The objective of the study was to develop a test of concept formation which would: (1) not be biased by reading difficulty; (2) be sufficiently stimulating to capture the attention of the students; (3) incorporate both aspects of concept formation of discriminative response and conservation; (4) have a spread of item difficulty appropriate for…

The estimation of values of a latent-trait presumed to underlie a given set of item response data is made on the basis of dichotomously scored items utilizing the so-called "normal ogive model" of Lawley and Lord. This model provides an internal scale of measurement, scores which are independent of the particular test items employed, individual…

A decision model designed to determine the reliability and validity of criterion referenced measures (CRMs) is presented. General procedures which pertain to the model are discussed as to: Measures of relationship, Reliability, Validity (content, criterion-oriented, and construct validation), and Item Analysis. The decision model is presented in…

Test bias has traditionally been defined in terms of an outside criterion measure of the performance being predicted by the test. In test construction, where criterion-related validity data are usually not collected until after the test is completed, assessment of bias in the absence of outside criteria had become a vital issue. Here, an unbiased…

The development of environmental process measures marks a significant step forward in the assessment of environment quality. As Bloom (1964) predicted, these measures have made it possible to more clearly delineate the relationship between environment and development. Although factorial structure of many process instruments is open to question,…

The Basic Word Vocabulary Test (BWVT) was extended downward by administering it orally to 96 pupils selected randomly from grades one through four. Estimates of aural understanding vocabulary at each grade were obtained and were found to be much lower than results from previous studies, due to the strict criteria of the BWVT. Correlations with the…

The Women's Liberation Scale (WLS) is a 14-item, Likert-type scale designed to measure attitudes toward positions advocated by women's groups. The WLS and its four-alternative response schema is presented, along with descriptive statistics of scores based on male and female college samples. Reliability and validity measures are reported, and the…

A number of different ways of ascertaining whether or not a test measures the same thing in different cultures are examined. Methods range from some that are obvious and simple to those requiring statistical and psychological sophistication. Simpler methods include such things as having candidates "think aloud" and interviewing them about how they…

The Minnesota Child Development Inventory (MCDI) measures the development of preschool-age children, using an inventory format to obtain mothers' observations. To demonstrate the validity of MCDI results, the authors compared them to the results of psychological evaluations, including data on intellectual functioning, fine motor skills, and…

Article provided a week-by-week readiness program for preschool and early primary children. (Editor/RK)

The steps discussed are (a) stating the purpose of the battery, (b) specifying performance objectives, (c) generating an item pool, (d) item analysis, (e) item selection, (f) determining cut-off scores, and (g) validating the battery. (MP)

Reliability and validity data are presented for three orthogonal measures of temperament: trait-pleasure, trait-arousal, and trait-dominance. Reliability coefficients for the three scales were .91, .60, and .84, respectively. Intercorrelations among the three scales were insignificant and low. (Author/JKS)

Concludes that subjects are misled by errors they make on earlier items in cloze tests. (RL)