Intra- and crossmodal performance of normal and retarded third-grade readers were compared in a reaction-time task. Results suggest that the demands of stimulus complexity within the visual modality rather than the demands of crossmodal shifting were related to reading ability. (Author/ED)

Research supported by a grant form the U.S. Office of Education, Bureau of Research

This study examined a proposed procedure for constructing theoretical descriptions of mechanics problems, in particular, to determine if the procedure led to explicit and correct descriptions of the motion and interaction of systems and if the resulting theoretical descriptions facilitated generation of correct constraint equations and, hence,…

Within aptitude areas (Mechanical, Administrative, General, or Electronic) in the Air Force, some technical schools require higher levels of aptitude for admission than do others (for example, there are G10 schools, G60 schools, and G80 schools based on General test scores in th 10th, 60th, and 80th percentiles respectively). The schools, however,…

Recent investigations have demonstrated that white middle-class preschoolers are sensitive to temporal order, understand that causes precede consequences, and can identify the causes and consequences of events. The present study is an attempt to extend these recent investigations of temporal order understanding to a non-middle-income, non-white…

Effects of item arrangement (easy-hard, uniform, and random), test anxiety, and sex on a 48-item multiple-choice mathematics test assembled from items of the American College Testing Program and taken by motivated upper level undergraduates and beginning graduate students were investigated. Four measures of anxiety were used: the Achievement Test…

One hundred twenty-eight undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions formed by crossing two levels of task difficulty (computationally easy or difficult problems) with two modes of calculation (solving by hand or calculator). When solving problems by hand, there was a large increase in state anxiety between easy and…

This paper assesses the effectiveness of readability indices, standard cloze procedure, and the matching cloze procedure as determinants of the readability of supplementary English materials for elementary ESL students in a Pacific Island context. A review of readability indices and the standard cloze procedure indicated that neither procedure is…

To replace traditional methods of minimum competency testing in personnel selection, a two stage cutting score procedure is proposed. The Angoff procedure is modified so that only a subset of test items, which assess essential job related skills, are used to determine the cutting score and to identify qualifed applicants. As a measure of item…

The learning machine described in this paper acquires concepts representable as conjunctive forms of the predicate calculus and behaviors representable as productions (antecedent-consequent pairs of such conjunctive forms): these concepts and behavior rules are inferred from sequentially presented pairs of examples by an algorithm that is probably…

Two different formats for multiple-choice test items were compared in an experimental test given in a college class in introductory psychology. In one format, a question or incomplete statement was followed by four answers or completions, only one of which was correct. In the other format, the double multiple-choice version, the same questions…

In order to facilitate research on the construct of causal attribution, this paper details developmental procedures used to minimize previous deficiencies and proposes a new scale. The first version of the scale was in ipsative form and provided two basic sets of indices: (1) ability, effort, luck, and task difficulty indices in success and…

Previous research on the nature of aptitude processes had ignored the important differences between speed and level of performance. However, investigations of the relationship between individual differences in speed and level suggest that speed of solving simple spatial tasks is largely independent of level attained on more complex spatial tasks.…

Many combinations of a method and an approach for estimating the operating characteristics of the graded item responses, without assuming any mathematical forms, have been produced. In these methods, a set of items whose characteristics are known, or Old Test, is used, which has a large, constant amount of test information throughout the interval…

The application of latent trait theory to classroom tests necessitates the use of small sample sizes for parameter estimation. Computer generated data were used to assess the accuracy of estimation of the slope and location parameters in the two parameter logistic model with fixed abilities and varying small sample sizes. The maximum likelihood…