This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 20 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) reading readiness, linguistic awareness, and nonverbal problem solving ability in relation to first grade reading achievement; (2) predictive accuracy of third…

The Board of Education of the Houston Independent School District, through the Volunteers in Public Schools, organized the Kindergarten Screening Project in 1970. The Kindergarten Screening Instrument (KSI) consists of five sub-scales: (1) the visual scale measures visual acuity at 20 feet; (2) the hearing scale measures the child's ability to…

This book addresses the question of what tests are measures of. Intelligence, achievement, and personality tests not based on empirical investigation have questionable validity. Some researchers now suspect that almost all tests given to students in all subjects, as well as general tests of intelligence and personality, are essentially language…

The use of tests in personnel decisions has become an increasing legal liability for employers. The major questions raised by the courts concerning this use of tests are described. Current federal guidelines for performance appraisal systems, as established by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, are explained and traced to Title VII of…

Data on language competence and language use were obtained for 99 Spanish/English bilingual elementary school children (kindergarten through fourth grade) from Albuquerque. The children's language skills were assessed by teachers, interviewers, and the children themselves. The teachers and the children also estimated the extent to which the…

A 3-year study was conducted to validate the eight-factor Vocational Capacity Scale (VCS), designed for use with the retarded. Subjects were 366 institutionalized mental retardates, both educable and trainable, aged 15 to 30, who were administered the VCS twice, 1 year apart. Social workers and staff worked individually to promote the highest…

A study created and examined a new communication trait--the willingness to collaborate. The Willingness to Collaborate Trait Scale was created. Scale reliability was demonstrated through analysis of internal consistency of the 13-item scale. A communication trait model predictive of trait willingness to collaborate was tested using 401…

An item analysis of Harris' scoring system for the Goodenough-Harris Draw-A-Man Test was conducted by comparing sets of protocols obtained in the early fall of kindergarten from children whose overall in-class academic performance placed them either in an at-risk category (N=21) or at the top of their class (N=38) by the end of the school year.…

Aptitude test scores have been correlated with grades in twenty-six courses and with overall indices of academic performance, based on over 500 students attending a public high school. There is little evidence of differential validity for the major academic subject areas; instead, five tests (English Vocabulary, Graphoria, Silograms, Analytical…

This supplementary report identifies and provides individual descriptions and reviews of 71 retirement forecasting models. Composed of appendices, it is intended as a source of more detailed information than that included in the main volume of the report. Appendix I is an introduction. Appendix II contains individual descriptions of 32 models of…

Although the suicide rate of young adults has increased dramatically, few empirical studies examine suicide in the normal population. To examine suicidal thinking and behavior in a college student sample, 43 female and 23 male college students responded to an adverse life event scenario and then filled out an extended questionnaire regarding…

The basic tenet of the Person-Environment (P*E) Congruence model posits that well-being, as one index of adjustment, is dependent on the degree of fit between the perceived environment and the preferred environment. While the literature is clear regarding the relationship of P*E Congruence and well-being, one theoretical issue that needs to be…

The present study investigated the efficiency of various existing measures, mainly psychological tests, for predicting job performance of mentally retarded workers in a sheltered occupational shop. Results indicated that existing measures are predictive of performance on some but not all jobs in a sheltered workshop. (Author)