Administered Anticipatory Grief Scale (AGS) and Hopkins Symptom Checklist-SCL-90-R to 27 wives who were caring for their spouses suffering from dementia. Alpha coefficient for AGS was 0.84, indicating good internal consistency. AGC was positively and significantly correlated with depression, anxiety, and hostility dimensions of SCL-90-R,…

A metanalysis involving 62 studies compared the response rate to mailed surveys with and without a monetary gratuity. The average response rate increased 19% when a gratuity was enclosed. Other findings that substantiate that the external validity of surveys can be increased by gratuities are discussed. (SLD)

This study of 335 students in grades 2-6 found that correlations between oral reading fluency and 2 reading achievement tests declined as grade level increased. Coefficients between performance on maze tasks and achievement tests did not show a similar decline from lower to upper grade levels. (Author/JDD)

Discusses problems with the 1991 Standard Assessment Tasks (SATs) in reading (given to six and seven year olds in England) and problems in the ways in which the results were interpreted. Suggests that SATs, designed to assess children's reading, may actually have obstructed teachers in their assessment of children. (RS)

Correlations among measures of college outcomes were examined using 118 college students. Instruments studied were the College Outcome Measures Program; the Educational Testing Service Academic Profile; the Defining Issues Test; and the author-developed Sophomore Assessment Project Questionnaire. Commonly used measures tap similar outcome…

The Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults was used to diagnose 163 mentally retarded institutionalized adults according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-III axis 1 categories. Nine factors were extracted which contained 49.3 percent of the data variance and categorized correctly 69.3 percent of the cases. Factors included…

The validity of the fourth edition of the Stanford-Binet (S-B IV) test was studied with 30 linguistically precocious children at ages 20, 24, and 30 months. Validity at 24 months was questionable. Problems in using the test with very young children are discussed. (SLD)

To estimate the predictive validity of the Chinese National Medical Examination, scores of a sample (n=1,717) of participating examinees were compared with program directors' ratings on nine aspects of clinical competence. Test scores were consistent with competence measures and overall, correlated significantly with ratings, while varying for…

A review of public demand for accountability uncovers three types of educational assessment problems: demand for valid reading measures, need for a broader range of assessments, and value of assessments for various audiences. Integration of the various types of assessments is recommended. (SK)

Responses from 52 of 174 business faculty and 61 of 203 business practitioners rated important ethical concerns on a Kohlberg-influenced scale. A high degree of consistency between the two samples was found. Environmental, employment, and corporate/individual integrity issues ranked highest. (SK)

Although divergent-thinking tests were once the most common creativity measure in psychological and educational research, their popularity among researchers is waning because of serious questions concerning validity. Recent research suggests that divergent-thinking test scores fail to predict real-world creativity. A task-specific approach may…

Results of 3 studies, involving 80 adult employees, 6,810 defense contractor employees, and 88 graduate students, support the reliability and validity of a new measure of global work autonomy, the Global Work Autonomy Scale (B. Ashforth and A. Saks, 1995). (SLD)

A survey of 279 undergraduates examined the validity and reliability of "The Courage to Heal Workbook" (TCHW) checklist and whether the checklist can distinguish between participants reporting sexual abuse histories and those who did not. The checklist had robust reliability and could significantly discriminate between survivors and…

The psychometric properties of the Motivation Assessment Scale were examined using 90 ratings of different problem behaviors among 86 individuals with mental retardation. Although reliability and internal consistency were generally poor, the results depended upon topographies of problem behavior and methods of calculation. The construct validity…

Data from the experimental functional analysis of challenging behaviors of 27 individuals with mental retardation were analyzed to assess agreement among three forms of interpretation. Results found that the methods of interpreting function from experimental assessment can give different results and that test-retest reliability of the experimental…