The Presidential Address at the 1986 National Council on Measurement in Education Annual Meeting argues that measurement specialists have tended to set unrealistic aspirations for the role tests play. The conjunctive decision making model is discussed and the use of data in the conjunctive and compensatory decision making models is examined. (JAZ)

Compared perceptions of hyperactive children with those of a nonhyperactive matched control group on sense of coherence, life satisfaction, and perceptions of parental roles. Results indicated hyperactive children demonstrated lower levels of sense of coherence: their environment seemed to them to be less ordered, to be less manageable, and to…

The unique uses of computers in training school psychologists are reviewed, including their potential role in simulated and actual assessment, case disposition, report formulation, record keeping, and research. The microcomputer as "teaching assistant" offers new opportunities for training to become competency-based. (Author)

Reviews the test titled Psychological Testing of Minorities and notes that this book brings to the forum by which education may be made accessible to the underprivileged people of society without penalizing them for not belonging to the middle class mainstream culture. (Author/AM)

Discusses the increasing tendency of legal rules to shape school psychologist's conduct. The article suggests that "the legalization of the school psychologist's world" may afford an opportunity to reshape, in more "nonformal" and collegial ways, relationships with other school professions, students, and parents. (Author)

Describes research which attempts to provide a solution to the performance criterion problem, concluding that is seems possible to measure many aspects of clerical work using psychometric measures that are highly job related; recommends that such devices be used to supplement ratings in the performance evaluation process.

This paper describes the development of the Behavioral and Emotional Strengths Scale (BESS), developed as part of a program which focuses on strengths of children usually seen as having severe emotional and/or behavioral disorders. The BESS is a 68-item scale that identifies children's behavioral strengths on five dimensions: (1) self-control; (2)…

Videotape and lecture methods of teaching administration of the mental status examination in second year medical school were compared. No clear difference was found in results among the different teaching methods, and students tended to prefer whichever method they were exposed to. (MSE)

Surveys recent judicial examinations of educational practices, considers the role of psychological testing in efforts to block desegregation, and evaluates legislation concerning the testing process. Available from Maryland Law Review, Inc., University of Maryland School of Law, 500 West Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD 21201. (Author/IRT)

Reveals a two-factor structure (general retentiveness and memory) in the Wechsler Memory Scale for total male and female samples and for both males and females aged 13 to 39 years and 40 to 59 years but not for males or females aged 60 to 88 years. (Author/RL)

A probabilistic item response theory (IRT) model is developed for pair-comparison design in which the unfolding principle governing the choice process uses a discriminant process analogous to Thurstone's Law of Comparative Judgment. A simulation study demonstrates the feasibility of estimation, and two examples illustrate the implications for…

For almost 60 years, researchers and practitioners have relied on the "Mental Measurements Yearbook" series for information about published instruments. The new edition contains descriptive information on 477 tests in 18 major categories. This edition maintains its predecessors' tradition of excellence. (SLD)

In the context of developing assessment instruments in psychology, issues of standardization, norming procedures, and test reliability and validity are discussed. Criteria, guidelines, and rules of thumb are provided to help the clinician with instrument selection for a given psychological assessment. (SLD)

Presents research on individuals' ability to perform Piaget's water-level task. At almost every age and for each sex, some subjects had high probability of success and some had low. Age-related improvement was not a result of children's increasing accuracy in task performance. Differences in performance between sexes were evident at all ages.…