No significant body of research examines writing achievement and the specific skills and knowledge in the writing domain for postsecondary (college) students in the U.S., even though many at-risk students lack the prerequisite writing skills required to persist in their education. This paper addresses this gap through a novel…

Using results from the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) administered at Central Connecticut State University, a public Carnegie master's-larger programs university in the Northeast, this study demonstrates time on spent on the test, student motivation, and to a lesser extent the local institutional administration procedures represent…

The major purpose of this study was to ascertain whether two patterns of writing practice dictation would produce different results in the development of shorthand writing achievement of Gregg Shorthand, Diamond Jubilee. The findings indicated that the rate pattern does not appear to affect the level of achievement in writing shorthand from…

This paper reports the results of an experiment on the accuracy of information processing during attention focused arousal under two conditions: single estimation and double estimation. The attention of 187 college students was focused by a task requiring high level competition for a monetary prize ($10) under severely limited time conditions. The…

In order to determine whether students transcribe the same number of words regardless of the speed of the dictation, dictation tests were administered to students enrolled in beginning Gregg shorthand at the secondary level. Test batteries were administered at three different times throughout the first semester of shorthand instruction. The…

The accuracy of the mean of two estimates was compared with the accuracy of a single independent estimate from the same subject. A subject was asked to estimate the size of one attribute of a constant stimulus, e.g., the total of a set of numbers. The same subject was also asked to give an estimate for an upper and lower bound on the size of the…

This paper highlights the need for a systematic, content aware, and theoretically-based approach to test design. The cognitive components approach is endorsed, and is applied to the development of a computerized perceptual speed test. Psychometric literature is reviewed and shows that: every major multi-factor theory includes a clerical/perceptual…

The relationship between achievement test performance and two variables associated with test taking were studied. The variables were the order in which the students completed the test and the time students required for completion. Recent research had been mixed concerning whether high achievers would complete tests faster. The study was conducted…

This study examined the effects of different test administration conditions on reading comprehension test scores. Evidence of performance differences across district testing conditions might imply that the meanings and interpretations associated with the corresponding test scores have limited generalizability (i.e., knowing how well one reads…

The ability to allocate attentional resources to relevant aspects of a stimulus event is a critical skill needed for efficient information processing. Evidence suggests that this ability to focus on relevant information without interference is dependent on the nature of the stimulus structure of the information to be processed. To test the…

In this study, cognitive processes hypothesized to be relevant to the digit symbol task of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) were examined. Fifty-two undergraduate education students were divided into four groups to receive four different treatments. All the students took the digit symbol test, followed immediately by a test of their…

When running out of time on a multiple-choice test, some examinees are likely to respond rapidly to the remaining unanswered items in an attempt to get some items right by chance. Because these responses will tend to be incorrect, the presence of "rapid-guessing behavior" could cause these items to appear to be more difficult than they…

Since the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) was published in 1991, it has been reported that fewer students are qualifying for gifted programs that use the WISC-III as a criterion measure. WISC-III differs from the WISC-Revised (WISC-R) in having a greater emphasis on speed of response, which could…

This study demonstrates the utility of a HYBRID psychometric model, which incorporates both item response theoretic and latent class models, for detecting test speededness. The model isolates where in a sequence of test items examinee response patterns shift from one providing reasonable estimates of ability to those best characterized by a random…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the scores students earned on multiple choice tests and the number of minutes students required to complete the tests. The 5 tests were made up of 20 randomly drawn questions from a large pool of questions about research methods. Students were allowed an unlimited amount of time…