Identifying, acquiring, and developing valid and reliable instruments are major problems facing researchers who study psychosocial drug use and abuse. Much time is often devoted to creating a measuring device when an adequate one already exists, resulting in duplication of effort, considerable waste of resources, and loss of uniform comparability…

Data are presented evaluating the validity and reliability of the Personality Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ), a self-report questionnaire designed to elicit respondents' perceptions of themselves with respect to seven personality and behavioral dispositions: hostility and aggression, dependence, self-esteem, self-adequacy, emotional…

There were two major goals of this research project. Part A involved the development of an instrument entitled Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Science and Scientists (BATSS). Part B was focused on the field testing of this instrument. A unique approach was taken for the development of this instrument. An item pool consisting of multiple-choice belief…

Equations are derived to enable the graphic approximation of the item parameters of the stochastic mental test models, i.e., the generalized normal ogive and logistic models. The item parameters for the models are discriminatory power, difficulty, and probability of chance success. Suggested uses for the approximations were to provide a basis for…

Assessment of nonvisual neuropsychological impairments in visually impaired persons can be achieved through modification of existing intelligence, memory, sensory-motor, personality, language, and achievement tests so that they do not require vision or penalize visually impaired persons. The Halstead-Reitan and Luria-Nebraska neuropsychological…

Describes a project used in a sophomore-level psychological testing and measurement course. Students worked through the different phases of developing a test focused on item writing, reliability, and validity. Responses from both students and instructors have been consistently positive. (MJP)

We describe a simple classroom activity that demonstrated the process of assessing predictive validity. We assessed changes in student understanding of the process, confidence in psychological testing, and enjoyment in participating in the exercise. Students who completed the activity performed better on a test question about validity and reported…

Army personnel managers have a continuing need to select, classify, and assign to training and jobs large numbers of young men who enter the services. Since the Army Classification Battery (ACB) is an integral part of the assignment process, accuracy of scores has a significant influence on the appropriateness of assignments. A new ACB and…

Outlines the procedures involved in the construction of the Canadian version of the Life Roles Inventory-Values Scale (Canadian Work Importance Study, 1986), developed in both French and English. Describes studies of the reliability (internal consistency, test-retest, and alternate form), and validity (construct, convergent, discriminant, and…

Three professional associations, the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education, jointly adopted the new "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" in 1985. The relationship of these to earlier standards is reviewed, and implications…

Butch and Slim was written as a response to a need for a rather specialised group of items in the Reasoning sub-scale of the British Intelligence Scale. (Author)

THE PURPOSE OF THIS RESEARCH WAS TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF ERROR OF MEASUREMENT UPON THE POWER OF STATISTICAL TESTS. ATTENTION WAS FOCUSED ON THE F-TEST OF THE SINGLE FACTOR ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE. FORMULAS WERE DERIVED TO SHOW THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE NONCENTRALITY PARAMETERS FOR ANALYSES USING TRUE SCORES AND THOSE USING OBSERVED SCORES. THE…

An instrument to measure various aspects of children's character, including self-esteem, altruism, and integrity or responsibility was developed. The 48-item test was given to 111 4- and 5-year-old Hawaiian children. Test reliability and factor structures were determined. The three factors are discussed. Further development is continuing;…

A new variant of the standard method for estimating the accuracy of educational tests is examined. It is found that the estimates produced by the new method are essentially unbiased and that the typical sizes of the errors of the estimates approach their theoretical lower limit as size increases, though they are still noticably above it for small…