The American College Testing Program (ACT) developed tests as a result of the College Outcome Measures Project (COMP). These instruments were intended for evaluation of nontraditional and traditional postsecondary education programs. They measure skills rather than information. The study was designed to check on several aspects of use of the COMP…

Three equating methods were compared in terms of magnitude of scale drift: equipercentile equating, linear equating, and item response theory (IRT) equating. A sample of approximately 2670 cases was selected for each pairing of a form of the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) and an anchor test. Of the two conventional equating methods,…

A live tailored testing study was conducted to compare the results of using either the one-parameter logistic model or the three-parameter logistic model to measure the performance of college students on multiple choice vocabulary items. The results of the study showed the three-parameter tailored testing procedure to be superior to the…

As alternatives to the objectives-based approach to specifying content domains for test construction purposes, six strategies are proposed: (1) amplified objectives; (2) Instructional Objectives Exchange (IOX) test specifications; (3) item transformations; (4) item forms; (5) algorithms; and (6) mapping sentences. Their effectiveness is assessed…

Rasch and classical test analysis methods were compared with respect to their similarities and differences in the identification of noninformative items and implausible person records. Using computer simulated data with known parameters, each model was evaluated in terms of its effectiveness in: (1) identifying noninformative or "bad"…

The Alpert-Haber Achievement Anxiety Test was developed to measure the extent to which individuals experience test anxiety. In at least two published studies, the authors claim to have used the test when in fact the response format was changed from that used in the original instrument and the "buffer" items were omitted. To investigate…

Two forms of the CEEB English Composition Test and four tests constructed by the University of Illinois Rhetoric department were compared as final examinations for the freshman English composition course. Results from 2545 students indicate that while the CEEB tests discriminate more between students and are more reliable, the departmental tests…

Cognitive style research is hindered by a variety of poorly described measures and style classifications and the use of small samples. This study describes and compares three measures of three postulated dimensions of cognitive style: impulsivity/reflectivity; internal/external locus of control; and field dependence/field independence to determine…

WISC and WISC-R IQs of two groups of normal 10-year-old children from divergent socioeconomic backgrounds were compared in a counter-balanced research design. Significantly higher WISC IQs were obtained on Verbal and Full Scales of low socioeconomic group and on Performance and Full Scales of high socioeconomic group. (Author)

Three fear of success measures correlated positively with the Alpert Haber Debilitating Anxiety Scale. Correlations between the Pappo Fear of Success Questionnaire (FOS) and the Zuckerman and Allison Fear of Success Scale (FOSS) were significant and positive. The Horner Scoring System was not significantly correlated with the FOS or FOSS. (EVH)

Super's Work Values Inventory is utilized in making interindividual and intraindividual comparative interpretations of work values. Internal consistency reliability coefficients for 15 scales and reliabilities of differences between scores on scales were of such a weak magnitude that caution in making interindividual and intrindividual comparisons…

Describing the possible effects of using pre-built attitude scales in cross-cultural research, this paper tests the validity of certain assumptions underlying use of pre-constructed Likert-type attitude scales on populations other than the one on which the scale was constructed. (Author/JC)

Significant differences were found between college freshmen science (N=50) and nonscience (N=50) majors who were administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--Revised (WAIS-R) and the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery, Part II: Tests of Achievement. (Author/CB)

A recognition measure of Kohlbergian moral reasoning, developed on the basis of a production measure, was psychometrically evaluated. Results showed that the Sociomoral Reflection Objective Measure has acceptable concurrent validity and high levels of test-retest reliability and internal consistency. (Author/CI)

Examines and contests the claim that all language tests are in reality testing the same underlying ability which is very similar to the Spearman g-factor for intelligence. Conclusions indicate that the argument for the existence of a g-factor in language tests is not tenable on statistical grounds. (SL)