Based on data from classes of 23 instructors in two institutions, it was concluded that specific items on an appraisal-of-instruction inventory probably do not influence students' global appraisals of instruction. If true, this conclusion has important implications for use of such inventories in appraising the effectiveness of college instruction.…

Elementary school boys in a program for the emotionally disturbed were administered the Revised Beery and Bender-Gestalt. A significant correlation of .73 between age-equivalent scores was obtained. Although mean scores did not differ significantly from one another, scores were quite varied. The implications of such variability are discussed.…

A Monte Carlo design examined how the effects of guessing and item dependence influence test characteristics and student scores. Although validity for cloze variants was high, multiple-choice cloze had significantly lower reliabilities than did true score equivalents. (Author/PN)

Discussed the predictive index developed from the Barclay Classroom Climate Inventory which aids in identifying both gifted children and those in need of remedial help. Elementary school students (N=64) selected for a gifted program were studied. Results showed gifted children can be discriminated with reasonable accuracy. (JAC)

Experimental attempts at assessing the social perception skills of learning disabled (LD) children are reviewed, along with methodological concerns relative to these experiments, and possible directions for future social perception research. Ten studies that examined LD children's ability to interpret nonverbal cues indicated they performed more…

Demonstrated the advantages of using all three letters of Holland codes. Urged that the Compatibility Index (CI) be used to supplement high point code-letter research. The CI use of secondary and tertiary scales gives valuable information about groups or individuals that is lost in single-scale reporting. (JAC)

Assessed the prediction of learning proficiency on the basis of scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) with children (N=60) referred for learning disabilities. The WISC-R Coding accounted for over 50 percent of the variance in a controlled nonverbal paired associate learning measure and was the single best…

Statistical bias in measurement and ethnic-group bias in testing are discussed, reviewing predictive and construct validity studies. Item bias is reconceptualized to include distance of item content from respondent's experience. Differing values of mean and standard deviation for bias parameter are analyzed in a simulation. References are…

The relationship between performance on a simulated patient and a real patient presenting a similar clinical problem is examined. Ten residents in family and internal medicine interviewed and examined four actual and four simulated patients and correctly identified 67 percent as real or simulated. (Author/MLW)

Using the Matching Familiar Figures Test and the Porteus Maze Tests with characteristic modifications, the feasibility of using measures of cognitive tempo were examined. The measures' contributions in predicting the work performance of institutionalized moderately-severely retarded subjects were no greater than conventional individual…

Confusion in the terminology used in criterion-referenced measurement specifications and development and standard setting and the attendant role of cut-off scores are shown to need practical clarification through psychometric research on test applications and consequences. (CM)