Humphry (this issue) has written a thought-provoking piece on the interpretation of item discrimination parameters as scale units in item response theory. One of the key features of his work is the description of an item response theory (IRT) model that he calls the logistic measurement function that combines aspects of two traditions in IRT that…

Behavioral scientists have struggled with units of measurement for as long as they have struggled with measurement itself. Psychology's sole attempt at an explicit unit of measurement--the Lexile Framework for Reading (Stenner, Burdick, Sanford, & Burdick, 2006)--has been and continues to be ignored by the psychometric "cognoscenti."…

The purpose of this article is to examine the role of the unit in physics in order to clarify the role of the unit in psychometrics. Based on this examination, metrological conventions are used to formulate the relationship between discrimination and the unit of a scale in item response theory. Seminal literature in two lines of item response…

This article presents Stephen Humphry's response to the commentaries for his article "The Role of the Unit in Physics and Psychometrics." The commentaries covered a range of important considerations and implications. Given that the author fully agrees with the majority of the content, attention will be confined mainly to points that call…

This study compared the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990) with the revision of the SSRS, now called the Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scales (SSIS-RS; Gresham & Elliott, 2008), across three raters (teacher, parent, and student) for elementary- and secondary-aged students. A detailed comparison of these…

This paper reports the scale development and psychometric characteristics of the Parent Behavior Importance Questionnaire-Revised (PBIQ-R). To develop this measure, 502 subject matter experts (SMEs) evaluated 91 parenting behaviors in terms of parenting behavior specificity (e.g., bonding, discipline), importance level, and appropriateness for…

The Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale-Second Edition (Piers-Harris 2) was designed to measure self-concept among children and adolescents. This study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the scores of the Chinese version of the Piers-Harris 2 (Chinese Piers-Harris). The Chinese Piers-Harris 2 was administered to 243 Taiwanese…

The author comments on an article about psychometrics titled "Latent Variable Theory" by Denny Borsboom and printed elsewhere in this issue. The author states that Borsboom's conclusion that all variables should be considered latent until proven otherwise is sound, and that his basis for conclusion rests on the relation between the variable…

Pseudo Bayes probability estimates are weighted averages of raw and modeled probabilities; these estimates have been studied primarily in nonpsychometric contexts. The purpose of this study was to evaluate pseudo Bayes probability estimates as applied to the estimation of psychometric test score distributions and chained equipercentile equating…

Naive observers typically perceive some groupings for a set of stimuli as more intuitive than others. The problem of predicting category intuitiveness has been historically considered the remit of models of unsupervised categorization. In contrast, this article develops a measure of category intuitiveness from one of the most widely supported…

C. S. Carver and E. Harmon-Jones reviewed evidence consistent with the idea that anger arises from a behavioral approach system. Commentary on that article by A. J. Tomarken and D. H. Zald raised questions about the many elements involved in acts of approach and limitations on what information can be provided by electroencephalograms. Commentary…

The paper by Drs. Rupp and Templin provides a much needed step toward the general application of diagnostic classification modeling (DCMs). The authors have provided a summary of many of the concepts that one must consider to properly apply a DCM (which ranges from model selection and estimation, to assessing the appropriateness of the model using…

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate items with which to assess A. Bandura's (1997) theorized sources of self-efficacy among middle school mathematics students. Results from Phase 1 (N=1111) were used to develop and refine items for subsequent use. In Phase 2 of the study (N=824), a 39-item, four-factor exploratory model fit best.…

The effective design of test items within a computer-based language test (CBLT) for developing English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' listening and speaking skills has become an increasingly challenging task for both test users and test designers compared with that of pencil-and-paper tests in the past. It needs to fit integrated oral…

As the population of young dual language learners continues to rise, how can early childhood professionals choose culturally and linguistically appropriate assessments for Spanish-English bilingual preschoolers? They'll get expert guidance in this one-of-a-kind resource, a comprehensive roundup and analysis of 37 developmental assessments…