THE CONSTRUCTION OF A TEST TO IDENTIFY DEFECTIVE ARTICULATION IN FIRST-GRADE CHILDREN WAS REPORTED. THE "EMPIRICAL SCALE DERIVATION METHOD" WAS SELECTED AS THE MOST APPROPRIATE TECHNIQUE TO SEEK TEST ITEMS FOR THE PREDICTION OF ARTICULATORY MATUARATION. AFTER SELECTION AND REDUCTION TO 135 TEST ITEMS, AN EXPERIMENTAL ITEM POOL WAS…

AN EVALUATION INSTRUMENT WAS DEVELOPED TO ASSESS THE PERSONAL-SOCIAL AND VOCATIONAL COMPETENCE OF DEPENDENT AND SEMIDEPENDENT MENTALLY RETARDED INDIVIDUALS IN A VOCATIONAL WORKSHOP SETTING. TWO PRETESTS WERE DEVELOPED, ADMINISTERED, EVALUATED, AND REFINED BEFORE THE FINAL FORM OF THE EVALUATION INSTRUMENT WAS CONSTRUCTED. FOLLOWING ANALYSES OF…

AN ANALYSIS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF FIRST-SEMESTER COLLEGE STUDENTS ON A MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST OF PROFICIENCY IN GERMAN GRAMMAR REVEALED A CURIOUS PATTERN. LOW SCORING STUDENTS TRIED TO ESTABLISH A CORRELATION BETWEEN THE DETERMINER AND THE WORD PRECEDING IT, APPARENTLY BY MATCHING SIMILAR OR PARALLEL FINAL VOWELS OR CONSONANTS WITH INFLECTED ENDINGS…

A test of mental arithmetic skills was developed and normed for children in grades one to six. Statistical techniques were used to predict the probability correct for each item and to rank order the items. Students in a given grade took only one level of the test and inferences were made of their performance on those tests which they did not take.…

The Message Measurement Inventory was designed to determine the dimensions which listeners consider when they judge a message. This paper outlines the development of the inventory and describes some of the first studies using it. In addition, the paper discusses tests of the validity, reliability, and precision of the scales and scaling procedures…

Three principal sources of sex bias in measurement are defined: the society itself, the extent to which the test content is biased, and biased use of the test results. Intervention seems necessary if equality of opportunity is to be achieved. As one type of intervention, a model is suggested. (Author)

The author compares traditional test items with modified versions of the same test items for the purpose of making test questions more pertinent to the realities of daily life. (RK)

Although it makes a great deal of sense to attempt to design reading research so as to be able to generalize beyond the particular reading passages used in an experiment, the suggestion that tests of statistical significance are a necessary part of making valid generalizations is nonsense. (HOD)

The use of the standard deviation of item ratings as a criterion of scale anchor selection is criticized. An alternative criterion based on item intercorrelation procedures is suggested and tested. Results indicate that the alternative criterion does not lead to the negative outcomes of the standard deviation criterion. (Author/JKS)

A well-constructed criterion-referenced test has an unambiguous descriptive scheme, an adequate number of items, a sufficiently limited focus, reliability, validity, and comparative data. (Author/MLF)

Reports on a series of methodological refinements used in developing a systematic rationale for the construction, standardization and interpretation of the Personal Health Survey (PHS), a 200-item questionnaire designed to screen pathological functioning in the psychophysiological support systems that underlie physical and mental health. The PHS…

Described are the development and field testing of measures of creativity, thinking skills are research for academically talented elementary school students. (CL)

The Bem Sex Role Inventory item selection strategy was reexamined, using Bem's anchored rating scale and instructions. The results replicated Bem's for 18 masculine and 19 feminine items and suggest that the failure to replicate reported by Edwards and Ashworth (TM 503 531) resulted from differences in the anchored rating scale and instructions.…

An attempt was made to replicate the selection of items for the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). The BSRI item-selection criterion was met by only two items. For a considerable number of other items, differences between mean desirability ratings were in a direction opposite to that predicted. (Author/CTM)

Describes steps involved in the construction of a 15-item test to measure formal reasoning in junior and senior high school students. From analysis, the author concludes that the test has face, convergent, and factorial validities. (CP)