Pedagosko i psiholosko testiranje i procjenjivanje spadaju među najvažnije doprinose znanosti o ponasanju nasem drustvu i pružaju temeljna i znacajna poboljsanja u odnosu na ranije postupke. Iako se ne može ustvrditi da su svi testovi dovoljno usavrseni niti da su sva testiranja razborita i korisna, postoji velika kolicina informacija koje ukazuju na ucinkovitost kvalitetnih instrumenata u onim situacijama u kojima je njihovo koristenje potkrijepljeno validacijskim podacima. Pravilna upotreba testova može dovesti do boljih odluka o pojedincima i programima nego sto bi to bio slucaj bez njihovog koristenja, a također i ukazati na put za siri i pravedniji pristup obrazovanju i zaposljavanju. Međutim, losa upotreba testova može dovesti do zamjetne stete nanesene ispitanicima i drugim sudionicima u procesu donosenja odluka na temelju testovnih podataka. Cilj Standarda je promoviranje kvalitetne i eticne upotrebe testova te uspostavljanje osnovice za ocjenu kvalitete postupaka testiranja. Svrha objavljivanja Standarda je uspostavljanje kriterija za evaluaciju testova, provedbe testiranja i posljedica upotrebe testova. Iako bi evaluacija prikladnosti testa ili njegove primjene trebala ovisiti prvenstveno o strucnim misljenjima, Standardi pružaju okvir koji osigurava obuhvacanje svih relevantnih pitanja. Bilo bi poželjno da svi autori, sponzori, nakladnici i korisnici profesionalnih testova usvoje Standarde te da poticu druge da ih također prihvate.

Standards for educational and psychological testing

The traditional conception of validity divides it into three separate and substitutable types—namely, content, criterion, and construct validities. This view is fragmented and incomplete, especially because it fails to take into account both evidence of the value implications of score meaning as a basis for action and the social consequences of score use. The new unified concept of validity interrelates these issues as fundamental aspects of a more comprehensive theory of construct validity that addresses both score meaning and social values in test interpretation and test use. That is, unified validity integrates considerations of content, criteria, and consequences into a construct framework for the empirical testing of rational hypotheses about score meaning and theoretically relevant relationships, including those of an applied and a scientific nature. Six distinguishable aspects of construct validity are highlighted as a means of addressing central issues implicit in the notion of validity as a unified concept. These are content, substantive, structural, generalizability, external, and consequential aspects of construct validity. In effect, these six aspects function as general validity criteria or standards for all educational and psychological measurement, including performance assessments, which are discussed in some detail because of their increasing emphasis in educational and employment settings.

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Validity of Psychological Assessment: Validation of Inferences from Persons' Responses and Performances as Scientific Inquiry into Score Meaning.

Self-report measures of adult attachment are typically scored in ways (e.g., averaging or summing items) that can lead to erroneous inferences about important theoretical issues, such as the degree of continuity in attachment security and the differential stability of insecure attachment patterns. To determine whether existing attachment scales suffer from scaling problems, the authors conducted an item response theory (IRT) analysis of 4 commonly used self-report inventories: Experiences in Close Relationships scales (K. A. Brennan, C. L. Clark, & P. R. Shaver, 1998), Adult Attachment Scales (N. L. Collins & S. J. Read, 1990), Relationship Styles Questionnaire (D. W. Griffin & K. Bartholomew, 1994) and J. Simpson's (1990) attachment scales. Data from 1,085 individuals were analyzed using F. Samejima's (1969) graded response model. The authors' findings indicate that commonly used attachment scales can be improved in a number of important ways. Accordingly, the authors show how IRT techniques can be used to develop new attachment scales with desirable psychometric properties.

An item response theory analysis of self-report measures of adult attachment.

Background Although insomnia is a prevalent complaint with significant morbidity, it often remains unrecognized and untreated. Brief and valid instruments are needed both for screening and outcome assessment. This study examined psychometric indices of the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) to detect cases of insomnia in a population-based sample and to evaluate treatment response in a clinical sample. Methods Participants were 959 individuals selected from the community for an epidemiological study of insomnia (Community sample) and 183 individuals evaluated for insomnia treatment and 62 controls without insomnia (Clinical sample). They completed the ISI and several measures of sleep quality, fatigue, psychological symptoms, and quality of life; those in the Clinical sample also completed sleep diaries, polysomnography, and interviews to validate their insomnia/good sleep status and assess treatment response. In addition to standard psychometric indices of reliability and validity, item response theory analyses were computed to examine ISI item response patterns. Receiver operating curves were used to derive optimal cutoff scores for case identification and to quantify the minimally important changes in relation to global improvement ratings obtained by an independent assessor. Results ISI internal consistency was excellent for both samples (Cronbach α of 0.90 and 0.91). Item response analyses revealed adequate discriminatory capacity for 5 of the 7 items. Convergent validity was supported by significant correlations between total ISI score and measures of fatigue, quality of life, anxiety, and depression. A cutoff score of 10 was optimal (86.1% sensitivity and 87.7% specificity) for detecting insomnia cases in the community sample. In the clinical sample, a change score of -8.4 points (95% CI: -7.1, -9.4) was associated with moderate improvement as rated by an independent assessor after treatment. Conclusion These findings provide further evidence that the ISI is a reliable and valid instrument to detect cases of insomnia in the population and is sensitive to treatment response in clinical patients.

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The Insomnia Severity Index: psychometric indicators to detect insomnia cases and evaluate treatment response.

(1998). Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factor analytic studies. Gifted and Talented International: Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 97-98.

Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factor analytic studies

Cognitive process modeling of spatial ability: The assembling objects task

Future time perspective (FTP) is defined as "perceptions of the future as being limited or open-ended" (Lang and Carstensen, 2002; p. 125). The construct figures prominently in both workplace and retirement domains, but the age-predictions are competing: Workplace research predicts decreasing FTP age-change, in contrast, retirement scholars predict increasing FTP age-change. For the first time, these competing predictions are pitted in an experimental manipulation of subjective life expectancy (SLE). A sample of N = 207 older adults (age 45-60) working full-time (>30-h/week) were randomly assigned to SLE questions framed as either 'Live-to' or 'Die-by' to evaluate competing predictions for FTP. Results indicate general support for decreasing age-change in FTP, indicated by independent-sample t-tests showing lower FTP in the 'Die-by' framing condition. Further general-linear model analyses were conducted to test for interaction effects of retirement planning with experimental framings on FTP and intended retirement; While retirement planning buffered FTP's decrease, simple-effects also revealed that retirement planning increased intentions for sooner retirement, but lack of planning increased intentions for later retirement. Discussion centers on practical implications of our findings and consequences validity evidence in future empirical research of FTP in both workplace and retirement domains.

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An Experimental Evaluation of Competing Age-Predictions of Future Time Perspective between Workplace and Retirement Domains.

Ability measurement changed greatly at the end of the last century. Classical test theory (CTT) methods guided measurement for most of the last century. CTT methods are based on large sampling norms, fixed length tests, and ordinal level measurement scales. Here, a person's ability performance is based on relative standing among a population of individuals for a given test. However, a person's performance, or its change, relative to a person's performance on a particular item is not well incorporated. Ability measurement and test theory have evolved into newer methods. These newer approaches, known as item response theory (IRT) methods, are replacing CTT techniques. In IRT methods, person performance may be referenced to specific item parameters, as well as to relative standing in a population of persons. Persons can receive different tests measuring the same unidimensional trait, of varying lengths, and still be meaningfully compared, given that the tests are linked or equated. The scale of measurement for IRT is interval-level, so relative score levels and their change are weighted accordingly.



In this chapter, both classical and item response theory approaches will be covered, and each method's strengths and weaknesses discussed.


Keywords:

ability measurement;
classical test theory;
item response theory;
test theory

Item Response Theory and Measuring Abilities

Automatic Item Generation: A More Efficient Process for Developing Mathematics Achievement Items?.

The Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) (Brazelton, 1973, 1984) is a 27-item scale representing individual differences in the newborn infants' behavioral repertoire. The NBAS items are typically collapsed into six clusters (Lester, 1984). Although the NBAS has been examined using exploratory factor analysis methods, no confirmatory factor analysis study has been published in which the behavior structure of full-term, healthy infants is examined. In the current research, competing models assessing variations of the Lester behavior clusters were performed using confirmatory factor analysis. Models comparing six independent factors, six correlated factors, and models estimating a general adaptiveness factor plus six factors were assessed. Examination of the results suggests continued investigations of neonatal behaviors are needed.

Susan E. Embretson

Papers

Cognitive process modeling of spatial ability: The assembling objects task

An Experimental Evaluation of Competing Age-Predictions of Future Time Perspective between Workplace and Retirement Domains.

Item Response Theory and Measuring Abilities

Automatic Item Generation: A More Efficient Process for Developing Mathematics Achievement Items?.

Using confirmatory factor analysis to identify newborn behavior structure with the NBAS