A study of item weights and scale lengths for the SVIB.

7 SVIB scales were developed and cross validated on 461 managers from 13 varied Minnesota companies. Questions studied were (a) Which item weighting method results in the highest scale validity? (b) Are shorter scales as valid as longer scales? (c) How much may scales be shortened? (d) Why may they be shortened? Controls for scale length, content, validity, and for item weighting method were introduced. Results indicated (a) there was no practical difference in validities between simple unit versus variably weighted scales, (b) shorter scales were as valid as longer scales, (c) Clark's "40 to 60 item optimum scale length" hypothesis was supported, (d) although not conclusive, shorter scales appeared superior partly because their average item validities were greater and thus they perhaps should not be used where developmental item pools are rich in valid items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on the generality and cross-validity of personal history for identifying creative research scientists.

A 33-item scoring key composed of personal history items originally validated for research personnel in a petroleum laboratory was applied to research personnel in a pharmaceutical laboratory. Significant validities were obtained, in the new setting, between personal history scores and several criteria of research productivity and creativity. These results were interpreted to suggest that empirical keys may have more generality than is commonly believed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A prototype strategy for construction of personality scales.

Examined the predictive validity of different strategies for constructing personality scales. The Adjective Check List (ACL) was used as a common item pool to construct sets of 8 scales by each of 6 strategies. A prototype strategy was introduced as a proposed improvement on rational scale construction methodology. Its validity was compared with 4 traditional strategies (empirical, factor analytic, rational, and internal consistency) and 1 random strategy in predicting 8 criterion measures. Ss were 234 paid fraternity males (aged 18–26 yrs) who supplied ACL responses and 8 criterion measures in the form of peer ratings. Included in the 8 criteria were peer ratings on the traits of achievement, dominance, nurturance, affiliation, exhibition, autonomy, aggression, and deference. Zero-order correlational analyses were followed by multiple-regression procedures used in a double cross-validation design. The prototype strategy was statistically superior to all of the other strategies, and further research on this methodology is urged. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two forms of minority-group test bias as psychometric artifacts with an animal model (Rattus norvegicus).

Controversy abounds over attributing group differences on tests to nature, nurture, or test bias. Limitations of correlational sampling from natural populations necessitate experimental methods to resolve underlying issues. In classicial psychometrics test items are selected from a larger item pool through analysis of item responses in a sample of subjects. Rats of six inbred strains (n?=?366) were tested in multiple mazes to provide a large item pool. Six populations were created, each with differing proportions of each strain. Items selected through independent item analyses within each population yielded six tests. An independent cross-validation sample (n?=?146) provided scores on all six items. This sample was also tested in another set of maze problems defined as the criterion to be predicted. Strain means and intrastrain predictive validities for the six tests varied with strain representation in the population used for item selection (p?     

Some diagnostic scales for research in decision making and personality: Identity, information, and barriers.

Developed a 2-page form to operationalize a diagnostic scheme for research and career counseling. The form contains 3 scales: Vocational Identity, (the need for) Occupational Information, and Barriers (personal limits or environmental problems). The scales were developed using a sample of 496 high school sophomores and were validated using a new sample of 824 high school students, college students, and workers. Scale reliabilities ranged from .23 (Barriers scale, 4 items) to .89 (Vocational Identity scale, 23 items). Construct validity of scales was supported by external ratings, factor analysis, item content, item process analysis, correlational analysis, and earlier research. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proposed scoring changes for the Strong Vocational Interest Blank.

A study of the effect of replacing with new items 102 items in the current SVIB on the validity and reliability of the SVIB. 8 occupational groups were used. The results showed that the validity and reliability remained essentially the same after dropping the items. Also, the weighting system of the SVIB was compared with scales using unit weights. The results indicated that the unit weights keys were virtually identical to the weighted keys on 3 criteria: validity, reliability, and scale intercorrelations. Thus, the SVIB when revised should be scored using unit weight scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex and the single interest inventory: The empirical validation of sex-balanced interest inventory items.

Provides empirical evidence to show that it is possible to construct a valid interest inventory consisting primarily of items that have been pretested for sex balance. Potentially sex-balanced items were developed and pretested with 220 college-bound high school seniors. Items from the pretest that were sex-balanced and that showed "good" item characteristics were included on the sex-balanced Unisex Interest Inventory (Uni-II). Both the Uni-II and the American College Testing Interest Inventory (ACT-IV) were then administered to a national sample of 1,902 students. Comparisons were made between the 2 inventories on item and scale sex balance. The items on the Uni-II were more sex-balanced than those on the ACT-IV. Similarly, the Uni-II exhibited superior scale sex balance. Same-scale item homogeneity, correlational analysis, and spatial configural analysis supported the concurrent and construct validity of the Uni-II. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is it rational to be empirical? A test of methods for scoring biographical data.

Compared the cross-validities and predictive accuracies of rational and empirical methods in a field application to predict a criterion of real estate license attainment. Biographical and criterion data were collected on a longitudinal panel of 698 prospective real estate sales associates at the career entry level. Analysis revealed a significant difference in cross-validity favoring the empirical keying method. It is concluded that the empirical method is indeed rational if the purposes of the research are primarily prediction. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A general device versus more specific devices for selecting car salesmen.

2 trial forms of a salesman selection instrument each containing 145 biographical, personality, interest and attitude items were item analyzed to develop both a general and 6 specific (types of car sold) keys. A third form used items surviving the item analysis. "It was concluded that the more elaborate procedure of developing specific keys… did not result in any significant improvement in validity compared with… a single key for car salesmen in general." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Item subtlety and face validity in personality assessment.

Makes a distinction between the concepts of item subtlety and face validity. Face validity is viewed as the contextual relevance of personality test items, whereas item subtlety is conceptualized as the lack of an obvious substantive link between test item content and its underlying construct. An experiment with 193 college students is described; materials included 80 test items, 16 from each of the Abasement, Achievement, Affiliation, Autonomy, and Dominance scales of the Personality Research Form, Form E (D. N. Jackson, 1974). Greater face validity and lower levels of subtlety were associated empirically with higher item validity. Although trait differences in the relationship of item subtlety to criterion validity were found, these were not mediated by desirability. These results are viewed as supporting a rational strategy of test construction emphasizing the use of relevant test item content. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of the forced-choice rating scale technique.

Forced-choice (FC) rating scales came about because of dissatisfaction with conventional scales. Reliabilities and validities of FC methods compare favorably with other methods. Studies on the FC method show this scale is more resistant than other scales to effects of bias. Formats using 4 favorable items, from which the rater chooses the items most characteristic of the person rated, prove superior to other formats. This superiority appears in validities, reliabilities, and preferences of raters using the form. Conditions under which statement indices are obtained should be as similar as possible to conditions under which the final scale will be administered. Combining FC scores with other scale scores yields better results than using either instrument alone. Ample evidence exists that more research can fruitfully be done in the area. (54 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distinguishing anxiety and depression: Reexamination of the reconstructed Hamilton scales.

The discriminant validities of the original and the reconstructed Hamilton anxiety and depression scales (J. H. Riskind et al, 1987) were compared in patients who had principal Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III—Revised (DSM-III—R) anxiety disorders with or without 1 or more comorbid mood disorders. The reconstructed anxiety and depression scales had better discriminant validity (scale intercorrelation?=?.61) than the original scales did (r?=?.78). However, the reconstructed scales shared considerable variance (about 37%), which was significantly higher than the shared variance (about 2%) reported by Riskind et al. Discriminant analyses showed that the reconstructed scales did not distinguish anxiety patients with comorbid mood disorders from those without comorbid mood disorders better than the original scales did. However, the reconstructed scales eliminate item overlap, an obvious source of artifactual correlations between scores on the Hamilton anxiety and depression scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A 166-item written short form of the group MMPI: The FAM.

Describes the 166-item Faschingbauer Abbreviated Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (FAM) which was developed using cluster analysis and compared to the MMPI and other short forms. Median reliabilities of .88 for 146 Ss (1 day apart) and .77 for 50 Ss (1 wk apart) as well as median validities of .91 for 399 Ss (in context) and .76 for 119 Ss (1 day apart) were found. All Ss were either normal undergraduates or psychiatric inpatients. On code-type correspondence, configural classifications, profile validities, and scale elevations, the FAM compared favorably to a retest MMPI. Differences in context, obvious, and true items were minimal. The FAM retains the usual 13 scales and 47% of the critical items and showed itself superior to the other short forms in most respects. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validities of three vocational interest keys for U. S. Navy yeomen.

"Scores of a group of 135 Navy yeomen on the Office Worker key of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank and on the Yeoman and Shipping-Stock Clerk keys of the Minnesota Vocational Interest Inventory were analyzed to determine the validities of these keys for yeomen." Both the Yeoman and Shipping Clerk keys appeared to have high validity, as determined by mean differences and percent of overlapping of scores of the present yeoman group with scores of criterion and reference groups for each key. The Office Worker key of the Strong VIB did not seem to be as satisfactory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The differential responding of college students to subtle and obvious MCMI subscales

This study investigated the differential responding of 49 male and 92 female college students to subtle and obvious MCMI scale items. It had been predicted that item subtlety would be correlated positively with item endorsement. This prediction was supported across all 175 MCMI items (r = .34). In addition, subjects endorsed a greater percentage of subtle than obvious subscale items for eight Basic Personality scales and two of three Pathological Personality scales. However, this pattern was not consistent for the nine Symptom Disorder scales. It also had been predicted that gender would moderate subjects' differential responding to subtle and obvious items, whereby males would show a greater tendency than females to endorse relatively more subtle than obvious items. This prediction was not supported.     

Tests of data quality, scaling assumptions, and reliability of the SF-36 in eleven countries: results from the IQOLA Project. International Quality of Life Assessment

Data from general population samples in 11 countries (n = 1483 to 9151) were used to assess data quality and test the assumptions underlying the construction and scoring of multi-item scales from the SF-36 Health Survey. Across all countries, the rate of item-level missing data generally was low, although slightly higher for items printed in the grid format. In each country, item means generally were clustered as hypothesized within scales. Correlations between items and hypothesized scales were greater than 0.40 with one exception, supporting item internal consistency. Items generally correlated significantly higher with their own scale than with competing scales, supporting item discriminant validity. Scales could be constructed for 93-100% of respondents. Internal consistency reliability of the eight SF-36 scales was above 0.70 for all scales, with two exceptions. Floor effects were low for all except the two role functioning scales; ceiling effects were high for both role functioning scales and also were noteworthy for the Physical Functioning, Bodily Pain, and Social Functioning scales in some countries. These results support the construction and scoring of the SF-36 translations in these 11 countries using the method of summated ratings.     

Reflecting interactions among personality items: Meehl's paradox revisited.

Regarding configural scoring, P. E. Meehl (see record 1951-00366-001) provided an artificial example in which 2 binary items were not individually correlated with the incidence of schizophrenia; yet, if item interactions were taken into account, the items could accurately predict schizophrenia. Relative to this paradox, the present study shows how substantial new information can be used by uncovering item interactions in personality scales. The California Psychological Inventory (CPI) was analyzed using data consisting of 472 binary CPI item scores taken from 5,219 high school students residing in small US cities in the 1950's, originally collected by H. G. Gough (1975). Results show that for most subscales, a substantial number of items interacted such that some item weights depended on how some other items were scored. Subsequent analyses indicated that identifying interacting items pointed toward interesting subscales and subgroups of individuals as well as augmented interactive scales that were substantially more reliable than existing scales. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of the decision-tree and standard methods of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery.

Compared the decision-tree and standard formats of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery on 30 psychiatric patients (mean age 40.7 yrs), 30 subtle neurological patients (mean age 52.6 yrs), and 30 clear-cut neurological patients (mean age 55.1 yrs). Results of correlational analyses, mean item disagreements, the C. J. Golden et al (see record 1981-29340-001) diagnostic 2- and 3-point elevation rules, and a distance metric (D–2) for comparison of profiles strongly suggest a high degree of correspondence between the decision-tree method and the standard battery for the Clinical, Localization, and Factor scales. It is noted that the average number of items omitted by the decision-tree method indicates a substantial savings of time. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)