The Urbana Conference on Competence in English met for six days in February 1977 to discuss competence in English. The Conference included 12 representatives of various professional associations, college and school teachers, members of state and national agencies, and dealt with general issues of competence as it affected the teaching and learning…

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) protocols for 242 acute psychiatric inpatients were scored on the 13 content scales. The age, IQ, and education of each subject were also recorded. Content-scale scores were compared with scores from normal groups and were found to be significantly greater. (Author)

Presents two exam questions and answers on the topics of stoichiometric calculations and general chemistry pressure measurement. (SL)

Describes an attempt to present multiple choice tests in an audiovisual format to engineering students. (JY)

Compares results of seven independent studies that have attempted to empirically identify the behavioral or symptom correlates of individual Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory clinical scales for psychiatric patients. Symptom correlates, in general, tend to provide construct validity for the "traditional" interpretation of…

The president of the Educational Testing Service gives a history and an overview of the organization. (IRT)

Presents a Marital Instability Index (MII) designed to detect the "peaks and valleys" of intact marriages and the relative severity of their instability. Discusses the development of the scale, its administration, reliability, and indicators of its validity. Concludes that the MII appears to have considerable utility for diagnostic and…

Discusses ways of designing software to minimize the problems associated with translating the users interface from English into a foreign language. The Examiner, a test development and delivery system that was translated from English into Dutch, is used as an example, and both its design and its implementation are described. (LRW)

Item response theory (IRT) is having a major impact on the field of testing. This special issue presents an introduction and seven papers concerning developments in IRT applications. Some important IRT research being conducted outside the United States is highlighted. (SLD)

Discusses the development of a training needs assessment instrument for mental health professionals working in corrections, along with the results of the assessment. Provides differences between perceived needs for training and self-expressed knowledge of training topics and areas among various professional personnel, and provides recommendations…

This article reports on a follow-up of a pilot investigation to develop a dental health competency inventory for school children. Results indicated a need for dental health education interventions that are sequential in nature and are tailored to the varied sociocultural backgrounds of students. (CB)

A telephone test battery to assess verbal, spatial, and memory ability and perceptual speed in adolescents was developed. Test materials were mailed to 212 adolescents (members of 54 adoptive and 52 nonadoptive sibling pairs). Results show that telephone testing can be satisfactorily used to assess specific cognitive abilities with less anxiety…

Construction and validation of the Personality Adjective Inventory, a new test of personality based on Murray's need-press theory and following the lead of the Personality Research Form is described. The inventory shows excellent psychometric properties across several measures of reliability, stability, and validity. (Author/LMO)

Describes development of the Fetal Health Locus of Control scale, the scale's utility in predicting maternal health-related behavior during pregnancy, normative data, and information on factor structure and internal consistency. Reports that cigarette and caffeine consumption during pregnancy, and women's intentions to participate in prepared…

Describes the development of a 46-item questionnaire measure of postseparation attachment, the Divorce Reaction Inventory (DRI), administered to separated and divorced persons (N=52). Results indicated the DRI is a valid and reliable measure of spousal attachment after separation. (JAC)