Chapter 15

Question 1

What is the focus of the chapter on Interests & Attitudes?

Answer 1

Non-cognitive domain

Previous chapters focused on broad assessments of personality or specific characteristics like depression.

Question 2

Who are the two dominant names in the field of career interest testing?

Answer 2

• Edward K. Strong, Jr.
• Frederic Kuder

Their work has significantly influenced vocational interest measures.

Question 3

Vocational interest measures differ in two main ways: origin of scales and _______.

Answer 3

item format

Item format can be absolute or relative in nature.

Question 4

What are the three major Career Interest Inventories mentioned?

Answer 4

• Strong Interest Inventory
• Kuder Career Interests Assessments
• Self-Directed Search (SDS)

These inventories are widely used in counseling, especially in schools.

Question 5

According to John Holland, career interests can be organized around how many major themes?

Answer 5

6 major themes

These themes are related to job types and can be displayed in a hexagon.

Question 6

The Strong Interest Inventory contains how many items?

Answer 6

291 items

Items are categorized into occupations, subject areas, activities, leisure activities, people, and personal characteristics.

Question 7

What are the five different types of scores in the Strong Interest Inventory?

Answer 7

• General Occupational Themes (GOTs)
• Basic Interest Scales (BISs)
• Occupational Scales (OSs)
• Personal Style Scale
• Administrative Indexes

Each score type serves a different purpose in assessing career interests.

Question 8

True or false: The Kuder Career Interest Assessment uses a forced-choice triad format.

Answer 8

TRUE

Examinees mark the activity they like the most, next most, and least.

Question 9

The Self-Directed Search (SDS) is designed mainly for which groups?

Answer 9

• High school students
• College students
• Adults

It is self-administered, self-scoring, and self-interpreted.

Question 10

What are the three components of an attitude?

Answer 10

• Cognitive
• Emotional
• Behavioral

These components help in understanding how attitudes influence behavior.

Question 11

What is the most widely used method for attitude scale construction?

Answer 11

Likert Scales

This method involves summated ratings based on responses to items expressing attitudes.

Question 12

The Thurstone Scales use what type of response format?

Answer 12

Agree vs. Disagree

Statements are ordered from very favorable to very unfavorable.

Question 13

What is the basic idea behind Guttman Scales?

Answer 13

Ordered items with complete internal consistency

The examinee’s position in the ordered set predicts their responses to all items.

Question 14

What is the difference between attitude measures and public opinion polls?

Answer 14

• Attitude measures assess individual attitudes
• Public opinion polls assess group positions

Both can use similar items, but their targets differ.

Question 15

What is the main conclusion from Paul Meehl’s work regarding predictions?

Answer 15

Formulas/rules beat human judgment

Actuarial predictions are more reliable than personal judgments.

Question 16

What is the maximum possible score on the Self-Directed Search (SDS) for each RIASEC area?

Answer 16

50

The minimum score for an area is 0.

Question 17

What does the Administrative Index in the Strong Interest Inventory provide information about?

Answer 17

Validity of the inventory administration

It indicates whether the inventory was administered sincerely.

Question 18

What is the criterion-referenced approach to interpretation in the SDS based on?

Answer 18

Summary Score Scales

Norms are not a significant part of the interpretative scheme.

Question 19

What does p value represent in the context of item analysis?

Answer 19

A value that indicates the proportion of correct scores from an item

It is different from statistical p values.

Question 20

What is the difference between dichotomous and polytomous items?

Answer 20

• Dichotomous: Two possible responses
• Polytomous: More than two possible responses

Dichotomous items typically measure a single concept.

Question 21

What does item discrimination refer to?

Answer 21

An item’s ability to differentiate between groups of persons

It can be assessed using external or internal criteria.

Question 22

What are the two criteria for measuring item discrimination?

Answer 22

• External: Defined groups (e.g., depressed vs. non-depressed)
• Internal: Differentiated total scores between persons

This helps in understanding how well an item performs in distinguishing between different groups.

Question 23

How is the D index calculated?

Answer 23

By measuring how well each item discriminates between persons

A larger difference in score proportions between groups indicates better discrimination.

Question 24

What does a high item-total correlation indicate?

Answer 24

Good discrimination between persons

A corrected item total correlation of 0.3-0.5 is considered good.

Question 25

What is the implication of a **corrected item total correlation** higher than 0.8?

Answer 25

It suggests that the item is too closely related to the total score, which may not make sense ## Footnote For example, if one item correlates highly with total consciousness, it implies oversimplification.

Question 26

What is the relationship between the length of a test and its **reliability**?

Answer 26

The longer the test, the more reliable it is, up to a limit ## Footnote Fatigue and boredom can affect reliability.

Question 27

What does a **left-tailed histogram** indicate about a test?

Answer 27

It indicates an easy test ## Footnote This is useful when wanting to discriminate among lower-performing individuals.

Question 28

What does a **right-tailed histogram** indicate about a test?

Answer 28

It indicates a hard test ## Footnote This is useful for differentiating among higher-performing individuals.