The emphasis placed on test scores in college admissions is discussed. The need for colleges to periodically analyze and define their admissions policy is recommended. (Author/AL)

All published empirical studies of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII), 1974 thru 1980, are reviewed. While only a few predictive validity studies have been completed, concurrent and construct validity studies are consistently supportive of the validity of the General Occupational Themes, Basic Interest Scales and Occupational Scales.…

The known interval scale, referred to as the 7.8 scale, has been criticized as an invalid measuring instrument in the form of an attitude scale. It is the purpose of this paper to demonstrate that this scale can produce spuriously inflated correlation coefficients, high reliability, and false significance on statistical tests. The case will be…

The mean IQ on the Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT) was substantially higher than expected based on the earlier Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) scores. Sampling error and examiner error were excluded as explanations. Results suggest that the PPVT and SIT yield different scores and lack comparability. (Author)

Several areas of controversy between Soviet pyschologists and their Western colleagues concerning the usefulness of tests for measurement of mental ability are noted in this article. The author outlines test procedures suggested by Russian psychologist, Lev Vygotsky. (SM)

This study determined the degree to which the Non-Language Test of Verbal Intelligence, developed to measure verbal ability through a nonlanguage medium, could measure verbal intelligence. Correlation with the Differential Aptitude Test-Verbal suggested the existence of some common, as well as some uncommon, factors between the two tests.…

Army personnel managers have a continuing need to select, classify and assign to training and jobs large numbers of men who enter the service. The present publication addresses the value of selection and classification testing program in relation to job training success and the suitability of the tests for subgroups of the manpower available to…

Although frequently attacked as invalid, demeaning, biased, illegal, and irrelevant, preemployment testing procedures appear to be increasing in popularity. Many prominent companies and organizations are making extensive use of tests. Part of the resurgence of testing is attributable to clearer definitions of acceptable practice. Legal precedents…

The microcomputer has increased interest in performance testing, which samples what a person can do rather than what he or she knows. Conventional psychometric theory is based on knowledge tests, but in performance testing the unit of analysis is a trial, and it is unreasonable to assume that mean performance and interim correlations are…

Local norms for the three scores of the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT)--reading, spelling, and arithmetic--were developed on the basis of 1,021 children in the age range of 5 through 7 and 83 more children aged 8 through 11 from a suburban school district near Seattle, Washington. In general, the local group was found to be superior to the…

This review summarizes the major criticisms of standardized tests and testing and attempts an evaluation of the validity of the criticisms. Viewed in the context of type of test, manner of its use, and assumptions regarding its validity, the paper discusses: (1) the imperfect-prediction problem, where predictions of performance are invalidated by…

Summarizes some of the findings of recent study of tests designed to determine the English language proficiency of nonnative speakers. (CFM)

A study was conducted at Pima Community College to determine the relationship between the final grade received by students in an introductory, algebra-based physics course (PHY 121) and their scores on the reading, writing, and mathematics portions of the college's nonmandatory assessment test. Between 1983 and 1988, 639 students obtained a final…

Survey results have suggested that, while teachers like to have test information available, most do not have great skill or consistency in interpreting test score data. Teachers who consider a certain type of test very valuable or useful are less likely to question the accuracy of the scores than are teachers who consider a test to be of little…

COUNSELORS OFTEN ADMINISTER TESTS OF QUESTIONABLE VALIDITY. IN RELIABILITY STUDIES, EVERY PRECAUTION IS TAKEN TO STABILIZE THE STIMULUS SITUATION. IN ASSESSING VALIDITY, CONCERN CENTERS ON BEHAVIOR UNDER DIFFERENT STIMULUS CONDITIONS. CRONBACH'S THEORETICAL LIMIT FOR A VALIDITY COEFFICIENT OF A TEST IS THE SQUARE ROOT OF THE RELIABILITY…