This article is concerned with the seemingly simple problem of testing whether latent factors are perfectly correlated (i.e., statistically indistinct). In recent literature, researchers have used different approaches, which are not always correct or complete. We discuss the parameter constraints required to obtain such perfectly correlated latent…

We introduce a family of goodness-of-fit statistics for testing composite null hypotheses in multidimensional contingency tables. These statistics are quadratic forms in marginal residuals up to order "r." They are asymptotically chi-square under the null hypothesis when parameters are estimated using any asymptotically normal consistent…

We conducted the present study to investigate whether college students adjust their study strategies to meet the cognitive demands of testing, a metacognitive self-regulatory skill. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two testing conditions. In one condition we told participants to study for a test that required deep-level cognitive…

The accurate measurement of examinee test performance is critical to educational decision-making, and inaccurate measurement can lead to negative consequences for examinees. Person-fit statistics are important in a psychometric analysis for detecting examinees with aberrant response patterns that lead to inaccurate measurement. Unfortunately,…

In this article, I use concepts from Michel Foucault to analyze the ways in which the high-stakes accountability movement has appropriated the technology of the examination to redefine the educated subject as a normalized case. Partly this has become possible because of the role that educational research has played in laying out the conditions for…

Latent Inhibition (LI) attenuation when a long delay is introduced between acquisition and test phases has been repeatedly observed using aversive conditioning procedures (e.g., Aguado, Symonds, & Hall, 1994). This effect has been used as evidence to support those theories that consider LI to be the result of a retrieval failure. We designed three…

Although there has been a substantial growth in the number of published studies examining tests of cognitive abilities and using contemporary theories of cognitive abilities, to date none have done so with preschool cognitive tests. In this study the relation between cognitive ability measures for young children and Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC)…

Elementary students in programs for gifted and highly gifted students were tested using the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SB5). Students' scores on the SB5 were significantly lower than their scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III). In addition, rank order was not well preserved between…

Children aged 2 and 3 years were tested for a previously neglected form of knowledge about visual perception; namely, whether an observer can see a figure that is partially occluded. The results indicate that for children of this age the visibility of a figure's face is crucial for judging visibility, whereas the visibility of the legs is not.…

"The Second Century of Ability Testing: Some Predictions and Speculations" did not include predictions about the ability construct or the role of fundamental measurement principles. All commentators raised issues about the nature of the ability construct. The diverse viewpoints represented in these comments highlight well the complexity…

We devised criterial recollection tests to investigate why testing memory for pictures elicits lower false recognition than testing memory for words. Subjects studied unrelated black words paired either with the same word in red font, a corresponding picture, or both. They then took three memory tests, always using black words: a recognition test…

Teacher-librarians and teachers said that testing is driving everything that they do. One elementary teacher said that her entire grade level had not been to the library all year because they did not have time because the testing is all consuming and dictating all they do in the classroom. The teacher-librarian at that school added there was…

This article describes procedures for estimating various indices of classification consistency and accuracy for multiple category classifications using data from a single test administration. The estimates of the classification consistency and accuracy indices are compared under three different psychometric models: the two-parameter beta binomial,…

The effect of a prior gist-based versus item-specific retrieval orientation on recognition of objects and words was examined. Prior item-specific retrieval increased item-specific recognition of episodically related but not previously tested objects relative to both conceptual- and perceptual-gist retrieval. An item-specific retrieval advantage…

Large-scale scale testing agencies, which are generally located within provincial ministries of education and the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, have called for secondary data analysis of test and survey data that link contextual and educational factors to student performance. First, the potential of secondary analyses is outlined,…