Recent research trends in testing

Summary: Recent trends in test research as measured by references in Buros' Mental Measurements Yearbooks were investigated. The 24 tests with the greatest number of publications were identified, and growth trends of five major tests (Rorschach, MMPI, TAT, Stanford-Bhet, and SVIB) were shown. The correlation between test publications and test usage was .25. The authors speculated that future research trends might include increasing psychometric attention to behavioral assessment and test modifications for minorities. Based on a survey of psychologists' judgments of test quality, the authors concluded that good psychometric properties do not test leaders make.     

Assessment of adolescents' learned helplessness in achievement situations

Three studies are reported that describe the development, reliability, and initial validation of the Mastery Orientation Inventory (MOI; Reynolds & Miller, in press) as a measure of generalized learned helplessness in adolescents. In Study 1, an initial version of 50 items was administered to a sample of 112 adolescents. A revised 40-item scale with an internal consistency reliability of .94 was then constructed, which correlated significantly with measures of locus of control and depression. Study 2 involved the administration of the 40-item MOI to 645 adolescents. In this study, the reliability of the MOI was .92, and MOI scores were significantly correlated with subjects' depression scores and with self-reported grade point average. Factor analysis of the MOI items produced a strong first factor with high loadings for every item. In Study 3, the 112 subjects who participated in Study 1 were, 3 months later, readministered the MOI, locus of control, and depression measures. As an external criterion variable, 13 teachers provided global ratings of learned helpless/mastery-oriented behaviors for 99 of these subjects. The MOI demonstrated high internal consistency (r alpha = .95) and adequate test-retest (rtt = .77) reliability. Validity was supported by significant correlations between the MOI and the three criterion variables (/rs/ = .49-.58). The results of these investigations provide initial support for the reliability and validity of the MOI as a measure of learned helplessness.     

Recall or evaluation of chess positions as determinants of chess skill

Previous research has found that the ability to recall briefly presented chess positions varies with playing strength, except when random positions are used. The suggestion therefore arises that mastery consists of recognizing configurations that are associated with plausible moves. This approach is tested by comparing the memory scores and move-choice protocols of players in six skill categories, using random chess positions. Contrary to any strong form of recognition-association hypothesis, differences in chess skill are shown to persist although memory differences are abolished. It is further shown that the moves selected are not based on those few pieces that are remembered. Skill-related differences in the accuracy of positional evaluations also occur, but they are less marked than in earlier results. An alternative approach to chess skill seems appropriate, in which memory effects may function at the evaluation phase.     

Differential construct validity of a preschool battery for blacks,whites, males,and females

Seven major preschool tests were administered to a group of 322 kindergarten children. Scaled scores from the instruments were submitted to principal factoring, with iterations for the total sample and separately by race/sex groupings. The average intercorrelation of the pretests was similar across race and sex. A two-factor solution of the battery was derived for the total group and for each of the four subgroups (WF, WM, BF, BM). The two-factor solution was highly similar across race and sex, as indicated by the large coefficients of congruence obtained between factors derived within each group, thus supporting the equivalence of internal psychometric properties of the battery across race and sex. No evidence was determined to support sexual or racial dimorphism in the early structure of cognitive abilities.     

A regression analysis of test bias on the WISC-R for Anglos and Chicanos referred for psychological services

Predictive validity of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised was investigated across race for 174 Chicano and 94 Anglo children referred for psychological services. Regression lines for the prediction of achievement were compared across race through the Potthoff analysis, which provides a simultaneous test of slope and intercept values. Results of these comparisons generally supported the predictive validity of the WISC-R across race with this referral sample of young children.     

Differential construct validity of intelligence as popularly measured: Correlations of age with raw scores on the WISC-R for Blacks Whites, males, and females

Raw scores on the 12 WISC-R subtests and the verbal, performance, and full scale IQ scales were correlated with age in years separately for 938 White males, 137 Black males, 927 White females, and 153 Black females. Highest and lowest correlations from the four groups were then contrasted for each of the 15 WISC-R variables to determine whether the magnitude of the relationship between age and performance on current tests of intelligence is constant across race and sex. Regression coefficients between age and raw scores were also contrasted across groups. None of the 15 comparisons of corrections yielded differences that were statistically significant. Regression coefficients differed only with respect to the Full Scale IQ, showing smaller incremental changes with age for Black males than for other groups. The results indicated that the relationship between age and intelligence test performance is relatively constant across race and sex and supports the construct validity of the WISC-R as a measure of children's intelligence for Blacks, Whites, males, and females, though some evidence was found to indicate slower development of “g” in Black males as compared to the other groups.     

Use of an algebraic language in laboratory control programming with small (4K) computers

Most lab-control programs for small (4K) computers must be written in assembly or machine language, making it necessary for the user to expend considerable time and effort both in learning assembly-programming skills and in writing programs. One of the most frequently used small laboratory computers (the PDP-8 series) can, however, be programmed to provide sophisticated control using an algebraic language (FOCAL) in as little as 4K memory locations. The FOCAL language includes a special program sequence, FNEW, which provides capacity for a single user-defined function written in machine language. This paper describes an implementation of the FNEW sequence that permits execution of multiple user-written machine language subprograms within a FOCAL program. Use of this capability in the context of process-control problems in the behavioral laboratory is discussed and illustrated.     

Note on changes in response latency following discrimination training in the monkey

Two monkeys were trained to press and hold down a telegraph key in the presence of a red light. Subsequent release of the key in response to a white cross superimposed on the red background was followed by reinforcement. Key release in response to a white circle on the red background was never reinforced. Latencies for the key release response to the reinforced stimulus (cross) were considerably shorter and less variable than those to the unreinforced stimulus (circle).     

Overt “mediating” behavior during temporally spaced responding

A rat was trained on a schedule that programmed reinforcements only when a minimum waiting time between successive responses was exceeded (DRL schedule). It was observed to fill much of the pause between lever presses with a stereotyped behavioral chain: it would take its tail in its mouth and nibble it. This behavior was shown to be functionally related to the efficiency with which the subject spaced its responses. It is thought to have served as mediating behavior, providing discriminating stimuli for appropriate lever presses.