A Monte Carlo study, involving 6,000 "computer subjects" and three raters, explored the reliability of the inverse screen test for cluster analysis. Results indicate that the inverse screen may be a useful and reliable cluster analytic technique for determining the number of true groups. (TJH)

Analyses of college admissions aptitude test scores of 795 applicants for admission to major Northern Israeli university were undertaken to test for age bias in the predictive validity of scholastic aptitude test scores. Subjects were put into four age groups ranging from 18 to 49 years. Results support the differential predictive validity of…

Reliability and validity of "Degrees of Reading Power" test and "Iowa Tests of Basic Skills" reading comprehension and vocabulary tests were compared. Test scores, grades, and assigned reading levels of 191 fifth and sixth graders and 186 sixth and seventh graders in an eastern Iowa school district were used. Reliability and validity differences…

The process by which a school might use a parameter estimation procedure (such as LOGIST) based on item response theory (IRT) to build a "customized test" from an "on shelf" standardized achievement test was examined. The Iowa Tests of Educational Development was used. Results indicate that estimates from standardized versus customized tests…

The structure-of-intellect model is updated to contain five content properties: (1) visual; (2) auditory; (3) symbolic; (4) semantic; and (5) behavioral. The memory element within the operations facet is differentiated into memory recording and memory retention. Research is cited to support these changes, the operations, and the products of the…

The dimensionality of the construct of original thinking was studied using measures designed to control for confounding of the construct by fluency and by task ambiguity. The subjects were 315 gifted children in grades 4-6. Original thinking was conceptually distinguished from general intelligence, but evidence for a concept of general originality…

The assumption that behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARSs) developed according to optimal procedures are behaviorally specific was tested. Considerable variation was found in the specificity of the behavioral anchors. A second study found that evaluation of critical incidents was significantly different across rating contexts. BARSs did not…

A shortcut method for developing behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARSs) was studied. Two groups of six students using an instructional booklet developed shortcut BARSs to evaluate teachers. Undergraduates from nine introductory psychology classes (N=186) used these scales to assess their instructors. Psychometric characteristics of shortcut…

Three methods of estimating point-biserial correlation coefficient standard errors were compared: (1) assuming normality; (2) not assuming normality; and (3) bootstrapping. Although errors estimated assuming normality were biased, such estimates were less variable and easier to compute, suggesting that this might be the method of choice in some…

Four methods for combining several scores of tests given the same individual are discussed: (1) weighted standardized scores; (2) percentile rank methods; (3) the principal components approach; and (4) the optimal weights method. The optimal weights method is recommended because of its simplicity. (SLD)

Analysis of data from standard affective measures showed both an orthogonally rotated and an obliquely rotated factor solution yielded psychological dimensions that correspond to instrument's scales. Study Attitudes and Methods Survey was studied, using data on a total of 483 eleventh graders. Both solutions afforded comparable inferences about…

This paper focuses on mixtures of two binomials with one known success parameter. It is shown how moment estimators can be obtained for the remaining unknown parameters of such mixtures, and results are presented from a Monte Carlo study carried out to explore the statistical properties of these estimators. (PN)

The triangular decomposition method is suggested as a general technique for obtaining the various measures of an ill-conditioned matrix. The advantages of using triangular decomposition are computing nicety, cost, and parsimony. (Author/PN)

This study compares multitrait-multimethod analyses (MTMM) performed on items and factor scores derived from the items. Based upon this demonstration, researchers are encouraged to conduct a preliminary factor analysis before analyzing MTMM data whenever there is a doubt about the underlying trait structure. (Author/PN)

This Monte Carlo study was designed to investigate empirically the efficacy of three statistical strategies for estimating the relationships in extreme group designs in terms of estimation of correlation, power and mean square error for the correlation. Alf and Abrahams's "covariance information statistic" proved to be the best strategy.…