The issue of factor indeterminacy in factor analysis has been the subject of considerable debate in recent years. The same issue was also discussed widely in the 1920s and 1930s. The history of the issue, the literature on the subject, and parallels between early and modern work are discussed. (Author/JKS)

Procedures for the Rasch model, sample free item calibration are reviewed and compared for accuracy. The theoretically ideal procedure is shown to have practical limitations. Two alternatives to the ideal are presented and discussed. A correction for bias in the most widely used alternative is presented. (Author/JKS)

Investigates long-term stability of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) for children with specific learning disability (SLD), serious emotional disability (SED), and mental retardation (MR). There were no differential effects of disability groups on long-term stability coefficients. Stability coefficients for Full…

T. Vacha-Haase (1998) proposed her "reliability generalization" methodology to characterize (a) typical score reliability for a measure across studies, (b) the variability of score reliabilities, and (c) what measurement protocol features predict the variability in score reliabilities across administration. The present article provides…

Conducted a Rasch analysis of the psychometric qualities of the Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP; G. Girolami and S. Campbell, 1994) for the purpose of reducing the length of the test while maintaining its precision as a measurement device. Using scores from 1,732 tests, the TIMP was reduced to 42 items to form a functional motor scale for…

A coefficient derived from communalities of test parts represents greatest lower bound to Guttman's "immediate retest reliability." Constrained minimum trace factor analysis allows a consistent estimate of the greatest defensible internal-consistency coefficient. In modest size samples, this analysis capitalizes on chance, suggesting an…

The problem of scaling ordinal categorical data observed over two or more sets of categories measuring a single characteristic is addressed. Scaling is obtained by solving a constrained entropy model. A Kullback-Leibler statistic is generated that operationalizes a measure for the strength of consistency among the sets of categories. (TJH)

An Extended Two-Way Euclidean Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) model that assumes both common and specific dimensions is described and contrasted with the "standard" (Two-Way) MDS model. Illustrations with both artificial and real data on the judged similarity of nations are provided. (TJH)

The most important changes that have taken place in behaviorism since John B. Watson's 1913 article are the introduction of the intervening variable approach and the understanding that psychology is both an experimental and a psychometric science. The only observables available to psychology are stimuli and response. (SLD)

The law of comparative judgment is described, and applications in the measurement of psychological values are reviewed. The law defines the psychological continuum and expresses the experimentally observed proportion of judgments as a function of scale values of stimuli, their respective discriminal dispersions, and the correlation between paired…

An attempt to replicate the results with averaged evoked potentials (AEPs) of D. E. Hendrickson and A. E Hendrickson (1982) with 40 adults confirms a negative correlation between AEP variability and IQ. The Hendrickson paradigm is seen as no more than a well-controlled auditory evoked potential. (SLD)

Describes the developmental status of three categories of intelligence tests: psychometric abilities, neuropsychological models, and dynamic assessments, and applies them in the educational setting. Notes trends in basic and applied research, and their influence on the further evolution of intelligence testing. (MMU)

Traditional Item Selection Rules (TISRs) were compared to Intervention Item Selection Rules (IISRs) on the same set of alcohol attitude items from archival data, producing scales with differing psychometric properties. A cross-validation study was run. Guidelines for selecting change-sensitive items, problems and advantages of IISRs are…

Examines the effects of testing results on 420 candidates who participated in police officer selection in Asheville, North Carolina between 1990 and 1996. Results show that the decision making process of officer selection is primarily testing-oriented and that candidates' socio-demographic factors, such as race show no effect on the recruitment…

Describes psychometric development of the fourth revision of the Interview for Diagnosis of Eating Disorders (IDED-IV). IDED-IV internal consistency and item-total correlations were assessed. IDED-IV yields sufficiently reliable and valid data for determining diagnoses in research studies and clinics specializing in the treatment of eating…