This research was undertaken to determine the factor structure of the 26-item revised versions of the Mehrabian (1968) Female and Male scales, a self-report instrument designed to measure achievement motivation. (Author/RK)

A pair of related experiments examined the psychometric properties on the Threat Index (TI), a theoretically based scale for the assessment of threat of death. The high reliability of the TI suggested its functioning as an index of stable conceptual orientation toward death. (Author)

Timed performance measures from a coincidence timing task taking about 10 minutes are shown to have significant correlations with psychometric general intelligence in a group of 56 children. The mean absolute error across three conditions correlated -.294 with Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices scores but was sex-biased, with girls being less…

Psychometricians working in factor analysis and econometricians working in regression with measurement error in all variables are both interested in the rank of dispersion matrices under variation of diagonal elements. This paper reviews both fields; points out various small errors; and presents a methodological comparision of factor analysis and…

Psychometric characteristics of the test scores of 5,663 examinees on six patient management problem tests were studied. The total scores can be divided into subscores based on all options keyed "select" and "omit." Component scores are generally correlated negatively, as reflected in reduced discrimination indices and…

The reviewer praises the book as a good elementary introduction to theory and method in factor analysis as it applies to psychometrics and social science research. (TJH)

An approximate relationship is devised between the unidimensional model used in data analysis and a multidimensional model hypothesized to be generating the item responses. Scale shrinkage is successfully predicted for several sets of simulated data. (Author/LMO)

This study investigated whether measures of habituation and dishabituation in early infancy predicted later intelligence. Results were compared with those from other comparable studies. It was argued that the psychometric acceptability of infant cognitive measures needs to be demonstrated before they can be considered to be potential predictors.…

The relation between the power of a significance test in a block design with correlated measurements and the reliability of the measuring instrument is analyzed in terms of the components of variance entering the reliability coefficient and the noncentrality parameter. (Author/LMO)

This paper updates the concept of test validity. This new conception entails a set of 10 categories combined together in pairs: curriculum and instructional validity, statutory and forensic validity, media and journalistic validity, political and legislative validity, and partisan and activist validity. (Author/DWH)

Discusses authenticity in language testing in relation to the language proficiency movement. Looks at both sociolinguistic and psychometric principles as they are concerned with authenticity and validity as well as the inferential distance that separates face validity from techical validities. Criticizes the belief that some test type possess…

Evaluates use of spelling-sound correspondences to read and spell by third-graders defined as good readers and good spellers, good readers and poor spellers, or poor readers and poor spellers. Indicates that all groups used correspondences but that children in mixed and poor groups used them less systematically and had weaker knowledge of…

The relationship between item parameter values obtained from independent Birnbaum (l968) model calibrations of the same item set from two different samples is examined. (Author)

Discusses the findings and implications of effective schools research for teacher training programs, emphasizing the argument that depressed achievement derives from school disability rather than familial disadvantage. Also examines the effective teacher's need for knowledge of psychometrics and an understanding of how dependent effective teaching…

Tau-equivalence means that two tests produce equal true scores for individuals but that the distribution of errors for the tests could be different. This paper examines the effect of performing equipercentile equating techniques on tau-equivalent tests. (JKS)