In a conversation, adults expect speakers to be consistent in their use of a particular expression. We examine whether four-year-olds expect speakers to use consistent referential descriptions and whether these expectations are partner-specific. Using an eye-tracking paradigm, we presented four-year-olds with arrays of objects on a screen. During…

Learners often have difficulties comprehending multiple texts about controversial scientific issues. In particular, learners with strong prior beliefs tend to construct a one-sided mental representation that is biased towards belief-consistent information (text-belief consistency effect). In the present study we examined the effectiveness of…

This study presents a new approach for transforming the latent representation derived from a Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) space into one where dimensions have nonlatent meanings. These meanings are based on lexical descriptors, which are selected by the LSA user. The authors present three analyses that provide examples of the utility of this…

My study focused on developing an instrument to resolve a problem of practice in my organization: How to accurately match individuals' preferences with projects. Other project leaders and I had already identified four 'types' of project preferences. My study used those constructs and their defining characteristics to develop a new instrument: The…

In Gargani and Strong (2014), we describe The Rapid Assessment of Teacher Effectiveness (RATE), a new teacher evaluation instrument. Our account of the validation research associated with RATE inspired a review by Good and Lavigne (2015). Here, we reply to the main points of their review. We elaborate on the validity, reliability, theoretical…

Poor reciprocity is a defining feature of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the current study, we examined the reliability and validity of the Interactive Drawing Test (IDT), a new instrument to assess reciprocal behavior. The IDT was administered to children and adolescents with ASD (n = 131) and to a typically developing group (n = 62). The…

The "autism spectrum disorder observation for children" ("ASD-OC") is a newly created 54-item observation measure for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Due to the fact that many of the ASD observation measures currently available do not have established psychometric properties and require extensive time and training to administer, the "ASD-OC"…

Higher education has responded to the need for assessing its institutions, faculty, programs, courses, and students' learning over the past several decades. Across the board, educators are asked to assess students' learning with or without useful instruments or training to do so. Rubrics can serve as useful assessment instruments.…

This study investigates international students' life adjustment in Eastern Taiwan by utilizing a questionnaire design. A total of 104 students participated to complete the Life Adjustment Questionnaire. Several predictors (gender, differences in academic majors, and study levels) were studied in this survey. The results revealed seven important…

Time attitudes (TA) are evaluative feelings toward the past, present and future. Given the role of TA in psychological and behavioral outcomes, the aim of this study was to analyze the adequacy of the Adolescent Time Inventory-Time Attitudes (ATI-TA) scale among adolescents and young adults in Italy. The scale was administered to 638 students in…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and construct validity of the Ethnic Identity, National Identity, and Perception of Social Mobility Scale in China. The data for this study were collected in 2014 and 2016, from one middle school in China. The school deployed a Chinese ethnic minority education policy, aimed at cultivating…

Adopting Linacre's guidelines for evaluating rating scale effectiveness, we examined whether and how a six-point rating scale functioned differently across raters, speech acts, and second language (L2) proficiency levels. We developed a 12-item Computerized Oral Discourse Completion Task (CODCT) for assessing the production of requests, refusals,…

This study describes a vocabulary size test in Arabic used with 339 native speaking learners at school and university in Saudi Arabia. Native speaker vocabulary size scores should provide targets for attainment for learners of Arabic, should inform the writers of course books and teaching materials, and the test itself should allow learners to…

We present a multiple-choice test, the Montana State University Formal Reasoning Test (FORT), to assess college students' scientific reasoning ability. The test defines scientific reasoning to be equivalent to formal operational reasoning. It contains 20 questions divided evenly among five types of problems: control of variables, hypothesis…

This study aimed at developing a valid and reliable measurement tool to determine school image at high schools and investigating the discrimination level of the scale among the students from different high school types in Turkey. Two studies were conducted to (a) develop a valid and reliable measurement tool and (b) to examine the discrimination…