Psychometrics经典 1/13-1/19/2018

latent trait

The problem of identifying and defining such traits in terms of observable variables and determining what traits are important in a given behavioral context is the major problem in any theory of psychology. In studying any particular behavioral context, the psychologist will bring to bear the relevant theoretical formulation and will perhaps employ one or more models within that theory as a basis for designing experimental studies and for analyzing the data from these studies. It is this interplay of theory, model, and data that adds to scientific knowledge(Lord & Novick, 1968, p. 537).

Lord, F.M., Novick, M.R., & Birnbaum, A. (1968). Statistical theories of mental test scores. Oxford, England: Addison-Wesley.

validity and reliability

The problem of validity is that of whether a test really measures what it purports to measure, while the question of reliability is that of how accurately a test measures the thing which it does measure (Kelley, 1927, p. 14).

Kelley, T. L. (1927). Interpretation of educational measurements. Oxford, England: World Book Co.

measurement error

One reason we need to have a theory of mental testing is that mental test scores contain sizable errors of measurement. Another reason is that the abilities or traits that psychologists wish to study are usually not directly measurable; rather they must be studied indirectly, through measurements of other quantities.

Lord, F.M., Novick, M.R., & Birnbaum, A. (1968). Statistical theories of mental test scores. Oxford, England: Addison-Wesley.

scientific psychology as a whole

Psychology continues to this day to be limited by the dedication of its investigators to one or the other method of inquiry rather than to scientific psychology as a whole (Cronbach, 1957, p. 671).

Cronbach, L. J. (1957). The two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist, 12(11), 671–684. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0043943

validity

We know how to measure something called intelligence, but we do not know what has been measured (Brody, 2000, p.30).

Brody, N. (2000). History of theories and measurements of intelligence.In R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), Handbook of intelligence (pp. 16-33). New York, Cambridge University Press.

IRT scaling

The idea for the method of scaling tests which I am about to describe occurred to me while trying to tease out the logic of some of the well-known educational scales and mental age scales. The authors of educational scale monographs seldom give an adequate discussion of the assumptions and of the logic of their scale constructions (Thurstone, 1925, p.433).

Thurstone, L. L. (1925). A method of scaling psychological and educational tests. Journal of Educational Psychology, 16(7), 433–451. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0073357

aptitude & mastery

… if students are normally distributed with respect to aptitude, but the kind and quality of instruction and the amount of time available for learning are made appropriate to the characteristics and needs of each student, the majority of students may be expected to achieve mastery of the subject (Bloom, 1968, p.3).

Bloom, B. S. (1968). Learning for Mastery. Instruction and Curriculum. Regional Education Laboratory for the Carolinas and Virginia, Topical Papers and Reprints, Number 1. Evaluation comment, 1(2), n2.