any distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one individual varies from another.

also distinguish one person from another but are relatively less enduring.

covers a wide range of possible characteristics.

absence of primacy of male or female characteristics.

individuals who do not classify themselves on the masculine-feminine or male-female continuum.

an informed, scientific concept developed or constructed to describe or explain behavior.

an observable action or the product of an observable action, including test- or assessment-related responses.

, a reminder that a trait is not expected to be manifested in behavior 100% of the time

the need for varied, novel, and complex sensations and experiences and the willingness to take physical and social risks for the sake of such experiences

seeks to identify people who are high or low on this trait.

“Whatever exists at all exists in some amount. To know it thoroughly involves knowing its quantity as well as its quality.”

wherein a trait is measured by a series of test items. ● each response to a test item is converted to a number according to a test “key” (e.g., correct = 1 and incorrect = 0).

psychological tests may be used not to predict behavior but to ______ it—, to aid in the understanding of behavior that has already taken place. Give the assumption.

● competent test users understand and appreciate the limitations of the tests they use as well as how those limitations might be compensated for by data from other sources.

, a long-standing assumption that factors other than what a test attempts to measure will influence performance on the test. ● traditionally: something that is more than expected; it is actually a component of the measurement process.

____, component of a test score attributable to sources other than the trait or ability measured.

controversial than the 6

Assumption ● a world without tests would most likely be more a nightmare than a dream.

consistency of the measuring tool: the precision with which the test measures and the extent to which error is present in measurements. ● yields the same numerical measurement every time it measures the same thing under the same conditions.

if it does measure what it purports to measure. ● Ex. a test of reaction time is a ___ test if it accurately measures reaction time

the test performance data of a particular group of testtakers that are designed for use as a reference when evaluating or interpreting individual test scores. ● provides a standard with which the results of measurement can be compared. ● literature: behavior that is usual, average, normal, standard, expected, or typical

method of evaluation and a way of deriving meaning from test scores by evaluating an individual testtaker’s score and comparing it to scores of a group of testtakers. ● goal is to yield information on a testtaker’s standing or ranking relative to some comparison group of testtakers.

group of people presumed to be representative of the universe of people who may take a particular test and whose performance data on that test may be used as a reference source or context for evaluating individual test scores

process of deriving norms. ● may be modified to describe a particular type of norm derivation

the controversial practice of norming on the basis of race or ethnic background.

consist of descriptive statistics based on a group of testtakers in a given period of time rather than norms obtained by formal sampling methods

process of administering a test to a representative sample of testtakers for the purpose of establishing norms ● a test is said to be standardized when it has clearly specified procedures for administration and scoring, typically including normative data.

that which others are compared to or evaluated against. ● what is usual, generally accepted, or commonly employed.

making or transforming something into something that can serve as a basis of comparison or judgment.

, statistic used to estimate the extent to which an observed score deviates from a true score

, in regression, an estimate of the degree of error involved in predicting the value of one variable from another

, measure of sampling error.

, statistic used to estimate how large a difference between two scores should be before the difference is considered statistically significant.

, process of selecting the portion of the universe deemed to be representative of the whole population

, portion of the universe of people deemed to be representative of the whole population.

, process of developing a sample based on specific subgroups of a population

, process of developing a sample based on specific subgroups of a population in which every member has the same chance of being included in the sample.

, we arbitrarily select some sample because we believe it to be representative of the population

, process of arbitrarily selecting some people to be part of a sample because they are readily available, not because they are most representative of the population being studied

an expression of the percentage of people whose score on a test or measure falls below a particular raw score. ● converted score that refers to a percentage of testtakers.

distribution of raw scores, to the number of items that were answered correctly multiplied by 100 and divided by the total number of items.

, the raw data from a test’s standardization sample converted to percentile form.

developed on the basis of any trait, ability, skill, or other characteristic that is presumed to develop, deteriorate, or otherwise be affected by chronological age, school grade, or stage of life.

developmental norms

the average performance of different samples of testtakers who were at various ages at the time the test was administered.

designed to indicate the average test performance of testtakers in a given school grade ● developed by administering the test to representative samples of children over a range of consecutive grade levels (such as first through sixth grades).

, derived from a normative sample that was nationally representative of the population at the time the norming study was conducted. ● obtained by testing large numbers of people representative of different variables such as age, gender, racial/ethnic background, socioeconomic strata.

, an equivalency table for scores on two nationally standardized tests designed to measure the same thing ● provide some stability to test scores by anchoring them to other test scores.

, procedure for comparing scores on two or more tests that entails calculating percentile norms for each test and then identifying the score on each test that corresponds to the percentile

norms for any defined group within a larger group ● what results from such segmentation are more narrow

, provide normative information with respect to the local population’s performance on some test. ● developed by test users themselves ● Ex. individual high schools may wish to develop their own school norms

, system of scoring wherein the distribution of scores obtained on the test from one group of testtakers (the fixed reference group) is used as the basis for the calculation of test scores for future administrations; the SAT (1926) and the GRE are scored this way

one group of testtakers where the distribution scores are obtained.

, permits the conversion of raw scores on the new version of the test into fixed reference group scores.

evaluating the test score in relation to other scores on the same test ● area of focus is how an individual performed relative to other people who took the test.

, a standard on which a judgment or decision may be based.

method of evaluation and a way of deriving meaning from test scores by evaluating an individual’s score with reference to a set standard. ● area of focus is the testtaker’s performance: what the testtaker can or cannot do; what the testtaker has or has not learned; whether the testtaker does or does not meet specified criteria