is inclined to make, no matter how low the confidence, was found to lead to a significant gain. Concludes that students who change answers are likely to benefit despite the widely held belief that "first impressions are best." (GEA)

The Basic Personality Inventory (BPI) was completed by 180 undergraduates who received faking instructions, 182 normal adults, and 404 psychiatric inpatients. The BPI was scored for measures of stylistic responding and for its 12 scales. Reports results of instructions to fake, incidence of stylistic responding, and detection of faking using three…

Examined responses on both state and trait scales of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory as a function of experimenter instructions, in a role-playing situation involving 185 students. Confirmed the hypothesis that subjects would respond consistently on the A-Trait scale, while demonstrating increased levels of A-state. (JAC)

In this study four methods were compared for setting a response time threshold that differentiates rapid-guessing behavior from solution behavior when examinees are obliged to complete a low-stakes test. The four methods examined were: (1) a fixed threshold for all test items; (2) thresholds based on item surface features such as the amount of…

This study examined 235 adolescent psychiatric inpatients with self-report and therapist ratings of depression and nondepressive psychopathology along with measures of response styles. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory scales sensitive to response style were strongly correlated with therapist and…

Describes a study that was conducted to track the effect of candidate response patterns on a computerized adaptive test. The effect of altering responses on estimated candidate ability, test tailoring, and test precision across segments of adaptive tests and groups of candidates is examined. (Author/LRW)

This study demonstrates how mixture distribution item response models can be used to detect different response styles in the clinical assessment of anger expression. Analyses of 3 subscales of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory in a clinical sample of 4,497 patients revealed that there are different response styles that manifest themselves…

Offenders are assumed by many to employ socially desirable responding (SDR) response styles when completing self-report measures. Contrary to expectations, prior research has shown that accounting for SDR in self-report measures of antisocial constructs does not improve the relationship with outcome. Despite this, many self-report measures…

Tests conducted with high school students. (CH)

A test for any relationship between the existence of vocal nodules and personality type. (CH)

Indices reflecting the probability that the observed similarity between the multiple-choice test responses of two examinees was due to chance are presented. Applications are presented for apprehending cheaters and for evaluating the prevalence of this form of cheating on an examination. (Author/JKS)

Ten items consisting of five DSC items and five LSC items were translated into Norwegian in order (a) to control the verbal anxiety responses from defensive tendencies, (b) to handle the problem of response set (the tendency to answer a questionnaire in a stereotyped way), and (c) to permit research concerning the nature of defensiveness itself.…