The term speed-accuracy tradeoff is used when an increase in response speed comes at the expense of response accuracy. Although originally a concept from experimental psychology, the speed-accuracy tradeoff has been a topic in psychological assessment, too. In the first part of the manuscript, we discuss motivational factors that may be…

The ability to convey shared meaning with minimal ambiguity is highly desirable for technical terms within disciplines and professions. Unfortunately, there is no widespread professional consensus over the meaning of the word "validity" as it pertains to educational and psychological testing. After illustrating the nature and extent of…

This case study describes how our research team conducted an individual differences research project in a middle school science classroom. The main goal of our work was to investigate whether individual differences in cognitive abilities predict individual differences in scientific reasoning in middle school students. In order to address our…

This study takes an individual differences' perspective on performance feedback effects in psychometric testing. A total of 105 students in a mainstream secondary school in North East England undertook a cognitive ability test on two occasions. In one condition, students received item-specific accuracy feedback while in the other (standard…

The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent students with mild mental retardation exhibit strategic behaviour during problem solving and to investigate the relationships between the ongoing behaviours examined and the students' respective performance. Eleven students with non-organic mild mental retardation participated in the study.…

A review of Essentials of Psychological Testing (Harper and Row, 1970) by Lee J. Cronbach. (CK)

Expands upon the Farley (1967) study in three ways: (1) use of experimental manipulation of social desirability response set rather than correlational analysis, (2) use of the recent revision of the Sensation Seeking Scale, and (3) inclusion of sex comparisons. (Author)

Examined (1) the possibility that children organize general statements into meaningful and consistent psychological concepts of themselves; (2) individual differences revealed in these concepts; (3) the possibility that these differences show stability over a one-month period. (PCB)

A sense of direction (SOD) computes the body's facing direction relative to a reference frame grounded in the environment. The authors report on three experiments in which they used a heading-recall task to tap the functioning of a SOD system and then correlated task performance with self-reported SOD as a convergent test of the task's construct…

People can use a variety of different strategies to perform tasks and these strategies all have two characteristics in common. First, they can be evaluated in comparison with either an absolute or a relative standard. Second, they can be used at varying levels of consistency. In the present article, the authors develop a general theory of task…

The need associations of male prisoners are compared with nonincarcerated males. Need association differences were found in all variables studied. (DEP)

Research involving perceived internal versus external control of reinforcement as a personality variable has been expanding at a rapid rate. This article discusses (a) the place of this construct within the framework of social learning theory, (b) misconceptions and problems of a theoretical nature, and (c) misuses and limitations associated with…

AN EXPLORATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AN INDIVIDUAL'S PATTERN OF LIVING AND THE RETENTION OF MENTAL ABILITIES WITH AGE WAS MADE AND EVALUATED. THE OBJECTIVES WERE (1) TO ESTIMATE THE EFFECTS OF AN 11-YEAR INCREMENT (50-61) UPON EIGHT MEASURABLE MENTAL ABILITIES, (2) TO ESTIMATE THE EFFECT OF THE GIVEN AGE INCREMENT UPON INDIVIDUAL AND TRAIT…