The study investigates the effect of the perception of text and task difficulty on adults' performance in reading tests in L1 and L2. The relationship between the following variables is studied: (a) readers' perception of text and task difficulty in L1 and L2 measured in a self-reported post-task questionnaire, (b) the number of correct answers to…

This study investigated the role of item formats in the performance of 206 nonnative speakers of English on expressive skills (i.e., speaking and writing). Test scores were drawn from the field test of the "Pearson Test of English Academic" for Chinese, French, Hebrew, and Korean native speakers. Four item formats, including…

The Modern Language Aptitude Test (Paper-and-Pencil Version, henceforth, the MLAT) measures "an individual's ability to learn a foreign language." It targets English-speaking adults (over Grade 9) who are literate. The test has only one form, which has not changed since it was first published by the Psychological Corporation in 1959. The test can…

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) assesses executive and frontal lobe function and can be administered manually or by computer. Despite the widespread application of the 2 versions, the psychometric equivalence of their scores has rarely been evaluated and only a limited set of criteria has been considered. The present experimental study (N =…

Alternate forms reliability of the Behavioral Relaxation Scale (BRS; Poppen,1998), a direct observation measure of relaxed behavior, was examined. A single BRS score, based on long duration observation (5-minute), has been found to be a valid measure of relaxation and is correlated with self-report and some physiological measures. Recently,…

The construct validity of scores from the Bem Sex-Role Inventory was studied using confirmatory factor analysis methods on data from 791 subjects. Measurement characteristics of the long and short forms were studied, with the short form yielding more reliable scores, as has previously been indicated. (Author/SLD)

A brief version of the instrument developed by S. Schwartz (1992, 1994) to measure the structure and content of human values was developed. Studies with 199 adults and 420 adults support the reliability of scores produced by the brief inventory's four three-item scales. Uses of the brief form are discussed. (SLD)

A solution to reduce the likelihood of one examinee copying another's answers on large scale tests that require all examinees to answer the same set of questions is to use multiple test forms that differ in terms of item ordering. This study was conducted to determine whether varying the sequence in which blocks of items were presented to…

The predictive power of the short-form Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale of P. Satz and S. Mogel to provide equivalent information about IQ scores and age-corrected scale scores was not differentially affected by the side of the lesion for 63 patients with brain tumors. (SLD)

To investigate the psychometric feasibility of replacing a paper-and-pencil licensing examination with a computer-administered test, a validity study was conducted. The computer-administered test (Cadm) was a common set of items for all test takers, distinct from computerized adaptive testing, in which test takers receive items appropriate to…