Education Commons^™

7. Implementation Decisions In Designing Computer-Based Instructional Testing Programs, John V. Noonan, Paul D. Sarvela

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

From preschool to graduate school, computer-based instruction (CBI) has become an increasingly common event in today's education and training community. The interactive characteristics of CBI and its ability to simulate advanced concepts and operations, such as patient management simulations for medical students (Whiteside & Whiteside, 1987/88) or the maneuvering of a jet airplane (Conkright, 1982), make CBI an attractive new instructional delivery system for educators working in many different fields .

Because of these qualities , the computer has tremendous potential in educational and psychological measurement. For example, Millman & Arter (1984) describe how the computer aids in maintaining test-item …

9. Legal Issues In Computerized Psychological Testing, Donald N. Bersoff, Paul J. Hofer

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

A decade ago a scholar writing in a legal journal asked the question, "Can/Should Computers Replace Judges?" (D'Amato, 1977). The article explored problems involved in developing computer systems capable of making the difficult assessments and judgments required in judicial decision making. In discussing these problems, the author quoted extensively from Joseph Weizenbaum, who in a well-known critique of computerized psychotherapy, sagely asserted, "Since we do not now have any ways of making computers wise, we ought not now to give computers tasks that demand wisdom" (Weizenbaum, 1976). Nevertheless, the legal scholar concluded that any humanistic misgivings about computerized decision making …

Subject Index

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

Subject Index (4 pages)

A-Z

A

AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale School Edition, 25
Acceptability of microcomputers, 145- 147
Access limitations, test security, 182- 183
Access to directions, 184-185
Adaptive Behavior Inventory for Children, 25
Adaptive testing, 6-7,15-16, 245-247
Adjective check list, 249
American Educational Research Association.Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, 147,228-229, 240
American Psychological Association Ethical Principles of Psychologists, 147,230,257-259, 263-265
American Psychological Association General Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services, 229, 257- 258, 263-265
American Psychological Association, Guidelines for Computer-based Tests and Interpretations, 14,43,147-148, 245-273
American Psychological Association Specialty Guidelines for the Delivery of Services, 229
American Psychological …

The Computer And The Decision Making-Process, Jane Close Conoley, Terry B. Gutkin, Steven Wise

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

This volume in the Buros-Nebraska Series on Testing and Measurement provides state-of-the-art contributions concerning the interface between computer technology and traditional psychometrics . The volume title, Computers and the Decision-Making Process, describes both reality and potential in a field that provides a dizzying array of promises and problems to be pursued and be solved. This volume, like the previous ones in our series, reflects papers given at the annual Buros-Nebraska Symposium on Testing and Measurement and those especially commissioned for the book. Each of the contributors has a special expertise to examine the complex issues raised by the …

Title And Contents- The Computer And The Decision-Making Process, Jane Close Conoley, Terry B. Gutkin, Steven L. Wise

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

The Computer And The Decision-Making Process

Contents

Preface ix

1. Computer-Assisted Personality Test Interpretation: The Dawn of Discovery
Douglas N. Jackson

Some Preconditions for Valid Computer- Assisted Test Interpretation 1
The Dawn of Discovery 6
References 9

2. Psychodiagnostic Computing: From Interpretive Programs to Expert Systems 11
Marley W Watkins and Paul A. McDermott

Development of Administration and Interpretation Programs 11
Novel Administration and Interpretation Programs 14
Computerized Interpretation Systems 16
A Psychoeducational Diagnostic Model 19
A Computerized Psychoeducational Diagnostic System 23
Summary 36
References 37

3. Assessment of Validity in Computer-Based Test Interpretations
Kevin L. Moreland

Some History 44 …

Preface, Jane Close Conoley

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

This volume in the Buros-Nebraska Series on Testing and Measurement provides state-of-the-art contributions concerning the interface between computer technology and traditional psychometrics. The volume title, Computers and the Decision-Making Process, describes both reality and potential in a field that provides a dizzying array of promises and problems to be pursued and be solved.

This volume like the previous ones in our series reflects papers given at the annual Buros-Nebraska Symposium on Testing and Measurement and those especially commissioned for the book. Each of the contributors has a special expertise to examine the complex issues raised by the addition of …

1. Computer-Assisted Personal Ity Test Interpretation: The Dawn Of Discovery, Douglas N. Jackson

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

My aim in this chapter is to outline some of the substantive and psychometric bases on which we can build a science of assessment that takes advantage of the enormous potential inherent in the digital computer and in artificial intelligence. Some of these foundations are within the traditions of classical assessment. But others represent urgently needed areas of explication and research.

It is my view, in the tradition of Cronbach (1954), that developers of computer software for testing should listen to what psychometricians say, and, as well, psychometricians should be sensitive to new research ideas waiting to be solved that …

2. Psychodiagnostic Computing: From Interpretive Programs To Expert Systems, Marley W. Watkins, Paul A. Mcdermott

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

As amply demonstrated by the chapters in this volume, computer applications have pervaded all aspects of psychological practice. Although thought by some to be relatively new (Nolen & Spencer, 1986), semiautomatic scoring of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank was accomplished more than 50 years ago (Campbell, 1968) and systems of computer-based test interpretation have been operational for 25 years (Fowler, 1985).

DEVELOPMENT OF ADMINISTRATION AND INTERPRETATION PROGRAMS

Early automated programs typically focused upon the scoring or interpretation of a single psychological test. Most frequently, that test was the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Fowler, 1985) but the Rorschach was interpreted as …

3. Assessment Of Val Id Ity In Computer-Based Test Interpretations, Kevin L. Moreland

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

The use of computers to interpret psychological tests is a "hot" topic, both within psychology and without. It is hot in the sense of giving rise to an increasing number of books and articles (e.g., Butcher, 1985, 1987; Eyde, 1987; Krug, 1987). It is hot in the sense of giving rise to an ever-increasing number of business enterprises (compare any recent APA Monitor with an issue from 1981). It is hot in the sense of capturing the attention of the news media (e.g., Petterson, 1983). And it is hot in the sense of giving rise to increasing controversy within psychology …

4. The Validity Of Computerbased Test Interpretations Of The Mmpi, Lorraine D. Eyde, Dennis M. Kowal, Francis J. Fishburne Jr.

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

With advances in computer technology, computer-based test interpretations (CBTI), first developed in the early 1960s (Fowler, 1985), have proliferated (Eyde & Kowal, 1987). CBTIs have been developed and marketed for a variety of tests used in clinical, counseling, educational, and employment settings. The largest number of commercial CBTI systems are available for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI; Krug, 1987), the most widely used inventory of its kind in the world, which has a continuously growing literature of more than 8,000 books and articles (Holden, 1986; Lanyon, 1984).

According to Harris:
CBTI refers to the automation of a set of …

5. Use Of Computer Technology In Behavioral Assessments, Thomas R. Kratochwill, Elizabeth J. Doll, W. Patrick Dickson

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

Major developments in the behavioral assessment field have occurred over the past decade (e.g., Barlow, 1981 ; Ciminero, Calhoun, & Adams , 1986; Haynes & Wilson, 1979; Mash & Terdal, 1988a). The use of computer technology by behavioral assessors has occurred, but this is a relatively recent development (Kratochwill, Doll, & Dickson, 1986; Romanczyk, 1986). Consider, for example, that behavioral assessment texts include little discussion of computer applications and many articles restrict discussion of behavioral assessment to observational measures (see Cone & Hawkins, 1977, for an exception). In psychology and education, issues of journals have been devoted to computer applications …

6. The Use Of The Computer In The Practice Of Industrial/ Organizational Psychology, Lyle F. Schoenfeldt, Jorge L. Mendoza

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

The rapid proliferation of computer technology, in the form of mainframe computers, networks of interconnected machines, and stand-alone personal computers, is having a profound effect on many areas of life. As a result of the spread of computer equipment to offices, homes, and educational institutions; the variety of software applications has grown at an unprecedented rate. With this as background, it should be no surprise that computers have assumed an increasing role in professional practice, including applications in providing services in the area of industrial and organizational psychology.

Industrial-organizational psychologists function in a variety of settings, but primarily provide human …

8. Issues In Intelligent Computer-Assisted Instruction: Eval Uation And Measurement, Harold F. O'Neil Jr., Eva L. Baker

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

In this chapter we plan to explore two issues in the field of intelligent computer assisted instruction (ICAI) that we feel offer opportunities to advance the state of the art. These issues are evaluation of ICAI systems and the use of the underlying technology in ICAI systems to develop tests. For each issue we will provide a theoretical context, discuss key constructs, provide a brief window to the appropriate literature, suggest methodological solutions and conclude with a concrete example of the feasibility of the solution from our own research.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTER-ASSISTED INSTRUCTION (ICAI)

ICAI is the application of artificial intelligence …

Author Index

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

Author Index (10 pages)

A-Z

A

Acker, N. E., 130, 154
Adair, F. L., 51, 52, 57,68,87,89, 114
Adams, H. E., 125, 151
Adams, K. M., 13,37,51,59, 68
Agras, W. S., 136, 137, 151
Alessi, S. M., 209, 221
Algozzine, B., 19,37
Aikin, M. C., 204, 219, 221
Allen, B. A. , 12,41
Allred, L. J., 249, 253
Allusisi, E. A., 156, 174
Alpert, D., 149, 150
Altman, H., 49, 71
Anastasi, A., 77, 114
Andl, R., 129, 151, 239, 242
Anderson, B. N., 52, 68
Anderson, C. L., 201, 224
Anderson, R. J., 201, 221
Anderson, T., 126, 142, …

10. Guidelines For Computer Testing, Bert F. Green

The Computer and the Decision-Making Process

Testing by computer is big business. Many companies are offering software enabling a psychologist to test a client by seating him or her at a computer terminal and pressing Return. The software presents the instructions on the screen, guides the test taker through some sample items to see if the instructions are understood, and then presents the test, automatically recording the responses. After one or more tests have been completed, the equipment scores the responses, and delivers test scores. But it doesn't stop there. It then continues by printing out a complete test interpretation in fairly well-constructed narrative prose. The …