SVIB revisions and factors affecting scale reliability

The 1966 SVIB scoring keys were investigated and found to contain an average of 214 fewer items per occupational scale than the 1938 scoring keys. The shorter scales are less reliable than the longer scales on the 1966 SVIB. The shorter scales in the 1966 edition and SCII contain items which differentiate criterion group members less well than do the longer scales. There may not be a wide enough range of item content on the SCII to develop reliable (and valid?) scales for certain occupations. Equivalence between the 1938 and 1966 editions functionally is low, as evidenced by the median correlation of .47 in the present 12-yr follow-up study for 40 occupational scales.     

Increasing item complexity: A possible cause of scale shrinkage for unidimensional item response theory

When the three-parameter logistic model is applied to tests covering a broad range of difficulty, there frequently is an increase in mean item discrimination and a decrease in variance of item difficulties and traits as the tests become more difficult. To examine the hypothesis that this unexpected scale shrinkage effect occurs because the items increase in complexity as they increase in difficulty, an approximate relationship is derived between the unidimensional model used in data analysis and a multidimensional model hypothesized to be generating the item responses. Scale shrinkage is successfully predicted for several sets of simulated data.The author is grateful to Robert Mislevy for kindly providing a copy of his computer program, RESOLVE.     

A single‐item graphic scale for the measurement of organizational identification

We offer a single‐item graphic scale for the measurement of identification with organizations and organizational units. The scale is based on conceiving of identification in terms of distance or overlap between entities in a cognitive space. We present results from five samples regarding the reliability and validity of the scale.     

A role theoretical interpretation of personality scale item responses

This paper proposes that test-taking behavior can be regarded as a kind of self-presentation formally identical to that which goes on in most social interaction. It follows from this analysis that the success of such self-presentations should be affected by the actor's role-taking ability or empathy. Evidence is presented that supports this conjecture; the paper then suggests that role-taking ability may limit in a systematic manner validity coefficients in much assessment research.     

Personality scale and item correlates of WAIS abilities

A cross-validation methodology was employed to identify 16PF scales and items that significantly correlated with performance on the verbal, spatial, and memory/numerical abilities measured by the WAIS in a nonpsychiatric sample of 489 adults. For both men and women larger personality-ability correlations resulted in all analyses for verbal ability than for spatial or memory/numerical ability. The 16PF scale analysis offered results generally consistent with Cattell's research. The item analyses produced rather similar results for both sexes for verbal and spatial abilities. For verbal ability three major correlates resulted: communicative competence, equanimity/low anxiety, and a desire for times alone. Though few in number the item correlates of spatial ability suggested a dispassionate, nontemperamental style of interaction with one's environment as the major correlate. Memory/ numerical ability was somewhat independent of 16PF item responses for women, but was associated with fastidiousness in men. Possible cause-effect relationships were suggested and implications for future research discussed.     

Rasch analysis and item reduction of the hypomanic personality scale

The aim of the current study was to reduce the number of items in the 48-item hypomanic personality scale (HPS) and determine whether a unidimensional scale of the hypomanic trait could be derived. Previously collected HPS data from University students (n = 318) were applied to the Rasch model (one-parameter item response theory). Overall scale and individual item fit statistics were used to judge fit to the model and item maps employed to determine coverage of the trait. Cronbach’s Alpha and correlations with other questionnaires pre- and post-item reduction were evaluated. Rasch analysis indicated that the original HPS was not unidimensional, had significant redundancy and differential item functioning by age and gender. An iterative process of item reduction produced a 20-item HPS (HPS-20) that retained the concepts of the original HPS and had excellent fit to the Rasch model (χ² p = 0.27). Unidimensionality of the HPS-20 was confirmed. The traditional psychometric properties of the HPS-20 and coverage of the underlying hypomanic construct were similar to the original. It was possible to derive a unidimensional measure of the hypomanic trait. Further use of the HPS-20 is encouraged as it may increase understanding of the risk factors for affective disorders.     

A score method of constructing asymmetric confidence intervals for the mean of a rating scale item

This article presents a generalization of the Score method of constructing confidence intervals for the population proportion (E. B. Wilson, 1927) to the case of the population mean of a rating scale item. A simulation study was conducted to assess the properties of the Score confidence interval in relation to the traditional Wald (A. Wald, 1943) confidence interval under a variety of conditions, including sample size, number of response options, extremeness of the population mean, and kurtosis of the response distribution. The results of the simulation study indicated that the Score interval usually outperformed the Wald interval, suggesting that the Score interval is a viable method of constructing confidence intervals for the population mean of a rating scale item.     

A research note on the new SVIB Holland scales

The Strong Vocational Interest Blanks (SVIB) of 93 management students were scored using six new scales which correspond to Holland's six occupational types. The scores from both the 14-item and the 20-item scales were correlated with actual scores on the Vocational Preference Inventory. The 14-item and the 20-item scales were also correlated with each other. In addition, the SVIB-derived Holland scales were scored using a simplified procedure, and the results were compared with the scoring procedure used by Campbell.     

Ratio scale measurement of the perceived lengths of lines.

In Experiments 1 and 2, magnitude and category estimates of perceived line length difference were used to rank order 36 pairs of lines with respect to the psychological length difference between the lines forming a pair. In Experiment 3 magnitude estimates of line length ratios were used to order the same 36 pairs with respect to the psychological length ratio between the lines comprising a pair. A nonmetric analysis of the rank-order of the difference and ratio judgments was used to construct a ratio scale of perceived line length. Perceived line length was found to be a power function of physical line length with an exponent of .46. In Experiments 4 and 5, magnitude and category estimates of line length similarity were obtained. A nonmetric analysis of these data indicated that similarity judgments were monotonic inverses of judgments of psychological ratios.     

A FORTRAN 77 program for a nonparametric item response model: The Mokken scale analysis

A nonparametric item response theory model—the Mokken scale analysis (a stochastic elaboration of the deterministic Guttman scale)—and a computer program that performs this analysis are described. Three procedures of scaling are distinguished: a search procedure, an evaluation of the whole set of items, and an extension of an existing scale. All procedures provide a coefficient of scalability for all items that meet the criteria of the Mokken model and an item coefficient of scalability for every item. Four different types of reliability coefficient are computed both for the entire set of items and for the scalable items. A test of robustness of the found scale can be performed to analyze whether the scale is invariant across different subgroups or samples. This robustness test serves as a goodness of fit test for the established scale. The program is written in FORTRAN 77. Two versions are available, an SPSS-X procedure program (which can be used with the SPSS-X mainframe package) and a stand-alone program suitable for both mainframe and microcomputers.     

The Dutch Identity: A new tool for the study of item response models

The Dutch Identity is a useful way to reexpress the basic equations of item response models that relate the manifest probabilities to the item response functions (IRFs) and the latent trait distribution. The identity may be exploited in several ways. For example: (a) to suggest how item response models behave for large numbers of items—they are approximate submodels of second-order loglinear models for 2 ^J tables; (b) to suggest new ways to assess the dimensionality of the latent trait—principle components analysis of matrices composed of second-order interactions from loglinear models; (c) to give insight into the structure of latent class models; and (d) to illuminate the problem of identifying the IRFs and the latent trait distribution from sample data.This research was supported in part by contract number N00014-87-K-0730 from the Cognitive Science Program of the Office of Naval Research. I realized the usefulness of the identity in Theorem 1 while lecturing in the Netherlands during October, 1986. Because this was in no small part due to the stimulating psychometric atmosphere there, I call the result the Dutch Identity.     

Factor structure of the private self-consciousness scale: role of item wording

In 3 studies, I have tested the structure of different phrasing versions of the Private Self-Consciousness Scale (PrSC; Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975) using exploratory and confirmatory factor-analytic methods and examined their predictive validity. For the original version of the PrSC, a 2-factorial model similar to Nystedt and Ljungberg's (2002) solution was found to best fit the data. When all scale items included extreme rate of occurrence words such as always, a single-factor solution emerged. Finally, when all words reflecting rate of occurrence were removed, again a 2-factor structure emerged, although different in item composition from that of the original version. In addition, different patterns of association emerged between the PrSC factors and depression and self-esteem for the extreme and neutral versions. I discuss the importance of reconceptualizing self-consciousness and the need for a new, theoretically based scale for self-consciousness.     

Factor structure and item analysis of the yale food addiction scale in obese candidates for bariatric surgery

Converging research suggests phenomenological and neurobiological similarities between excessive food consumption and addictive behaviour in substance dependence. Recently, the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) has been proposed for the assessment of addictive eating behaviour. The German version of the YFAS was administered to obese individuals seeking bariatric surgery (N?=?96). Factor structure, internal consistency, and item statistics were analysed. Forty participants (41.70%) received a food addiction diagnosis. The one-factorial structure of the YFAS, which has been found in non-clinical samples, could be confirmed. All but three items had factor loadings >.50. Internal consistency was α?=?.82. Item analysis revealed that items related to unsuccessful attempts to cut down and consumption despite physical and emotional problems were endorsed by the majority of participants. Findings support the use of the YFAS in clinical populations, while applicability of some items differs between clinical and non-clinical samples. Copyright ? 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.