Evaluates self-efficacy as a predictor of counseling skills performance in a graduate counseling class (n=31). Self-efficacy was measured before, midway through, and at the end of a microcounseling skills training program. Although there was a wide distribution of self-efficacy reports, none of the estimates of grade were significantly positively…

Schouten and Kirkpatrick's review of evaluations of the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers' predictive validity reveals unacceptably high error rates in target population identification. Miller's response suggests flaws in their argument, Humphry and King-Thomas suggest alternative interpretations, and Schouten and Kirkpatrick respond to their…

Graduate students (n=116), nurses (n=223), and business alumni (n=145) completed the Job Search Behavior Index. The instrument's validity was confirmed as a superior predictor of voluntary job turnover compared to attitudinal and intention measures. (SK)

Reviews recently published methods of assessment of dynamic formulations derived from psychodynamic case material, particularly those that emphasize central maladaptive interpersonal patterns. The methods are divided into those based on case studies and those with a moderate sample size. Psychometric properties are reviewed. The question of how…

Examined how coaching affects the predictive validity and fairness of scholastic aptitude tests. A coached (n=271) and uncoached (n=95) group were compared. Comparison revealed that although coaching enhanced scores on the Israeli Psychometric Entrance Test by about 25% of a standard deviation, it did not create a prediction bias or affect…

Evaluations of the risk of recurrent violence were conducted for 162 Canadian mentally disordered criminal defendants through the assembly of actuarial data, scores from special-to-purpose psychometric instruments, and scaled global predictions of dangerousness to others. Professional clinicians were not more accurate than nonclinical raters. (JPS)

This longitudinal study assessed the power of the Occupational Scales (OSs) of the Strong Interest Inventory to predict the participants' occupations 12 years after Time 1 testing, 8 years after Time 2 testing, and concurrently at Time 3. Results indicated that OS scores predicted occupational membership at a level substantially higher than chance…

This study examined the predictive validity of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; A. E. Forth, D. S. Kosson, & R. D. Hare, 2003) from adolescence to early adulthood. The authors coded the PCL:YV using file information and collected criminal record information over a 10-year follow-up period on 157 boys, ages 12 through 18,…

The authors conducted 4 studies investigating the reliability and validity of the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale (HDDS; E. Stice, C. F. Telch, & S. L. Rizvi, 2000), a brief self-report measure for diagnosing anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Study 1 found that the HDDS showed criterion validity with interview-based…

Forty-three children participated in a longitudinal study of mastery motivation. Children's levels of mastery motivation (persistence) and cognitive functioning were measured at ages 2 and 8. In addition, academic achievement was measured at age 8. Task persistence was stable across time for girls only, but maternal reports of mastery motivation…

This study provides empirical evidence to support the validity of using a content-specific reading test for college placement decisions. A content-specific reading test presents passages exclusively from the subject area for which the placement decision is intended. Forty-nine students in a human anatomy class were administered a content-specific…

The present study investigated the differential predictive validity of the Initial Skills Analysis. In the fall, these reading screening tests were administered to students in Grades K to 3. In the spring, a series of reading outcomes tests were administered to these same students, and teachers provided judgments of the students' reading skills.…

This article reports five studies in which a scale for assessing teachers' beliefs about classroom use of critical-thinking (CT) activities was developed and its scores evaluated for reliability and validity. The Critical Thinking Belief Appraisal (CTBA) is based on a four-factor "advantage effect" model: the theoretical premise that teachers'…

This study was designed to establish and validate a multidimensional empirically based typology of clinically referred adolescent substance abusers. A total of 141 adolescent substance abusers, most of whom were male, African-American, and juvenile justice involved, comprised the study sample. Youth and their parents completed comprehensive…

This research explored the absolute accuracy of judgments of learning (JOLs), wherein absolute accuracy pertains to how well the magnitude of the participant's predictions of recall correspond to his or her subsequent recall. The Anchoring Hypothesis proposes that the magnitude of JOLs does not change systematically with item difficulty; analogous…