How information is represented in visual images was explored in five experiments where subjects judged whether or not various properties were appropriate for given animals. The results support a constructivist notion of imagery, and the idea that images may act as analogues to percepts. (Author/DEP)

A study tested the effects of timed versus untimed practice using text passages containing inserted adjunct questions. These effects were measured in terms of performance on repeated, related, and unrelated test questions. Subjects were 47 college students in Florida randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group was allowed a fixed amount of…

To test a hypothesis that question answering speed and accuracy can be increased by an automated shaping procedure, a film, "The Analysis of Behavior," was presented individually by a teaching machine during twice-per-week sessions to one high school student and 12 junior college students. Six of the students were informed of monetary rewards for…

To evaluate test speededness and to derive implications for test program activity, this study reviewed the literature on speed and power, identifying four major approaches to the assessment of speed: the Gulliksen approach, the Cronbach and Warrington approach, the Stafford approach, and the approach of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) as…

Elementary school children's evaluations of peer tutoring were compared with their evaluations of the traditional practice of solitary work on tests to determine their conceptions of fair practices in testing and learning situations. Findings support the conclusion that children's understanding of different types of situations is reflected in…

Incentive, practice, instruction, and feedback were manipulated in a series of four 2 x 2 factorial studies, with Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets and graduate students in education, to determine the individual and combined effects of these variables on learner performance (both speed and accuracy) of an aircraft comprehension task.…

A study examined the effects of extended and untimed testing on 31 postsecondary students with learning disabilities and 40 typical students. By extending the time limits on the Nelson Denny Reading Test, students with learning disabilities realized significant gains on their test scores and typical students made less dramatic gains. (Contains…

The Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test (APM) is a well-known measure of higher order general mental ability. The time to administer the test, 40 to 60 minutes, is sometimes regarded as a drawback. To meet efficiency needs, the APM can be administered as a 30-or 40-minute timed test, or one of two developed short versions could be used. In…

A method for estimating power scores is described. By way of illustration, it is applied to 21 students who were improperly timed on a standard test. Some empirical results are given in support of the estimation procedure. (Author)

Three related experimental studies analyzed rate and accuracy of test response under time-limit and no-time-limit conditions. Test instructions and multiple-choice vocabulary items were administered by computer. Student volunteers received monetary rewards under both testing conditions. In the first study college students were blocked into high-…

Two experiments reproduced in a simulated computerized test-taking situation the effect of two of the main determinants in answering an item in a test: the difficulty of the item and the time available to answer it. A model is proposed for the time to respond or abandon an item and for the probability of abandoning it or answering it correctly. In…

Starting from the premise that the assessment of second language learners' competence is a must at several points during the learning process, discusses the usefulness of laboratory testing. Argues that it allows for standardized testing, facility of test administration, easy scoring, objective measures, reliability and validity of results. (MES)

A Multiple-choice test on leadership was administered to 98 officer candidates in residence at the officer training school, Lackland Air Force Base. Less than one hour was devoted to instructing the officer candidates on how to take a valid confidence test, and the normal time was then allowed for the students to respond to the 58 test items.…

This study investigated the effect of extended-time limits in terms of performance levels and score comparability for reading comprehension scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). The first part of the study compared the average reading comprehension scores on the ITBS of 61 sixth-graders with learning disabilities and 397 non learning…