The standardized IQ tests which are in use in the schools are scientifically and pedagogically without merit. The construct "intelligence" is a hypothetical notion whose valid expression has yet to be born. IQ tests and the construct of intelligence can be discarded at present, and teaching strategies would be unaffected. To successful teachers…

The purpose of the document is to help fill the gap between the use of psychological tests by evaluators and evaluators' feelings about their competence in using these devices. The first section contains descriptions of 33 tests and instruments presently used in evaluation facilities serving a wide variety of clients. These tests are divided…

The two-level theory of mental abilities posits two broad classes of ability: level I (learning and memory) and level II (the "g" factor of intelligence tests, reasoning, abstraction, and problem solving). Levels I and II are hypothesized to interact with SES and/or race such that: (l) SES differences are greater for level II than for I,…

The research questions whether many tests used by employers for employee selection do discriminate inadvertantly. Because sub-groups or minority groups tend to be culturally disadvantaged, standardized tests have many shortcomings. When used as selection devices standardized tests may: (1) not provide reliable differentiation in the range of the…

The Performance Scale of the WISC-R was administered to 59 prelingually deaf children attending a state-supported day school program. The results compare favorably with those found by Wechsler with the standardization sample. (Author)

Far-reaching ramifications for minority children of psychological assessment warrants that it be accurate, fair, and valid. This article addresses: (1) problems inherent in standardized testing; (2) a moratorium on intelligence testing; (3) alternate approaches to testing; and (4) guidelines for assessing ethnic minority groups. (LHW)

Remarks on four flaws in Dr. Woo-Sam's critique which appears in this issue. (MB)

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)

Specific sub-tests of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) and Merrill-Palmer Scales have been observed to evoke behavioral expression of phase-specific conflicts. Clinical observations of a disadvantaged inner-city population suggest that what is being tested is the preschool child's experience with adults in the…

Study sought to determine whether separate short-term auditory and visual memory factors would emerge given a sufficient number of markers in a factor matrix. A principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was performed. Short-term visual and short-term auditory memory factors emerged as expected. (RJM)

The cognitive processes in a widely used, non-verbal test of analytic intelligence--the Raven Progressive Matrices Test (J. C. Raven, 1962)--were analyzed. The analysis determined which processes distinguished between higher-scoring and lower-scoring subjects and which processes were common to all subjects and all items on the test. The analysis…

The booklet discusses teaching gifted and talented students in the regular classroom. Brief case histories of three different types of gifted students are presented: morally gifted, creatively gifted, and cognitively gifted. Defining the gifted and talented is discussed, and characteristics of gifted children within each talent area are outlined.…

THE PURPOSE OF TESTING IN SEASONAL AND MIGRANT FARMERS' EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS IS NOT FOR MEASUREMENT BUT FOR DIAGNOSIS OF THE DEGREE AND INTENSITY OF HELP NEEDED. TESTS SHOULD BE ADMINISTERED BY THE TEACHER TWO OR THREE WEEKS AFTER CLASS BEGINS WHEN POSSIBLE. THEY SHOULD BE SCORED CAREFULLY, AND THE RESULTS ANALYZED AND INTERPRETED. THE AUTHOR…

Certain concepts that are sometimes confused in discussions on testing socially disadvantaged children are clarified and a history of testing, beginning with Binet, is presented. Finally, five problems in using tests to evaluate educational programs for the disadvantaged are considered. (AG)

Psychological testing has recently fallen into disrepute because psychoanalysts have perpetuated a fraudulent theory of personality and because psychometrists have become overly concerned with psychometric esthetics to the neglect of validity. The theory subscribed to by psychoanalysts holds behavior as relatively independent of the situation the…