In this study, interrater reliability of the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) was investigated utilizing 84 direct-care staff members familiar with 42 adults with moderate to profound mental retardation. Problematic overt behaviors were evaluated using the MAS. MAS items were found to be moderately but significantly reliable across raters.…

Examines the psychometric properties of an instrument designed to assess study behaviors of college and university students. Finds that the "Study Behavior Inventory" is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing study behaviors. Suggests that study behaviors consist of short-term, routine goals and long-range, specific goals. (RS)

Two instruments, one a self-report measure and one an informant assessment, were developed to assess the strength of a person's end goals and motivational sensitivities. Results of seven studies involving 2548 adults and adolescents support a 15-factor solution for each instrument, with solutions similar to each other. Implications for a model of…

A study involving 92 adults with mental retardation examined the validity and reliability of the Leisure Assessment Inventory. Two indexes (Leisure Activities Participation and Leisure Interests) demonstrated higher reliability from test to retest whereas the remaining two (Leisure Preference and Leisure Constraints) showed only moderate…

This study evaluated the reliability of the Child Behavior Checklist with 42 children and youth with mild mental retardation. Use of kappa coefficients and intra-class correlations at item and syndrome levels indicated that the Child Behavior Checklist may not always represent a reliable checklist for the assessment of psychopathology in this…

Recognizes the attraction of Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), a technique that uses a scale to measure client's achievement, but suggests that there are concerns about the calculation of its standard scores. Examples show how GAS may be used in service development, whether or not numerical values are attached. (Author/CR)

Twenty-two children with autism were given four tests of false belief understanding: the Sally-Anne task, two variants of the deceptive box task, and the three boxes task. The overall consistency of the children's performance was high, 77 percent either passing or failing all tasks. Convergent validity and reliability are discussed. (Contains…

Psychometric data are presented for 223 children and adults with autism, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDDNOS), or nonspectrum diagnoses who took the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic. Within each module, diagnostic groups were equivalent on expressive language levels. Results indicate substantial…

Psychometric theory focuses primarily on tests that are homogeneous, measuring only one attribute of a psychosocial entity. However, the complexity of psychosocial behavior often requires tests that are heterogeneous, measuring more than one attribute. In this presentation, reliability and internal consistency are extended to heterogeneous tests…

A reliability generalization of the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) was conducted using the normative sample. The RCMAS consists of a Total Anxiety scale as well as four subscales. Results suggest that the Total Anxiety scores are typically reliable (median across 48 samples = .81). Subscale scores were less reliable: The median…

This article is a commentary for the special issue on the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a community tool to assess children's school readiness and developmental outcomes at a group level. The EDI is administered by kindergarten teachers, who assess their kindergarten students on 5 developmental domains: physical health and well-being, social…

This study examined the reliability and validity of the youth version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART-Y) for assessing adolescent risk behaviors among a sample of 98 inner-city African American adolescents (M age = 14.8, SD = 1.5). In addition to a relation with sensation seeking, BART-Y responding evidenced a significant relation with a…

In an effective e-learning game, the learner's enjoyment acts as a catalyst to encourage his/her learning initiative. Therefore, the availability of a scale that effectively measures the enjoyment offered by e-learning games assist the game designer to understanding the strength and flaw of the game efficiently from the learner's points of view.…

This paper tests a central implication of the theory of equalizing differences, that workers sort into jobs with different attributes based on their preferences. We present evidence from four new time-use data sets for the United States and France suggesting that workers who are more gregarious, as revealed by their behavior when they are not…

The relevance of assessing attention or concentration skills for personnel selection is discussed, and how a person's interpersonal characteristics are influenced by and influence attentional skills is explored. Scales in the Theory Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS) inventory developed by Robert Nideffer are described. The interaction of…