Examined whether lengthy responses to the blank card reflect a contaminating factor such as glibness in creativity research. Two groups of college students completed the Remote Associates Test, Thematic Apperception Test, or Hand Test. Results suggested that blank cards among ambiguous stimuli evoke not glibness but economy of expression. (JAC)

Describes a study which examined the differences in male and female performance on the British Certificate of Secondary Education biology examination. Findings indicated that boys performed better on multiple-choice items, while girls excelled on questions requiring verbal skills. (AM)

Reviewed clinical usefulness of obvious and subtle Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory subscales in the detection of malingering. Comparison of obvious-subtle differences indicative of malingering (Greene's criteria) and observed differences on random-response protocols were found to be indistinguishable. (Author/JAC)

Investigated issues associated with stimulating increased return rates to a mail questionnaire among school counselors. Results show that as the number of incentives received increased, the return rates increased in a linear fashion. The incentives did not introduce response error or affect the reliability of the Counselor Function Inventory.…

This paper reviews the literature of the use of frequency expressions as questionnaire anchor points. Utilizing data obtained through ratio estimation, an approximately equal interval measurement scale is developed for a five-point response category set. (Author/GK)

The common negative relationship between the Test Anxiety Scale for Children (TASC) and the Lie Scale for Children (LSC) was examined using previous data. Defensiveness (measured by the LSC) was more related to later test anxiety than anxiety was to defensiveness, indicating causal effects of defensiveness on anxiety. (Author/GDC)

The study concludes that all respondents are served best by following instructions which encourage them to answer all items. Such instructions appear to reduce omitting to a point where individual differences in confidence do not introduce any significant distortion into the estimation of ability. (Author/RC)

Thirty chronic schizophrenics (15 process and 15 reactive) and 15 normal control speakers described colors displayed in three-chip sets containing a referent and two nonreferent colors. Concludes that poor communication accuracy in long-term schizophrenics results from failure to include a self-editing stage as a part of the communication process.…

A model is presented that counselors in small groups may use to improve students' test-taking skills and motivation and to enhance students' self-knowledge and decision-making ability through better test interpretation. (Author)

In an experiment using single-word items, subjects are run under three different speed-accuracy trade-off conditions. A competition model would predict that when subjects are forced to respond quickly, there will be an increase in errors, and these will be from recent past items. The prediction was confirmed. (CHK)

Examined associations of two different response sets on the Infrequent Response Index of the Strong Interest Inventory. In one, 25 participants responded to each item randomly; in the other, 25 participants deliberately misrepresented their responses. Finding scores higher than those proposed in Strong Interest Inventory manual for Infrequent…

The measurement of "consumer awareness" in health promotion campaigns is discussed. Seven effectiveness evaluations are reviewed. Problem areas, including interpretation of differently phrased awareness questions and response bias, are discussed. Recommendations for overcoming common problems are made, and an open discussion based on…

Explores response styles and sets capable of altering a person's responses in the thinking portion of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS). Constructs and incorporates into the PICTS validity scales to measure confusion and defensiveness. Results reveal that internal consistency, reliability, and validity of these two…

Van Breukelen (this issue) provides an approach to using both response time (RT) and accuracy for (1) measuring latent abilities of participants even when they may trade speed for accuracy, and for (2) providing insight into the psychological processes underlying task performance. In this commentary, I focus on the second of these aims and assess…