In the development of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) the phrase "more desirable in American society" was used in the final item selection. To clarify whether subjects tended to interpret this phrase normatively or prescriptively, a sample of 432 college men and women used the items of the BSRI to describe either a typical (normative),…

Reports an exploratory study designed to describe the development of the scales, investigate concerns regarding student perceptions of a large university, and examine in a standard research situation the viability of a new method of multidimensional analysis (order analysis, proposed as an inferential alternative to factor analysis). (JT)

Investigates extent to which perceptual factors of speed and flexibility of closure represent more general processes also operating in cognitive and personality domains by including in a single factor analysis perceptual tests and new tests requiring cognitive abilities resembling closure abilities operating in the perceptual domain. (RC)

Methods for analyzing the multitrait-multimethod matrix are reviewed and the results of their application to a classic data set are compared. It is shown that different analysis methods can yield different validity conclusions, and that the results obtained are partly dependent on the subjective judgments of the users. (Author/RC)

Presents a series of analyses of Jackson's Personality Research Form items and scales to determine the apparent effects of the use of the differential validity index on more traditional item psychometric indices which have been used to reduce the confounding of trait scales and social desirability. (Author/RC)

This paper is based in part upon a doctoral dissertation completed at the University of Missouri under the supervision of John F. McGowan.

In defense of retaining the "latent trait theory" term, instead of replacing it with "item response theory" as some recent research would have it, the following objectives are outlined: (1) investigation of theory and method for estimating the operating characteristics of discrete item responses using a minimum number of…

The purpose of the project described in this report was to develop an instrument that would measure the zones of indifference of teachers to typical directives issued by administrators. Zones of indifference describe the extent to which people will respond to orders or directives issued by authority figures. The following procedures were followed…

The effect of social desirability on the variance accounted for by the scales of the Adjective Check List (ACL) was investigated in a sample of 366 female college students. Social desirability as a response style was defined as the tendency to present oneself in a favorable manner. The ACL was scored according to 23 of the 24 keys in the test…

The influence of age, sex, representational detail of objects (prototypicality) and adult play suggestions on children's progression of pretend behaviors was studied. A checklist was developed and utilized for coding the responses of 20 children (10 males, 10 females), to objects judged to be high and low prototypical by 12 adults. Children ranged…

Research to identify the entire range and diversity of goals that parents, as consumers and clients of a public service, hold for secondary education was conducted. Two assumptions were made in conducting this survey. The first was that parents have aspirations for education, though they may not explicitly express these goals; the second, that…

The purpose of this 2-year study was to examine the relationship of choice of play-style and sex of child to the type of feedback (positive or negative) children receive from teachers and peer groups for their behavior. A list of 33 child behaviors and 15 teacher and peer reactions was used to observe the behavior of 67 children (32 boys and 35…