Structured clinical interviews concerning childhood histories of physical and sexual abuse with 70 mentally ill women at 2 times found test-retest reliability of .63 for physical abuse and .82 for sexual abuse. Validity, assessed as consistency with an independent clinical assessment, showed 75% agreement for physical abuse and 93% agreement for…

Psychometric analyses of data from 230 individuals yielded a 29-item 4-scale revision of the original 50-item 5-scale Mental Retardation Attitude Inventory. Results showed adequate item characteristics; adequate reliability and homogeneity; adequate reliability, homogeneity, specificity, and independence of the four scales; and initial validity…

The Taxonomy of Problematic Social Situations for Children (TOPS) was completed for 30 fifth-grade children on 2 occasions 8 weeks apart. The TOPS total and factor scores were found to be highly temporally stable and convergent with peer evaluations administered concurrently, with the exception of peer "like most" nominations.…

Tested 21 low-functioning children with mental retardation to determine validity of the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS). Found that the interrater measures within the MAS were essentially uncorrelated and of independent dimensions and that the MAS is not suitable for use with African primary school children. (HTH)

Presents the results of multiple regression analysis, test-retest analysis, reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis of the Computer Attitude Scale in order to assess the instrument's predictive ability, construct validity, and reliability. Findings indicate acceptable characteristics, including stability…

Ratings on the Autism Behavior Checklist for 18 children (ages 9-16) with normal intelligence and infantile autism or infantile autism, residual state, revealed that all subjects met the cutoff score for autism or borderline autism on retrospective ratings, but 14 received current ratings below the cutoff. The Autism Diagnostic Interview ruled out…

The longitudinal stability of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised was examined for consistency in determining eligibility for gifted programs among 66 elementary children. All subtest scales except one remained extremely stable, producing less than one scale score point difference across three test administrations. Children…

Examines the validity of the White Racial Consciousness Development Scale (WRCDS). Participants (n=260) were administered the WRCDS and another instrument. Results suggest that the WRCDS lacks adequate reliability and concurrent validity and that the findings and future use of the instrument should be questioned. (RJM)

Focuses on regression effects that arise from measurement error, and examines methods used to evaluate pre- to post-therapy score changes that attempt to take these regression effects into account. Discusses statistical and practical problems, identifies and analyzes specific examples, and distinguishes objectives of these methods from other…

Suggests that assessment must be built into the curriculum and focused upon the kinds of skills students need. Considers much educational testing in writing to be reductionist, unrealistic, and detrimental to learning. Critiques writing assessment's trust and reliance on a single or small sample of student work collected and scored outside of a…

The MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs) represent a breakthrough in measuring early language production. Nevertheless, the CDIs' word comprehension component may not be a valid measure, because parents report too high a word comprehension ability for their children. Suggests that administering the CDIs to parents in an interview…

Developed two self-report measures of belongingness (social connectedness and social assurance) based on self psychology theory. Measures proved to be highly reliable and unidimensional. Social connectedness was related to one's opinion of self in relation to other people. Social assurance correlated with one's reliance on other people. (RJM)

The Paired-Associate Recognition Test (PART) was developed to test declarative memory using Wisconsin Card Sorting Test stimuli. The reliability and construct validity of the PART were studied with 55 healthy adults. Overall results indicate that the PART can be administered reliably and that it requires declarative memory processes. (SLD)

The validity of an alternative 5-factor measure of personality, the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ), was assessed in 450 cocaine abusers. Results supported the validity of the ZKPQ. Internal consistency was generally good, and items loaded on the predicted factors. (SLD)

Construction, field testing with children with disabilities, and analysis of the preliminary version of the Preadolescent Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (PA-HOME) are described. The paper concludes that the assessment is a reasonably reliable scale with moderate correlations with other measures of the family environment.…