This article reviews the "Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Third Edition" (WIAT-III), a newly updated individual measure of academic achievement for students in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 (age 4 years, 0 months to 19 years, 11 months). Suitable for use in educational, clinical, and research settings, the stated purposes of the WIAT-III…

Describes development of Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis (ADAD), a 150-item instrument with a structured interview format, which produces a comprehensive evaluation of the life problem areas pertinent to the needs of adolescent drug abuse clients. A series of validity and reliability tests are described, along with characteristics of the…

Used three studies to examine a diagnostic questionnaire's psychometric properties. Results strongly supported the psychometric properties of the tool. Convergent validity and criterion validity were both supported by meaningful correspondences, and incremental validity was also supported in that the tool yielded more accurate diagnoses when…

Analyzed the Matching Familiar Figures Test, which has been employed by researchers to determine conceptual tempo, for potential use as a tool for the clinician. Discusses the psychological factors inherent in impulsivity. Suggests the primary deficits are a lack of norms as well as an alternate form. (Author)

Among the more recent personality assessment tools used by counseling psychologists is Millon's Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI). This instrument was created, in part, to reflect the changes that had occurred in psychologists' understanding of personality, psychopathology, and diagnostic assessment. The MCMI is derived from Millon's biosocial…

The validity of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised (PDQ-R) was examined. The PDQ-R and the Crowne-Marlowe Social Desirability Scale (SD) were administered in the spring of 1989 to 45 undergraduates (26 females and 19 males) at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. One month later, the Hopkins Symptom Check List (SCL-90) was…

Most methods of personality scale construction have clear statistical disadvantages. A hybrid method (Darlington and Bishop, 1966) was found to increase scale validity more than any other method, with large item pools. A simple modification of the Darlington-Bishop method (algebraically and conceptually similar to ridge regression, but…

A study of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was conducted to: (1) test for the factorial validity of the French version of the BDI (BDI-FR) separately for 551 non-clinical Francophone adolescent males and 601 non-clinical Francophone adolescent females; (2) cross-validate findings across a second independent sample for each sex; and (3) test…

The nature of neuropsychological assessment and its application in the school environment are discussed. Neuropsychology is the study of how the brain and nervous system affect thinking and behavior. A complete neuropsychological assessment requires gathering and analyzing information on a child's: (1) physical, social, and psychological…

Advises principals about their responsibilities concerning the educational assessment of handicapped students. Discusses the scope of assessment, test validity and reliability, commonly used tests, assessment issues, and specific actions principals can take. (Author/WD)

Fifty subjects were classified as having a primary (endogenous) or secondary (exogenous) reading disability; then their Bender protocols were scored. Results indicated that specific score distortions, but not total developmental scores, differentiated between the two groups and that the primary group was more severely reading retarded. (Author/SJL)

The concurrent validity and discriminant validity of 3 widely used measures of psychological functioning were evaluated using a large, heterogeneous sample of 188 male and 337 female adult community residents (aged 16-66 years) seeking counseling services at a midwestern university training clinic. Validity was assessed as the relationship between…

This publication is designed to help vocational evaluators wisely select and use tests within the context of the referral questions and the individualized evaluation plan. The first of two parts contains information on why tests are used in evaluation, problems with tests, and how to select tests. Part 2 contains a review of specific tests that…

Describes the chronic and acute subscales (SOMAC and SOMAA) of the Chinese Somatic Scale that was administered to 2150 Hong Kong secondary education students to measure their psychological well being. Results showed that both the SOMAC and SOMAA had acceptable reliability and validity status as compared with similar type tests. (GG)