The Del Greco Assertive Behavior Inventory

Previous research in the area of assertiveness training has been examined with respect to the definitions of assertive, aggressive, and nonassertive behavior and the prominent assertion model. Logical inconsistencies have led to a refinement of the definitions of these behaviors, the inclusion of passive aggressive behavior, and the testing of a new two-dimensional model of assertion. The present study has developed a psychometric test to measure assertive, aggressive, nonassertive, and passive aggressive behavior in the college dormitory population. In addition, support was demonstrated for the validity of the two dimensional model of assertion. The instrument development was divided into four phases: item generation, item evaluation and revision, reliability testing and item analysis, and validity testing. Data analysis supported the two-dimensional model of assertion. In addition, an 86-item Del Greco Assertive Behavior Inventory designed for use with college dormitory students has weathered preliminary validity and reliability testing.     

Maximum likelihood estimation of the joint covariance matrix for sections of tests given to distinct samples with application to test equating

Consider an old testX consisting ofs sections and two new testsY andZ similar toX consisting ofp andq sections respectively. All subjects are given testX plus two variable sections from either testY orZ. Different pairings of variable sections are given to each subsample of subjects. We present a method of estimating the covariance matrix of the combined test (X ₁, ...,X _s ,Y ₁, ...,Y _p ,Z ₁, ...,Z _q ) and describe an application of these estimation techniques to linear, observed-score, test equating.The author is indebted to Paul W. Holland and Donald B. Rubin for their encouragement and many helpful comments and suggestions that contributed significantly to the development of this paper.This research was supported by the Program Statistics Research Project of the ETS Research Statistics Group.     

Parental divorce as a factor in children''s perception of human relationships: An analysis of human movement responses in the Rorschach test

The subjects were 108 Swedish children between 10 and 12 years old, who constituted a divorce and a non-divorce group of 27 girls and 27 boys each. Rorschach Tests were administered individually and human movement responses were analysed. Non-divorce children perceived more cooperative and fewer hostile interactions than the divorce children. Responses containing figures engaged in hostile interaction were most common among divorce girls, whereas the divorce boys had difficulties in perceiving any interaction whatsoever. The different effect of parental divorce on the ability of girls and boys to develop satisfactory social relationships is discussed.     

Two simple classes of mastery scores based on the beta-binomial model

Two simple classes of mastery scores which are suitable for hand calculations are presented for beta-binomial test score distributions combined with linear and cubic referral success. The models provide a simple way to explore the consequences of selecting an arbitrary mastery score. Such assessment would be useful whenever the test user is not willing to posta priori a loss ratio, but wishes to look at the various consequences before aiming at a particular score.     

A unified approach to exploratory factor analysis with missing data,nonnormal data,and in the presence of outliers

Factor analysis is regularly used for analyzing survey data. Missing data, data with outliers and consequently nonnormal data are very common for data obtained through questionnaires. Based on covariance matrix estimates for such nonstandard samples, a unified approach for factor analysis is developed. By generalizing the approach of maximum likelihood under constraints, statistical properties of the estimates for factor loadings and error variances are obtained. A rescaled Bartlett-corrected statistic is proposed for evaluating the number of factors. Equivariance and invariance of parameter estimates and their standard errors for canonical, varimax, and normalized varimax rotations are discussed. Numerical results illustrate the sensitivity of classical methods and advantages of the proposed procedures.This project was supported by a University of North Texas Faculty Research Grant, Grant #R49/CCR610528 for Disease Control and Prevention from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and Grant DA01070 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The results do not necessarily represent the official view of the funding agencies. The authors are grateful to three reviewers for suggestions that improved the presentation of this paper.     

Concise formulas for the standard errors of component loading estimates

Concise formulas for the asymptotic standard errors of component loading estimates were derived. The formulas cover the cases of principal component analysis for unstandardized and standardized variables with orthogonal and oblique rotations. The formulas can be used under any distributions for observed variables as long as the asymptotic covariance matrix for sample covariances/correlations is available. The estimated standard errors in numerical examples were shown to be equivalent to those by the methods using information matrices.The author is indebted to anonymous reviewers for the corrections and suggestions on this study, which have led to improvements of earlier versions of this article.     

适应性测验的发展:历史与现状

适应性测验作为一种测验形式,与传统的纸笔测验形式相比,具有省时、高效等很多优越性。测验应该适合于被试的理念最初可见于比内的智力测验。上世纪七十年代以来,适应性测验的研究从经典测量理论阶段发展到项目反应理论阶段,经历了从二阶段、三阶段、多阶段测验、固定分支测验和分层适应性测验的发展,到现在的计算机化适应性测验研究。随着项目反应理论和计算机技术的发展,计算机化适应性测验已经在教育和心理测验领域中得到广泛应用。目前对它的研究日益深入,主要有项目克隆、项目曝光、多维适应性测验、被试诊断、人格适应性测验等问题。     

斯腾伯格智力测验观评述

长久以来,人们习惯于凭智力测验对一个人的能力做出判断,并用之预测个体未来成就的高低。本文介绍了斯腾伯格(R．J．Stemberg)最近提出的“发展中的专门知识技能说”,认为智力测验和任何学业或职业成就测验一样,测的也是个体正在发展中的某种专门知识技能的暂时水平,其测验结果并不能说明一个人的能力,也不能用作预测。最后讨论了该学说对教育的启示。     

刺激强度与个体差异对心理生理测谎的影响

探讨不同说谎经验的被试在完成不同刺激强度的任务时,其生理反应和说谎分数的变化。结果表明,在测谎过程中,任务刺激强度不仅影响测试结果的有效性,而且与被试的生理反应和说谎分数成正相关;不同类型被试的说谎分数没有显著差异,测谎应对任何人群都普遍有效。