Critiques and discusses 10 measures of burden that have been used with caregivers of individuals with dementia. Claims that, although many measures contain reliability data, relatively few report content validity, convergent/divergent validity, criterion validity, or sensitivity to change. Discusses implications for research and practice.…

The Assessment of Living Skills and Resources (ALSAR) systematically evaluates accomplishment of 11 tasks by separately rating patient skill and resource levels for each task and combining levels to determine risk. Administered ALSAR to 75 elderly veterans. Found ALSAR predicted change to more supportive living arrangements and more structured…

Statistical analyses of scores on subtests of the Intelligence Test for Visually Impaired Children were done for two groups of children, either with or without usable vision. Results suggest that the battery has differential factorial and predictive validity. (Author/DB)

A newly revised parent questionnaire for the assessment of vocabulary and syntactic development, the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory-Toddlers, was evaluated. Concurrent validity correlations demonstrated high validity for parent report in both domains and some ability to differentially assess the two. (Author/DB)

The Family of Origin Scale, a recently developed instrument designed to assess adults' perceptions of the family in which they were raised, was administered to 664 adolescents residing with their families. Confirmatory factor analysis supports the scale's original 13 theoretical constructs and establishes factorial validity. (SLD)

Questionnaire, comprised of Teacher Belief Scale and Instructional Activities Scale and intended to measure kindergarten teachers' beliefs about and reported practices related to developmentally appropriate education, was administered to 204 teachers. Several reliable factors were identified. Teachers in 20 classrooms were observed. Found…

Item response theory-based appropriateness fit indices were used to identify and remove from a validation sample (n=201) those examinees whose response patterns did not match their trait levels. Although a person-fit index had little effect on validities, a multitest index was more promising. (SLD)

Evidence was obtained from 841 pharmacists for the convergent validity and discriminant validity of measures of career commitment, organizational commitment, career withdrawal intention, and job withdrawal intention. Results indicate the usefulness of confirmatory factor analysis as an alternative to exploratory analyses when determining the…

Examined multidimensional assessment of career decision problems as measured by Career Decision Diagnostic Assessment (CDDA). Administered CDDA to 844 college students from 3 universities. Results supported reliability and validity of CDDA as measure of psychological blocks to career decision making. CDDA seemed only partially able to discriminate…

Responds to "The Validity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator for Predicting Expressed Marital Problems" (Douglass and Douglass, 1993). Addresses three contentions from earlier article concerning tendency to marry same type, tendency of similar types to have fewer marital problems, and use of opposite type scores on each preference to…

Examines the psychometric properties of an instrument designed to assess study behaviors of college and university students. Finds that the "Study Behavior Inventory" is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing study behaviors. Suggests that study behaviors consist of short-term, routine goals and long-range, specific goals. (RS)

This report describes the development of the Family Background Questionnaire, a 179-item instrument with 22 subscales designed to assess memories of family characteristics. Results with 1,020 college students in three separate studies for initial reliability and validity, factor analysis, and test-retest reliability support the reliability and…

Ten dimensions of teacher concern were identified through a factor analysis of 568 inservice teachers' responses to the Teacher Concerns Checklist. Studies of test-retest and alpha coefficient reliability and concurrent validity of these dimensions supported their use in research on teacher concerns. (SLD)

Analyzes intelligence tests as items of symbolic culture. Test takers often do not share the presuppositions about values, knowledge, and communication implicitly assumed by the test. Suggestions are offered to detect, correct, and avoid the cross-cultural misunderstandings that undermine the validity of such tests. (MMU)

Discusses authentic assessment of student performance as it relates to academic improvement and educational reform. Points out that there is too much testing of basic knowledge and skills out of context, and too little teaching of complex concepts. (MMU)