A procedure for predicting categorical outcomes using categorical predictor variables was described by Moonan. This paper describes a related technique which uses prior probabilities, updated by joint likelihoods, as classification criteria. The procedure differs from Moonan's in that the outcome having the greatest posterior probability is…

A methodology for inventorying the technical concepts relevant to the occupations of automotive mechanics, business data programers, and general secretaries is described in the report. Five general types of technical concepts are presented, consisting of specialized knowledge having practical use to workers. Through a process of development,…

This study empirically determined the optimizing weight to be applied to the Wrongs Total Score in scoring rubrics of the general form = R - kW, where S is the Score, R the Rights Total, k the weight and W the Wrongs Total, if reliability is to be maximized. As is well known, the traditional formula score rests on a theoretical framework which is…

A 40-item flexilevel test and a 40-item conventional test were compared using data obtained through (1) computer-administration of the two tests to three groups of college students, and (2) monte carlo simulation of test response patterns. Results indicated the flexilevel score distribution better reflected the underlying normal distribution of…

The Rasch item analysis model is supposed to yield norm-free estimates of ability and easiness values, but there are several possible interpretations of the nature and extent of such norm-freeness. One such interpretation was that to involve the scores of one single experimental group of testees which were embedded in four differently skewed…

This study investigated the effectiveness of techniques of discipline employed by middle-class mothers to teach their children to resist a tempting forbidden object. Mothers' accuracy in describing their own behavior was also examined. Forty-three mothers and their 18-30-month-old children were brought in pairs into a playroom which contained an…

Four hypotheses pertaining to conflict and its resolution in the team sport experience among seven Choctaw communities were tested: Choctaws have a unique conception of conflict vis-a-vis Anglos; this conception has a limiting effect on the exercise or occurrence of more dramatic forms of violence; this notion is reflected in Choctaw team sport…

Since verbal responses are a salient and easily documented index of acquisition of learning skills, a project was undertaken in 1972 to collect and analyze the verbal response of viewers of "The Electric Company." A data collection instrument was designed to tally: (1) reading of print on a television screen; (2) spoken anticipation of…

On an optical scanning survey form listing 66 basic mathematics skills, all secondary vocational teachers in Pennsylvania were asked to identify mathematical skills essential to success and skills in need of remediation for their specialties. Of 4,839 forms sent out, data from 3,404 yielded the 122 tables (121 pages) of findings arranged according…

The use of computers in areas of testing, selection, and placement processes for those in military services' training programs are viewed in this paper. Also discussed is a review of the motivational and theoretical foundation of admissible probability testing, the role of the computer in admissible probability testing, and the authors' experience…

This paper presents three research studies. The first study investigated the use of boys' and girls' play areas, each stocked with sex-type toys, by day care children with male, female, or mixed teacher teams. Examined were the sex of play areas users and the effect of sex of teacher team on the structure of play in each play area. The second…

This experiment was designed to study the value of oral response as opposed to nonoral response in learning by kindergarten children. Approximately 108 kindergarten children were used. About 80 of them were placed in the two experimental groups (that is, the oral and nonoral groups), and the others were placed in a control group. Phase I involved…

Research into the effects on attitudes of persuasive communications has continued to focus primarily on the empirical analysis of communication and source effects. While theory has been used to guide the work, it is less of the grand and overpowering variety, and more of the kind that employs assumptions about basic psychological processes that…

A tailored testing model employing the beta distribution, whose mean equals the difficulty of an item and whose variance is approximately equal to the sampling variance of the item difficulty, and employing conditional item difficulties, is proposed. The model provides a procedure by which a minimum number of items of a test, consisting of a set…

The issue of multiple-choice (MC) vs. created-response (CR) test-item formats was reexamined at the eighth-grade level in three subject areas: general science, American history, and arithmetic. In each subject area, alternate forms with the same item-content but differing in which items were in which format were prepared from standardized tests.…