THREE-ALTERNATIVE MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTS: AN ATTRACTIVE OPTION

Traditionally, multiple choice tests have included four or five alternatives. Data from public sector employment tests are presented that indicate that tests composed of multiple choice items containing three alternatives have psychometric properties similar to those offered by tests composed of items containing five alternatives. Given the similarity of the psychometric properties and the likely reductions in cost of development and administration time, three-alternative multiple choice items may be preferable to five-alternative multiple choice items for some testing purposes.     

Similarity and preference judgments of musical stimuli

Two experiments were performed comparing similarity (technical-structural) and preference personal-affective) judgments of jazz improvizations (Experiment 1) and of classical, pop-rock, and jazz music (Experiment 2). A multidimensional scaling paradigm (INDSCAL) was used for pairwise comparisons of the 12 musical pieces in each experiment. Each 2 minute piece was subdivided into 10 second segments in order to reduce fatigue or boredom and provide better sampling across comparison trials. In general, similarity dimensions reflected greater agreement among the subjects that did preference dimensions and were hierarchically ordered. The dominant dimensions for both similarity and preference judgments of jazz improvizations were: Tempo, Dominant Instrument (Horns-guitar), and Articulation. The dominant dimensions for similarity judgments involving all three genres were: Classical-Contemporary, Jazz-Rock, and Tempo. The dominant dimensions for preference judments were: Rock-Classical, Jazz-Classical, and Tempo. In general, the preference judgments of musically sophisticated subjects were less constrained by salient dimensions.     

Anorexia Nervosa: The Hospital's Role in Family Treatment

When an anorexia nervosa patient requires hospitalization for her ¹ 1 We will use the pronoun “her” to refer to anorexic patients since the overwhelming majority are female. Our discussion will focus mainly on younger adolescent girls who are still living with their families.
medical condition, the treatment team faces the problem of integrating the individual focus of inpatient care with the systems focus of family therapy. In this paper we propose a family-systems model of hospitalization, the aim of which is to facilitate such integration. The model draws on current theories of anorexia nervosa, as well as general concepts from psychodynamic, developmental, and family systems theories. The major hypothesis of the model is that all members of the anorexic family are developmentally arrested in the area of separation-individuation. On this assumption, we propose that the entire treatment team (including medical professionals and therapists) needs to function as “parents” to the anorexic family in much the same way that two cotherapists become parental figures in family therapy. Specifically, the team needs to provide those parenting responses that facilitate the family's individuation process.     

A Multicultural Perspective in an Undergraduate Human Services Program

This article describes the undergraduate human services program at California State University, Fullerton, which is designed to integrate theory and practice as a foundation for training human service workers. The article focuses on a course in cultural diversity that is taught from a multicultural perspective. The course is designed to help students understand and value diversity based on the nature of the clients they will be working with in the future. Because a single course is not sufficient to provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills needed for effective practice in a multicultural society, the article also describes the program's attempt to weave a multicultural perspective throughout the curriculum. We believe a multicultural curriculum improves both the academic achievement of our students and their success as future human service workers in the community because they will be able to adapt intervention strategies to meet the needs of a diverse client population. Este articulo describe el programa de estudios de Asistencia Social en California State University, Fullerton, el cual se ha diseñado para intregar la teoría y la practica como un base para entrenar a los Asistentes Sociales. El artículo se centra en un curso de diversidad cultural, enseñado desde una perspectiva multicultural. Se ha diseñado el curso para ayudar a los estudiantes a entender y evaluar la diversidad de clientes con quienes trabajarán. Porque sólo un curso no es suficiente para dar a los estudientes el conocimiento y capacidades necesarios para la práctica eficaz en una sociedad multicultural, el artículo tambien describe el intento del programa de incorporar al programa una perspectiva multicultural. Nosotros creemos que un programa multicultural mejora a la vez los resultados académicos de nuestros estudiantes y su éxito como futuros Asistentes Sociales en la comunidad, porque de esta manera podrán adaptar estrategias de intervención para una población variada de clientes.     

EMPLOYMENT TEST VALIDATION FOR MINORITY AND NONMINORITY PRODUCTION WORKERS

The purposes of the present study were (a) to examine the validity of selected employment tests potentially useful in selecting production workers engaged in the construction of boxboard containers and (b) to evaluate the applicability of the tests to minority and non-minority workers. Using data collected from 100 production workers employed by the same company but located in two different geographical regions, it was found that a short test battery was potentially useful in selecting production employees without necessarily introducing unfair racial bias. Implications of the results for future research studies and test validation efforts involving differential and single-group validity are discussed.