Browsing by Author "Whitely, Susan E."

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    Estimating measurement error on highly speeded tests
    (1979) Whitely, Susan E.
    Despite many advances in test theory, estimating measurement error which arises from temporary changes in the person or test situation has remained relatively unchanged. Unfortunately, not only are short-term instabilities the most important source of measurement error for many traits, especially those measured from highly speeded tests; but the classical test-retest formula for estimating error is based on untenable assumptions with respect to practice effects. The current paper presents a method which gives maximum likelihood estimates of measurement error within the context of a simplex model for practice effects. The appropriateness of the model is tested for five traits, and error estimates are compared to the classical formula estimates.
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    Individual inconsistency: Implications for test reliability and behavioral predictability
    (1978) Whitely, Susan E.
    The nature of individual inconsistency in performance on trait measurements is an important topic in psychometrics because of its direct relevance to measurement reliability. Several studies have supported short-term inconsistency as a systematic source of variation among individuals by finding some evidence for generalizability and relationship to behavioral predictability. However, these findings are questionable, since these studies confounded change with short-term fluctuation in their response inconsistency measure. The current research separates these two sources of inconsistency in a reanalysis of the data from one major study on short-term consistency and finds little evidence for generalizability or a relationship to behavioral predictability. These results support the popular assumption that measurement error from short-term fluctuations is not due to systematic individual differences in response consistency, as well as supporting a more limited definition of the individual inconsistency construct.
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    Information structure for geometric analogies: A test theory approach
    (1981) Whitely, Susan E.; Schneider, Lisa M.
    Although geometric analogies are popular items for measuring intelligence, the information processes that are involved in their solution have not been studied in a test theory context. In the current study, processing is examined by testing alternative models of information structure on geometric analogies. In contrast to the treatment of models in other studies that have appeared in the cognitive literature, the models are tested jointly as mathematical models of processing and as latent trait models of individual differences. The joint modeling was achieved by applying the one-parameter linear logistic latent trait model to predict response accuracy from information structure. The results supported the model that distinguished between spatial distortion and spatial displacement transformations, which have opposite effects on item difficulty. Further, no significant sex difference in overall accuracy or processing were observed. Implications of the results for processing mechanisms and test design are discussed.
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    Information-processing on intelligence test items: Some response components
    (1977) Whitely, Susan E.
    The reorientation of experimental psychology from studying performance to studying cognitive processes has created a new potential for understanding ability tests in terms of the nature of the cognitive events which contribute to individual differences in solving the test items. The results from the present study suggest the feasibility of explaining individual differences in performance on a prototypic intelligence test item-verbal analogies- from the success and efficiency of processing information on hypothesized component events. The data revealed that at least three types of processing events are needed to describe individual differences in the component task durations, but that probably only one factor is needed to describe accuracy in completing the components. More critically, both the accuracy and duration of the component tasks were significantly related to solving psychometric analogies. The results are discussed with respect to the nature of successful performance on analogy test items and the need for more complex models to fully account for individual differences in test performance.