This document consists of articles 23 through 26 published in the electronic journal "Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation" in 2001: (23) "Effects of Removing the Time Limit on First and Second Language Intelligence Test Performance" (Jennifer Mullane and Stuart J. McKelvie); (24) "Consequences of (Mis)use of the Texas Assessment of…

A model which gives maximum likelihood estimates of measurement error within the context of a simplex model for practice effects is presented. The appropriateness of the model is tested for five traits, and error estimates are compared to the classical formula estimates. (Author/JKS)

Discusses the issue of timed tests. Includes a take-home page for families on the topic of speed or timed tests. (KHR)

The use of rate data in precision teaching, to improve fluency of student response, is discussed. Noted are its advantages, the demands it places on teachers and students, the impact on measurement procedures, and guidelines for determining when to shift from acquisition to fluency instruction. (JDD)

Studied 622 adults and 211 undergraduates to determine the relationship of perceptual speed and speed of marking psychometric answer sheets to individual differences in performance on psychometric tests. Findings suggest strong relationships between age, speed, and intelligence-test performance. (RJC)

Performances of 13 graduate students who completed a statistics examination under time limits were compared with those of 13 under no time limits. Both low- and high-achieving students performed better under the untimed condition, but the benefit of the untimed test was greater for high-anxiety students. (SLD)

One group of college students who had no previous keyboarding instruction and one group who had were tested after three months of microcomputer use. Previous instruction was found to increase speed; no significant difference in mean error scores appeared. Proficiency appeared to be enhanced by previous keyboarding instruction. (SK)

Discusses the hazards of using timed mathematics tests in hopes of helping children learn basic math facts. Provides samples of children's writing which discuss their feeling about timed tests. Presents one teacher's idea of combining her students' thinking about math with writing haiku poetry. (MG)

Seven different short forms of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Revised (WAIS-R) were compared in a mixed clinical sample of 306 adults to evaluate short form predictions of the full scale IQ. The seven-test short form of C. Ward (1990) was the best predictor across ranges of intellectual functioning, supporting its use when time is limited.…

Analyzes five studies on the effects of extra examination time for students with learning disabilities. These studies directly tested the Maximum Potential Thesis, but show only weak support for it. Discusses some methodological problems that weaken these studies. (SLD)

The Graduate Record Examination General Test (GRE) is a measure of academic reasoning abilities that is intended to be a power test in which speed of responding plays at most a minor role. To test this assumption, we experimentally administered both the verbal and quantitative sections of the GRE with standard time limits and with 1.5 times the…

Prelingual deafness and developmental dyslexia have confounding developmental effects on reading acquisition. Therefore, standard reading assessment methods for diagnosing dyslexia in hearing people are ineffective for use with deaf people. Recently, Samar, Parasnis, and Berent (2002) reported visual evoked potential evidence that deaf poor…

The attractiveness of computer-based tests (CBTs) is due largely to their capability to expand the ways we conduct testing. A relatively unexplored application, however, is actively using the computer to reduce construct-irrelevant variance while a test is being administered. This investigation introduces the effort-monitoring CBT, in which the…

The traditional indicator of test speededness, missing responses, clearly indicates a lack of time to respond (thereby indicating the speededness of the test), but it is inadequate for evaluating speededness in a multiple-choice test scored as number correct, and it underestimates test speededness. Conventional item response theory (IRT) parameter…

To evaluate test speededness and to derive implications for test program activity, this study reviewed the literature on speed and power, identifying four major approaches to the assessment of speed: the Gulliksen approach, the Cronbach and Warrington approach, the Stafford approach, and the approach of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) as…