Urban Canadian sixth-graders (n=84) were tested on 80 arithmetic word problems developed as part of a larger set to reflect individual differences in problem solving. Problems varied in complexity of language and amount of extraneous information present. Results indicated substantial internal consistency and concurrent validity relative to…

Studies processes in 49 Canadian K-13 classrooms to identify teachers' student achievement evaluation methods. Teacher interviews and categorization of their testing instruments showed teachers beyond early primary grades used evaluations mainly to generate marks for reporting purposes. Such reports seen as reaffirming existing judgments, rather…

Responds to Crowley's and Wilson's articles on the reliability of the van Hiele Geometry Test. Discusses the issue of the difficulty of trying to maximize content validity while minimizing measurement error. (YP)

Examines the ratings of 395 science teachers on 38 Intellectual Skills Co-ordination Controls in Teaching (ISCONT) variables. Identifies 5 factors using factor analysis. Proposes a structural model of an Integrated Teaching Plan. (YP)

A study involving 38 junior-high students and their matched controls found that use of Scholastic Aptitude Test cutoff levels was valid for determining entrance into fast-paced summer classes which were teacher-paced (in this case, literature), but not necessarily valid for motivated students in self-paced classes (in this case, algebra).…

Argues that the Scholastic Aptitude Test is unnecessary. Advocates the coordinated development of achievement tests and high school curricula based on the College Board's Advanced Placement Program and Project Equality. (FMW)

The development and tryout of an instrument designed to measure college students' attitudes toward alcohol demonstrate the utility of Guttman's facet analysis for developing and validating instruments. Findings from the survey, administered to 1,049 students, support the construct validity of the instrument. (SLD)

Seventh-grade science students (n=22) wrote prompted essays, compare-contrast essays, and traditional end-of-chapter criterion-referenced tests. Results indicated that essay tests may be highly sensitive to instructional content and prompt design, and the validity of essays as measures of content learning relates more to goals of instruction than…

Used Current Relationship Interview (CRI) to examine correspondence between adults' models of their current love relationships and generalized attachment models accessed by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Found that early experience influences later relationships, but little support for the idea that a working model formed by caregiver-child…

Used adaptation of Attachment Q-Set (AQS) with 24 infant-mother monkey dyads to clarify the secure-base concept. Found that infants of high-ranking monkeys scored higher than those of low-ranking ones, suggesting the origins of the secure-base phenomenon, as well as the importance of exploring infant secure-base behaviors in families of different…

This study first found that an adaptation of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children exhibited construct validity and test-retest reliability in assessing preschool children's sensitivity to age-related differences in peers' developmental abilities. Second, children with disabilities were viewed as less…

Ten Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) fake-bad scales/indexes are reviewed with respect to their potential usefulness in evaluation of feigning mental illness, and a meta analysis of the MMPI is performed. One scale and two indexes were superior when effect sizes were calculated. (SLD)

A study of 219 college students' ratings of teacher performance found that student raters' inferences about instruction are partly contaminated by their implicit theories of effective instructional behavior. Students inferred traits and behaviors and rated corresponding items even when instructor behavior was limited to a subset of performance…

In the context of developing assessment instruments in psychology, issues of standardization, norming procedures, and test reliability and validity are discussed. Criteria, guidelines, and rules of thumb are provided to help the clinician with instrument selection for a given psychological assessment. (SLD)

The Child Abuse and Trauma Scale, a self-report measure yielding a quantitative index of the frequency and extent of negative experiences in childhood and adolescence, was administered to 1,198 college students and 17 subjects with Multiple Personality Disorder. Results revealed the scale's strong internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and…