Tested hypothesis that task performance of Black children would be positively influenced by increased format variability. Results indicated that (1) the Black children had home environments higher in stimulation affordance than the White children, and (2) performance levels increased with variability in task presentation format only in the Black…

Examines students' amusing responses to essay test questions, while maintaining that such responses can still give a teacher a better indication of what students are learning in the classroom than can objective tests. (HTH)

Two forms of an undergraduate examination were constructed. Tests varied with respect to item truth value (true, false) and method of phrasing (positive, negative). Negatively stated items were more difficult but not more discriminating than positively stated items. False items were not more difficult but were more discriminating than true items.…

Analyzes alternative cloze forms derived from selected deletion strategies, scoring procedures, and blank conditions for respective effects on the cloze test performance of college-level readers. (HOD)

Development of an information processing model provided concepts for analyzing test anxiety. Results implied that worry reported by high test-anxious students is due to inadequate knowledge of subject matter rather than a personality characteristic. Programs emphasizing learning strategies and coping techniques are urged. (CE)

The effect of context on the scoring of essays was examined by arranging that the scoring of the criterion essay would be preceded either by five superior essays or by five inferior essays. The contrast in essay quality had the hypothesized effect. Other effects were not significant. (CTM)

Certain kinds of multiple-choice reading comprehension questions may be answered correctly at the higher-than-chance level when they are administered without the accompanying passage. These high risk questions do not necessarily lead to passage dependence invalidity. They threaten but do not prove invalidity. (Author/CP)

Examined the short form and eight subtests of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency with a sample of preschoolers to assess its potential for discriminating among ages and between sexes and to see whether the short form accounted for a major portion of the variability of the complete battery. (Author/SJL)

Some of the measurement issues encountered in the equating of performance assessments designed for use in teacher certification decisions are described. Analytic strategies based on examinee data that involve modification of existing procedures and judgmental strategies involving the judgments of experts to determine score equivalence are also…

Five short forms of the revised edition of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised were compared for use with an inpatient population. Results with 110 psychiatric inpatients are discussed in terms of trade-offs among administration time, accuracy of IQ estimation, and the clinical value of obtaining scores from the full test. (SLD)

Computer-assisted and paper-and-pencil-administered formats for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventories were investigated. Subjects were 32 master's and doctoral-level counseling students. Findings indicated that the two formats were comparable and that students preferred the computer-assisted format. (AEF)

Describes a study of freshman science majors (n=50) that explores the role of higher-order cognitive skills examinations in identifying misconceptions in chemistry. Discusses the use of such examinations in remediation via appropriate modification of teaching strategies. Contains 37 references. (DDR)

Evaluated the structural equivalence and differential item functioning of an employee attitude survey from a large international corporation across three languages, eight cultures, and two mediums of administration. Results for 40,595 employees show the structure of survey data was consistent and items functioned similarly across all groups. (SLD)

Disentangled sources of differential item functioning (DIF) in a multilanguage assessment for which multiple factors were expected to be causing DIF. Data for the Third International Mathematics and Science study for four countries and two languages (3,000 to 11,000 cases in each comparison group) reveal amounts and sources of DIF. (SLD)

Eight subtests were selected from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Third Edition (WISC-III) to make a short form for clinical use. Results with the 2,200 children from the WISC-III standardization sample indicated the adequate reliability and validity of the short form for clinical use. (SLD)