As evidence-based interventions are scaled, fidelity of implementation, and thus effectiveness, often wanes. Validated fidelity measures can improve researchers' ability to attribute outcomes to the intervention and help practitioners feel more confident in implementing the intervention as intended. We aim to provide a model for the validation of…

Language proficiency is assumed to play a role in achievement in tertiary education. When requirements for university entrance are low or demographic changes in the population take place, universities often employ post-admission language assessments to screen all incoming students. In this study, we will look at the predictive validity of a…

To efficiently assess multiple psychological constructs and to minimize the burden on respondents, psychologists increasingly use shortened versions of existing tests. However, compared to the longer test, a shorter test version may have a substantial impact on the reliability and the validity of the test scores in psychological research and…

International institutions have been increasingly using the "GRE"® revised General Test to admit students to graduate programs.However, little is known about how scores from the GRE revised General Test are used in the admission process outside of the United States and their validity in predicting graduate students' performance (e.g.,…

Newton's article (2010) makes three main contributions to the literature. First, it is transatlantic, bringing together literatures that have been dealing with similar problems, using sometimes different methods and certainly with distinctive educational, cultural perspectives. He points out that neither of these literatures has all of the…

The article "Thinking About Linking" by Newton (2010) presents a novel philosophical perspective on the way that educational assessments should be linked. Newton starts by describing the linking framework as it was characterized in various publications and identifies a cross-cultural dimension in the definitions and uses of test…

Examined relative efficacy of individual scale scores of college students (n=331) on Career Factors Inventory (CFI) and two calculations of Career Decision Scale (CDS-A and CDS-B) in predicting career decidedness and career implementation. Results indicated that different scales of CFI and CDS-B made unique contributions to prediction of career…

Compared relative efficacy of three drinking indices (quantity, frequency, quantity x frequency) in predicting presence of drinking problems in college students (n=55 males; 64 females). Although drinking frequency was as good a predictor as quantity x frequency for predicting such problems in males, it was best predictor of female drinking…

Recent work with the F-K index of the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) has reaffirmed its usefulness for identifying dissimulation. Presents normative tables for the F-K index based on a contemporary normative sample of 335 normal women and 304 normal men. (Author/ABB)

Examined the relationship between hopelessness and suicidal intent and whether the Beck Hopelessness Scale is confounded by social desirability, by interviewing attempted suicide patients (N=54). Results showed that hopelessness was the key variable in predicting suicidal behavior and ideation, and social desirability had no influence on…

Evaluated ability of premarital assessment instrument, PREParation for Marriage (PREP-M) Questionnaire to predict marital satisfaction and stability one year after marriage. Findings suggest that higher premarital PREP-M scores, higher marital satisfaction and stability. Means for most satisfied and stable individuals were usually significantly…

The practicality of three appraisal instruments was measured in terms of user preference, namely, behavioral observation scales (BOS), behavioral expectation scales (BES), and trait scales. In all instances, BOS were preferred to BES, and in all but two instances, BOS were viewed as superior to trait scales. (Author/ABB)

Examines the use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Megargee typology) as a valid classification system in correctional decision making in a series of six articles. Most results urge caution in the use of the Megargee typology, finding poor test validity and test-retest reliability. (WAS)

An instrument to measure cocaine-related expectancies across a continuum of use, the Cocaine Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ), was developed and tested with 765 college students and 87 cocaine abusers. Expectancy factors identified by the CEQ were found to be powerful predictors of cocaine use. (SLD)

This paper updates the concept of test validity. This new conception entails a set of 10 categories combined together in pairs: curriculum and instructional validity, statutory and forensic validity, media and journalistic validity, political and legislative validity, and partisan and activist validity. (Author/DWH)