This study examined the test-retest reliability of SCAN, a popular screening test for determining the possible presence of a central auditory processing disorder in children. Testing and retesting using a six- to seven-week interval with 25 first-grade and 22 third-grade children found significant improvement from test to retest for both grades.…

Results of the Need for Cognition Scale for 40 older adults indicated that their levels of need were related to their performance on Piagetian tasks. Intelligence thus appears determined by attitudes as well as ability. Motivation, need, and intellectual preferences, rather than aging, may contribute to perceived decline in intellectual skills.…

Analysis of scores of 180 college students on the short form of the Career Decision Making Self Efficacy Scale suggests that the short form possesses psychometric characteristics comparable to or better than the long form. Short form subscales are sufficiently reliable, and concurrent validity correlations are largely better, with only half the…

The history, development, and empirical foundations of the Career Decision Scale are reviewed. Its uses in program planning and with special populations, as well as gender and cross-cultural issues, are discussed. Controversies over the factor structure are addressed. (SK)

Proposes a methodology and describes a test battery that synthesizes the psychometric strengths of maximal performance tests and the engagingness of typical-performance tests. Results with 31 adults show that the test measures the same abilities tapped by conventional cognitive tests but is viewed by examinees as less stressful, more interesting,…

Attempted to improve the measurement quality of a complex performance assessment through principled assessment design using the example of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Early Childhood/Generalist examination. All indexes examined improved after revisions were made. Results show the importance of attention to assessment…

Discusses the intellectual history supporting the use of educational testing and describes four current tensions in testing: (1) learning and change versus measurement models; (2) quality of information and policy use; (3) precision versus utility; and (4) individual attainment versus standardized attainment. (SLD)

Examines the reliability and validity of three measures of multicultural competency, the Multicultural Counseling Awareness Scale: Form B (MCAS), the Multicultural Awareness-Knowledge-and Skills Survey (MAKSS), and the Survey of Graduate Students' Experiences with Diversity (GSEDS). The findings generally support the psychometric soundness of…

This study used a psychometric approach to examine the relationships among religiosity, religious motivation, and creative thought about religious issues for two different religious groups--Mormons and non-Mormons from Christian denominations. Overall, the Mormon student group scored higher in religiosity and religious motivation, but lower in…

Studies evaluating temporal auditory processing among individuals with reading and other language deficits have yielded inconsistent findings due to methodological problems (Studdert-Kennedy & Mody, 1995) and sample differences. In the current study, seven auditory masking thresholds were measured in fifty-two 7- to 10-year-old children (26…

Purpose: Psychological well-being, an important indicator of successful aging, may be conceptualized quite differently across cultures. Using a mixed-methods approach, we developed a measure of psychological well-being based on the indigenous expertise of Thai elders. Design and Methods: Data were collected from older people in Thailand in four…

Lazraq and Cleroux (Psychometrika, 2002, 411-419) proposed a test for identifying the number of significant components in redundancy analysis. This test, however, is ill-conceived. A major problem is that it regards each redundancy component as if it were a single observed predictor variable, which cannot be justified except for the rare…

Both the speed and accuracy of responding are important measures of performance. A well-known interpretive difficulty is that participants may differ in their strategy, trading speed for accuracy, with no change in underlying competence. Another difficulty arises when participants respond slowly and inaccurately (rather than quickly but…

The transtheoretical model has been applied to many addictive disorders. In this study, psychometrics properties of the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA) scale were evaluated in 234 pathological gamblers initiating treatment. Four components were identified--reflective of precontemplation, contemplation, action, and maintenance…

Four equating methods (3PL true score equating, 3PL observed score equating, beta 4 true score equating, and beta 4 observed score equating) were compared using four equating criteria: first-order equity (FOE), second-order equity (SOE), conditional-mean-squared-error (CMSE) difference, and the equi-percentile equating property. True score…