Geometric approaches to representing interrelations among tests and items are compared with an additive tree model (ATM), using 2,644 examinees and 2 other data sets. The ATM's close fit to the data and its coherence of presentation indicate that it is the best means of representing tests and items. (TJH)

A sample of 84 male young offenders, admitted for inpatient treatment in a psychiatric hospital, was used to examine the relationship between leisure motivation, leisure satisfaction, and perceived freedom in leisure using the Leisure Motivation Scale (LMS), the Leisure Satisfaction Scale (LSS), and the Perceived Freedom in Leisure Scale-Short…

The research project presented in this article was set in the Swedish school context and carried out on a set of compulsory national tests for English, Swedish, and mathematics used at the end of compulsory school. The aims were: (a) to gain a deeper knowledge of the internal structure of the tests and (b) to separate individual performance from…

A multidimensional item response theory (IRT) model for polytomously scored items, based on the graded response model and using the normal ogive, is developed; and an EM algorithm that may be used to estimate the parameters of the model is also discussed. The model is illustrated through a simulation study in which the polytomous item responses of…

Adapting credentialing examinations for international uses involves translating tests for use in multiple languages. This paper explores methods for evaluating construct equivalence and item equivalence across different language versions of a test. These methods were applied to four different language versions (English, French, German, and…

Assigned factor scores to therapist and client utterances. Constructed a 17 x 17 correlation matrix consisting of correlations across 4 lagged utterances. Principal-components analysis revealed 4 therapist-client interaction factors: mutual therapeutic engagement, mutual therapeutic negotiation, undirected client reminiscence, and sustained…

Examined discourse of bereaved individuals using computer-based text analyses. Compared discourse structure of low-distress bereaved individuals, high-distress bereaved subjects, and a single bereaved individual. Meaningful differences between the distress groups and the single individual indicate possible quantitative and qualitative means for…

Self/other agreement between self-concept ratings by the individual and self-concepts inferred by significant others is of theoretical and practical importance, but the review by J. S. Shrauger and T. J. Schoeneman (1979) found no evidence for such agreement. In the present investigation, the Self Description Questionnaire III (SDQIII) was…

This report contains accounts of studies, about scales to be used in the "A Study of Schooling" research project, undertaken to derive indices for constructs presumed to be measureable by composites of items. The report is introduced by a discussion on the rationale for selecting the research methodology used and an explanation of the…

A procedure for interpreting multiple-discrimination indices from a multidimensional item-response theory analysis is described and demonstrated with responses of 1,635 high school students to a multiple-choice test. The procedure consists of converting discrimination parameter estimates to direction cosines and analyzing the angular distances…

The sources of multidimensionality found in several different forms of a licensure examination were studied. The relationship between one source of multidimensionality, differential item functioning (DIF) (or factors producing DIF), and content characteristics was explored in an attempt to isolate aspects of training or curriculum that could…

The 1985 Buros-Nebraska Symposium was devoted to the broad issue of the influence of cognitive psychology on testing and measurement. The (1) "Introduction: The Implications of Cognitive Psychology for Testing" (Royce R. Ronning et. al.) lists four major issues addressed by the symposium--cognitive psychology as a basis for questioning some…

This study examines the multidimensional and hierarchical structure of achievement goal orientation measured by the Inventory of School Motivation. The instrument consists of eight different scales with 43 survey items (ranging from three to seven items each). Each scale reflects one of eight specific dimensions: task, effort, competition, social…

The Multidimensional Test of Self-Concept (MTS) is based on the assumption that an individual's perception of his/her well-being is related to the difference between the current state of that individual and the desired state. This difference between the two states may be directly measured, and a single self-concept score generated. The MTS…

Confirmatory factor analysis of responses by 211 preadolescents (M age = 10.25 years,SD = 1.48) with mild intellectual disabilities (MIDs) to the individually administered Self Description Questionnaire I-Individual Administration (SDQI-IA) counters widely cited claims that these children cannot differentiate multiple self-concept factors. Results…