On the interpretation of below-chance responding in forced-choice tests

Two-alternative, forced-choice tests are commonly used to assess cooperation in examinations of neurocognitive functioning. Most commercially available tests do not primarily depend on comparing the total correct responses to the number expected by guessing. Nevertheless, the tests afford an opportunity to make stronger judgments about the cooperation of test-takers when the test score is lower than the range of scores expected for guessing. Unfortunately, many researchers and clinicians make serious errors in communicating what is "guessing" and what is "worse than guessing" (or malingering). This article describes proper methods of evaluating total correct responses on a forced-choice test.     

Acquiescence and the Wilson conservatism scale

Data contributed by six different researchers in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England were assembled from seven different administrations of the Wilson Conservatism scale. The correlation between the positive and negative halves of the scale was found to be generally around -0.5. It was concluded that although the C-scale is seriously affected by acquiescent response set, the balanced structure of the scale controls for this quite satisfactorily.     

Wilson on Circular Arguments

This paper criticizes Kent Wilson's (`Circular Arguments', 1988) arguments against the analysis of the fallacy of begging the question in epistemic terms and against the division of the fallacy into equivalence and dependency types. It is argued that Wilson does not succeed in showing that the epistemic attitude to the fallacy analysis should be given up. Further, it is argued that Wilson's arguments against the division of the fallacy into two types can be overcome by altering the accounts he criticizes (David Sanford (1971, 1984, 1988) and John Biro (1977, 1984)): fallacy analysis should concentrate on externalized arguments, but this does not mean that either the epistemic attitude or the dependency conception should be given up.     

On tests for correlated proportions in the presence of incomplete data

This paper proposes test statistics based on the likelihood ratio principle for testing equality of proportions in correlated data with additional incomplete samples. Powers of these tests are compared through Monte Carlo simulation with those of tests proposed recently by Ekbohm (based on an unbiased estimator) and Campbell (based on a Pearson-Chi-squared type statistic). Even though tests based on the maximum likelihood principle are theoretically expected to be superior to others, at least asymptotically, results from our simulations show that the gain in power could only be slight.     

On the development of encoding in anticipation of various tests of retention

Abstract.— Seven, 9, 12–13, and 18–21-year-old subjects learned a pictorial material in anticipation of free recall (FR), serial recall (SR), or recognition tests. Type of anticipated test and test actually given were factorially combined, retention being tested after 2 min or after 2 weeks. Recall performance improved with age but recognition performance did not improve after CA 9. Differential anticipation had little effect on the performance of the youngest children. For older subjects the effects were clear-cut and similar at all age levels and at both retention intervals. SR and recognition performance was best when subjects anticipated these tests, respectively; anticipation of recognition interfered with recall performance, and vice versa. The main age-related improvement occurred between age levels 7 and 9.     

On the theory of a set of tests which differ only in length

This paper presents a contribution to the sampling theory of a set of homogeneous tests which differ only in length, test length being regarded as an essential test parameter. Observed variance-covariance matrices of such measurements are taken to follow a Wishart distribution. The familiar true score-and-error concept of classical test theory is employed. Upon formulation of the basic model it is shown that in a combination of such tests forming a “total” test, the singal-to-noise ratio of the components is additive and that the inverse of the population variance-covariance matrix of the component measures has all of its off-diagonal elements equal, regardless of distributional assumptions. This fact facilitates the subsequent derivation of a statistical sampling theory, there being at mostm + 1 free parameters whenm is the number of component tests. In developing the theory, the cases of known and unknown test lengths are treated separately. For both cases maximum-likelihood estimators of the relevant parameters are derived. It is argued that the resulting formulas will remain resonable even if the distributional assumptions are too narrow. Under these assumptions, however, maximum-likelihood ratio tests of the validity of the model and of hypotheses concerning reliability and standard error of measurement of the total test are given. It is shown in each case that the maximum-likelihood equations possess precisely one acceptable solution under rather natural conditions. Application of the methods can be effected without the use of a computer. Two numerical examples are appended by way of illustration. This research was supported in part by The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, under Research Grant 1 PO1 HDO1762.     

On No-KR tests in motor learning, retention and transfer

In this paper we examine the role of no-knowledge of results (KR) tests in motor learning, retention and transfer. A distinction is drawn between studies of KR and studies of other issues in motor learning that use a No-KR test. Arguments are presented against the currently received position that a No-KR test is an essential protocol to examine motor learning, although a No-KR test is most relevant in the few contexts where the outcome information is not naturally available. Perspectives are provided on the limited though proper role of No-KR tests in motor learning, retention and transfer and these are illustrated through experimental examples. It is proposed that the current restrictive interpretation of KR as only augmented outcome information is narrowing not only the context of KR research but also the study of motor learning in general.     

On more powerful tests of judge agreement with a known standard

To establish the existence of his abilities, a judge is given the task of classifying each ofN=rs subjects into one ofr known categories, each containings of the subjects. An incomplete design is proposed whereby the judge is presented withb groups, each one containingn=rs/b<r subjects. Then different categories corresponding to members of the group are known. Using the total number of correct classifications, this method of grouping is compared to that in which the group size is equal to the number of categories. The incomplete grouping is shown to yield a more powerful test for discriminating between the null hypothesis that the judge is guessing the classifications and the alternative hypothesis that he has some definite abilities. The incomplete design is found to be most effective (powerful) when the number of subjects in a group is limited to two or three.The author is grateful for the suggestions of the referees and the editor, which greatly improved the paper.     

On the origins of cultural differences in conformity: four tests of the pathogen prevalence hypothesis

What are the origins of cultural differences in conformity? The authors deduce the hypothesis that these cultural differences may reflect historical variability in the prevalence of disease-causing pathogens: Where pathogens were more prevalent, there were likely to emerge cultural norms promoting greater conformity. The authors conducted four tests of this hypothesis, using countries as units of analysis. Results support the pathogen prevalence hypothesis. Pathogen prevalence positively predicts cultural differences in effect sizes that emerge from behavioral conformity experiments (r=.49, n=17) and in the percentage of the population who prioritize obedience (r=.48, n=83). Pathogen prevalence also negatively predicted two indicators of tolerance for nonconformity: within-country dispositional variability (r=-.48, n=33) and the percentage of the population who are left-handed (r=-.73, n=20). Additional analyses address plausible alternative causal explanations. Discussion focuses on plausible underlying mechanisms (e.g., genetic, developmental, cognitive).     

On sensitive rank tests for comparing the effects of two treatments on a single group

The rank testR _n of Cronholm and Revusky [1965] in effect doubles the number of comparisons carried out in the Mann-Whitney test between Treated and Control subjects chosen from a single group ofn and triples the asymptotic Pitman efficiency against shift alternatives by using a series ofn — 1 subexperiments. However, the full series can be too costly or time-consuming. It is shown thatj appropriately chosen subexperiments will permit one to make at leastj/(j+1) of the number of comparisons possible underR _n, with large sample efficiency ofj/(j+2) relative toR _n against shift alternatives and small sample efficiency greater than that,j=2, 3, ...,n — 2. The resulting test criterion is a sum ofj independent Mann-Whitney test statistics. Its null distribution is tabulated forn10 and small sample efficiency comparisons are carried out forn=10.