Tests of mental ability provide the most precise and efficient means of assessing a person's structure of knowledge. Tests help in cultivating cognitive competence, in developing and identifying excellence. The harmful consequences of not testing are outlined. (Author/AL)

It is a myth that adverse impact is either a property or a defect of employment tests. It is actually a property of the labor market, affected by disparities in academic achievement among groups. Agencies should use appropriate rigorous tests, eliminate artificial employment barriers, and consider a wide cross-section of job requirements. (SK)

Analysis of effects of different starting points on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II Mental Scale found that starting at the child's chronological age consistently inflated scores, whereas starting at the lowest item set skewed results in the opposite direction. Testing downward until all items are passed and upward until all items are…

Lists six problems related to descriptive data and to factor analysis performed in a previous research study reported in this journal. Includes the authors' response to the suggested weaknesses of their study. (JN)

Students and instructors may be frustrated with students' lack of understanding of sociological concepts. We suggest that the difficulty of teaching and learning sociology is that sociological concepts and relationships require the use of abstract reasoning patterns. Many students are unaccustomed to using these abstract reasoning patterns. We use…

Standardized intelligence quotient tests should be supplemented and/or replaced by new tests that (1) emphasize the consequentiality of test material and speed selection rather than speed, (2) minimize demands on prior knowledge and test anxiety, and (3) measure intelligence according to three general classes: problem-solving ability, verbal…

This commentary on a paper by Douglas Detterman and others (EC 604 995), which tested a model assessing basic cognitive abilities in young adults with and without mental retardation, criticizes the paper for drawing conclusions not justified by the empirical results. (JDD)

This critique, of Cummings and Moscato's review (TM 508 777) of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability (WJTCA) argues that the WJTCA is biased toward achievement resulting in a discrepancy of scores for learning disabled students. This bias is incompatible with the aptitude/achievement discrepancy model of specific learning disabilities.…

The preceding article by Robert Sternberg implicitly accepts the idea that there is a single human potential called "intelligence" that is scientifically measurable. Human beings do not possess any such generalized intelligence, however. Instead, each person possesses a mix of several basic intellectual competencies or…

By drawing analogies to the history of mental testing, the author concludes that the responsibility for critical evaluation and beneficial use of social indicators rests with social scientists. Future directions of critical inquiry are suggested. (Author/MH)

The importance of learning styles to student retention and career decision guidance is considered. Learning style is the way people process information and solve problems. Research on right and left brain processing, which indicates that the left hemisphere controls thoughts that are predominately rational and the right hemisphere controls…

Dynamic assessment is presented as a method of measuring intellectual ability which addresses criticisms of traditional intelligence tests. Dynamic assessment can be used to identify children's learning abilities, determine how and/or what to teach, assess giftedness in minority and poor children, control for individual differences, and explore…

Critical thinking comprises the mental processes, strategies, and representations people use to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new concepts. The study of critical thinking combines the educational, philosophical, and psychological traditions of thought. R. Ennis offers a philosophical taxonomy suggesting that critical thinking results…

Three developments over the past 15 years--our understanding of cognition, new techniques in technical psychometrics, and the computer explosion--form the basis for a proposal for new intelligence tests. These developments are reviewed, and both leaps and steps in intellectual assessment are proposed. (Author/RD)

Authentic measurement has become an important topic recently in educational testing. Advocates of authentic measurement feel that objective tests, multiple-choice tests in particular, cannot meet the demands required of today's tests and should be replaced by tests that can be closely matched to instruction and can assess higher-order cognitive…