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CHAPTER 1: PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND ASSESSMENT DVD- how would you respond to the events that take place in satisfaction, personal values, quality of living conditions, and quality of friendships and other social support. the video BUSINESS AND MILITARY SETTINGS a) sexual harassment in the workplace GOVERNMENTAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CREDENTIALING b) respond to various types of emergencies How are Assessments Conducted? c) diagnosis/treatment plan for clients on videotape thermometers, biofeedback, etc
protocol: the form or sheet or booklet on which a testtaker’s responses are entered.
TEST DEVELOPER They are the one who create tests. They conceive, prepare, and develop tests. They also find a way to disseminate their tests, by publishing them either commercially or through professional publications such as books or periodicals. TEST USER They select or decide to take a specific test off the shelf and use it for some purpose. They may also participate in other roles, e.g., as examiners or scorers. TEST TAKER Anyone who is the subject of an assessment Test taker may vary on a continuum with respect to numerous variables including: The amount of anxiety they experience & the degree to o which the test anxiety might affect the results The extent to which they understand & agree with the o rationale of the assessment o Their capacity & willingness to cooperate Amount of physical pain/emotional distress they are o experiencing Amount of physical discomfort o o Extent to which they are alert & wide awake Extent to which they are predisposed to agreeing or o disagreeing when presented with stimulus o The extent to which they have received prior coaching May attribute to portraying themselves in a good light o Psychological autopsy – reconstruction of a deceased individual’s psychological profile on the basis of archival records, artifacts, & interviews previously conducted with the deceased assesee TYPES OF SETTINGS EDUCATIONAL SETTING achievement test: evaluation of accomplishments or the o degree of learning that has taken place, usually with regard to an academic area. o
diagnosis: a description or conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and opinion though a process of distinguishing the nature of something and ruling out alternative conclusions.
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diagnostic test: a tool used to make a diagnosis, usually to identify areas of deficit to be targeted for intervention
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informal evaluation: A typically non systematic, relatively brief, and “off the record” assessment leading to the formation of an opinion or attitude, conducted by any person in any way for any reason, in an unofficial context and not subject to the same ethics or standards as evaluation by a professiomal
CLINICAL SETTING these tools are used to help screen for or diagnose o behavior problems group testing is used primarily for screening: identifying o those individuals who require further diagnostic evaluation. COUNSELING SETTING schools,prisons, and governmental or privately owned o institutions ultimate objective: the improvement of the assessee in o terms of adjustment, productivity, or some related variable. GERIATRIC SETTING quality of life: in psychological assesment, an evaluation o of variables such as perceived stress,lonliness, sources of
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term might also be used to refer to a description of a set of test- or assessment- related procedures, as in the sentence , “the examiner dutifully followed the complete protocol for the stress interview”
rapport: working relationship between the examiner and the examinee
ASSESSEMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITITES Define who requires alternate assessement, how such assessment are to be conducted and how meaningful inferences are to be drawn from the data derived from such assessment Accommodation – adaptation of a test, procedure or situation or the substitution of one test for another to make the assessment more suitable for an assesee with exceptional needs. Translate it into Braillee and administere in that form . Alternate assessment – evaluative or diagnostic procedure or process that varies from the usual, customary, or standardized way a measurement is derived either by virtue of some special accommodation made to the assesee by means of alternative methods Consider these four variables on which of many different types of accommodation should be employed: o The capabilities of the assesse o The purpose of the assessment o The meaning attached to test scores o The capabilities of the assessor REFERENCE SOURCES TEST CATALOUGES – contains brief description of the test TEST MANUALS – detailed information REFERENCE VOLUMES – one stop shopping, provides detailed information for each test listed, including test publisher, author, purpose, intended test population and test administration time JOURNAL ARTICLES – contain reviews of the test ONLINE DATABASES – most widely used bibliographic databases TYPES OF TESTS INDIVIDUAL TEST – those given to only one person at a time GROUP TEST – administered to more than one person at a time by single examiner ABILITY TESTS: o ACHIEVEMENT TESTS – refers to previous learning (ex. Spelling) o APTITUDE/PROGNOSTIC – refers to the potential for learning or acquiring a specific skill o INTELLIGENCE TESTS – refers to a person’s general potential to solve problems PERSONALITY TESTS: refers to overt and covert dispositions o OBJECTIVE/STRUCTURED TESTS – usually self-report, require the subject to choose between two or more alternative responses o PROJECTIVE/UNSTRUCTURED TESTS – refers to all possible uses, applications and underlying concepts of psychological and educational tests o INTEREST TESTS –
CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND LEGAL/ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE testakers from young children through senior 19TH CENTURY adulthood. THE MEASUREMENT OF PERSONALITY B. Tests and testing programs first came into being in China Field of psychology was being too test oriented o Testing was instituted as a means of selecting who, of many Clinical psychology was synonymous to mental testing o applicants would obtain government jobs (Civil service) o ROBERT WOODWORTH – develop a measure of The job applicants are tested on proficiency in endeavors such as adjustment and emotional stability that could be music, archery, knowledge and skill etc. administered quickly and efficiently to groups of recruits GRECO-ROMAN WRITINGS (Middle Ages) To disguise the true purpose of the test, World of evilness questionnaire was labeled as Personal Data Deficiency in some bodily fluid as a factor believed to influence Sheet personality He called it Woodworth Psychoneurotic Hippocrates and Galen Inventory – first widely used self-report test of RENAISSANCE personality Christian von Wolff – anticipated psychology as a science and o Self-report test: psychological measurement as a specialty within that science Advantages: CHARLES DARWIN AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Respondents best qualified Tests designed to measure these individual differences in ability and Disadvantages: personality among people Poor insight into self “Origin of Species” chance variation in species would be selected or One might honestly believe rejected by nature according to adaptivity and survival value. something about self that isn’t true “survival of the fittest” Unwillingness to report seemingly FRANCIS GALTON negative qualities Explore and quantify individual differences between people. o Projective test: individual is assumed to project onto some Classify people “according to their natural gifts” ambiguous stimulus (inkblot, photo, etc.) his or her own Displayed the first anthropometric laboratory unique needs, fears, hopes, and motivations KARL PEARSON Ex.) Rorschack inkblot Developed the product moment correlation technique. o His work can be traced directly from Galton THE ACADEMIC AND APPLIED TRADITIONS C. WILHEM MAX WUNDT First experimental psychology laboratory in University of Leipzig Culture and Assessment Focuses more on relating to how people were similar, not different from each other. Culture: ‘the socially transmitted behavior patterns, beliefs, and products of work JAMES MCKEEN CATELL f a particular population, community, or group of people’ Individual differences in reaction time Coined the term mental test Evolving Interest in Culture-Related Issues CHARLES SPEARMAN Goddard tested immigrants and found most to be feebleminded Originating the concept of test reliability as well as building the -invalid; overestimated mental deficiency, even in native Englishmathematical framework for the statistical technique of factor speakers analysis Lead to nature-nurture debate about what intelligence tests actually measure VICTOR HENRI Needed to “isolate” the cultural variable Frenchman who collaborated with Binet on papers suggesting how Culture-specific tests: tests designed for use with ppl from one culture, but not mental tests could be used to measure higher mental processes from another EMIL KRAEPELIN -minorities still scored abnormally low Early experimenter of word association technique as a formal test ex.) loaf of bread vs. tortillas LIGHTNER WITMER today tests undergo many steps to ensure its suitable for said nation “Little known founder of clinical psychology” -take testtakers reactions into account Founded the first psychological clinic in the U.S. PSYCHE CATELL Some Issues Regarding Culture and Assessment Daughter of James Cattell Verbal Communication Cattel Infant Intelligence Scale (CIIS) & Measurement of Intelligence in Examiner and examinee must speak the same language o Infants and Young Children o Especially tricky with infrequently used vocabulary or RAYMOND CATTELL unusual idioms employed Believed in lexical approach to defining personality which examines Translator may lose nuances of translation or give o human languages for descriptors of personality dimensions unintentional hints toward more desirable answer 20 th CENTURY Also requires understanding of culture o Birth of the first formal tests of intelligence Nonverbal Communication and Behavior Testing shifted to be of more understandable relevance/meaning Different between cultures o A. THE MEASUREMENT OF INTELLIGENCE o Ex.) meaning of not making eye contact o Binet created first intelligence to test to identify mentally Body movement could even have physical cause o retarded school children in Paris (individual) o Psychoanalysis: Freud’s theory of personality and o Binet-Simon Test has been revised over again psychological treatment which stated that symbolic Group intelligence tests emerged with need to screen o significance is assigned to many nonverbal acts. intellect of WWI recruits o Timing tests in cultures not obsessed with speed o David Wechsler – designed a test to measure adult Lack of speaking could be reverence for elders o intelligence test Standards of Evaluation for him Intelligence is a global capacity of the Acceptable roles for women differ throughout culture o individual to act purposefully, to think rationally o “judgments as to who might be the best employee, and to deal effectively with his environment. manager, or leader may differ as a function of culture, as Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale might judgments regarding intelligence, wisdom, courage, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test – was revised and other psychological variables” several times and extended the age range of
CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND LEGAL/ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS must ask ‘how appropriate are the norms or other The right to be informed of test findings standards that will be used to make this evaluation’ o Formerly test administrators told to give participants only positive information Tests and Group Membership No realistic information is required o o ex.) must be 5’4” to be police officer - excludes cultures with short Tell test takers as little as possible about the nature of their stature performance on a particular test. So that the examinee would leave the test session feeling pleased and statisfied. ex.) Jewish lifestyle not well suited for corporate America Test takers have the right also to know what o affirmative action: voluntary and mandatory efforts to combat recommendations are being made as a consequence of the discrimination and promote equal opportunity in education and test data employment for all The right to privacy and confidentiality Psychology, tests, and public policy o Private right: “recognizes the freedom of the individual to pick and choose for himself the time, circumstances, and Legal and Ethical Condiseration particularly the extent to which he wishes to share or Code of professional ethics: defines the standard of care expected of members of withhold from others his attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and a given profession. opinions” o Privileged information: information protected by law from The Concerns of the Public being disclosed in legal proceeding. Protects clients from Beginning in world war I, fear that tests were only testing the ability to disclosure in judicial proceedings. Privilege belongs to the take tests client not the psychologist. Legislation o Confidentiality: concerns matters of communication Minimum competency testing programs: formal testing o outside the courtroom programs designed to be used in decisions regarding Safekeeping of test data: It is not a good policy various aspects of students’ educations to maintain all records in perpetuity Truth-in-testing legislation: state laws to provide testtakers o The right to the least stigmatizing label with a means of learning the criteria by which the y are being The standards advise that the least stigmatizing labels o judged should always be assigned when reporting test results. Litigation o
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Daubert ruling made federal judges the gatekeepers to determining what expert testimony is admitted This overrode the Frye policy which only admitted scientific testimony that had won general acceptance in the scientific community.
The Concerns of the Profession Test-user qualifications Who should be allowed to use psych tests o o Level A: tests or aids that can adequately be administered, scored, and interpreted with the aid of the manual and a general orientation to the kind of institution or organization in which one is working o Level B: tests or aids that require some technical knowledge of test construction and use and of supporting psychological and educational fields Level C: tests and aids requiring substantial understanding o of testing and supporting psych fields with experience Testing people with disabilities Difficulty in transforming the test into a form that can be o taken by testtaker Transferring responses to be scorable o Meaningfully interpreting the test data o Computerized test administration, scoring, and interpretation o simple, convenient easily copied, duplicated o insufficient research to compare it to pencil-and-paper o versions value of computer interpretation is questionable o unprofessional, unregulated “psychological testing” online o The Rights of Testtakers the right of informed consent right to know why they are being evaluated, how test data o will be used and what information will be released to whom may be obtained by parent or legal representative o o must be in written form: general purpose of the testing the specific reason it is being undertaken general type of instruments to be administered revealing this information before the test can contaminate o the results deception only used if absolutely necessary o o don’t use deception if it will cause emotional distress o fully debrief participants
CHAPTER 3: A STATISTICS REFRESHER No absolute zero point Why We Need Statistics Can take average RATIO SCALE Statistics are important for purposes of education In addition to all the properties of nominal, ordinal, and interval Numbers provide convenient summaries and allow us to o measurement, ratio scale has true zero point evaluate some observations relative to others Equal intervals between numbers We use statistics to make inferences, which are logical deductions Ex.) measuring amount of pressure hand can exert about events that cannot be observed directly True zero doesn’t mean someone will receive a scor e of 0, but means Detective work of gathering and displaying clues – o that 0 has meaning exploratory data analysis o Then confirmatory data analysis NOTE: Descriptive statistics are methods used to provide a concise Permissible Operations description of a collection of quantitative information Level of measurement is important because it defines which Inferential statistics are methods used to make inferences from mathematical operations we can apply to numerical data observations of a small group of people known as a sample to a larger For nominal data, each observation can be placed in only one group of individuals known as a population mutually exclusive category SCALES OF MEASUREMENT
MEASUREMENT – act of assigning numbers or symbols to characteristics of things according to rules. The rules serves as a guideline for representing the magnitude. It always involves error. SCALE – set of numbers whose properties model empirical properties of the objects to which the numbers are assigned. CONTINUOUS SCALE – interval/ratio. A scale used to measure continuous variable. Always involves error DISCRETE SCALE – nominal/ordinal used to measure a discrete variable (ex. Female or male) ERROR – collective influence of all of the factors on a test score.
PROPERTIES OF SCALES Magnitude, equal intervals, and an absolute 0 Magnitude The property of “moreness” A scale has the property of magnitude if we can say that a particular instance of the attribute represents more, less, or equal amounts of the given quantity than does another instance Equal Intervals A scale has the property of equal intervals if the difference between two points at any place on the scale has the same meaning as the difference between two other points that differ by the same number of scale units A psychological test rarely has the property of equal intervals When a scale has the property of equal intervals, the relationship between the measured units and some outcome can be described by a straight line or a linear equation in the form Y=a+bX Shows that an increase in equal units on a given scale o reflects equal increases in the meaningful correlates of units Absolute 0 An Absolute 0 is obtained when nothing of the property being measured exists This is extremely difficult/impossible for many psychological qualities NOMINAL SCALE Simplest form of measurement Classification or categorization Arithmetic operations can be performed with nominal data Ex.) Male or female Also includes test items Ex.) yes/no responses o ORDINAL SCALE Classifies in some kind of ranking order Individuals compared to others and assigned a rank Imply nothing about how much greater one ranking is than another Numbers/ranks do not indicate units of measure No absolute zero point Binet: believed that data derived from intelligence test are ordinal in nature INTERVAL SCALE In addition to the features of nominal and ordinal scales, contain equal intervals between numbers
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Ordinal measurements can be manipulated using arithmetic With interval data, one can apply any arithmetic operation to the differences between scores Cannot be used to make statements about ratios o
DESCRIBING DATA Distribution: set of scores arrayed for recording or study Raw Score: straightforward, unmodified accounting of performance, usually numerical Frequency Distributions Frequency Distribution: All scores listed alongside the number of times each score occurred Grouped Frequency Distribution: test-score intervals (class intervals), replace the actual test scores Highest and lowest class intervals= upper and lower limits o of distribution Histogram: graph with vertical lines drawn at the true limits of each test score (or class interval) forming TOUCHING rectangles- midpoint in center of bar Bar Graph: rectangles DON’T touch Frequency Polygon: data illustrated with continuous line connecting the points where test scores or class intervals meet frequencies A single test score means more if one relates it to other test scores A distribution of scores summarizes the scores for a group of individuals Frequency distribution: displays scores on a variable or a measure to reflect how frequently each value was obtained One defines all the possible scores and determines how o many people obtained each of those scores Income is an example of a variable that has a positive skew Whenever you draw a frequency distribution or a frequency polygon, you must decide on the width of the class interval Class interval: for inches of rainfall is the unit on the horizontal axis Measures of Central Tendency Measure of central tendency: statistic that indicates the average or midmost score between the extreme scores in a distribution. The Arithmetic Mean o “X bar” sum of observations divided by number of observations o Sigma (X/n) o o Used for interval or ratio data when distributions are relatively normal The Median The middle score o o Used for ordinal, interval, and ratio data Especially useful when few scores fall at extremes o The Mode o Most frequently-occurring score o Bimodal distribution- 2 scores both have highest frequency o Only common with nominal data Measures of Variability
CHAPTER 3: A STATISTICS REFRESHER conversion of a raw score into a number indicating how many Variability: indication of how scores in a distribution are scattered or dispersed standard deviation units the raw score is below or above the mean of the distribution. The Range The difference between a particular raw score and the mean divided o Difference between the highest and lowest scores Quick but gross description of the spread of scores by the standard deviation o The interquartile and semi-interquartile range Used to compare test scores with difference scales Distribution is split up by 3 quartiles, thus making 4 o T-score quarters each representing 25% of the scores Q2= median o Standard score system composed of a scale that ranges from 5 o Interquartile range measure of variability equal to the standard deviations below the mean to 5 standard deviations above difference between Q3 and Q1 the mean Semi-interquartile range interquartile range divided by 2 o No negatives Quartiles and Deciles o Quartiles are points that divide the frequency distribution Other Standard Scores into equal fourths SAT o First quartile is the 25th percentile; s econd quartile is the GRE median, or 50th percentile; third quartile is the 75th Linear transformation: when a standard score retains a direct percentile numerical relationship to the original raw score o The interquartile range is bounded by the range of scores Nonlinear transformation: required when data are not normally that represents the middle 50% of the distribution distributed, yet comparisons with normal distributions need to be Deciles are similar but use points that mark 10% rather o made than 25% intervals o Normalized Standard Scores Stanine system: converts any set of scores into a o When scores don’t fall on normal distribution transformed scale, which ranges from 1 to 9 “normalizing a distribution involves ‘stretching’ The average deviation he skewed curve into the shape of a normal X-mean=x o curve and creating a corresponding scale of Average deviation= (sum of all deviation scores)/ total o standard scores, a scale called a normalized number of scores standard score scale” Tells us on average how far scores are from the mean o The Standard Deviation Similar to average deviation o o But in order to overcome the (+/-) problem, each deviation is squared o Standard deviation: a measure of variability equal to the square root of the average squared deviations about the mean o Is square root of variance o Variance: the mean of the squares of the difference b/w the scores in a distribution and their mean Found by squaring and summing all the deviation scores and then dividing by the total number of scores s = sample standard deviation o o sigma = population standard deviation
Skewness
skewness: nature and extent to which symmetry is absent POSITIVE SKEW Ex.) test was too hard NEGATIVELY SKEWED ex.) test was too easy can be gauges by examining relative distances of quartiles from the median
Kurtosis
steepness of distribution platykurtic: relatively flat leptokurtic: relatively peaked mesokurtic: somewhere in the middle
The Normal Curve Normal curve: bell-shaped, smooth, mathematically defined curve, highest at center; both sides taper as it approaches the x-axis asymptotically -symmetrical, and thus have mean, median, mode, is same Area under the Normal Curve Tails and body Standard Scores Standard Score: raw score that has been converted from one scale to another scale, where the latter has arbitrarily set mean and standard deviation -used for comparison Z-score
CHAPTER 4: OF TESTS AND TESTING
Some Assumptions About Psychological Testing and Assessment Assumption 1: Psychological Traits and States Exist o Trait: any distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one individual varies from another o States: distinguish one person from another but are relatively less enduring Trait term that an observer applies, as well as strength or magnitude of the trait presumed present based on observing a sample of behavior o Trait and state definitions also refer to individual variation make comparisons with respect to the hypothetical average person Samples of behavior: o Direct observation Analysis of self-report statements Paper-and-pencil test answers o Psychological trait covers wide range of possible characteristics; ex: Intelligence Specific intellectual abilities Cognitive style Psychopathology Controversy regarding how psychological tests exist o Psychological tests exist only as constructs: an informed, scientific concept developed or constructed to describe or explain a behavior Cant see, hear or touch infer existence from overt behavior: refers to an observable action or the product of an observable action, including test- or assessment-related responses Traits not expected to be manifested in behavior 100% of the o time Seems to be rank-order stability in personality traits relatively high correlations between trait scores at different time points Whether and to what degree a trait manifests itself is o dependent on the strength and nature of the situation Assumption 2: Psychological Traits and States Can Be Quantified and Measured o After acknowledged that psychological traits and states do exist, the specific traits and states to be measured need to be defined What types of behaviors are assumed to be indicative of trait? Test developer has to provide test users with a clear operational definition of the construct under study After being defined, test developer considers types of item o content that would provide insight into it Ex: behaviors that are indicative of a particular trait Should all questions be weighted the same? o Weighting the comparative value of a test’s items comes about as the result of a complex interplay among many factors: Technical considerations The way a construct has been defined (for particular test) Value society (and test developer) attach to behaviors evaluated Need to find appropriate ways to score the test and interpret o results Cumulative scoring: test score is presumed to represent the strength of the targeted ability or trait or state The more the testtaker responds in a particular direction (as keyed by test manual) the higher the testtaker is presumed to possess the targeted trait or ability Assumption 3: Test-Related Behavior Predicts Non-Test-Related Behavior Objective of test is to provide some indication of some aspects o of the examinee’s behavior
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Tasks on some tests mimic the actual behaviors that the test user is attempting to understand o Obtained behavior is usually used to predict future behavior Could also be used to postdict behavior to aid in the o understanding of behavior that has already taken place o Tools of assessment, such as a diary, or case history data, might be of great value in such an evaluation Assumption 4: Tests and Other Measurement Techniques Have Strengths and Weaknesses Competent test users understand a lot about the tests they use o How it was developed Circumstances under which it is appropriate to administer the test How test should be administered and to whom How results should be interpreted o Understand and appreciation limitations for tests they use Assumption 5: Various Sources of Error Are Part of the Assessment Process o Everyday error= misstates and miscalculations Assessment error= a long-standing assumption that factors o other than what a test attempts to measure will influence performance on a test o Error variance: component of a test score attributable to sources other than the trait or ability measured Assessees themselves are sources of error variance Classical test theory (CTT)/ True score theory: assumption is o made that each testtaker has a true score on a test that would be obtained but for the action of measurement error Assumption 6: Testing and Assessment Can Be Conducted in a Fair and Unbiased Manner Court challenged to various tests and testing programs have o sensitized test developers and users to the societal demand for fair tests used in a fair manner Publishers strive to develop instruments that are fair when used in strict accordance with guidelines in the test manual Fairness related problems/questions: o Culture is different from people whom the test was intended for Politics Assumption 7: Testing and Assessment Benefit Society Many critical decisions are based on testing and assessment o procedures
WHAT’S A “GOOD TEST”? Criteria Clear instruction for administration, scoring, and interpretation o Reliability o A “good test”/measuring tool reliable Involves consistency: the prevision with which the test measures and the extent to which error is present in measurements Unreliable measurement needs to be avoided Validity Test is considered valid if it doesn’t indeed measure what it o purports to measure o If there is controversy over the definition of a construct then the validity is sure to be criticized as well o Questions regarding validity focus on the items that collectively make up the test Adequately sample range of areas to measure construct Individual items contribute to or take away from test’s validity Validity may also be questioned on grounds related to the o interpretation of test results Other Considerations “Good test” one that trained examiners can administer, score o and interpret with minimum difficulty Useful Yields actionable results that will ultimately benefit individual testtakers or society at large
CHAPTER 4: OF TESTS AND TESTING o STANDARD ERROR OF THE DIFFERENCE – estimate how Purpose of test compare performance of testtaker with performance of other testtakers (contains adequate norms: large a difference between two scores should be before normative data) the difference is considered statistically significant Normative data provides standard with which results Developing norms for a standardized test measured can be compared Establish a standard set of instructions and conditions o under which the test is given makes scores of normative sample more comparable with scores of future testtakers Norm-referenced testing and assessment: method of evaluation and o a way of deriving meaning from test scored by evaluating an All data collected and analyzed, test developer will individual testtaker’s score and comparing it to scores of a group of summarize data using descriptive statistics (measures of testtakers central tendency and variability) Meaning of individual score is relative to other scores on the same Test developer needs to provide precise test description of standardization sample itself Norms (scholarly context): usual, average, normal, standard, expected Descriptions of normative samples vary widely or typical in detail Norms (psychometric context): the test performance data of a Tracking particular group of testtakers that are designed for use as a reference Comparisons are usually with people of the same age when evaluating or interpreting individual test scores Children at the same age level tend to go through different growth Normative sample: group of people whose performance on a patterns particular test is analyzed for reference in evaluation the performance Pediatricians must know the child’s percentile within a given age of individual testtakers group o Yields a distribution of scores This tendency to stay at about the same level relative to one’s peers is known as tracking (ie height and weight) Norming: refers to the process of deriving norms; particular type of norm derivation Diets may alter this “track” Faults: some believe there is an analogy between the rates of physical o Race norming: controversial practice of norming on the basis of race or ethnic background growth and the rates of intellectual growth o Norming a test can be very expensive user norms/program norms: Some say that children learn at different rates consist of descriptive statistics based on a group of testtakers in a This system discriminates against some children o given period of time rather than norms obtained by form sampling methods TYPES OF NORMS Sampling to Develop Norms Classification of norms ex: age, grade, national, local, o percentile, etc. Standardization: process of administering a test to a representative sample of testtakers for the purpose of establishing norms o PERCENTILES o Standardized when has clear, specified procedures Median= 2 nd quartile: the point at or below which 50% of the scores fell and above which the remaining Sampling o Developer targets defined group as population test 50% fell designed for Might wish to divide distribution of scores into All have at least one common, observable deciles (instead of quartiles): 10 equal parts characteristic The Xth percentile is equal to the score at or below To obtain distribution of scores: which X% of scores fall o Percentile: an expression of the percentage of Test administered to everyone in targeted population people whose score on a test or measure falls below Administer test to a sample of the population a particular raw score Sample: portion of universe of Percentage correct: refers to the people deemed to be representative distribution of raw scores (number of of whole population items that were answered correctly) multiplied by 100 and divided by the total Sampling: process of selecting the number of items *not same as percentile portion of universe deemed to be representative of whole Percentile is a converted score that refers Subgroups within a defined population may differ with to a percentage of testtakers o respect to some characteristics and it is sometimes Percentiles are easily calculated popular way of essential to have these differences proportionately organizing test related data represented in sample Using percentiles with normal distribution real Stratified sampling: sample reflects statistics of differences between raw scores may be minimized whole population; helps prevent sampling bias near the ends of the distribution and exaggerated in and ultimately aid in interpretation of findings the middle (worsens with highly skewed data) o Purposive sampling: arbitrarily select sample AGE NORMS we believe to be representative of population Age-equivalent scores/age norms: indicate the Incidental/convenience sampling: sample that average performance of different samples of is convenient or available for use testtakers who were at various ages at the time the test was administered Very exclusive (contain exclusionary Age norm tables for physical criteria) TYPES OF STANDARD ERROR: characteristics o STANDARD ERROR OF MEASUREMENT – estimate the “Mental” age vs. physical age (need to extent to which an observed score deviates from a true identify mental age) score o GRADE NORMS o STANDARD ERROR OF ESTIMATE – In regression, an Grade norms: designed to indicate the average test estimate of the degree of error involved in predicting the performance of testtakers in a given school grade value of one variable from another Developed by administering the test to o STANDARD ERROR OF THE MEAN – a measure of sampling representative samples of children over a error range of consecutive grades Mean or median score for children at each grade level is calculated o
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CHAPTER 4: OF TESTS AND TESTING CORRELATION Great intuitive appeal Degree and direction of correspondence between two things. Do not provide info as to the content or Correlation coefficient (r) – expresses a linear relationship between type of items that a student could or could not answer correctly two continuous variables Numerical index that tells us the extent to which X and Y o Developmental norms: (ex: grade norms and age norms) term applied broadly to norms developed on are “co-related” the basis of any trait, ability, skill, or other Positive correlation: high scores on Y are associated with high scores characteristic that is presumed to develop, on X, and low scores on Y correspond to low scores on X deteriorate, or otherwise be affected by Negative correlation: higher scores on Y are associated with lower chronological age, school grade, or stage of life scores on X, and vise versa o NATIONAL NORMS No correlation: the variables are not related National norms: derived from a normative sample -1 to 1 that was nationally representative of the population Correlation does not imply causation. at the time the norming study was conducted Ie weight, height, intelligence o o NATIONAL ANCHOR NORMS Many different tests purporting to measure the same PEARSON r human characteristics or abilities Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient National anchor norms: equivalency tables for scores Devised by Karl Pearson on tests that purpose to measure the same thing Relationship of two variables are linear and continuous Could provide the tool for comparisons Coefficient of Determination (r 2) – indication of how much variance is Provides stability to test scores by shared by the X and the Y variables anchoring them to other test scores SPEARMAN RHO Begins with the computation of percentile Rank order correlation coefficient norms for each test to be compared Developed by Charles Spearman Equipercentile method: equivalency of Used when the sample size is small and when both sets of scores on different tests is calculated with measurements are in ordinal form (ranking form) reference to corresponding percentile BISERIAL CORRELATION scores expresses the relationship between a continuous variable and an SUBGROUP NORMS o artificial dichotomous variable Normative sample can be segmented by an criteria o If the dichotomous variable had been true then we would initially used in selecting subjects for sample use the point biserial correlation Subgroup norms: result of segmentation; more When both variables are dichotomous and at least one of o narrowly defined the dichotomies is true, then the association between o LOCAL NORMS them can be estimated using the phi coefficient Local norms: provide normative info with respect to o If both dichotomous variables are artificial, we might use a the local population’s performance on some test special correlation coefficient – tetrachoric correlation Typically developed by test users themselves REGRESSION Fixed Reference Group Scoring Systems analysis of relationships among variables for the purpose of Norms provide context for interpreting meaning of a test score o understanding how one variable may predict another o Fixed reference group scoring system: distribution of scored SIMPLE REGRESSION: one IV (X) and one DV (Y) obtained on the test from one group of testtakers (fixed Regression line: defined as the best-fitting straight line through a set reference group) is used as the basis for the calculation of test of points in a scatter diagram scores for future administrators on the test Found by using the principle of least squares, which o Ex: SAT test (developed in 1962) minimizes the squared deviation around the regression NORM-REFERENCED VERSUS CRITERION-REFERENCED EVALUATION line Way to derive meaning from test score is to evaluate test score in Primary use: To predict one score or variable from another relation to other scores on same test ( Norm-referenced) Standard error of estimate: the higher the correlation between X and Criterion-referenced: derive meaning from a test score by evaluating Y, the greater the accuracy of the prediction and the smaller the SEE. it on the basis of whether or not some criterion has been met MULTIPLE REGRESSION: The use of more than one score to predict Y. o Criterion: a standard on which a judgment or decision may Regression coefficient : (b) slope of the regression line be based Sum of squares for the covariance to the sum of squares o Criterion-referenced testing and assessment: method of evaluation for X and way of deriving meaning from test scores by evaluating an Sum of squares is defined as the sum of the squared o individual’s score with reference to a set standard (ex: to drive must deviations around the mean past driving test) o Covariance is used to express how much two measures Derives from values and standards of an individual or o covary, or vary together organization Slope describes how much change is expected in Y each time X Also called Domain/content-referenced testing and o increases by one unit assessment (a) is the value of Y when X is 0 Intercept o Critique: if followed strictly, important info about The point at which the regression line crosses the Y axis o individual’s performance relative to others can be THE BEST-FITTING LINE potentially lost The difference between the observed and predicted score (Y- Y’) is Culture and Inference called the residual Culture is a factor in test administration, scoring and interpretation The best-fitting line is most appropriately found by squaring each Test user should do research in advance on test’s available norms to residual check how appropriate it is for targeted testtaker population Best-fitting line is obtained by keeping these squared residuals as o Helpful to know about the culture of the testtaker small as possible Principle of least squares: o CORRELATION AND INFERENCE Correlation is a special case of regression in which the scores for both variables are in standardized, or Z, units
CHAPTER 4: OF TESTS AND TESTING Third variable, ie poor social adjustment, causes TV viewing and In correlation, the intercept is always 0 aggression Pearson product moment correlation coefficient is a ratio used to External influence is the third variable determine the degree of variation in one variable that can be Restricted Range estimated from knowledge about variation in the other variable Correlation and regression use variability on one variable to explain Testing the Statistical Significance of a Correlation Coefficient variability on a second variable Begin with the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between Restricted range problem: correlation requires variability; if the variables variability is restricted, then significant correlations are difficult to Null hypothesis rejected is there is evidence that the association find between two variables is significantly different from 0 Mulvariate Analysis t distribution is not a single distribution, but a family of distributions, Multivariate analysis considers the relationship among combinations each with its own degrees of freedom of three of more variables Degrees of freedom are defined as the sample size minus 2, or N-2 General Approach Two-tailed test Linear combination of variables is a weighted composite of the original variables How to Interpret a Regression Plot Y’ = a+b1X1 + … bkXk Regression plots are pictures that show the relationship between variables Common use of correlation is to determine the criterion validity evidence for a test, or the relationship between a test score and some well-defined criterion Middle level of enjoyableness because it is the one observed most frequently – normative because it uses info gained from representative groups Using the test as a predictor is not as good as perfect prediction, but it is still better than using the normative info A regression line such as in 3.9 shows that the test score tells us nothing about the criterion beyond the normative info
TERMS AND ISSUES IN THE USE OF CORRELATION Residual Difference between the predicted and the observed values is called the residual o Y-Y’ Important property of residual is that the sum of the residuals always equals 0 Sum of the squared residuals is the smallest value according to the principle of least squares Standard Error of Estimate Standard deviation of the residuals is the standard error of estimate A measure of the accuracy of prediction Prediction is most accurate when the standard error of estimate is relatively small Coefficient of Determination Correlation coefficient squared is known as the coefficient of determination Tells us the proportion of the total variation in scores on Y that we know as a function of information about X Coefficient of Alienation Coefficient of alienation is a measure of nonassociation between two variables Square root of 1-r 2 –-- r is the coefficient of determination High value means there is a high degree of nonassociation between 2 variables Shrinkage Tendency to overestimate the relationship, particularly if the sample of subjects is small Shrinkage is the amount of decrease observed when a regression equation is created for one population and then applied to another Cross Validation Use regression equation to predict performance in a group of subjects other than the ones to which the equation was applied Standard error of estimate obtained for relationship between the values predicted by the equation and the values actually observed – called cross validation The Correlation-Causation Problem Experiments are required to determine whether manipulation of one variable causes changes in another variable A correlation alone does not prove causality, although it might lead to other research that is designed to establish the causal relationships between variables Third Variable Explanation
CHAPTER 5: RELIABILITY RELIABILITY TEST CONSTUCTION Dependability and consistent o Item sampling or content sampling – refer to variation Error implies that there will always be some inaccuracy in our among items within a test as well as to variation among measurements items between test\ Tests that are relatively free of measurement error are deemed to be The extent to which a test takers score is reliable affected by the content sampled on a test and Reliability estimates in the range of .70 and .80 are good enough for by the way the content is sampled (that is, the way in which the item is constructed) is a most purposes in basic research source of error variance Reliability coefficient: an index that indicates the ratio between the TEST ADMINISTRATION true score variance on a test and the total variance o may influence the test takers attention or motivation HISTORY OF RELIABILITY: Environment variables, test taker’s variables, examiner o o Charles Spearman (1904): The Proof and Measurement of variables. Level of professionalism Association between Two Things TEST SCORING AND INTERPRETATION o Then Thorndike Computer scoring and a growing reliance on objective, o Item response theory has taken advantage of computer o computer-scorable items have virtually eliminated error technology to advance psychological measurement variance caused by scorer differences significantly However, other tools of assessment still require scoring by o Based on Spearman’s ideas o trained personnel X=T+E CLASSICAL TEST THEORY If subjectivity is involved in scoring, then the scorer can be o assumes that each person has a true score that would be o a source of error variance obtained if there were no errors in measurement Despite rigorous scoring criteria set forth in many of the o o Difference between the true score and the observed score better known test of intelligence, examiner occasionally results from measurement error still are confronted by situations where an examinees o Assumption here is that errors of measurement are response lies in a gray area random o Basic sampling theory tells us that the distribution of TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY random errors is bell-shaped Also known as time-sampling reliability The center of the distribution should represent Correlating pairs of scores from the same group on two different the true score, and the dispersion around the administration of the same test mean of the distribution should display the Measure something that is relatively stable over time distribution of sampling errors Sources of Error variance: Classical test theory assumes that the true score for an o Passage of time: the longer the time that passes, the o individual will not change with repeated applications of greater the likelihood that reliability coefficient will be the same test lower. o o Coefficient of stability : when the interval between testing o Variance: standard deviation squared. It is useful because is greater than 6 months, it can be broken into components: Consider possibility of carryover effect: occurs when first testing are o True variance: variance from true differences session influences scores from the second session assumed to be stable If something affects all the test takers equally, then the results are o Error variance: random irrelevant sources uniformly affected and no net errors occurs Standard error of measurement: we assume that the distribution of Practice tests may make this effect happen random errors will be the same for all people, classical test theory Practice can also affect tests of manual dexterity uses the standard deviation of errors as the basic measure of error Time interval between testing sessions must be selected and Standard error of measurement tells us, on the average, o evaluated carefully how much a score varies from the true score Poor test-retest correlations do not always mean that a attest is Standard deviation of the observed score and the o unreliable – suggest that the characteristic under study has changed reliability of the test are used to estimate the standard error of measurement PARALLEL-FORM OR ALTERNATE FORMS RELIABILITY Reliability: proportion of the total variance attributed to true compares two equivalent forms of a test that measure the same variance. attribute the greater portion of total variance attributed to true o Two forms should be equally constructed, both format, etc. variance, the more reliable the test When two forms of the test are available, one can compare Measurement error: refers to collectively, all of the factors associated performance on one form versus the other – equivalent forms with the process of measuring some variable, other than the variable reliability or parallel forms being measured Coefficient of equivalence: degree of relationship between various o Random error: a source of error in measuring a targeted forms of a test can be evaluated by means of an alternate-forms variable caused by unpredictable fluctuations and Parallel forms: each form of the test, the means and variances of inconsistencies of other variables in the measurement observed test scores are equal process Alternate forms: different versions of a test that have been This source of error fluctuates from one testing constructed so as to be parallel situation to another with no discernible pattern (1) two test administrations with the same group are required that would systematically raise or lower scores (2) test scores may be affected by factors such as motivation etc. o Systematic Error: Problem: developing a new version of a test A source of error in measuring a variable that is INTERNAL CONSISTENCY typically constant or proportionate to what is How well does each item measure the content/construct under presumed to be true value of the variable being consideration measured How consistent the items together Error is predictable and fixable Used when tests are administered once Does not affect score consistency If all items on a test measure the same construct, then it has a good SOURCES OF ERROR VARIANCE
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internal consistency Split-half reliability, KR20, Cronbach Alpha
CHAPTER 5: RELIABILITY o
SPLIT-HALF RELIABILITY Correlating two pairs of scores obtained from equivalent halves of a single test administered once. This is useful when it is impractical to assess reliability with two tests or to administer test twice Results of one half of the test are then compared with the results of the other Rules in splitting forms into half: Do not divide test in the middle because it would lower o the reliability o Different amounts of anxiety and differences in item difficulty shall also be considered o Randomly assign items to one or the other half of the test use the odd-even system: where one subscore is obtained o for the odd-numbered items in the test and another for the even-numbered items To correct for half-length, apply the Spearman-Brown formula, which allows you to estimate what the correlation between the two halves would have been if each half had been the length of the whole test Use this if test user wish to shorten a test o o Used to determine the number of items needed to attain a desired level of reliability Reliability increases as the test length increases KUDER-RICHARDSON FORMULAS OR KR20/KR21 Kuder-Richardson technique simultaneously considers all possible ways of splitting the items The formula for calculating the reliability of a test in which the items are dichotomous, scored 0 or 1, is the Kuder-Richardson 20 (see p.114) Introduced KR21 – uses an approximation of the sum of the pq products – the mean test score CRONBACH ALPHA Cronbach developed a formula that estimates the internal consistency of tests in which the items are not scored as 0 or 1 – a more general reliability estimate, which he called coefficient alpha Sum the individual item variances Most general method of finding estimates of reliability o through internal consistency Domain sampling: define a domain that represents a single trait or characteristic, and each item is an individual sample of this general characteristic Factor analysis deals with the situation in which a test apparently measures several different characteristics Good for the process of test construction o Most widely used as a measure of reliability because it requires only one administration of the test Ranges from 0 to 1 “bigger is always better” Other Methods of Estimating Internal Consistencies Inter-item consistency: refers to the degree of correlation among all the items on a scale A measure of inter-item consistency is calculated from a o single administration of a single form of a test o An index of inter-item consistency, in turn, is useful in assessing the homogeneity of the test o Tests are said to be homogenous if they contain items that measure a single trait Definition: the degree to which a test measures a single o factor o Heterogeneity: degree to which a test measures different factors Ex: homo=test that assesses knowledge only of #-D o television repair skills vs. a general electronics repair test (hetero) The more homogenous a test is, the more inter-item o consistency it can be expected to have Test homogeneity is desirable because it allows relatively o straightforward test-score interpretation Test takers with the same score on a homogenous test o probably have similar abilities in the area tested
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Test takers with the same score on a heterogeneous test may have quite different abilities However, homogenous testing is often an insufficient tool for measuring multifaceted psychological variable such as intelligence or personality
Measures of Inter-Scorer Reliability In some types of tests under some conditions, the score may be more a function of the scorer than of anything else Inter-scorer reliability: is the degree of agreement or consistency between two or more scorers (or judges or rather) with regard to a particular measure Coefficient of inter-scorer reliability: coefficient of correlation to determine the degree of consistency among scorers in the scoring of a test Kappa statistic is the best method for assessing the level of agreement among several observers Indicates the actual agreement as a proportion of the potential o agreement following the correction for chance agreement o Cohen’s Kappa – 2 raters o Fleiss’ Kappa – 3 or more raters HOMOGENEITY VS. HETEROGENEITY OF TEST ITEMS Homogeneous items has high degree of reliability DYNAMIC VS. STATIC CHARACTERISTICS Dynamic: trait, state, ability presumed to be ever-changing as a function of situational and cognitive experiences Static: trait, state, ability relatively unchanging RESTRICTION OR INFLATION OF RANGE If it is restricted, reliability tends to be lower. If it is inflated, reliability tends to be higher. SPEED TESTS VS. POWER TESTS Speed test: test is homogenous, means that it is easy but short time Power test: Few items, but more complex. CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS Provide an indication of where a testtaker stands with respect to some variable or criterion. Tends to contain material that has been mastered in hierarchical fashion. Scores here tend to be interpreted in pass-fail terms. Measure of reliability depends on the variability of the test scores: how different the scores are from one another. The Domain Sampling Model This model considers the problems created by using a limited number of items to represent a larger and more complicated construct Our task in reliability analysis is to estimate how much error we would make by using the score from the shorter test as an estimate of your true ability Conceptualizes reliability as the ratio of the variance of the observed score on the shorter test and the variance of the long-run true score Reliability can be estimated from the correlation of the observed test score with the true score Item Response Theory Classical test theory requires that exactly the same test items be administered to each person – BAD Item response theory (IRT) is newer – computer is used to focus on the range of item difficulty that helps assess an individual’s ability level o More reliable estimate of ability is obtained using a shorter test with fewer items o Takes a lot of items and effort Generalizability theory based on the idea that a persons test scores vary from testing to testing because of variables in the testing situation Instead of conceiving of all variability in a persons scores as error, Cronbach encouraged test developers and researchers to describe the details of the particular test situation or universe leading to a specific test score
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CHAPTER 5: RELIABILITY This universe is described in terms of its facets: which include things like the number of items in the test, the amount of training the test scorers have had, and the purpose of the test administration According to generalizability theory, given the exact same conditions of all the facets in the universe, the exact same test score should be obtained Universe score: the test score obtained and its analogous to a true score in the true score model Cronbach suggested that tests be developed with the aid of a generalizability study followed by a decision study Generalizability study: examines how generalizable scores from a particular test are if the test is administered in different situations How much of an impact different facets of the universe have on the test score Ex: is the test score affected by group as opposed to individual administration Coefficients of generalizability: the influence of particular facts on the test score is represented by this. These coefficients are similar to reliability coefficients in the true score model Decision study: developers examine the usefulness of test scores in helping the test user make decision The decision study is designed to tell the test user how test scores should be used and how dependable those scores are as a basis for decisions, depending on the context of their use
What to Do About Low Reliability Two common approaches are to increase the length of the test and to throw out items that run down the reliability Another procedure is to estimate what the true correlation would have been if the test did not have measurement error Increase the Number of Items The larger the sample, the more likely that the test will represent the true characteristic o This could entail a long and costly process however Prophecy formula Factor and Item Analysis Reliability of a test depends on the extent to which all of the items measure one common characteristic Factor analysis Tests are most reliable if they are unidimensional : one o factor should account for considerably more of the variance than any other factor Or examine the correlation between each item and the total score for the test Called discriminability analysis: when the correlation o between the performance on a single item and the total test score is low, the item is probably measuring something different from the other items on the test Correction for Attenuation Potential correlations are attenuated, or diminished, by measurement error
CHAPTER 6: VALIDITY The Concept of Validity (N/2) CVR Content validity ratio o Validity: as applied to a test, is a judgment or estimate of how well a test o measures what it purports to measure in a particular context ne Number of panelists Judgment based on evidence about the appropriateness of stating “essential” o inferences drawn from test scores N Total number of panelists o o Validity of test must be shown from time to time to account for CVR is calculated for each item culture and advancement o Culture and the relativity of content validity Inference: a logical result or deduction Tests thought of as either valid or invalid “Acceptable” or “weak” validity of tests and test scores What constitutes historical fact depends to some Validation: process of gathering and evaluating evidence about validity extent on who is writing the history o Test user and testtaker both have roles in validation of test Culture relativity Test users may conduct their own validation studies: may yield o Politics (politically correct) insights regarding a particular population of testtakers as Criterion-Related Validity compared to the norming sample (in manual) Criterion-related validity: judgment of how adequately a test score can be o Local validation studies: absolutely necessary when test user used to infer an individual’s most probable standing on some measure of plans to alter in some way the format, instructions, language, or interest (measure of interest being the criterion) content of the test 2 types: Types of Validity (Trinitarian view) *not mutually exclusive all contribute o Concurrent validity: index of the degree to which a test score is to a unified picture of a test’s validity/ critiq ue approach is fragmented related to some criterion measure obtained at the same time and incomplete (concurrently) o Content validity: measure of validity based on an evaluation of o Predictive validity: index of the degree to which a test score the subjects, topics, or content covered by the items in the test predicts some criterion measure o Criterion-related validity: measure of validity obtained by What Is a Criterion? evaluating the relationship of scores obtained on the test to o Criterion: a standard on which a judgment or decision may be scores on other tests or measures based; standard against which a test or a test score is evaluated o Construct validity: measure of validity that is arrived at by (criterion-related validity) executing a comprehensive analysis of: (umbrella validity Characteristics of criterion o every other variety of validity falls under it) Relevancy pertinent or applicable to the matter at How scores on test relate to other test scores and hand measures Validity (for the purpose which it is being used) How scores on test can be understood within some Uncontaminated Criterion contamination: term theoretical framework for understand the construct applied to a criterion measure that has been based, that the test was designed to measure at least in part, on predictor measures Strategies: ways of approaching the process of test validity Concurrent Validity o Content validation strategies o Test scores are obtained at about the same time as the criterion Criterion-related validation strategies o measures are obtained measures of the relationship between Construct validation strategies o the test scores and the criterion provide evidence of concurrent Face Validity validity o Face validity: relates more to what a test appears to measure to Indicate the extent to which test scores may be used to o the person being tested than to what the test actually measures estimate an individuals present standing on a criterion Judgment concerning how relevant the test items appear to o Once validity of inference from test scores is established= faster, o be usually from testtaker, not test user less expensive way to offer a diagnosis or a classification o Lack of face validity= lack of confidence in perceived decision effectiveness of test which decreases testtaker’s Concurrent validity of a test can be explored with respect to o motivation/cooperation *may still be useful another test Content validity Prior research must have satisfactorily demonstrated o Content validity: a judgment of how adequately a test samples the 1st test’s validity behavior representative of the universe of behavior that the test 1st test= validating criterion was designed to sample Predictive validity Ideally, test developers have a clear vision of the Test scores may be obtained at one time and the criterion o construct being measured clarity reflected in the measures obtained at a future time, usually after some content validity of the test intervening event has taken place o Test blueprint: structure of the evaluation; a plan regarding the Intervening event training, experience, therapy, types of information to be covered by the items, the number of medication, etc. items tapping each area of coverage, the organization of the Measures of relationship between the test scores items in the test, etc. and a criterion measure obtained at a future time Behavior observation is a technique frequently used provide an indication of the predictive validity test in test blueprinting (how accurately scores on the test predict some The quantification of content validity o criterion measure) Important in employment settings tests used to o Ex: SAT test score and freshman gpa hire and promote Judgments of criterion validity are based on 2 types of statistical o One method: method for gauging agreement among evidence: raters or judges regarding how essential a particular The validity coefficient item is (C.H. Lawshe) Validity coefficient: correlation “Is the skill or knowledge measured by coefficient that provides a measure of the this item… relationship between test scores and o Essential scores on the criterion measure Useful but not essential o Ex: Pearson correlation coefficient used o Not necessary to determine validity between 2 measures To the performance of the job?” (r) Content validity ratio (CVR) : Affected by restriction or inflation of CVR= ne – (N/2) range
CHAPTER 6: VALIDITY Is the range of scores employed appropriate to the objective of the correlational analysis No rules regarding the validity coefficient (how high or low it should/could be for test to be valid) Incremental validity o More than one predictor o Incremental validity: the degree to which an additional predictor explains something about the criterion measure that is not explained by predictors already in use Expectancy data Expectancy data: provides info that can be used in evaluating the criterion-related validity of a test Score obtained on expectancy test/tables likelihood testtaker will score within some interval of scores on a criterion measure (“passing”, “acceptable”, etc.) Expectancy table: shows the percentage of people within specified test-score intervals who subsequently were placed in various categories of the criterion May be created from o scatterplot Shows relationships o Expectancy chart: graphic representation of an expectancy table o The higher the initial rating, the greater the probability of job/academic success Taylor Russell Table – provide an estimate of the extent to which inclusion pf a particular test in the selection system will actually improve selection Selection ratio – relationship between the number of people to be hired and the number of people available to be hired Base rate – percentage of people under existing system for a particular position Relationship between predictor and criterion must be linear Naylor-shine Tables – difference between the means of the selected and unselected groups to derive an index of what the test is adding to already established procedures o Decision theory and Test utility Base rate – extent to which a particular trait, behavior, characteristic or attribute exists in the population Hit rate – defined as the proportion of people a test accurately identifies as possessing or exhibiting a particular trait. Miss rate – proportion of people the test fails to identify as having or not having attributes False positive (type I error) – possess particular attribute but actually does not have. Ex: score above cutoff score, hired but failed the job. False negative (type II error) – does not possess particular attribute but actually does have. Ex. Scored below cutoff score, not hired, but could have been successful in the job Construct Validity o Construct validity: judgment about the appropriateness of inferences drawn from test scores regarding individual standings on a variable called a construct
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Construct: an informed, scientific idea developed or hypothesized to describe or explain behavior Ex: intelligence, depression, motivation, personality, etc. Unobservable, presupposed (underlying) traits that a test developer invokes to describe test behavior/criterion performance Viewed as unifying concept for all validity evidence Evidence of Construct Validity Various techniques of construct validation that provide evidence: Test is homogeneous measures single construct Test scores increase/decrease as function of age, passage of time, or experimental manipulation (theoretically predicted) Test scored obtained after some even or passage of time differ from pretest scores (theoretically predicted) Test scores obtained by people from distinct groups vary (theoretically predicted) Test scores correlate with scores on other tests (theoretically predicted) Evidence of homogeneity Homogeneity: refers to how uniform a test is in measuring a single concept Evidence correlations between subtest scores and total test scores Item-analysis procedures have been used in quest for test homogeneity Desirable but not necessary Contributes no info about how construct being measured relates to other constructs Evidence of changes with age If test purports to measure a construct that changes over time then the test scores, too, should show progressive changes to be considered valid measurement of construct Does not in itself provide info about how construct relates to other constructs Evidence of pretest-posttest changes Can be evidence of construct validity Some more typical intervening experiences responsible for changes in test scores are: Formal education o o Therapy/medication Any life experience o Evidence from distinct groups/method of contrasted groups Method of contrasted groups: one way of providing evidence for the validity of a test is to demonstrate that scores on the test vary in a predictable way as a function of membership in some group Rationale if a test is a valid measure of a particular construct, test scores from groups of people who would presumed with respect to that construct should have correspondingly different test scores Convergent evidence Evidence for the construct validity of a particular test may converge from a number of sources, such as tests or measures designed to assess the same/similar construct
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CHAPTER 6: VALIDITY Criterion data may be influenced by Convergent evidence: scores on a test undergo construct validity and correlate rater’s knowledge of ratee race, highly in the predicted direction with gender, etc. scores on older, more established and Test fairness o already validated tests designed to Issues of fairness tend to be more difficult and measure the same/similar construct involve values Fairness: the extent to which a test is used in an Discriminant evidence impartial, just, and equitable way Discriminant evidence: validity coefficient Sources of misunderstanding showing little relationship between test Discrimination scores and /or other variables with which scores on the test being constructGroup not included in standardization validated should not theoretically be sample correlated Performance differences between Provides evidence of construct validity identified groups Multitrait-multimethod matrix: “two or Relationship Between Reliability and Validity more traits”, “two or more methods” matrix/table that results from correlating A test should not correlate more highly with any other variable than it variables (traits) within and between correlates with itself methods A modest correlation between the true scores on two traits may be Factor analysis missed if the test for each of the traits is not highly reliable We can have reliability without validity Factor analysis: shorthand term for a class o It is impossible to demonstrate that an unreliable test is of mathematical procedures designed to valid identify factors or specific variables that are typically attributes, characteristics, or dimension on which people may differ Frequently used as a data reduction method in which several sets of scores and correlations between them are analyzed Exploratory factor analysis: researchers test the degree to which a hypothetical model fits the actual data o Factor loading: conveys information about the extent to which the factor determines the test score or scores Complex procedures o Validity, Bias, and Fairness Test Bias o Bias: a factor inherent in a test that systematically prevents accurate, impartial measurement Technical means to identify and remedy bias (mathematically) Bias implies systematic variation Rating error Rating: a numerical or verbal judgment (or both) that places a person or an attribute along a continuum identified by a scale of numerical or word descriptions, known as a rating scale Rating error: judgment resulting from intentional or unintentional misuse of a rating scale Leniency error/generosity error: error in rating that arises from the tendency on the part of the rater to be lenient in scoring, marking, and/or grading Severity error: rater exhibits general and systematic reluctance to giving ratings at either the positive or negative extreme Overcome restriction of range rating errors is to use rankings: procedure that requires the rater to measure individuals against one another instead of against an absolute scale Rater is forced to select 1 st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. Halo effect: fact that for some raters, some rates can do no wrong Tendency to give a particular ratee a higher rating than he or she objectively deserves
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CHAPTER 7: UTILITY Utility: usefulness or practical value of testing to improve efficiency Factors that Affect a Test’s Utility Psychometric Soundness o Reliability and validity of a test Gives us the practical value of both the scores (reliability o and validity) They tell us whether decisions are cost-effective o A valid test is not always a useful test o especially if testtakers do not follow test directions Costs Economic and non economic o o Ex.) using a less expensive and therefore less stringent application process for airline personnel. Benefits o Profits, gains, advantages Ex.) more stringent hiring policy more productive o employees o Ex.) maintaining successful and academic environment of university
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Based on norm-related considerations rather than on the relationship of test scores to a criterion Also called norm-referenced cut score Ex.) top 10% of test scores get A’s Fixed cut score: set with reference to a judgment concerning a minimum level of proficiency required to be included in a particular classification. Also called absolute cut scores Multiple cut scores: using two or more cut scores with reference to one predictor for the purpose of categorizing testtakers Ex.) having cut score that marks an A, B, C etc. all measuring same predictor Multiple hurdles: for success, requires one individual to complete many tasks, with elimination at each level Ex.) written application group interview personal interview etc. Compensatory model of selection: assumption is made that high scores on one attribute can compensate for low scores on another attribute
Utility Analysis
Methods for Setting Cut Scores
What is Utility Analysis? -a family of techniques that entail a cost-benefit analysis designed to yield information relevant to a division about the usefulness and/or practical value of a tool of assessment.
The Angoff Method Judgments of experts are averaged
Utility analysis: An illustration What’s the companies goal? Limit the cost of selection Don’t use FERT o Ensure that qualified candidates are not rejected o Set a cut score that yields the lowest false negative rate Ensure that all candidates selected will prove to be qualified o Lowest dales positive rate Ensure, to the extent possible, that qualified candidates will be selected and unqualified candidates will be rejected False positives are no better or worse than false negatives o o Highest hit rate and lowest miss rate How Is a Utility Analysis Conducted? -objective: dictate what sort of information will be required as well as the specific methods to be used Expectancy Data o Expectancy table provides indication of the likelihood that a testtaker will score within some interval of scores on a criterion measure o Used to measure costs vs. benefits Brogden-Cronbach-Gleser formula o Utility gain: estimate of the benefit of using a particular test or selection method Most simply is benefits-cost o o Productivity gain: estimated increase in work output Some Practical Considerations The Pool of Job Applicants There is rarely a limitless supply of potential employees o o Dependent on many factors, including economic environment We assume that top scoring individuals will accept the job, o but those individuals are more likely to be the ones being offered higher positions The complexity of the Job o It is questionable whether the same utility analysis methods can be used to measure the eligibility of varying complexities of jobs The cut score in use o Relative cut score: may be defines as reference point
The Known Groups Method Collection of data on the predictor of interest from group known to posses and not to possess trait, attribute, or ability Cut score based on which test best discriminates the two groups performance IRT-Based Method Based on testtaker’s performance across all items on a test Some portion of test items must be correct Item-mapping method: determining difficulty level reflected by cut score (?) Book-Mark method: test items are listed, one per page, in ascending level of difficulty. An expert places a bookmark to mark the divide which separates testtakers who have acquired minimal knowledge, skills, or abilities and those that have not. Problems include training of experts, possible floor and ceiling effects, and the optimal length of item booklets Other Methods -discriminant analysis: family of statistical techniques used to shed light on the relationship between certain variables and two or more naturally occurring groups ex.) the relationships between scores of tests and ppl judged to be successful or unsuccessful at job
CHAPTER 8: TEST DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 8: TEST DEVELOPMENT STEPS: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
TEST CONCEPTUALIZATION TEST CONSTRUCTION TEST TRYOUT ITEM ANALYSIS TEST REVISION
TEST CONCEPTUALIZATION Thoughts or stimulus that could be almost everything. An emerging social phenomenon or pattern of behavior might serve as the stimulus for the development of a new test. Norm referenced: An item for which high scorers on the test respond correctly. Low scorers respond to that same item incorrectly Criterion referenced: high scorers on the test get a particular item right whereas low scorers on the test get that same item wrong. Pilot work: pilot study or pilot research. To know whether some items should be included in the final form of the instrument. o the test developer typically attempts to determine how best to measure a targeted construct TEST CONSTRUCTION Scaling: process of setting rules for assigning numbers in measurement. L.L. Thurstone: credited for being the forefront of efforts to develop methodologically sound scaling methods. TYPES OF SCALES: Nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio Age-based scale Grade-based scale Stanine scale (raw score converted to 1-9) Unidimensional vs. multidimensional o Unidimensional: measuring one construct o Multidimensional: measuring more than one construct Comparative vs. categorical o Comparative scaling: entails judgments of a stimulus in comparison with every other stimulus on the scale o Categorical scaling: stimuli are placed into one of two or more alternative categories that differ quantitatively with respect to some continuum Rating Scale: Which can be defined as a grouping of words, statements, or symbols on which judgments of the strength of a particular trait, attitude, or emotion are indicated by the testtaker Summative scale: when final score is obtained by summing the ratings across all the items Likert scale: each item presents the testtaker with five alternative responses usually on agree-disagree, or approve-disapprove continuum Method of paired comparisons: presented with two stimuli and asked to compare Comparative scaling: judging of a stimulus in comparison with every other stimulus on the scale Categorical scaling: testtaker places stimuli into a category; those categories differ quantitatively on a spectrum. Guttman scale (Scalogram analysis): items range from sequentially weaker to stronger expressions of attitude, belief, or feeling. A testtaker who agrees with the stronger statement is assumed to also agree with the milder statements Equal-appearing intervals (Thurstone): direct estimation because don’t need to transform testtaker’s response to another scale WRITING ITEMS 3 Questions of test developer o What range of content should the items cover? Which of the many different types of item formats should be o employed? How many items should be written in total and for each content o area covered? Item pool: reservoir from which items will not be drawn for the final version of the test (should be about double the number of questions as final will have) Item format -
Item format: variables such as the form, plan, structure, arrangement and layout of individual test items o 2 types 1.) selected-response format: testtaker selects a response from o a set of alternative responses includes multiple choice, true-false, and matching 2.) constructed-response format: testtaker supplies or creates o the correct answer includes completion item, short answer and essay Writing Items for computer administration o Item bank: relatively large and easily accessible collection of test questions o Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT): interactive, computeradministered testtaking process wherein items presented to the testtaker are based in part on testtaker’s performance on previous items. o Floor effect: the diminished utility of an assessment tool for distinguishing testtakers at the low end of the ability, trait, or other attribute being measured o Ceiling effect: diminished utility of an assessment tool for distinguishing testtakers at the high end of the ability, trait, attribute being measured o Item branching: ability of computer to tailor the content and order of presentation of test items on the basis of responses to previous items SCORING ITEMS Cummulative scoring: testtakers earn cumulative credit with regard to a particular construct Class/category scoring: testtaker responses earn credit toward placement in a particular class or category with other testtakers whose pattern of responses is presumably similar in some way Ipsative scoring: comparing a testtaker’s score on one within a test to another scale within that same test ex.) “John’s need for achievement is higher than his need o for affiliation” ITEM WRITING (KAPLAN BOOK) Item Writing Personality and intelligence tests require different sorts of responses Guidelines for item writing Define clearly what you want to measure o Generate an item pool o Avoid exceptionally long items o o Keep the level of reading difficulty appropriate for those who will complete the scale o Avoid “double-barreled” items that convey two or more ideas at the same time Consider mixing positively and negatively worded items o Must be sensitive to ethnic and cultural differences Items that retain their reliability are more likely to focus on skills, while those that lost reliability focused on more abstract concepts Item Formats Simplest test uses dichotomous format The Dichotomous Format Dichotomous format offers two alternatives for each item Ie. True-false examination o Advantages: Simplicity o o True-false items require absolute judgment Disadvantages: o True-false encourage students to memorize material “truth” often comes in shades of gray o mere chance of getting any item correct is 50% o Yes-no format on personality tests Multiple-choice = polytomous The Polytomous Format Polytomous format resembles the dichotomous format except that each item has more than two alternatives Multiple-choice exams o Advantage: o Little time for test takers to respond to a particular item because they do not have to write Incorrect choices are called distractors o
CHAPTER 8: TEST DEVELOPMENT o Disadvantages: The midpoint representing the optimal difficulty is How many distractors should a test have? --> 3 or 4 obtained by summing up the chance of success proportion o o Distractors hurting reliability / validity of test and 1.00 and then dividing the sum by 2 Three alternative multiple-choice items may be better than five o Item Reliability Index alternative items because they retain the psychometric value Indication of the internal consistency of a test o o but take less time to develop and administer Equal to the product of the item-score standard deviation (s) and the Scoring of the MC exams? --> simply guessing should elicit correlation (r) o o correctness Factor analysis and inter-item consistency Correcting for this though, the expected score is 0 – as getting a Factor analysis determines whether items on a test appear o o question wrong loses you a point to be measuring the same thing The Item-Validity Index Guessing can be good if you can narrow down a couple answers Students are more likely to guess when they anticipate a lower grade on a Statistic designed to provide an indication of the degree to which a o test than when they are more confident test is measuring what it purports to measure Guessing threshold describes the chances that a low-ability test taker will Requires: item-score standard deviation, the correlation between the o obtain each score item score and criterion score The Item-Discrimination Index True-false and MC tests are common to educational and achievement tests Likert format, category scale, and the Q-sort used for personality-attitude Measures how adequately an item separates or discriminates o tests between high scorers and low scorers “d” o Likert Format o Likert format: requires that a respondent indicate the degree of agreement compares performance on a particular item with performance in the with a particular attitudinal question upper and lower regions of a distribution of continuous test scores Strongly disagree ... Strongly agree higher d means greater number of high scorers answering the item o o o For measurements of attitude correctly Used to create Likert Scales: scales require assessment of item negative d means low-scoring examinees are more likely to answer o discriminability the item correctly than high-scoring examinees o Familiar and easy --- likely to remain popular in personality and attitude Analysis of item alternatives tests Item-Characteristic Curves? o Category Format Graphic representation of item difficulty and discrimination Category format: uses more choices than Likert; 10-point rating scale Other Considerations in Item Analysis Disadvantage: responses to items on 10-pt scales are affected by the groupings of the people or things being rated o Guessing People change their ratings depending on context Usually in some direction o o o This problem can be avoided if the endpoints of the scale are Depends on individuals ability to take risks clearly defined and the subjects are frequently reminded of the o Item fairness o definitions of the endpoints Bias Optimal number of points is 7? o Speed tests Number depends on the fineness of the discrimination that Last items will appear to be more difficult because o o subjects are willing to make not everyone got to them When people are highly involved with some issue, they will tend o Qualitative Item Analysis to respond best to a greater number of categories Increasing the number of response categories may not increase reliability Qualitative methods: techniques of data generation and analysis that and validity rely primarily on verbal rather than mathematical or statistical Visual analogue scale: respondent is given a 100-millimeter line and asked procedures to place a mark between two well-defined endpoints Qualitative item analysis: various nonstatistical procedures designed o Measures self-rate health to explore how individual test items work Checklists and Q-Sorts o Through means like interviews and group discussions Adjective Checklist: subject receives a long list of adjectives and indicates “Think aloud” test administration whether each one is characteristic of himself or herself approach to cognitive assessment that entails respondents o Requires subjects either to endorse such adjectives or not, thus o vocalizing thoughts as they occur allowing only two choices for each item used to shed light on the testtker’s though processes o Q-Sort: increases the number of categories during the administration of a test Used to describe oneself or to provide ratings of others o Expert panels Other Possibilities Sensitivity review: study of test items in which they are o Forced-choice and Likert formats are clearly the most popular in examined for fairness to all prospective testtakers as well contemporary tests and measures as for the presence of offensive language, stereotypes, or Checklists have fallen out of favor because they are more prone to error situations than are formats that require responses to every item ITEM ANALYSIS (KAPLAN BASED) Frequent advice is to not use “all of the above” as a response option The Extreme Group Method Compares people who have done well with those who have done TEST TRYOUT poorly on a test What is a good item? Difference between these proportions is called the discrimination Reliable and valid o index o Helps to discriminate testtakers The Point Biserial Method Find the correlation between performance on the item and ITEM ANALYSIS performance on the total test o The Item-Difficulty Index Correlation between a dichotomous variable and a continuous Obtained by calculating the proportion of the total number o variable is called a point biserial correlation of testtakers who answered the item correctly “p” On tests with only a few items, using this is problematic because Higher p= easier item o performance on the item contributes to the total test score o Difficulty can be replaced with endorsement in nonPictures of Item Characteristics achievement tests Valuable way to learn about items is to graph their characteristics, which you can do with the item characteristic curve
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CHAPTER 8: TEST DEVELOPMENT Prepare a graph for each individual test item First step in developing these tests involves clearly specifying the Total test score is used as an estimate of the amount of a objectives by writing clear and precise statements about what the o ‘trait’ possessed by individuals learning program is attempting to achieve Relationship between performance on the item and performance on To evaluate the items: one should give the test to two groups of the test gives some info about how well the item is tapping the info students – one that has been exposed to the learning unit and one we want that has not Bottom of the V is the antimode – the least frequent score Drawing the Item Characteristic Curve To draw this, we need to define discrete categories of test This point divides those who have been exposed to the unit from performance those who have not been exposed and is usually taken as the cutting If the test has been given to many people, we might choose to make score or point , or what marks the point of decision each test score a single category When people get scores higher than the antimode, we assume that Gradual positive slope of the line demonstrates that the proportion of they have met the objective of the test Limitations of Item Analysis people who pass the item gradually increases as test scores increase This means that the item successfully discriminates at all Main Problem: though statistical methods for item analysis tell the o levels of test performance test constructor which items do a good job of separating students, Ranges in which the curve changes suggest that the item is sensitive, they do not help the students learn while flat ranges suggest areas of low sensitivity Although the data are available to give the child feedback on the Item analysis breaks the general rule the increasing the number of “bug” in their thinking, nothing in the testing procedure initiates this items makes a test more reliable guidance TEST REVISION When bad items are eliminated, the effects of chance responding can Test Revision in the Life Cycle of an Existing Test be eliminated and the test can become more efficient, reliable, and valid Tests get old and need revision Item Response Theory Questions arise over equivalence of two tests According to classical test theory, a score is derived from the sum of Cross-validation and Co-validation an individual’s responses to various items, which are sampled from a o Cross-validation: revalidation of a test on a sample of larger domain that represents a specific trait or ability testtakers other than those on whom test performance New approaches consider the chances of getting particular items right was originally found to be a valid predictor of some or wrong – item response theory – make extensive use of item criterion analysis o Validity shrinkage: decrease in item validities that With this, each item on a test has its own item o inevitably occurs after cross-validation of finding characteristic curve that describes the probability of o Co-validation: test validation process conducted on two or getting each particular item right or wrong given the ability more tests using the same sample of testtakers level of each test taker o Co-norming: when co-validation is used in conjunction Testers can make an ability judgment without subjecting o with the creation of norms or the revision of existing the test taker to all of the test items norms Technical adv: builds on traditional models of item analysis and can o Quality assurance during test revision provide info on item functioning, the value of specific items, and the test givers must have some degree of reliability of a scale qualification, training, and testing Two dimensions used are difficulty and discriminability anchor protocol: test protocol scored by a Most attractive adv. Is that one can easily adapt the IRT tests for highly authoritative scorer that is designed as a computer administration model for scoring and a mechanism for Computer can rapidly identify the specific items that are o resolving scoring discrepancies required to assess a particular ability level scoring drift: a discrepancy between scoring in “peaked conventional” an anchor protocol and the scoring of another “rectangular conventional” – requires that test items be selected to protocol create a wide range in level of difficulty The Use of IRT in Building and Revising Tests problem: only a few items of the test are appropriate for o (item response theory) individuals at each ability level; many test takers spend Evaluating the properties of existing tests and guiding test revision much of their time responding to items either considerably Determining measurement equivalence across testtaker populations below their ability level or too difficult to solve o Differential item functioning (DIF): phenomenon, wherein IRT addresses traditional problems in test construction well an item functions differently in one group of testtakers as IRT can identify respondents with unusual response patterns and compared to another group of testtakers known to have offer insights into cognitive processes of the test taker the same level of the underlying trait May also reduce the biases against the people whoa re slow in Developing item banks completing test problems Items from other instruments item pool scrutiny o External Criteria preliminary item bank psychometric testing item bank Item analysis has been persistently plagued by researchers’ continued dependence on internal criteria, or total test score, for evaluating items Linking Uncommon Measures One challenge in test applications is how to determine linkages between two different measures Items for Criterion-Referenced Tests Traditional use of tests requires that we determine how well someone has done on a test by comparing the person’s performance to that of others Criterion-referenced tests compares performance with some clearly defined criterion for learning Popular approach in individualized instruction programs o o Regarded as diagnostic instruments
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CHAPTER 9: INTELLIGENCE AND ITS MEASUREMENT What is Intelligence? group factors: neither as general as g nor as specific as s Intelligence: a multifaceted capacity that manifests itself in different ways across o ex.) linguistic, mechanical, arithmetical abilities the lifespan. Usually includes abilities to: Guilford: multiple-factor models of intelligence Acquire and apply knowledge o Explain mental activities by deemphasizing, any reference Reason logically to g Thurstone: conceived intelligence as being composed of 7 primary Plan effectively abilities. Infer perceptively Gardner: developed theory of multiple intelligences Make judgment and solve problems o Question over whether emotional intelligence exists. Grasp and visualize concepts Logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, linguistic, o Pay attention musical, spatial, interpersonal and intrapersonal Be intuitive Raymond Cattell: fluid vs. crystallized intelligence Find the right words and thoughts with facility o Crystallized intelligence: acquired skills and knowledge Cope with, adjust to, and make the most of new situations and their retrieval. Retrieval of information and Intelligence Defines: Views of the Lay Public application of general knowledge Both social and academic o Fluid intelligence: nonverbal, relatively culture-free, and Intelligence Defined: Views of Scholars and Test Professionals independent of specific instruction. Francis Galton more to 7 factors Horn: added o First to publish on heritability of intelligence o Vulnerable abilities: decline with age and tend to return Most intelligent persons were those with the best sensory o preinjury levels following brain damage abilities not to decline with age and may o Maintained abilities: tend Alfred Binet return to preinjury levels following brain damage. Made tests about intelligence, but didn’t define it o Carrol: Components of intelligence: reasoning, judgment, o o Three-stratum theory of cognitive abilities: like geology memory, abstraction Hierarchical model: meaning that all of the abilities listed o o Added that definition is complex; requires interaction of in a stratum are subsumed by or incorporated in the strata components above. o He argued that when one solves a particular problem, the Those in the first stratum are narrow abilities o abilities used cannot be separated because they interact to CHC model (Cattell-Horn-Carroll) produce the solution. o Some overlap some difference David Wechsler Doesn’t use g o o Best way to measure this global ability was by measuring o Has broader abilities than Carroll’s theory aspects of several “qualitatively differentiable” abilities the Cattell-Horn and Carroll’s model McGrew: Integrated Complexity of intelligence o McGrew and Flanagan: integrated McGrew-Flanagan CHC Model Conceptualization as an “aggregate” or “global” capacity o o Features 10 broad stratum abilities Jean Piaget 70 narrow-stratum abilities o Studied children o o Makes no provision for the general intellectual ability o Believed order of maturation to be unchangeable factor (g) o With age, increased schema: organized action or mental It was omitted because it has little practical relevance to o structure that, when applied to the world, leads to cross-battery assessment and interpretation knowing or understanding. The Information-Processing View Learning occurred through assimilation (actively o Aleksandr Luria organizing new information so that it fits in with what How (not what) information is processed o already is perceived and thought) and accommodation o Simultaneous/parallel processing: integrated all at once (changing what is already perceived or though so that it o Successive/sequential processing: each bit individually fits with new information) processed o Sensorimotor (0-2) PASS model: (Planning, attention, simultaneous, successive)-model of assessing intelligence o Preoperational (2-6) Sternberg ‘The essence of intelligence is that it provides a means to govern ourselves so that our thoughts and actions are organized, o Concrete Operational (7-12) coherent, and responsive to both out internally driven needs and to the needs of the environment” o Formal Operational (12 and older)
All share interactionism: complex concept by which heredity and environment are presumed to interact and influence the development of one’s intelligence Factor-analytic theories: focus is squarely on identifying the ability(ies) deemed to constitute intelligence Information-processing theories: focus is on identifying the specific mental processes that constitute intelligence.
Factor-Analytic Theories of Intelligence: Charles Spearman: pioneered new techniques to measure intercorrelations between tests. Existence of a general intellectual ability factor (g) that o tapped by all other mental abilities. g representing the portion of the variance that all intelligence tests have in common and the remaining portions of the variance being accounted for either by specific components (s) or by error components (e) greater g = better test was thought to predict overall intelligence
Measuring Intelligence Types of Tasks Used in Intelligence Test Infants: test sensorimotor, interviews with parents Older child: verbal and performance abilities Mental Age: index that refers to chronological age equivalent to one’s test performance Adults: retention of general information, quantitative reasoning, expressive language and memory, and social judgment Theory in Intelligence Test Development and Interpretation Weschler made a dichotomous test (Performance and Verbal), but advocated multifaceted definition Thorndike: intelligence = social, concrete, abstract Putting theories into test are extremely hard Intelligence: Some Issues: Nature vs. Nurture Currently believed to be mix of two
CHAPTER 9: INTELLIGENCE AND ITS MEASUREMENT Performationism: all structures, including intelligence are had at birth and can’t be improved upon Led to predeterminism: one’s abilities are predetermined by genetic inheritance and no learning or intervention can enhance it Interactionist: ppl inherit certain intellectual potential Theres a limit to genetic abilities (i.e. can’t ever have x-ray o vision) The Stability of Intelligence Stable pretty much throughout one’s adult life Cognitive abilities seem to decline with age The Construct Validity of Tests of Intelligence Having construct validity requires having unified understanding of what intelligence is Very difficult. Spearman says its one thing, Guilford says its many Thorndike approach is sort of compromise Look for one central factor with three additional factors o representing social, concrete, and abstract intelligences Other Issues Flynn effect: IQ scores seem to rise every year, but not coupled with rise in “true intelligence” Personality High IQ: Need for achievement, competition, curiosity, o confidence, emotional stability etc. Low IQ: passivity, dependence, maladjustment o o Temperament (used to describe infants) Gender o Men usually outscore in visual spatialization tasks and intelligence scores o Women tend to outscore in language-skill tasks But differences can be bridged o Family Environment Divorce can have negative effects o o Begins with “maternal effects” in womb Culture o Provides specific models for thinking, acting and feeling Assumed that if cultural factors can be controlled then o differences between cultural groups will be lessened Assumed that culture can be removed by the reliance on o exclusively nonverbal tasks Tend not to be very good at predicting success in various academic and business settings o Culture loading: the extent to which a test incorporates the vocabulary, concepts, traditions, knowledge and feelings associated with a particular culture o No test can be culture free o Culture-fair intelligence test: test/assessment process designed to minimize the influence of culture with regard to various aspects of evaluation procedure o Another approached called for cultural-specific intelligence tests Ex.) BITCH measured streetwiseness Lacked predictive validity and useful, practical information
CHAPTER 10: TESTS OF INTELLIGENCE The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales Other Measures of Intelligence Tests Designed for Individual Administration First to have detailed administration and scoring instructions Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test First American test to test IQ Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test First to use alternate items (an item that can be used in place of Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children another) Lacked minority group representation Away from information processing and towards a distinction between sequential and simultaneous processing Ratio IQ =(mental age/chronological age)x100 Tests Designed for Group Administration Deviation Ratio/test composite: performance of one individual Group Testing in the Military compared to the performance of others of the same age. Has o WWI need for government to test intelligence as mean of 100 and standard deviation of 16 means of differentiating “unfit” and “exceptionally Age scale: items grouped by age superior ability” Point scale: items organized by category o Army Alpha Test: to army recruits who could read. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales: Fifth Edition Included general information questions, analogies, and Measures fluid intelligence, crystallized knowledge, quantitative scrambled sentences to reassemble knowledge, visual-processing, and short-term (working) memory o Army Beta Test: to foreign or illiterate recruits, Utilizes adaptive testing: testing individually tailored to testtakers included mazes, coding, and picture completion. to ensure that items are neither too difficult (frustrating) or too o After the war, the alpha and beta test were used easy (false hope) rampantly, and oftentimes misused Examiner establishes rapport with testtaker, then administers o Screening tools: instrument of procedure used to routing test to direct, route examinee to test items most likely at identify a particular trait or constellation of traits optimal level of difficulty ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery): o Teaching items: show testtaker what is expected, how to do it. administered to prospective to recruits or high school Can be used for qualitative assessment, but not scoring o students looked for career guidance Subtests for verbal and nonverbal tests share same name, but 5 career areas: clerical, electronics, involve different tasks mechanical, skill-technical, and combat Floor: lowest level of items on subtest operations Ceiling: highest-level item of subtest Group Testing in Schools Basal level: base-level criterion that must be met for testing on Useful in developing child’s profile - but cannot be sole o the subtest to continue indicator Ceiling level is met when testtaker fails certain number of items in Groups of 10-15 o a row. Test discontinues here. o Starting in Kindergarten Scores: raw standard composite Also called traditional group testing, because more o Extra-test behavior: behavioral observation modern forms can utilize computer. These more aptly The Wechsler Tests called individual testing -commonality between all versions: all yield deviation IQ’s with mean of 100 Measures of Specific Intellectual Abilities and standard deviation of 15 Widely used intelligence tests only test a sampling of the many Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) attributable factors aiding in intelligence Core subtest: administered to obtain a composite score Ex.) Creativity Supplemental/Optional Subtest: provides additional clinical o Commonly thought to be composed of originality, information or extending the number of abilities or processes fluency, flexibility, and elaboration sampled. o If the focus is too heavily on whether an answer is Yields four index scores: Verbal Comprehension Index, a Working correct, doesn’t allow for creativity Memory Index, a Perceptual Reasoning Index, and a Processing Achievement tests require convergent thinking: o Speed Index deductive reasoning process that entails recall and The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children –Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) consideration of facts as well as a series of logical Process score: index designed to help understand how testtakers judgments to narrow down solutions and eventually process various kinds of information arrive at one solution WISC-IV compared to the SB5 Divergent thinking: a reasoning process in which o The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Third Edition thought is free in many different directions, making (WPPSI-III) several solutions possible New school for children under 6 Associated words, uses of rubber band etc. First major intelligence test which adequately sampled total Test-retest reliability for some of these tests population of the United States are near unacceptable Subtests labeled core, supplemental, or optional Wechsler, Binet, and the Short Form Short form: test that has been abbreviated in length to reduce time needed to administer, score and interpret used with caution, only for screening provide only estimates reducing the number of items usually reduces reliability and thus validity Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence The Wechsler Test in Perspective Factor Analysis o Exploratory factor analysis: summarizing data when we are not sure how many factors are present in our data Confirmatory factor analysis: used to test highly o specific factor analysis
CHAP.11: Other Individual Tests of Ability in Education and Special Education Alternative Individual Ability Tests Compared with the Binet and Wechsler Scales None of these are clearly superior from a psychometric standpoint Some less stable, most more limited in their documented validity Compare poorly to Binet and Wechsler on all accounts They don't rely on a verbal response as much as the B and W Just use pointing or Yes/No responses, thus do not depend on the complex integration of visual and motor functioning Contain a performance scale or subscale Their specificity often limits the range of functions or abilities that they can measure Because they are designed for special populations, some alternatives can be administered totally without the verbal instructions Specific Individual Ability Tests Earliest individual tests typically designed for specific purposes or populations One of the first – Seguin Form Board Test – in 1800s – produced only a single score o Used primarily to evaluate mentally retarded adults and emphasized speed and performance After, the Healy-Fernald Test was developed as an exclusively nonverbal test for adolescent delinquents Knox developed a battery of performance tests for non-English adult immigrants to the US – administered without language; speed not emphasized These early individual tests designed for specific populations, produced a single score, and had nonverbal performance scales Could be administered without visual instructions and used with children as well as adults Infant Scales Where mental retardation or developmental delays are suspected, these tests can supplement observation, genetic testing, and other medical procedures Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale (BNAS) Individual test for infants between 3days and 4weeks Purportedly provides an index of a newborn’s competence Favorable reviews Considerable research base Wide use as a research tool and as a diagnostic tool for special purposes Commonly used scale for the assessment of neonates Drawbacks: o No norms are available More research is needed concerning the meaning and o implication of scores o Poorly documented predictive and construct validity Test-retest reliability leaves much to be desired o Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) Infant intelligence measures Used as a research tool by those interested in assessing infant intellectual development after exposure to mercury, diagnoses of abnormal brain formation in utero and assessing infants with autism Children of 2.3mth to 6.3yrs Obtains normative data concerning various stages in maturation Individual’s developmental quotient (DQ) is determined according to a test score, which is evaluated by assessing the presence or absence of behavior associated with maturation Provides an intelligence quotient like that of the Binet (development quotient / chronological age) x 100 o But, falls short of acceptable psychometric standards Standardization sample not representative of the population No reliability or validity Does appear to help uncover subtle deficits in infants -
Bayley Scales of Infants and Toddler Development – Third Edition (BSID-III) Base assessments on normative maturational developmental data Designed for infants between 1 and 42mths Assesses development across 5 domains: cognitive, language, motor, socioemotional, and adaptive Motor scale: assumes that later mental functions depend on motor development Excellent standardization Generally positive reviews Strong internal consistency More validity studies needed Widely used in research – children with Down syndrome, pervasive developmental disorders, cerebral palsy, language impairment, etc Most psychometrically sound test of its kind Predictive though? Cattell Infant Intelligence Scale (CIIS) Based on normative developmental data Downward extension of Stanford-Binet scale for 2-30mth olds Similar to Gesell scale Rarely used today Sample is primarily based on children of parents from lower and middle classes and therefore does not represent the general population Unchanged for 60yrs Psychometrically unsatisfactory Major Tests for Young Children McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities (MSCA) Measure ability in children between 2-8yrs Present a carefully constructed individual test of human ability Meager validity Produces a pattern of scores as well as a variety of composite scores General cognitive index (CGI): standard score with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 16 Index reflects how well the child has integrated prior o learning experiences and adapted them to the demands of the scales Relatively good psychometric properties Reliability coefficients in the low .90s In research studies Good validity? Good assessment tool Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children - Second Edition (KABC-II) Individual ability test for children between 3-18yrs 18 subtests in 5 global scales called sequential processing, simultaneous processing, learning, planning, and knowledge Intended for psychological, clinical, minority-group, preschool, and neuropsychological assessment as well as research Sequential-simultaneous distinction o Sequential processing refers to a child’s ability to solve problems by mentally arranging input in sequential or serial order o Simultaneous processing refers to a child’s ability to synthesize info from mental wholes in order to solve a problem Nonverbal measure of ability too Well constructed and psychometrically sound Not much evidence of (good) validity Poorer predictive validity for school achievement – smaller differences between whites and minorities Test suffers from a noncorrespondence between its definition and its measurement of intelligence General Individual Ability Tests for Handicapped and Special Populations Columbia Mental Maturity Scale – Third Edition (CMMS) Purports to evaluate ability in normal and variously handicapped children from 3-12yrs Requires neither a verbal response nor fine motor skills -
Requires subject to discriminate similarities and differences by indicating which drawing does not belong on a 6-by-9inch card containing 3-5 drawings Multiple choice Standardization sample is impressive Vulnerable to random error Reliable instrument that is useful in assessing ability in many people with sensory, physical, or language handicaps Good screening device Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Fourth Edition (PPVT-IV) 2-90yrs multiple choice tests that require subject to indicate Yes/No in some manner Instructions administered aloud (not for the deaf) Purports to measure hearing or receptive vocabulary, presumably providing a nonverbal estimate of verbal intelligence Can be done in 15mins, requires no reading ability Good reliability and validity Should never be used as a substitute for a Wechsler or Binet IQ Important component in a test battery or used as a screening device Easy to administer and useful for variety of groups BUT: Tendency to underestimate IQ scores, and problems inherent in the multiple-choice format are bad Leiter International Performance Scale – Revised (LIPS-R) Strictly a performance scale Aims at providing a nonverbal alternative to the Stanford-Binet scale for 2-18yr olds For research, and clinical settings, where it is still widely utilized to assess the intellectual function of children with pervasive developmental disorders Purports to provide a nonverbal measure of general intelligence by sampling a wide variety of functions from memory to nonverbal reasoning Can be applied to the deaf and language-disabled Untimed Good validity Porteus Maze Test (PMT) Popular but poorly standardized nonverbal performance measure of intelligence Individual ability test Consists of maze problems (12) Administered without verbal instruction, thus used for a variety of special populations Needs restandardization Testing Learning Disabilities Major concept is that a child average in intelligence may fail in school because of a specific deficit or disability that prevents learning Federal law entitles every eligible child with a disability to a free appropriate public education and emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet his or her unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living To qualify, child must have a disability and educational performance affected by it Educators today can find other ways to determine when a child needs extra help Processed called Response to Intervention (RTI): premise is that early intervening services can prevent academic failure for many students with learning difficulties Signs of learning problem: o Disorganization Careless effort o o Forgetfulness Refusal to do schoolwork or homework o Slow performance o Poor attention o Moodiness o
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Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA-3) Assumes that failure to respond correctly to a stimulus can result not only from a defective output system but also from a defective input or information-processing system Stage 1: info must first be received by the senses before it can be analyzed Stage 2: info is analyzed or processed Stage 3: with processed info, individual must make a response Theorizes that the child may be impaired in one or more specific sensory modalities 12 subtests that measure individual’s abil ity to receive visual, auditory, or tactile input independently of processing and output factors purports to help isolate the specific site of a learning disability For children 2-10yrs Early versions hard to administer and no reliability or validity Now, with revisions, ITPA-3 psychometrically sound measure of children’s psycholinguistic abilities Woodcock-Johnson III Evaluates learning disabilities Designed as a broad-range individually administered test to be used in educational settings Assesses general intellectual ability, specific cognitive abilities, scholastic aptitude, oral language, and achievement Based on the CHC three-stratum theory of intelligence Compares child’s score on cognitive ability with sore on achievement – can evaluate possible learning problems Relatively good psychometric properties For learning disability tests, three conclusions seem warranted: 1. Test constructors appear to be responding to the o same criticisms that led to changes in the Binet and Wechsler scales and ultimately to the development of the KABC 2. Much more empirical and theoretical research is o needed 3. Users or learning disabilities tests should take great o pains to understand the weaknesses of these procedures and not overinterpret results Visiographic Tests Require a subject to copy various designs Benton Visual Retention Test – Fifth Edition (BVRT-V) Tests for brain damage are based on the concept of psychological deficit , in which a poor performance on a specific task is related to or caused by some underlying deficit Assumes that brain damage easily impairs visual memory ability For individuals 8yrs+ Consists of geometric designs briefly presented and then removed Computerized version developed Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test (BVMGT) Consists of 9 geometric figures that the subject is imply asked to copy By 9yrs, any child of normal intelligence can copy the figures with only one or two errors Errors occur for people whose mental age is less than 9, brain damage, nonverbal learning disabilities, emotional problems Questionable reliability Memory-for-Designs (MFD) Test Drawing test that involves perceptual-motor coordination Used for people 8-60yrs Good split-half reliability Needs for validity documentation All these tests criticized because of their limitations in reliability and validity documentation Good as screening devices though Creativity: Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) Measurement of creativity underdeveloped in psychological testing Creativity: ability to be original, to combine known facts in new ways, or to find new relationships between known facts Evaluating this a possible alternative to IQ Creativity tests in early stages of development -
Torrance tests separately measure aspects of creative thinking such as fluency, originality, and flexibility Does not meet the Binet and Wechsler scales in terms of standardization, reliability, or validity Unbiased indicator of giftedness Inconsistent tests, but available data reflect the tests’ merit and fine potential Individual Achievement Tests: Wide Range Achievement Test-3 (WRAT-4) Achievement tests measure what the person has actually acquired or done with that potential Discrepancies between IQ and achievement have traditionally been the main defining feature of a learning disability Most achievement tests are group tests WRAT-4 purportedly permits an estimate of grade-level functioning in word reading, spelling, math computation, and sentence comprehension Used for children 5yrs+ Easy to administer Problems: o Inaccuracy in evaluating grade-level reading ability o Not proven as psychometrically sound
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CHAP: 12: Standardized Tests in Education, Civil Service, and the Military When justifying the use of group standardized tests, test users often have problems defining what exactly they are trying to predict, or what the test criterion is Comparison of Group and Individual Ability Tests Individual tests require a single examiner for a single subject Examiner provides instructions o Subject responds, examiner records response o Examiner evaluates response o o Examiner takes responsibility for eliciting a maximum performance o Scoring requires considerable skill Those who use the results of group tests must assume that the subject was cooperative and motivated o Many subjects tested at a time Subjects record own responses o Subjects not praised for responding o Low scores on group tests often difficult to interpret o No safeguards o Advantages of Individual Tests Provide info beyond the test score Allow the examiner to observe behavior in a standard setting Allow individualized interpretation of test scores Advantages of Group Tests Are cost-efficient Minimize professional time for administration and scoring Require less examiner skill and training Have more objective and more reliable scoring procedures Have especially broad application Overview of Group Tests Characteristics of Group Tests Characterized as paper-and-pencil or booklet-and-pencil tests because only materials needed are a printed booklet of test items, a test manual, scoring key, answer sheet, and pencil Computerized group testing becoming more popular Most group tests are multiple choice – some free response Group tests outnumber individual tests One major difference is whether the test is primarily verbal, o nonverbal, or combination Group test scores can be converted to a variety of units Selecting Group Tests Test user need never settle for anything but well-documented and psychometrically sound tests Using Group Tests Reliable and well standardized as the best individual tests Validity data for some group tests are weak/meager/contradictory Use Results with Caution Never consider scores in isolation or as absolutes Be careful using tests for prediction
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Avoid overinterpreting test scores Be Especially Suspicious of Low Scores Assume that subjects understand purpose of testing, want to succeed, and are equally rested/free of stress Consider Wide Discrepancies a Warning Signal May reflect emotional problems or severe stress When in Doubt, Refer With low scores, discrepancies, etc, refer the subject for individual testing Get trained professional Group Tests in the Schools: Kindergarten Through 12 th Grade Purpose of tests is to measure educational achievement in schoolchildren Achievement Tests verses Aptitude Tests Achievement tests attempt to assess what a person has learned following a specific course of instruction Evaluate the product of a course of training o o Validity is determined primarily by content-related evidence Aptitude tests attempt to evaluate a student’s potential for learning rather than how much a student has already learned o Evaluate effects of unknown and uncontrolled experiences Validity is judged primarily on its ability to predict future o performance Intelligence test measures general ability These three tests are highly interrelated Group Achievement Tests Stanford Achievement Test one of the oldest of the standardized achievement tests widely used in school system Well-normed and criterion-referenced, with psychometric documentation Another one is the Metropolitan Achievement Test, which measures achievement in reading by evaluating vocab, word recognition, and reading comprehension Both of these are reliable and normed on big samples Group Tests of Mental Abilities (Intelligence) Kuhlmann-Anderson Test (KAT) – 8th Edition KAT is a group intelligence test with 8 separate levels covering kindergarten through 12 th grade Items are primarily nonverbal at lower levels, requiring minimal reading and language ability Suited to young children and those who might be handicapped in following verbal procedures Scores can be expressed in verbal, quantitative, and total scores Scores at other levels can be expressed at percentile bands: like a confidence interval; provides the range of percentiles that most likely represent a subject’s true score Good construction, standardization, and other excellent psychometric qualities Good validity and reliability Potential for use and adaptation for non-English-speaking individuals or even countries needs to be explored Henmon-Nelson Test (H-NT) Of mental abilities 2 sets of norms available: one based on raw score distributions by age, the other on o raw scores distributions by grade reliabilities in the .90s helps predict future academic success quickly does NOT consider multiple intelligences Cognitive Abilities Test (COGAT) Good reliability Provides three separate scores though: verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal Item selection is superior to the H-NT in terms of selecting minority, culturally diverse, and economically disadvantaged children Can be adopted for use outside the US No cultural bias Each of the subtests required 32-34 minutes of actual working time, which the manual recommends to be spread out over 2-3 days Standard age scores averaged some 15pts lower for African American students on the verbal battery and quantitative batteries
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Summary of K-12 Group Tests All are sound, viable instruments College Entrance Tests SAT Reasoning Test, Cooperative School and College Ability Tests, and American College Test SAT Reasoning Test Most widely used college entrance test Used for 1000+ private and public institutions Renorming of the SAT did not alter the standing of test takers relative to one another in terms of percentile rank New scoring (2400) is likely to reduce interpretation errors, as interpreters can no longer rely on comparisons with older versions 45mins longer – 3hrs and 45mins to administer may disadvantage students with disabilities such as ADD Verbal section now called “critical reading” – focus on reading comprehension Math section eliminated much of the basic grammar school math questions Weakness: poor predictive power regarding the grades of students who score in the middle ranges Little doubt that the SAT predicts first-year college GPA o But, AfricanAmericans and Latinos tend to obtain lower scores on average Women score lower on SAT but higher in GPA o Cooperative School and College Ability Tests Falling out of favor Developed in 1955, not been updated Purports to measure school- learned abilities as well as an individual’s potential to undertake additional schooling Psychometric documentation not strong Little empirical data support its major assumption – that previous success in acquiring school-learned abilities can predict future success in acquiring such abilities American College Test Updated in 2005, particularly useful for non-native speakers of English Produces specific content scores and a composite Makes use of the Iowa Test of Educational Development Scale Compares with the SAT in terms of predicting college GPA alone or in conjunction with high-school GPA Internal consistency coefficients are not as strong in the ACT Graduate And Professional School Entrance Tests Graduate Record Examination Aptitude Test GRE purports to measure general scholastic ability Most frequently used in conjunction with GPA, letters of rec, and other academic factors General section with verbal and quantitative scores Third section which evaluates analytical reasoning – now essay format Contains an advanced section that measures achievement in at least 20 majors New 130-170 scoring scale Standard mean score of 500, and SD of 100 Normative sample is relatively small Psychometric adequacy is less than that of SAT – validity and reliability Predictive validity not great Overpredicts the achievement of younger students while underpredicting performance of older students Many schools have developed their own norms and psychometric documentation and can use the GRE to predict success in their programs By looking at a GRE score in conjunction with GPA, graduate success can be predicted with greater accuracy than without the GRE Graduate schools also frequently complain that grades no longer predict scholastic ability well because of grade inflation – the phenomenon of rising average college grades despite declines in average SAT scores o Led to corresponding restriction in the range of grades As the validity of grades and letters of rec becomes more questionable, reliance on test scores increases
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Definite overall decline in verbal scores while quantitative and analytical scores are gradually rising
Miller Analogies Test Designed to measures scholastic aptitudes for graduate studies Strictly verbal 60 minutes knowledge of specific content and a wide vocab are very useful most important factors appear to be the ability to see relationships and a knowledge of the various ways analogies can be formed psychometric adequacy is reasonable does not predict research ability, creativity, and other factors important to grad school The Law School Admission Test LSAT problems require almost no specific knowledge Extreme time pressure Three types of problems: reading comprehension, logical reasoning (~half), and analytical reasoning Weight given to the LSAT score is openly published for each school approved by the American Bar Association Entrance into schools based on weighted sum of score and GPA Psychometrically sound, reliability coefficients in the .90s Predicts first-year GPA in law school Content validity is exceptional Bias for minority group members, as well as women Nonverbal Group Ability Tests Raven Progressive Matrices RPM one of the best known and most popular nonverbal group tests Suitable anytime one needs an estimate of an individual’s general intelligence Groups or individuals, 5yrs-adults Used throughout the modern world Uses matrices – nonverbal; with or without a time limit Research supports RPM as a measure of general intelligence, or Spearman’s g Appears to minimize the effects of language and culture Tends to cut in half the selection bias that occurs with the Binet or Wechsler Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test (G-HDT) Nonverbal intelligence test, group or individual Quick, east, and inexpensive Subject instructed to draw a picture of a whole an and to do the best job possible Details get points One can determine mental ages by comparing scores with those of the normative sample Raw scores can be converted to standard scores with a mean of 100 and SD of 15 Used extensively in test batteries The Culture Fair Intelligence Test Designed to provide an estimate of intelligence relatively free of cultural and language influences Paper-and-pencil procedure that covers three age groups Two parallel forms are available Acceptable measure of fluid intelligence Standardized Tests Used in the US Civil Service System General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) – reading ability test that purportedly measures aptitude for a variety of occupations Makes employment decisions in govt agencies o o Attempts to measure wide range of aptitudes from general intelligence to manual dexterity Controversial because it used within-group norming prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 Today, any kind of score adjustments through within-group norming in employment practices is strictly forbidden by law
Standardized Tests in the US Military: The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery ASVAB administered to more than 1.3million people a year Designed for students in grades 11 and 12 and in postsecondary schools Yields scores used in both education and military settings Results can help identify students who potentially qualify for entry into the military and can recommend assignment to various military occupational training programs Great psychometric qualities Reliability coefficients are excellent Through computerized format, subjects can be tested adaptively, meaning that the questions given each person can be based on his or her unique ability This cuts testing time in half -
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