bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
MEASURES FOR THE STUDY OF CREATIVITY IN SCIENTIFIC PROBLEM‐SOLVING
Authors: Frederiksen Norman , Ward William C.
Published: August 2014

A set of Tests of Scientific Thinking were developed for possible use as criterion measures in research on creativity. Scores on the tests describe both quality and quantity of ideas produced in formulating hypotheses, evaluating proposals, solving methodological problems, and devising methods for measuring constructs. The tests were administered to 3,500 candidates for admission to graduate school in psychology, using an item‐sampling procedure. Reliabilities based on 45‐minute tests were adequate for research purposes. Correlations with GRE scores were low, especially for scores based on number of ideas. Follow‐up questionnaires were sent to students asking for information about graduate school attendance, grades, accomplishments during the first year of graduate study, and self‐appraisals of professional skills. Scores based on quantity (number of responses, number of unusual responses, and number of unusual responses that were also of high quality) were significantly related to self‐appraisals and to reports of such professional accomplishments as collaborating in research, publishing scientific papers, and designing and maintaining research apparatus. The quantity scores also were related to indices reflecting the quality of the department attended and to conventional evaluations of student performance. GRE scores were better at predicting these indices of quality but poorer as predictors on accomplishments and self‐appraisals.
A METHOD FOR FORMALIZING SUBJECTIVE NOTIONS ABOUT THE EFFECT OF NON‐RESPONDENTS IN SAMPLE SURVEYS
Authors: Rubin Donald B.
Published: August 2014

A method is given for estimating, in a subjective sense, the effect of non‐respondents in a sample survey. The method is based on Bayesian techniques and yields a “confidence interval” for the value of the average response in the survey if all non‐respondents had responded. Background information which is recorded for both respondents and non‐respondents plays an important role although is not needed. The technique is illustrated with real survey data of 660 schools; 488 had 80 dependent variables recorded, 172 had no dependent variables recorded, and all 660 had 35 background variables recorded. On the basis of this example, it appears as if the method can be useful in practical problems. The general idea, of which the method presented here is only a specific example, can be applied to any problem with non‐respondents and/or missing data.
RESPONSE BIASES DO NOT ACCOUNT FOR THE EFFECT OF CLAUSE STRUCTURE ON THE PERCEPTION OF NONLINGUISTIC STIMULI
Authors: Bever T. G. , Hurtig R. R. , Handel A. B.
Published: August 2014

Listeners made location responses to tones presented in two‐clause sentences as well as to sentences in which no tone was present. Listeners were always required to be ready to write out the sentence from memory after hearing it. However the critical responses were made on a prepared script of each sentence presented after each trial. Location guessing patterns do not account for either the relatively high correct location of tones objectively between clauses nor for the frequent mislocation of errors into that position. The analysis of correct location responses, location error patterns in relation to location guesses support a clause by clause model of speech processing.
CRITERION MEASURES FOR YOUTH‐WORK TRAINING PROGRAMS: THE DEVELOPMENT OF RELEVANT PERFORMANCE DIMENSIONS
Authors: Freeberg Norman E.
Published: August 2014

An attempt to develop relevant criterion measures for work‐training programs serving disadvantaged adolescents involved the longitudinal application of 32 trainee performance criteria at program completion and 40 longer‐term outcome measures approximately six months following training. Factor analyses of those variables yielded four program completion (proximal) criterion dimensions of work motivation and planning ability, personal‐social adjustments and training program competency. Post‐program (distal) variables resulted in five dimensions encompassing areas of social and community adjustments, skill in job planning, ability to perform on jobs and to seek or find employment. Loading magnitudes and factor patterns provided a basis for identifying those variables with the greatest concurrent relevance; whereas, correlations between proximal and distal criteria pinpointed those end‐of‐program outcomes of greatest predictive relevance (e.g., proficiency ratings by counselors, work supervisors and peers; family adjustments, favorable self and social perceptions). This empirical approach to criterion development was shown to provide better understanding of the multidimensional aspects of a criterion domain and information for setting priorities in the choice of criterion variables.
SPEED AND ACCURACY OF ABSOLUTE PITCH JUDGMENTS: SOME LATTER‐DAY RESULTS
Authors: Carroll John B.
Published: August 2014

Nine subjects, 5 of whom claimed absolute pitch (AP) ability (4 from childhood, 1 by self‐training) were given a pitch judgment task in which they had to strike notes on the piano as rapidly as possible to match randomized tape‐recorded piano notes. Stimulus set sizes were 64, 16, or 4 consecutive semitones, or 7 diatonic notes of a designated octave. A control task involved motor movements to notes announced in advance, with the effect that set size was 1. Accuracy, measured on the basis of deviations of responses from targets, significantly differentiated AP from NAP (non‐AP) subjects at all set sizes except the control task. For both groups, accuracy increased as set size decreased. Decision times, measured as that part of total response time before a movement to the response note began, decreased as set size decreased, but did not differentiate AP and NAP subjects. The performance of the trained AP subject was not distinguishable from that of the remaining AP subjects either in accuracy or decision time. Results are discussed in terms of a two‐factor theory of AP ability whereby NAP subjects use only relative tone height as the basis of judgment but AP subjects also use standards of tone chroma stored in long‐term memory. The abnormally high channel capacities and rates of information gain for AP subjects are interpreted on the basis of transmission of information in two channels, whereas NAP subjects transmit information in only one channel.
MOTHERS AND TWO‐YEAR‐OLDS: A STUDY OF SEX‐DIFFERENTIATED ASPECTS OF VERBAL INTERACTION
Authors: Cherry Louise , Lewis Michael
Published: August 2014

This study was conducted to provide information on how verbal aspects of mother‐child interaction are differentiated by sex of child. Twelve white, upper middle‐class, English‐speaking mothers and their 2‐year‐old children were studied in a spontaneous play situation. The mean differences for mother‐male compared with mother‐female dyads on 12 measures of quantitative and qualitative aspects of speech showed mothers of female children talked more, asked more questions, repeated their children's utterances more often, and used longer utterances compared with mothers of male children. Mothers of male children used more directives compared with mothers of female children. These results suggest a continuity of a similar pattern of greater verbal quantity and responsivity for mother‐female compared with mother‐male dyads.
ANALYTIC PROCESSING ELICITS RIGHT EAR SUPERIORITY IN MONAURALLY PRESENTED SPEECH1
Authors: Bever Thomas G. , Hurtig Richard R. , Handel Ann B.
Published: August 2014

The latency to respond with the right hand to the initial phone of a monaurally presented CVC syllable is shorter when the stimulus is heard in the right ear than when it is heard in the left ear. This shows that superiority of the left hemisphere can be elicited in simple speech tasks with monaural stimulation. However, the latency to recognize the entire syllable is equally short regardless of ear and responding hand. This is consistent with the view that the left hemisphere is dominant only for tasks that require analysis of the internal structure of a stimulus.
PSYCHOLINGUISTICS AND THE PREDICTION OF READING ACHIEVEMENT
Authors: Cocking Rodney R. , Potts Marion
Published: August 2014

Knowing lots of words does not mean that the 3‐ to 5‐year‐old child knows much about “language” (defined as a system of relations). Since many linguistic constructions are in the repertoires of children of ages 5 to 6, it seemed fruitful to investigate the cognitive economy of the transfer of this rule system to learning to read. Thus, where former studies had looked at the prediction of reading scores on basis of word knowledge, the present research focused upon the predictive ability of a test of syntactic knowledge. Stanford Reading Achievement and Syntactic Production Test data were collected for 65 first graders. Metropolitan Reading Readiness Test data from the previous year and Language Comprehension data were available for most of the subjects. The reading test/production test correlation (r = .54) was significant beyond the .001 level. The low relationship (r = .34, p < .05 > .01) between the Metropolitan Reading Readiness Test and the production test supported the premise that the two instruments tested different areas of development. The results were interpreted as confirmation of the hypothesis that command of syntax (structural knowledge) is a useful predictor of success in learning to read.
STATISTICAL PROBLEMS IN MENTAL TEST THEORY*
Authors: Lord Frederic M.
Published: August 2014

Some unsolved statistical problems in mental test theory are outlined.
INTELLECTUAL STATUS AND INTELLECTUAL GROWTH, AGAIN
Authors: Werts Charles E. , Hilton Thomas L.
Published: August 2014

The simplex model is used to correct for attenuation in the correlation of status with gain for a variety of academic skills. Implications of the results for the study of the determinants of academic growth are discussed and also some possible implications for classroom instruction.
DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION FOR WHITES AND BLACKS: THE TOLEDO STUDY
Authors: Stricker Lawrence J.
Published: August 2014

The aims of this study were (a) to determine the major dimensions of social stratification for whites as well as blacks and (b) to explore the existence of distinct social classes. A survey was conducted with 225 white and 206 black household heads in Toledo, Ohio, using a highly structured interview that included variables reflecting major theoretical dimensions of stratification, important indexes, and well established correlates. Eighteen first‐order factors were found for whites and 19 for blacks. Five factors matched in the two samples: social status, residence, organization activity, political activity and efficacy, and main support's social status. Other important factors, unique to each sample, were: for whites, self‐employed and majority group membership, and for blacks, class consciousness and method variance. The indexes, except for Own Education, did not consistently load the factors that they presumably tap. Second‐ and third‐order factors were also obtained, but they were difficult to interpret. Two separate cluster analyses of individuals, based on their score profiles on social status variables, identified 37 and 47 clusters of white respondents, the largest cluster containing 13 people. (The cluster analyses were not done for blacks.) All in all, the present findings indicate that stratification is more complex than anticipated by current conceptualizations, previous research, and existing indexes. These results also point up the need for revising the theoretical formulations and using more appropriate measures of the salient dimensions.
A TEST‐FREE APPROACH TO PREDICTION FOR GUIDANCE
Authors: Norris Lila , Chapman Warren
Published: August 2014

Validities derived from test‐free variables were obtained for final grades in ten community college courses. The variables included self‐reports of high school performance, self‐ratings on four factors presumably related to good grades, and informed self‐estimates of future performance in a course. Validities for the same students were also obtained using the Comparative Guidance and Placement test battery and the results compared. For five of the courses the non‐test validities were as high as or higher than the test validities, and in the other five the differences were modest. These findings suggest that non‐test approaches to prediction are satisfactory alternatives to tests, at least for purposes of guidance. They also suggest that courses hard to predict through tests may be predictable with non‐test methods. Benefits of a test‐free program to the college, students, and faculty are discussed.
THE ROLE OF THE FIELD‐DEPENDENT AND FIELD‐INDEPENDENT COGNITIVE STYLES IN ACADEMIC EVOLUTION: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY
Authors: Witkin Herman A. , Moore Carol Ann , Oltman Philip K. , Goodenough Donald R. , Friedman Florence
Published: August 2014

To assess hypotheses derived from field‐dependence theory about the role of cognitive style in students' academic choices, stability of choices, and achievement, a large group of students was followed longitudinally from college entry, through college graduation and into graduate/professional school. As predicted, in their preliminary preferences at college entry, final college majors and graduate/professional school specialties, relatively field‐independent students favored impersonal domains which require cognitive restructuring skills (e.g., mathematics and the natural sciences) and relatively field‐dependent students favored interpersonal domains which do not emphasize such skills (e.g., elementary and early childhood education). Cognitive style related more strongly to final college majors and graduate/professional school specialties than to preliminary preferences at college entry. This outcome was in part a result of the tendencies of students whose preliminary choices were incongruent with their cognitive styles to shift to more compatible domains and of students with initially congruent choices to remain with those choices. In most analyses cognitive style contributed to prediction of academic choices and stability of choices beyond the contribution made by scholastic aptitude measures. Some tendency was found for students to do better in domains compatible with their cognitive styles, though field‐dependence‐independence was unrelated to such general achievement indicators as high school and college grade‐point averages.
ITEM‐ITEM CURVES AND CONSISTENT MENTAL TEST PARAMETER ESTIMATES1
Authors: Levine Michael V.
Published: August 2014

It is shown that empirical mental test P ‐ P plots are approximately‐equal to theoretical item‐item curves, at least for long tests administered to many people. This result is important because it leads to (1) a distribution free method for estimating points on item‐item curves, (2) a general method for defining estimates of item parameters and (3) the only parameter estimation method known to be consistent for some of the most important aptitude test models.
EFFECTS OF STIMULUS HIGHLIGHTING AND VARIATION IN NUMBER OF TRIALS ON CHILDREN'S INCIDENTAL LEARNING
Authors: Hale Gordon A.
Published: August 2014

Children aged 8 and 12 years performed a task requiring attention to the “relevant” element in each of several two‐element stimuli, then were tested for memory of the second, or “incidental” element in each stimulus. Highlighting the relevant element (i.e., circling the element in red) lowered the amount of incidental information acquired. However, highlighting failed to alter the basic developmental result–an increase with age in performance on the initial task but a decrease in incidental recall. As in previous studies, the latter result is believed to reflect a developmental improvement in children's selective attention to task‐relevant information. Since highlighting was designed to facilitate the initial discrimination of relevant from incidental material, the data support the view that this initial discrimination process is not a key factor in the developmental trend toward greater selectivity in attention. In another comparison, the developmental results were found to be the same whether the initial task consisted of 2 or 6 trials; thus, older children's superiority in attention deployment is evident from the outset of a task and, contrary to the author's earlier view, does not become more pronounced as the task progresses.
FIELD DEPENDENCE REVISITED
Authors: Witkin Herman A. , Goodenough Donald R.
Published: August 2014

Results of the large number of studies stimulated by the theory of psychological differentiation now make revision of the theory necessary. The model that is proposed seeks to accommodate, the recently accumulated findings on interpersonal behavior, cognitive restructuring skills and localization of neurophysiological functions. Central components of this model are the field‐dependent and field‐independent cognitive styles. These styles are conceived as tendencies to rely on internal or external referents in information processing, stemming from differences in extent of self‐nonself segregation. Reflecting these contrasting tendencies, field‐independent people do well in cognitive restructuring tasks and are limited in social sensitivity and social skills; field‐dependent people have greater social sensitivity and social skills but are not as competent in cognitive restructuring. The field‐dependence‐independence cognitive‐style dimension is thus bipolar with regard to level, having no clear “high” or “low” ends; and it is neutral with regard to value, each pole having qualities adaptive in particular circumstances. A distinction is drawn between people who are fixed in their use of a field‐dependent or field‐independent style and those who are mobile, having access to both.
COMPARING HIGH SCHOOLS WITH RESPECT TO STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN UNIVERSITY
Authors: Rubin Donald B. , Stroud T. W. F.
Published: August 2014

This report presents data analyses investigating the relationship of high school final average, X, and first year university average, Y, in a Canadian university. The statistical summaries are (1) a matrix of observed “relative grading standards” of each high school in each matriculation year, and (2) a quadratic regression relating Y to X in each year. These summaries suggest that (1) the grading standards for some of the schools are changing consistently in time, and (2) the general relationship between Y and X is becoming more quadratic and less linear in time. The implication is that the high school attended is a more important predictor of university performance for students with poorer high school records than for students with better high school records, especially in recent years.
PEER RATINGS OF DOCTORAL PROGRAM FACULTY: THEIR STABILITY AND MEANING1
Authors: Hartnett Rodney T. , Clark Mary Jo , Baird Leonard L.
Published: August 2014

Peer ratings of doctoral program faculty quality were obtained in a 1975 national survey of chemistry, history, and psychology departments. The ratings were then compared to those obtained six and eleven years earlier by the American Council on Education. The rankings obtained from the ratings proved to be extremely stable over the 11‐year period.

Ratings were also obtained for disciplinary subspecialties. Though it is clear that variation in quality among subspecialty faculties do exist and are important for individual program evaluations, it is unlikely that such subspecialty ratings would be feasible or useful in national surveys of doctoral program faculty.

Finally, the ratings were examined in relation to various other doctoral program characteristics, and were found to be highly related to a number of research‐oriented variables (e.g., size, productivity, percentage of alumni holding academic positions at Ph.D.‐granting universities), but unrelated (or related very weakly) to such program features as the student‐reported quality of teaching and degree of faculty concern for students, or faculty‐reported degree of departmental effort toward the career development of junior members of the faculty.
THE EFFECTS OF SPECIAL PREPARATION ON SAT‐VERBAL SCORES
Authors: Alderman Donald L. , Powers Donald E.
Published: August 2014

This study examined the effectiveness of secondary school programs specifically designed to improve student performance on the SAT‐Verbal component. Students at eight schools were randomly assigned to either a treatment group which was given special preparation for the SAT‐V or a control group with access to the same preparation delayed for the purposes of the study. The programs of special preparation were those already in place at the public and private secondary schools selected as participants. A special administration of the SAT served as the posttest. Special preparation resulted in an overall difference of eight points, on the SAT‐V scale of 200–800 points, between the treatment and control groups. The difference corresponded to one additional item correct for students receiving special preparation and stemmed primarily from student performance on analogy and antonym test items.
EFFECTS OF TAKING THE SAT ON RATE OF WORK AND GUESSING
Authors: Powers Donald E.
Published: August 2014

The College Board recently published Taking the SAT, a booklet designed to Improve candidates' familiarity with the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the Test of Standard Written English (TSWE). This note examines the extent to which receiving the new booklet altered (a) candidates' strategies with regard to responding in the face of uncertainty and (b) the rate at which examinees proceeded through the test. It Is suggested that specific instructions found in the booklet are related to changes in examinees' test‐taking behaviors in both of these areas.
AN EVALUATION OF GRE SENDER SCORES AS A MEASURE OF GRADUATE ADMISSIONS SELECTIVITY IN TWO FIELDS
Authors: Clark Mary Jo
Published: August 2014

The average GRE Aptitude Test scores of test‐takers who had their scores sent to 57 history and 60 chemistry departments in 1972–73 (“score senders”) are compared with the average Aptitude Test scores of first‐year students who enrolled in these departments in the fall of 1973 (“enrolled students” or “matriculants”). There is a positive correlation of .5 to .7 between the department mean sender and mean matriculant scores; however, about an equal number of departments in both fields were found to enroll students with average test scores that were relatively lower as well as relatively higher than their average sender scores. Results were similar for departments with high, moderate, and low reputational ratings. Though the self‐selection of applicants appears to account for a large part of departmental “selectivity” as this is represented by average GRE Aptitude Test scores, the study concludes that average sender scores should not be used to describe the admissions selectivity of individual graduate departments in these two fields.
HOW COLLEGE SENIORS PERCEIVE THEIR WORLD
Authors: Barrows Thomas S. , Clark John L. , Klein Stephen F.
Published: August 2014

Students graduating from American colleges in 1980 live in a world whose elements are increasingly interdependent. Are these educated world citizens prepared to understand the interactions of nations in an interdependent world? Do they apprehend world problems from a catholic, multi‐disciplinary point of view, and can they note and appreciate the immense complexity of the problems in both cause and effect? Do they perceive the extent to which individual lives, including their own, are affected by global or international conditions, and do any historical perspectives guide their understanding?

In February 1980, Educational Testing Service, having received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the U. S. Department of Education, surveyed a nationally representative random sample of over 3,000 students at two‐year and four‐year colleges. This paper describes partial results for the sample of seniors. Forthcoming reports will provide full results for freshmen, seniors, and students at two‐year institutions.
DEVELOPMENT OF METHODS FOR SELECTION AND EVALUATION IN UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION
Authors: Frederiksen Norman , Ward William C. , Case Susan M. , Carlson Sybil B. , Samph Thomas
Published: August 2014

The purposes of this study were (1) to develop and validate measures of diagnostic problem solving that might be useful in the selection of medical students and in evaluating performance during training, and (2) to improve our understanding of the cognitive processes involved in such problem solving.

The study involved three kinds of measures. (1) Criterion tests were paper‐and‐pencil simulations of the salient aspects of medical diagnostic situations. Three such problems used a free‐response format that required examinees to think of ideas for themselves, while three employed a structured‐response (expanded multiple‐choice) format. (2) Experimental selection tests were paper‐and‐pencil simulations of situations that present problems of a nonmedical nature and that could presumably be solved by methods like those used for medical problems. Both free‐response and structured‐response problems were included. (3) Process measures were selected from existing test batteries to measure cognitive abilities and personality characteristics thought to be involved in carrying out problem‐solving activities.

All three kinds of measures were administered to 122 fourth‐year medical students. The selection tests and the process variables were given to 97 first‐year students. Finally, a small number (30) of advanced residents took the criterion tests only. Data from student records, such as MCAT and National Board scores, were also obtained as appropriate.
EVIDENCE AND ETHICS IN THE EVALUATION OF TESTS1
Authors: Messick Samuel
Published: August 2014

Establishing the validity of educational and psychological tests entails judgments of both evidence and consequence for each of the two distinct but interrelated functions of tests – interpretation and use. The evidential basis of test interpretation is construct validity. The evidential basis of test use is also construct validity, but elaborated to determine the relevance of the construct to the applied purpose and the utility of the measure in the applied setting. The consequential basis of test interpretation entails an appraisal of the value implications of alternative interpretations, while the consequential basis of test use requires appraisal of the potential social consequences of the proposed use and of the actual consequences when used. The delineation of a consequential basis for test validity as well as an evidential basis means that standards for evaluating tests must take explicit account of social context and social purpose, and test validity comes to be based on ethical as well as evidential grounds.

Implications of this unified view of test validity as an overall judgment of the adequacy and appropriateness of inferences and actions based on test scores are examined for the measurement of four constructs prevalent in current educational practice – namely, intelligence, competence, mastery, and scholastic ability. Implications are also adumbrated for the responsibilities of test users and for the ethics of test use. (41 pp.)
RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY AND TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS
Authors: Centra John A.
Published: August 2014

This study investigated the relationship between research productivity and teaching effectiveness to shed light on the long‐debated question of whether performance in one area enhances performance in the other. The academic field and the stage of a faculty member's career were both considered in the analyses. Two samples of 2,973 and 1,623 faculty members from a variety of institutions were studied. In considering results of both analyses, teachers of social science courses were the only group for which there were consistent though modest relationships between the number of published articles and student ratings of instructor effectiveness. Thus “spill‐over” effects, or a “general ability” factor, or other reasons for a possible link between research and teaching performance are not totally supported. The relationship between performance in the two areas is either nonexistant or, where it appears, too modest to conclude that one necessarily enhances the other.
A NEW INDEX OF DIFFERENTIAL SUBGROUP PERFORMANCE: APPLICATION TO THE GRE APTITUDE TEST
Authors: Stricker Lawrence J.
Published: August 2014

The items on the GRE Aptitude Test were analyzed for race (white vs. black) and sex differences in their functioning, using three procedures for identifying items that perform differently: item partial correlations with subgroup membership (race or sex), controlling for total score; comparisons of item characteristic curves for subgroups; and plots of item difficulties for subgroups. All of these methods assume that the test is unidimensional and the total score (or the typical item) is relatively free of differential functioning, and rely on internal analyses of the test to identify deviant items.

Appreciable proportions of the items in each section of the test were identified as performing differentially for each race and sex by the partial correlation and ICC indexes, but only small proportions were identified by the item difficulty index. Although many items were identified by the two indexes, these measures were generally very small in magnitude, indicating that they detected a minimal degree of differential functioning.

About the same proportions of significant items and the same magnitude of effects occurred in a replication of the analyses in new samples. All of the indexes generally exhibited substantial consistency in identifying the same items in the replicated and original analyses.

The partial correlation and ICC indexes substantially agreed in the particular items that they identified as functioning differentially for males and females, but did not agree in the items that they identified as performing differently for whites and blacks; the item difficulty index did not agree with the others in either of these analyses.

The items identified by the indexes generally did not differ from the remaining items in type or content, a major exception being that verbal items with female content which were identified by the partial correlation index as performing differently for each sex favored females.

The prevalence of differential functioning implied by the present results and the factorial complexity observed in other research brings into question the tenability of the assumptions underlying these indexes. The effect that violating these assumptions has on the findings needs to be determined in further empirical work before the question of the differential performance of these items can be fully answered.
CONSTRUCT VALIDITY OF THE GMAT: A FACTOR ANALYTIC STUDY*
Authors: Swinton Spencer S. , Powers Donald E.
Published: August 2014

A factor analytic study of the Graduate Management Admission Test was undertaken in order to gain a more thorough understanding of the psychological constructs underlying examinee performance on the test. The degree to which various dimensions or explanatory concepts account for test performance was established for three alternate forms of the GMAT and for several subgroups of examinees in order to determine the degree of equivalence of test forms and the similarity of measured constructs for various groups. Dimensions of test variation emerged that were thought to be useful to test development staff in sharpening test content specifications needed for the development of future equivalent forms of the test. One dimension that emerged which currently is not explicit in the GMAT specifications was the distinction between quantitative items that are abstract in nature and those that have a practical or applied nature. The relationship of each of three experi mental item types to the factors underlying the current operational test was also determined through factor extension analysis and recommendations were made regarding the use of these three new item types in future revisions of the GMAT.
MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATION OF ITEM RESPONSE PARAMETERS WHEN SOME RESPONSES ARE OMITTED
Authors: Lord Frederic M.
Published: August 2014

Two theoretical approaches are considered for dealing with omitted responses. A simple modification of the usual item responce theory model leads to internal contradictions. An alternative model is suggested and some special cases are investigated.
EFFECTS OF SELF‐STUDY OF TEST FAMILIARIZATION MATERIALS FOR THE ANALYTICAL SECTION OF THE GRE APTITUDE TEST
Authors: Powers Donald E. , Swinton Spencer S.
Published: August 2014

An experimental study was conducted to (a) provide further information on the possible differential susceptibility to special preparation of three GRE analytical item types, (b) determine whether candidates' self‐study of test familiarization materials might result in analytical ability score improvements comparable to those resulting from formal instructional intervention, and (c) ascertain which components of the special preparation were most effective. To provide this information various sets of test preparation materials (practice tests, explanations of answers to practice questions, and suggested strategies for approaching each analytical item type) were mailed to random samples of GRE candidates approximately four to five weeks before the test date. Candidates' use of each set of materials was manipulated by encouraging random samples of candidates to study the materials.

Comparisons of the subsequent GRE scores of the various groups of candidates (a) confirmed the susceptibility to special preparation of two of the analytical item types (analysis of explanations and logical diagrams), (b) suggested little susceptibility for either of the two subtypes of the third item type (analytical reasoning), (c) provided strong evidence that candidates can undertake effective self‐preparation for “coachable” item types like the ones studied here, (d) pointed to some components of test preparation (e.g., extra test practice) as more effective than others, and (e) strongly suggested that, even more than the particular kind of preparation undertaken, being engaged in some preparation is necessary for successful performance on these item types.
CONDITIONS INFLUENCING THE CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF PH.D.S
Authors: Clark Mary Jo , Centra John A.
Published: August 2014

This study is a synthesis of two separate but related analyses which explored the influence of academic ability, training, and personal characteristics on postdegree careers and attainments of recent Ph.D.'s. Publication rates and income were used as indicators of attainments. The path model designed for the study viewed the employment setting as well as the kind of employment activity as mediating influences on the attainment measures. Academic ability was assessed by the GRE Aptitude and Advanced Tests and, for part of the sample, by graduate and undergraduate grades. Among the other individual characteristics included as predictors in the study were the number of years since receipt of the Ph.D., age, and sex. Finally, the study included estimates of the quality of the graduate program where the Ph.D. was received.

Some fairly consistent findings emerge when viewing the results across all six of the major field/discipline area samples that were analyzed. Although the academic ability construct did not generally affect productivity or income directly, it correlated significantly with the quality of the program that granted the Ph.D. Program quality, in turn, was an important determinant of whether graduates were employed in positions that emphasized research, or teaching and research. Employment in such positions, according to the path analyses, influenced productivity in each of the subsamples. Thus, ability and training appear to influence productivity largely through the employment setting and the primary work activity. The other direct influences on productivity were the number of years since receiving the doctorate, or other time‐related variables. The length of time since earning the doctorate also positively influenced income in five out of six of the subsamples. Productivity helped to determine income in the samples of historians, psychologists, and physical scientists, but not in the other three samples. Employment as a college or university faculty member, or as an academic or non‐academic researcher, has a negative impact on income in all six subsamples. Those employed as administrators or as clinicians tended to report higher earnings. Academic ability, for the most part, did not affect income.
THE VALUES OF ABILITY TESTING: IMPLICATIONS OF MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES ABOUT CRITERIA AND STANDARDS*
Authors: Messick Samuel
Published: August 2014

In response to an invitation from the National Council on Measurement in Education to review the National Academy of Sciences report on Ability Testing, this paper explores the ideological consequences of the report's tacit acceptance of a pervasive institutional perspective. By focussing on selection and classification as the major functions of ability testing in both employment and education and by embracing job performance and grades as primary criteria, the report puts implicit priority on productivity and efficiency as the primary social values to be served by testing — tempered, of course, by the legal requirements of equal opportunity. As a consequence, the conflict between productivity and parity is given central status in the report along with a call for flexible decision rules to accommodate both, but at the expense of simultaneously downplaying other values important in the workplace and especially in education. This paper examines the utility of systematically contrasting multiple value perspectives as a means of reducing the likelihood that any single perspective will dominate our assumptions and methodologies.
THE EFFECT OF THE POSITION OF AN ITEM WITHIN A TEST ON ITEM RESPONDING BEHAVIOR: AN ANALYSIS BASED ON ITEM RESPONSE THEORY
Authors: Kingston Neal M. , Dorans Neil J.
Published: August 2014

The research described in this paper deals solely with the effect of the position of an item within a test on examinee's responding behavior at the item level. For simplicity's sake, this effect will be referred to as practice effect when the result is improved examinee performance and as fatigue effect when the result is poorer examinee performance. Item response theory item statistics were used to assess position effects because, unlike traditional item statistics, they are sample invariant. In addition, the use of item response theory statistics allows one to make a reasonable adjustment for speededness, which is important when, as in this research, the same item administered in different positions is likely to be affected differently by speededness, depending upon its location in the test.

Five types of analyses were performed as part of this research. The first three types involved analyses of differences between the two estimations of item difficulty (b), item discrimination (a), and pseudoguessing (c) parameters. The fourth type was an analysis of the differences between equatings based on items calibrated when administered in the operational section and equatings based on items calibrated when administered in section V. Finally, an analysis of the regression of the difference between b's on item position within the operational section was conducted. The analysis of estimated item difficulty parameters showed a strong practice effect for analysis of explanations and logical diagrams items and a moderate fatigue effect for reading comprehension items. Analysis of other estimated item parameters, a and c, produced no consistent results for the two test forms analyzed.

Analysis of the difference between equatings for Form 3CGR1 reflected the differences between estimated b's found for the verbal, quantitative, and analytical item types. A large practice effect was evident for the analytical section, a small practice effect, probably due to capitalization on chance, was found for the quantitative section, and no effect was found for the verbal section.

Analysis of the regression of the difference between b's on item position within the operational section for analysis of explanations items showed a rather consistent relationship for Form ZGR1 and a weaker but still definite relationship for Form 3CGR1.

The results of this research strongly suggest one particularly important implication for equating. If an item type exhibits a within‐test context effect, any equating method, e.g., IRT based equating, that uses item data either directly or as part of an equating section score should provide for administration of the items in the same position in the old and new forms. Although a within‐test context effect might have a negligible influence on a single equating, a chain of such equatings might drift because of the systematic bias.
SAMPLING VARIANCES AND COVARIANCES OF PARAMETER ESTIMATES IN ITEM RESPONSE THEORY
Authors: Lord Frederic M. , Wingersky Marilyn S.
Published: August 2014

This paper develops a possible method for computing the asymptotic sampling variance‐covariance matrix of joint maximum likelihood estimates in item response theory when both item parameters and abilities are unknown. For a set of artificial data, results are compared with empirical values; also with the variance‐covariance matrices found by the usual formulas for the case where the abilities are known, or where the item parameters are known. The results are consistent with the conjecture that the new method is asymptotically correct except for errors due to grouping.
CHARACTERISTICS OF OUTSTANDING YOUNG ARTISTS: ARTS (1980–81) AND SCHOLARS IN THE ARTS (1979–80)
Authors: Ward William C.
Published: August 2014

Questionnaires were sent to the most outstanding young artists participating in the 1980–81 ARTS program and in its predecessor, the 1979–80 Scholars in the Arts. The students provided information about (a) their educational plans; (b) awards and other recognition they had received; (c) reasons for entering the program and reactions to their experience in it; (d) family background; and (e) their career aspirations. In general, participants were individuals with serious educational and career plans involving continued work in their discipline, and they reported their experience in the program to have been a positive and beneficial one.
DEVELOPING HOMOGENEOUS TOEFL SCALES BY MULTIDIMENSIONAL SCALING
Authors: Oltman Philip K. , Stricker Lawrence J.
Published: August 2014

A recent multidimensional scaling analysis of item response data for the TOEFL® identified clusters of items in the test sections and suggested that these clusters might be more homogeneous and more distinct than their parent sections, and hence better suited for diagnostic use. The present study explored the feasibility and value of using such cluster scores.

The original analysis was based on all the item responses (choosing one of the four alternatives, or omitting or not reaching an item). That analysis was repeated, this time using the traditional scoring of item responses as correct or incorrect. Scores were then obtained for the within‐section clusters identified in the new analysis. The new dimensions and clusters were very similar to the old ones. The scores for the clusters and the test sections had similar internal‐consistency reliabilities and intercorrelations for the total sample, but diverged inconsistently for high‐scoring and low‐scoring examinees. Major conclusions were that (a) the cluster scores have no clear cut advantage over the section scores for diagnosis or other purposes and (b) taking account of particular incorrect responses yields little or no information beyond that provided by considering only whether the responses are correct or incorrect.
ANALYSIS OF THE REVISED STUDENT DESCRIPTIVE QUESTIONNAIRE: PHASE II: PREDICTIVE VALIDITY OF ACADEMIC SELF‐REPORT
Authors: Freeberg Norman E. , Rock Donald A. , Pollack Judith
Published: August 2014

An initial study phase dealing with the suitability of the revised (1985) Student Descriptive Questionnaire (SDQ) assessed the accuracy of student self‐report for that instrument and found it to be of sufficient accuracy to fulfill its intended purposes. This second phase of study examines the adequacy of the revised SDQ in terms of the predictive validity of its student academic self‐report information against a criterion of first‐year college achievement (GPA).

Findings indicate that the validities are consonant with earlier study results using the original version of the SDQ, as well as with other similar self‐report instruments used with college applicants. This was evident in overall magnitudes of the validities obtained, the precision of prediction in multiple regression equations, and in differences between validities for school‐reported and student‐reported high school academic achievement (as GPA and class rank). Multiple regression correlations and their associated regression weights were used to contrast validities for school‐ and student‐report prediction models. These results indicated slight but consistent superiority for the school‐reported information. In multiple prediction based on either school‐ or student‐reported information, apparent differences were found: (1) in the relative contributions of the predictor variables (SAT‐V, SAT‐M, and high school academic achievement); (2) in the relative importance of the predictors for subgroups based on race and, to a lesser extent, on sex; and (3) in differing roles for high school GPA and class rank as academic predictor variables.

Other predictive validities were explored for SDQ information involving students' academic self‐concept and student‐reported grades in separate high school subject‐matter areas. Differential validities based on groups defined by high school academic curriculum (i.e., math/science vs. non‐math/science) in conjunction with intended choice of college academic major were also examined.
PREDICTION OF GRADES IN COLLEGE MATHEMATICS COURSES AS A COMPONENT OF THE PLACEMENT VALIDITY OF SAT‐MATHEMATICS SCORES
Authors: Bridgeman Brent , Wendler Cathy
Published: August 2014

Because the Scholastic Aptitude Test Mathematical Score (SAT‐M) is a measure of general mathematical aptitude that is not closely linked to the specific skills that are prerequisites for a particular course or series of courses, it should not be the only information considered in making placement decisions. Nevertheless, if it can be shown that the SAT‐M score is a reasonably good predictor of success in particular mathematics courses, then it may have a role to play as one of the pieces of information to be considered. The question of the predictive validity of SAT‐M performance was addressed by collecting grades in freshman mathematics courses from 10 colleges. Compared to tests that were specifically designed for placement purposes, the SAT‐M score was a relatively poor predictor of grades in most courses. Even after correcting for the considerable range restriction that may occur when within‐course scores are analyzed, coefficients were typically only in the mid‐.30s (compared to corrected coefficients for a local placement test that ranged from the high .40s to the low .60s). Nevertheless, the SAT‐M score significantly improved predictions from high school grade‐point average alone, especially for calculus courses.

In courses at all levels, grades of males and females were very similar, but the SAT‐M scores of males were significantly above the scores of females. Gender differences for predicting grades in particular mathematics courses generally could be eliminated or greatly reduced by considering high school GPA together with SAT‐M scores. Three subscores (Algebra, Insight, and Routine) were generated from the November 1985 SAT‐M test but they had no differential utility in prediction. No practically significant trait‐treatment interactions were demonstrated.

For algebra versus precalculus course placement decisions, a weighted composite of SAT‐M score and self‐reported high school grades and courses taken correctly predicted 64 percent to 71 percent of the actual placements. For precalculus versus calculus decisions, about 80 percent of the actual placements could be predicted.