psych431 (ch 4b, 5, 6)

based on these criteria, Gardner proposes 7 intelligences

i) potential isolation by brain damage: the faculty can be destroyed, or spared in isolation, by brain injury

ii) existence of exceptional individuals such as savants: the faculty is uniquely spared in the midst of general intellectual mediocrity

iii) identifiable core operations: the faculty relies upon one or more basic information processing operations

iv) distinctive developmental history: the faculty possesses an identifiable developmental historu, perhaps including critical periods and milestones

v) evolutionary plausibility: admittedly speculative, a faculty should have evolutionary antecedent shared with other organisms (eg., primate social organization)

vi) support from experimental psychology: the faculty emerges in laboratory studies in cognitive psychology

vii) support from psychometric findings: the faculty reveals itself in measurement studies and is susceptible to psymetric measurement

viii) susceptibility to symbol encoding: the faculty can be communicted via symbols including (but not limited to) language, picturing, and mathematics

i) information subtest
-found on all three Wechsler intelligence tests
-factual knowledge of persons, places, and common phenomena is tested
-indirectly measures learning and memory skills since subjects must retain knowledge gained from formal and informal educational opportunities in order to answer the information items
-usually regarded as one of the best measures of general ability
-tends to reflect formal education and motivation for academic achievement and may therefore yield high ability estimates for perceptual students and avid readers

ii) digit span
-measure of immediate auditory recall for numbers
facility with numbers, good attention, and freedom from distractibility are required
-performance may be impacted by anxiety or fatigue
-consists of two sections:
1. digits foward
-seems to require examinee to access an auditory code in sequential fashion
2. digits backward
-examinee must form an internal visual memory trace from the orally presented numerical sequences and then visually scan from end to beginning

iii) letter number sequencing
-test measures attention, concentration, and freedom from distractibility
-together with arithmetic and digit span, this subtest contributes to the Working Memory index score

test bias:
-refers to objective statistical indices that examaine the paatterning of test scores relevant for subpopulations
-in general, a test is deemed biased if it is differentially valid for different subgroups
-an objective empirical question, not a matter of personal judgement
-technical concept amenable to impartial analysis

test fairness:
-broada concept that recognizes the importance of social values in test usage
-reflects social values and philosophies or test use, particularly when test use extends to selection for privilege or employment
-ultimately based on social conceptions such as one's image of a just society

triarchic theory that proposes that certain mental mechanisms are required for intelligent behavior, also emphasizes that intelligence involves adaptation to real world environment

deals with 3 aspects of intelligence:
i) componential intelligence (analytical): planning, performance, and knowledge acquisition
-consists of the internal mental mechanisms that are responsible for intelligent behavior
-metacomponents or executive processes (eg., planning)
-performance components (eg., syllogistic reasoning)
-knowledge acquisition components (eg., ability to acquire vocabulary words)

ii) experiential (creative) intelligence: novelty and automatic processing
-able to handle novelty
-learn familiar tasks so they become automatic

iii) contextual (practical) intelligence: adaptation, selection and shaping of your environment
-adaptation to real world environment
-selection of a suitable environment
-shaping of the environment

components:
-overall judging and planning is important
-more intelligent subjects spend more time planning to solve a problem
-as such, his major criticism is that traditional IQ tests focus on speed

1. Several critics have pointed out that the genetic hypothesis is based on the questionable assumption that evidence of IQ heritability within groups can be used to infer heritability between racial groups.
-Kaufman states that even if IQ is equally heritable within the black and white races separately, that does not prove that the IQ differences between the races are genetic in origin

2. careful analysis of environmental factors provides sufficient explanation of race differences in IQ, that is, the genetic hypothesis is simply unnecessary:
-approach taken in a study of African American and White low birth weight children --> controlled for poverty and its cofactors, included longitudinal data of these factors instead of using only 1 or 2 measures of environment
-researchers found that when these factors are controlled, IQ differences are almost completely eliminated
-study suggests that previous research has underestimated the pervasive effects of poverty and its cofactors as a contribution to IQ differences

3. racial categories are social constructions based on superficial physical differences (especially skin color) that serve cultural-psychiological objectives --> racial categories do not signifiy meaningful biological differences
-homo sapiens have no subspecies

4. racial groups always show large overlaps in IQ

5. the existing race differences in IQ certainly reflect cultural differences and environmental factors to a substantial degree

6. recent trends in race differences in IQ have indicated that Black children have made large gains relative to Whites since the 1960s

Formula:
D = #H scorers that score high on item / #H scorers (7)

Minus #L score high on the item/ #L scorers (7)

- ranges from -1 to +1 the closer to 1 the better
- H = high scorers
- L = low scorers

-statistical index of how effectively an item discriminates between persons who obtain high and low scores on the entire test

-purpose of item analysis is to determine which items should be retained, which revised, and which thrown out

-in conducting a thorough item analysis, the test developer might make use of statistical approaches: item-difficulty index, item-reliability index, item-validity index, item-characteristic curve, and an index of item discrimination

Wechsler's results indicate a rapid growth in general intelligence in childhood through age 15 or 20, followed by a slow decline to age 65

normative studies with subsequent Wechsler adult tesrs revealed exactly the same pattern

most efficient research method for studying age changes in ability is a cross-sequential design that combines cross-sectional and longitudinal methodologies

vast majority of us show no meaningful decline in the skills measured by the Primary Mental Abilities Test until we are well into our seventies
also, approx. 10% of sample in Shaie study improved significantly when retested in 70s and 80s

in contrast, Horn and Cattell are skeptical as they argue for significant age related decrement in fluid intelligence because of its reliance upon neural integrity, which is presumed to decline with advancing age
-cross sectional studies support this view

crystallized abilities (comprehension and vocabulary) reveal a nearly flat trend for ages 60-95, whereas fluid abilities (reasoning and spatial thinking) disclose a steep decline for individuals in their 70s, 80s, and beyond

a procedure for obtaining a measuree of absolute item difficulty based on results for different age groups test takers

underlying rationale is not too difficult to understand:
-essentially, a set of common test items is administered to two or more age groups
-relative difficulty of htese items between any two age groups serves as the basis for making a series of interlocking comparisons for all items and all age groupds
-one age group serves as the anchor group

respondents who endorse one statement also agree with milder statements pertinent to the same underlying continuum

produced by selecting items thatt fall into an ordered sequence of examinee endorsement

test items are selected for a scale based entirely on how well they contrast a criterion group from a normative sample

heart of the method is that all scale items correlate positively with each other and also with the total score for the scale

alternative and more appropriate name for this approach is internal consistency, which emphasizes what is actually done

-observed when significant numbers of examinees obtain perfect or near perfect scores

-problem with them is that distinctions between high scoring examinees are not possible, even though these examinees might differ substantially on the underlying trait measured by the test

-when significant numbers of examinees obtain scores at or near the bottom of the scale

enumerates the information and cognitive tasks on which examinees are to be assessed

difficulty of writing good distractor options

the possibility that the presence of the response may cue a half-knowledgeable respondent to the correct answer

-forced choice methodology: examinee must choose between two equally desireable or undesireable options

because fewer examinees answered it correctly

useful tool for identifying items that should be altered or discarded

generally, item difficulties that hover around .5, ranging between .3 and .7, maximize the information the test provides about differences between examinees

however, this rule of thumb is subject to one important qualification and one very significant exception:
-for true/false or multiple choice items, the optimal level ofitem difficulty needs to be adjusted for the effects of guessing
- in general, the optimal level of item difficulty can be computed from the formula (1.0 + g) / 2, where g is the chance success level
-if a test is to be used for selection of an extreme group by means of a cutting score, it may be desiraable to select items with difficulty levels outside the .3 to .7 range

-associated with item reliability index

-in general, the higher the point-biserial correlation between an individual item and the total score, the more useful is the item from the standpoint of internal consistency

useful tool in the psychometricians quest to identify predictively useful test items

by computing thiss index for every item in the preliminary test, test developer can identify ineffectual items, eliminate or rewrrite them, and produce a revised instrument with greater practical utility

-first step in figuring the index out is to compute the point biserial correlation between the item score and the score on the criterion variable

-in general, the higher the point biserial correlation between scores on an individual item and the criterion score, the more useful is the item from the standpoint of predictive validity

-item validity index consists of the product of the standard deviation and the point biserial correlaiton

a graphical display of the relationship between the probability of a correct response and the examinee's position on the underlying trait measured by the test

ICC is actually a mathematical idealization of a relationship between the probability of a corrrect response and the amount of the trait possessed by test respondents

different ICC models use different mathematical functions based on initial assumptions

desired shape of the ICC depends on the purpose of the test

especially useful for identifying items that perform differently for subgroups of examinees

usefulness has been questioned, pointed out that the assumption of test unidimensionality is violated

simpled ICC (item characteristic curve) model

makes two assumptions:
1. test items are unidimensional and measure on one common trait
2. test items vary on a continuum of difficulty level

-the normal distribtion graphed in cumulative form

a statistic index of how efficiently an item discriminates between persons who obtain high and low scores on the entire test

if the slope of the curve is positive and the curve is preferably ogive shaped, the test is doing a good job of separating high and low scorers

refers to the practice of using the original regression equation in a new sample to determine whether the test predicts the criterion as well as it did in the original sample

a common discvoery in cross validation research is that a test predicts the relevant criterion less acurately with the new sample of examinees than with the original tryout sample

term validity shrinkage is applied to this phenomenon

inevitable part of test development and unnderscores the need for cross validation

can be a major problem when derivation and cross validation samples are small, the number of potential test items large, and items are chosen on a purely empirical basis without theoretical rationale

important lesson here that applies to serious tests as well: demonstrate through cross vaildation, do not assume it based merely on the solemn intentionsof a new instruments

defines a concept in terms of the way it is measured

1. they are circular
-intelligence tests were invented to measure intelligence, not define it

2. operational definitions block further process in understanding the nature of intelligence, because they foreclose disuccion on the adequency of theories of intelligence

one that seeks to tell us the true nature of the thing being defined

perhaps the most common way of producing real defintions of intelligence is to ask experts in the field to define it

1. the capacity to learn from experience
2. capacity to adapt to one's environment

-experts saw verbal intelligence, problem solving ability, and practical intelligence as crucial to intelligence

-laypersons regarded practical problem solving ability, verbal ability, and social competence to be the key ingredients in intelligence

-in their conceptions, experts place more emphasis on verbal ability than problem solving, whereas laypersons reverse these priorities

1. confirmatory

2. exploratory

the purpose is to confirmt that test scores and variables fit a certain pattern predicted by a theory

essential to the validation of may ability tests

summarize the interrelationships among a large number of variables in a concise and accurate manner as an aid to conceptualization

for instance, factor analysis may help a researcher discover that a battery of tests represents only four underlying variables, called factors

the correlation matrix, which is a complete table of intercorrelations among all the variables

this pattern of intercorrelations is presumptive evidence that these variables measure something in common; that is, it appears that these tests reflect a common underlying factor

a table of correlations called factor loadings

factor loadings (which can take on values - .00 +1.00) indicate the weighting of each variable on each factor

a weighted linear sum of the variables; that is, each factor is a precise statistical combinaation of the tests usedin the analysis

what makes the factors special is the elegant analytical methods used to derive them --> most of the methods yield highly similar results

there is nothing to prevent the researcher from rotating the axes so thay they produce a more sensible fit with the factor loading

Thurstone's criteria of positive manifold aand simple structure are commonly applied

the computer problem seeks to eliminate as many of the negative factor loadings as possible

negative factor loadings make little sense in ability testing, because they imply thata high scores on a factor are correlated with poor test performance

goal is to produce a rotated factor matrix that is as straightforward and unambiguous as possible (same as rotation to simple structure)

the computer seeks to simplify the factor loadings so that each test has significant loadings on as few factors as possible

goal is to produce a rotated factor matrix that is as straightforward and unambiguous as possible (same as rotation to positive manifold)

the idenfication of a small number of marker tests from a large test battery

rather than using a cumbersome battery of 24 tests, a researcher could gain nearly the same information by carefully selecting several tests with strong loadings on the five factors

will yield meaningful results only when research was meaningful to begin with:
-a particular kind of factor can emerge from factor analysis only if the tests and measures contain that factor in the first place

sample size is crucial to a stable factor analysis:
-a sample size of 50 is rated as very poor, whereas a sample size of 1000 is rating excellent

factor analysis is guided by subjective choices and theoretical prejudices:
-a crucial question in this regaard is the choice between orthogonal axes and oblique axes

the factors are at right angles to one another, which means that they are uncorrelated

the factors are correlated among themselves

some researchers contend that oblique axes should always be used, whereas others take a experimental approach

with these rotations it is also possible to factor analyze the factors themselves:
-this may yield one or more second order factors
-second order factors can provide support for the hierarchical organization of traits and may offer a reapprochment between ability theorists who posit a single general factor (eg., Spearman) and those who promote several group factors (eg., Thurstone)

the patterns of correlations between various tests of intellectual and sensory ability

single general factor (g) and numerous specific factors (s1, s2, s3, etc.):
-an examinees performance on any homogenous test or subtest of intellectual ability was determined mainly by two influences:
i) g, the pervasive general factor
ii) s, a factor specific to that test or subtest
-the specific factor, to have a physiological substrate localized in the group of neurons serving the particular kind of mental operation demanded by a test or subtest

much of Spearman's research was aimed at demonstrating the truth of these basic propositions derived from his theory

-the pervasive general factor
-'energy' that serves in common the whole cortex
-believed that individual differences in g were most directly reflected in the ability to use three principles of cognition: apprehension of experience, education of relations, and education of correlations

examine the properties of a test by looking at its correlates and underlying dimensions

processes that underrlie how we learn and solve problems

focus on how humans adapt to real world demands

-early view was that intelligence was a perceptual quality; the kenner the senses the higher the intelligence

-more recent reaction time studies show moderate corelations with traditional IQ tests

HAMMER : NAIL :: SCREWDRIVER

to solve this, one must:
1. know what they are (know what a hammer and a nail is)
2. how are A and B rerlated (where A is a hammer and B is the nail)
3. apply it to screwdriver (screw)

the existence of group factors

Thurstone developed factor analysis proceduers capable of searching corelation matrices for the existence of group factors

1. verbal comprehension
-best measure is vocabulary, but is also involved in reading comprehension and verbal analogies

2. word fluency
-measured by such tests as anagrams or quickly naming words in a given category

3. number
-virtually synonymous with the speed and accuracy of simple arithmetic computation

4. space
-such as the ability to visualize how a three-dimensional object would appear if it was moved or partially diassembled

5. associative memory
-skill at rarte memory tasks such as learning to associate pairs of unrelated items

6. perceptual speed
-involved in simple clerical tasks such as checking for similaritties and differences in visual details

7. Inductive reasoning
-best measures of this factor involve find a rule, as in a number of series completion test

1. fluid: nonverbal mental efficiency
-inherent ability to learn and solve problems
-requires adaptation to a new situation
-often found in IQ tests
-will likely decline with age

2. crystallized: requirers a learned or habitual response e
-culturally dependent arises when fluid intelligence is applied to cultural products

-influential theory of the structure of intelligence

-a taxonomic tour de force that synthesizes the findings from almost a century of factory analytic research on intelligence

-most psychometricians consider CHC theory to possess the strongest empirical foundation of any theory of intelligence

pervasive, broad, and narrow abilities that are hiarchically organized:
-known as

i) Stratum III: highest and most pervasive level
-a single generral factor known as little g oversees all cognitive activities

ii) Stratum II: capacities, which reside beneath general intelligence, include promiment and well-established abilities.

iii) Stratnum I: narrow abilities, include about 70 abilities
-continually revised and expanded
-narrow abilities represent greater specializatioins of abailities, often in quite specific ways that reflect the effects of experience and learning, o rthe adoption of paticular strategies of performance

i) domain specific knowledge: domain-specific knowledge represents a person's acquired knowledge in one or more specialized domains that do not represent the typical experiences of individuals in the culture

ii) visual-spatial abilities: this ability has to do with imagining, retaining, and transforming mental representations of visual images
-this capacity includes visual memory

iii) auditory processing: this is the ability to perceive auditory information accurately, which involves the capacity to analyze, comprehend, and synthesize pattterns or groups of sounds

iv) broad retrieval memory: includes the ability to consolidate and store new information in long term memory and then to retrieve the information later through association

v) cognitive processing speed: this ability refers to the speed of executing overlearned or automatized cognitive processes, especially when high levels of attention and focused concentration are required

vi) decision / reaction time or speed: this is the ability to make decisions quickly in response to simple stimuli, typically measured by reaction time

classifies intellecttual abilities along three dimensions called operations, contents and products

operations: the kind of intellectual operation required by the test
-namely, cognition, memory, divergent, convergeny, evaluation

content: refers to the nature of the materials or information prersetned to the examinee
-namely, visual, auditory, symbolic, semantic, behavioral

products: refers to the different kinds of mental structures that the brrain must produce to derive the corrrect answer
-namely, unit, class, relation, system, transformation, implication

in total, identifired 5 x 5 x 6 or 150 factors of intellect

convergent: coming up with the right answer

divergent thinking: related to creativity, coming up with alternative ways to answering questions

i) the execution of several different mental operations simultaneously

ii) successive processing of information is needed for mental activities in which a proper sequence of operations must be followed

most forms of information processing require an interplay of simultaneous and successive mechanisms

refers to biologically based properties necessary for information processing, such as memory span and speed of encoding / decoding information

refers to environmentally learned components that steer problem solving, provides overall guidance to functional components

proposed theory based on loose study of brain -- behavior relatoinships

argues for the existence of several relatively independent human intelligences, although he admits tthat the act nature, extent, and numberr of the intelligences have not yet been definitely established

evidence from a variety of sources

seven types of intelligence: linguistic, musical logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, inter and intrapersonal

interesting theory, but what about empirical evidence?

-test items possessed no appeal for adults
-too many questions emphasized mere manipulation of words
-instructions emphasized speed at the expense of accuracy
-reliance on mental age was irrelevant to adult testing

corrected by designed his test specifically for adults, added performance items to balance verbal questions, reduced the emphasis upon speeded questions, and invented a new method for obtaining the IQ

new IQ formula:
-replaced IQ = Mental Age / Chronological Age
with
IQ = Attained or Actual Score / Expected Mean score for Age

-this formula was based on the presumption that IQ remains constant with normal aging, even though raw intellectual ability might shift or decline (assumption of IQ constancy is basic to the Wechsler scales)

i) verbal comprehension index:
-similarities
-vocabulary
-information

ii) perceptual reasoning index:
-block design
-matrix reasoning
-visual puzzles

iii) working memory index
-digit span
-arithmetic

iv) processing speed index
-symbol search
-coding

organization was guided by the principle that each of five factors can be assessed in two distinct domains (nonverbal and verbal)

five factors derived from modern cognitive theories are fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and working memory

thus, SB5 provides a number of different perspectives on the cognitive functioning of an examinee

-used to estimate the general cognitive ability of the examinee beore proceeding to the remainder of the test

-purpose of the procedure is to identify the appropriate starting points for subsequent subtests

-routing items are both nonverbal (object series and matrices) and verbal (vocabulary)

-purpose is not just to reduce number of items administrated, but to do so withot loss of measurement precision

-includes extensive high end items, designed to assess the highest level of gifted performance

-improved low end items to provide better assessment for very young children and adults

-considered religious tradition in test development (this is the first time this has happened)

-nonverbal IQ does not require expressive language, making this part of the test ideal for assessing people with limited english

-working memory factor shows promise in helping to assess and understand children with ADHD

pros:
-good measure of general intelligence

cons:
-the conceptual breakdown into composittes is not sufficiently supported by empirical evidence
-there are more composite than there are subtests
-use of composite scores for purposes of psychoeducational planning requires additional empirical study

individually administered test of cognitive abilities designed for ages 5-17

explicitly constructed to embody the PASS theory of intelligence:
i) Planning scale
-measure of the ability to develop strategies for task completion
-subtests involve cognitive control and self regulation

ii) Attention scale
-measure of the mental processes involved in resistance to distiction and focused attention over time

iii) Simultaneous scale
-measure of the ability to organize info into coherent wholes
-subtests involve the perception of stimuli as a whole, in contrast to what is needed in succussive processing

iv) Successive scale
-mental processes needed to remember and complete a task in a specific order or sequence

-based upon A. Luira andd Cattell-Horn

tests designed for psycho-educational assessment and planning

sequential scales, simultaneous scales and achievement scale

responded to the need for a brief, easily administered screening measure of intelligence

consists of a verbal or crystallized scale that includes two types (verbal knowledge and riddles) and a nonverbal or fluid scale that consists of matrices items

take approximately 20 minutes

mainly a screening test useful in signaling the need for more extensive assessment

good reliability, good convergent validity, good discriminant validity

time required to administer them:
-most take at least 1 hour, sometimes 2

amount of training nneeded to administer them

broader concept than learning disability (LD)

refers to both a) methods for increasing the capacity of school systems to respond effectively to diverse academic needs of students and b) approahces for identifying LD children who need special education services

specifically deemphasizes cognitive discrepancies in the diagnostic process, focusing instead on low age based achievement levels and failure to repond to evidence based approaches

in sum, RTI is a shift in perspective from LD that focuses on early results and outcomes with at-risk children instead of laterr spending excessive time and resources on questions of discrepancy based eligibility after children are already failed bc of their LD

hope is that the RTI perspective will catch at risk children earlierr and thereby reduce the number of children needing special education services

i) involves an intraindividual discprepancy in cognitive functioning

ii) an exclusionary clause is included in most definitions of learning disability (important point is that the coexisting condition must not be the primary cause of the learning difficulties)

iii) learning disabilities are heterogeneous; thaat is, there are many different varieties

iv) an LD is a developmental phenomenon that is usually evident in early childhood that may persist into adulthood

v) individuals with LDs frequently experience social and emotional difficulties tthat are as pervasive and consequential as the deficits in academic achievement

-multiple choice versus open ended format

-objective machine scoring versus examiner scoring

-group versus individualized administration

-applications in screening versus remedial planning

-huge versus merely large standardization samples

i) some examinees will score far below their true ability, owing to motivational problems or difficulty following directions

ii) invalid scores will not be recognized as such, with undesirable consequences for these atypical examinees

no real way of avoiding these risks, it is a traade of for the efficiency of group testing

-designation of the achievement subtests achievement means, tied to a particular content, they are not

-more like traditional IQ measures

-can over or under estminate WISC-III scores by up to 25 points

-not good for placement and diagnostic purposes

group intelligence tested designed to be the paper and pencil equivalent of the WAIS-R

subtests include:
i) verbal: information, comprehension, arithmetic, similarities, and vocabulary
ii) performance: digit symbol, picture completion, spatial, picture arrangement, object assembly

shows great promise in research, career counseling, and personnel selection

could also function as a screening instrument

one of the best school based test batteries currently in use

primarily a measure of scholastic abilitiy but also incorporates a nonverbal reasoning battery with items that bear no direct relation to formal school instruction

9 subtests which are grouped into 3 areas: verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal

i) verbal battery evaluates verbal skills and reasoning strategies needed for effective reading and writing

ii) quantitative battery appraises quantitative skills important for mathematics and other disciplines

iii) nonverbal battery can be used to estimate cognitive level of students with limited reading skill, poor English proficiency, or inadequate educational exposure

has been questioned whether all 3 batteries are really necessary:
-pointed out that correlations among batteries are substantial

quantitative battery offers little uniqueness, from a purely psychometric point of view there is no justification for including it

nonverbal test of inductive reasoning based on figural stimuli

intended to measure Spearman's G (which is the education of correlaates, relationships between stimuli), but doesn't really:
-instead, useful index of nonverbal, figural reasoning
-particularly valuable for the supplemental testing of children and adults with hearing, language, or physicial disabilities
-ideally suited for testing persons with limited commmand of english language
-test is very culturally reduced, as it does not contain a single word in any language

individuals who do well on the first factor may excel in rapid decision making and in situations where part-whole relationships must be perceived

individuals who perform well on second factor may possess good mechanical ability as well as good skills for estimating projected movement and performing mental rotations

factor analytic studies provide little if any, support for original intention to measure a unitary construct (Spearman's g factor)

very easy and very hard items on the Colored Progressive Matrices appear to tap different intellectual processes

multiple aptitude test battery

provides a basis for the educational and vocational guidance of students in grades 7 through 12

test battery for predicting job performance

limitation is that the battery is available mainly to state employment offices, although nonprofit organizations, including high schools and certain colleges can make special arrangements for its use

9 factor scores combine into 3 general factors: cognitive, perceptual, and psychomotor

college admissions test

represents state of the art for aptitude testing

sections include critical reasoning, math, and writing

has been concluded that SAT is an excellent measure of general cognitive ability

multiple choice and essay test widely used by graduate programs in many fields as one component in the selection of candidates for advanced training

heart of test is the general test designed to measure verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing aptitudes

correlation of GRE (or MCAT) scores and graduate grades is not a good index of validity because of this problem:
-applicants with low GRE (or MCAT) scores are unlikely to be accepted for graduate training in the first place and thus, relatively little info is available with respect to whether low scorres predict poor academic performance

to identify children and adults with specific achievement deficits who might need more detail assessment for learning disabilities

to help parents recognize the academic strengths and weaknesses of their children and thereby foster individual remedial efforts at home

to identify classwide or schoolwide achievement deficiencies as a basis for redirection of instructional efforts

to appraise the success of educational programs by measuring the subsequent skill aattainment of students

to group students according to similar skill level in specific academic domains

to identify the level of instruction that is appropriate for individual students

multilevel battery of achievement tests that covers grades K-8 (companion test TAP covers grades 9-12)

ITBS incorporates a criterion-referenced skills analysis to supplement the usual array of norm referenced scores

purpose is to measure achievement of students in the major skill and content areas of the school curriculum

multilevel battery

attractive feature is that student reading scores are reported as Lexile measures

1) reading materials can be placed on a contimuum as to difficulty level (comprerhensibility) and

2) readers can be ordered on a continuum as to reading ability

true interval scale

Lexile measurer for a reading selection is a specific number indicating the rreading demand of the text basd on the semantic difficulty (vocabulary) and syntactic complexity (sentence length)

student comprehension can be predicted as a function of the disparity between the demands of the text and the student's ability

when a variety of evidence supports its utility aand when inferences derived from it are appropriate, meaingful, and useful

item or subscale of a test is considered to be biased in
content when it is demonstrated to be relatively more dif-
ficult for members of one group than another when the
general ability level of the groups being compared is held
constant and no reasonable theoretical rationale exists to
explain group differences on the item (or subscale) in
question

test is considered biased with respect to predictive
validity if the inference drawn from the test score is not
made with the smallest feasible random error or if there is
constant error in an inference or prediction as a function
of membership in a particular group

a test is unbiased in the results for all relevant subpopulations cluster equally well around a single regression line

because the test has differential predictive valdity for different subgroups --> this is referred to as intercept bias because the Y-axis intercept is different for the two groups

most peculiar regression outcome

in this case, the regression lines for separate subgroups aare not even parallel

using a single regression line for prediction might, therefore, result in both under and overprediction of scores for slected subjects in groups

two straightforward criteria from this definition:
-if a test is nonbiased, then comparisons across relevant subpopulations should reveal a high degree of similarity for 1) the factorial structure of the test and 2) the rank order of item difficulties within the test

essential criterion of nonbias is that the factor structure of test scores should remain invariant across relevant subpopulations

second criterion in construct validity is that the rank order of item difficulties within a test should be highly similar for relevant subpopulations

complex statistical simulation to demonstrate tests of bias are themselves biased

method used to deduce that most studies of slope bias do not possess sufficient statistical powers to detect it

dictates that, without exception, the best qualified candidates should be selected for employment, admission, or other privilege

in terms of a heritability index that can vary from 0.0 to 1.0

an estimate of how much of the total variance in a given trait is due to genetic factors

heritability of 0.0 means that genetic factors make no contribution to tthe variance in a trait, whereas heritability of 1.0 means that genetic factors are exclusively responsible for the variance in a trait

genetic influence on IQ appears to demonstrate an interaction effect with SES

apparent rise in IQ over generations

has slowed down in recent decades

current tests do not measure intelligence but rather a correlate with a weak causal link to intelligence

better nutritions, improved prenatal care, greater educational access, and increased environmental complexity