The purpose of this study, as part of a larger project, was to broach the question of the relationship between interest measures and trade course success. The inventories used as measures of interest were the Kuder Preference Record Form BB, the Miles Short Form of the Kuder (which comprises pages 7, 8 and 9 of the Kuder Form), and the Lee-Thorpe Occupational Interest Inventory Advanced Form A. These tests were administered as part of a battery,which also included measures of intelligence and aptitude, to two groups, one comprising 41 naval writers and the other 157 naval stokers. (1) The relationship between the mechanical and clerical scales was determined by product-moment correlation. The correlations found between the clerical scales were: .53 between the Kuder and the Short Form Kuder, .64 between the Kuder and the Lee-Thorpe, .29 between the Short Form Kuder and the Lee-Thorpe. (2) The correlations found between the mechanical scales were : .80 between the Kuder and the Short Form Kuder, .63 between the Kuder and the Lee-Thorpe , .45 between the Short Form Kuder and the Lee-Thorpe. (3) Product-moment correlation coefficients between the interest scales and the other tests of the battery were very low, ranging from .01 to -.29. (4) Product-moment correlation coefficients between the interest scales and marks obtained In final examinations for the writer and stoker courses were also low, ranging from .11 (between mechanical scale scores on the Short Form Kuder and stokers' course marks) to .24 (between Lee-Thorpe business scale scores and writers' course marks). (5) Multiple correlations, in which measures of intelligence, aptitude and interest scale scores were correlated with course marks, were low, ranging from .23 to .54. These combined measures offered little hope of being useful as a basis for predicting trade course success. (6) Mean scores of writers and stokers were computed and differences between the mean profiles were studied. On 17 of the 29 scales differences were found which were significant beyond the .01 level of confidence. (7) Mean scores for the upper and. lower halves of the writer group (halves being used because of the small number of cases in the sample). No differences were found which were significant to the .01 level, only two being significant at the .05 level. When the same procedure was followed with stoker group scores, differences significant at the .01 level occurred on only two of the scales, two others showing differences significant beyond the .05 level of confidence. In general, the results indicate that prediction of course standing by regression, on the basis of interest scale scores, is not feasible. However, once personnel have been selected as suitable for trade training, the process of allocation can be improved and speeded up by comparing the interest test profiles of the individuals in the group with mean profile patterns for the trades in which training is to be undertaken. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

This report presents a review and bibliography of the work which has been done in the fields of manual and mechanical aptitude up to and including July, 1948. All studies in these areas which have been mentioned in the Psychological Abstracts, as well as a number of others which were published prior to 1926, are listed in the bibliography. The more significant of these investigations have been selected for review. The bibliography contains 830 references, of which approximately 500 deal with mechanical aptitude and 300 with manual aptitude. The remaining works listed, while of a more general nature, are studies which have proved useful to investigators in the fields under consideration. Both manual and mechanical aptitudes are discussed with reference to (1) theory, (2) relationships with other traits, (5) development of tests, (4) use of tests in vocational selection, and (5) contributions from European and other countries. British and American theories are compared and contrasted. The relationships between manual and mechanical aptitudes, on the one hand, and such traits as age, sex, and intelligence, on the other, are briefly considered. The subsections entitled "Tests" review the development of various testing procedures. Some attempt has been made to classify these, on the basis of the apparatus used and the type of ability required. Mechanical aptitude tests, for example, may be either performance or pencil and paper tests, and many require one or more of such varied abilities as the accurate perception of spatial relationships, a knowledge of mechanical principles, and the ability to assemble mechanical objects. Most British investigators prefer to consider tests of assembly under the heading of manual dexterity, wherever either the tests or descriptions thereof were available to the reviewer, they have been briefly described. The use of tests of manual and mechanical aptitude for purposes of vocational selection is discussed at some length. It was found that tests have been devised for a vast number of skilled trades, in addition to several of the professions, particularly dentistry and engineering. In the case of mechanical aptitude, tests have been included in guidance as well as in selection programs. Finally, under the fifth heading, an attempt has been made to evaluate the relative contributions of countries other than the United States and Great Britain. The contributions of the countries most prolific in these fields are considered separately. In Europe, until about 1940, Germany led in the number of investigations reported in the Psychological Abstracts, with France and Italy next in line. However, by the beginning of the second world war, Russian studies were becoming quite numerous, and, at present, Russia appears to be approaching the position of dominance once held by Germany. The review terminates with a brief resume under the heading "Summary and Conclusions". It is concluded that adequate studies are still lacking in many areas, and that the principal needs are more careful definition of the jobs studied and the securing of adequate criteria to determine the validity of manual and mechanical aptitude tests. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

It was the purpose of this survey to determine what use has been made of psychometric tests in the nursing field and to ascertain how widely this method has been accepted for selection and guidance in the training schools of the United States and Canada. Information regarding the use of tests in the field of nursing in the United States was obtained from the accumulation of literature on the subject and by writing directly to various workers in the field. A detailed survey was made by correspondence of Canadian schools of nursing to determine what use is being made of psychometric tests in the selection of their candidates and the counseling of their trainees. Data were obtained from the Canadian Nurses Association.regarding the rate of withdrawal and the reasons for withdrawal in Canadian training centres. Certain additional information was obtained with regard to the status of testing in English schools of nursing. The collected data were reviewed, analyzed and the salient features noted. The value of psychometric testing to Canadian schools of nursing has been considered. The results of this study regarding the value of psychometic selection methods to Canadian schools of nursing are not conclusive. Although 79% of American schools of nursing employ psychometric selection techniques, the rate of elimination of nursing students in 1947 was 39%. In Canada, where scientific selection methods have been virtually non-existent, the elimination rate was only 20% in 1948. It is doubted that any of the available testing devices could appreciably reduce this figure. It is concluded, however, that testing devices might be used to advantage for the guidance and counseling of nursing students in Canadian training centres and that test batteries might be employed in selection in those areas where the elimination rate appears to be abnormally high. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was the construction and development of an objective written carpenter's trade test which would represent an economy in the screening of trade applicants. A brief survey was made of the major developments and current trends in the trade testing movement and available pertinent statistics regarding other reported studies was presented. A trade test consisting of two hundred and four items was then constructed. They were multiple choice items and an effort was made to make as many of the items pictorial as was possible. The Canadian Army trade specifications for the trade of carpenter was selected as the subject area which was to be sampled by the test. Material was chosen from existing carpentry tests, technical journals and technical books and incorporated into acceptable items. Each item was reviewed by at least three competent carpenters and evaluated in accordance with the criteria of a good test item before inclusion in the test. The test was then administerd to 240 subjects; 96 novices, 81 apprentices and 63 carpenters. The Wonderlic Personnel Test was administered at the same time in order to obtain an indication of the subject's intelligence. The 204 item test was then scored. The number of items correctly answered by each individual and the percentage of each group answering each item correctly were computed. For each individual item the standard errors of the percentage for each group, the standard error of the difference between the adjacent groups and the "t" ratios were determined. Items for the final test were then selected upon a twofold criteria; these were that a "t" ratio of at least three be obtained between two of the adjacent groups and that not less than fifty percent of the carpenters correctly answered the item and that not more than fifty percent of the novices correctly answered it. One hundred items were selected for the final test. The average "t" ratio between carpenters and apprentices and between novices and apprentices was 3.61. These items were then rescored for each individual. The standard errors of the means for each group, the standard errors of the differences between the means of the adjacent groups and "t" ratios were computed. The resultant "t” ratios were 13.61 between the carpenters and the apprentices groups, 13.55 between apprentices and novices groups and 35.18 between novices and carpenters group. These would indicate very significant differences between the three groups. The reliabilities of the test for each group was determined by the split-half method increased by the Spearman-Brown formula. Reliabilities of .79, .88, .73 and .96 were obtained for the carpenters' apprentices' novices' and total groups respectively. The relationship between trade test scores and other variables was determined. The test showed a statistically significantly reliable, but low, correlation co-efficient with intelligence as measured by the Wonderlic Personnel Test but education, age and experience had a negligible relationship to trade test scores. A reasonable degree of validity was exhibited. The conclusion was drawn that the test would serve a useful adjunct in the screening of trade applicants and that the method followed in its construction could be extended to the development of similar tests for other ocupations. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The problem investigated was the relation of intelligence to the spread of effect. A null hypothesis was set up that the spread pattern obtained from more intelligent subjects would not differ from that found in the less intelligent. Data were collected from two groups of thirty subjects each, one composed of "bright" and the other of "dull" students. All were pupils in Grades V, VI, and VII in the same school. The material was of the conventional type (word-stimulus, number-response) used in many "effect" experiments, but the typical procedure of rewarding correct responses with the announcement "right" and punishing wrong responses with the announcement "wrong" was modified by the omission of the announcement "wrong" during the course of the experiment. Serial position effects were obviated by making successive presentations of the list of stimulus words continuous, and by the length of the list. Favored responses were determined with the help of two presentations free from reward at the beginning of the experiment, and were eliminated from all calculations in order to establish a neutral baseline, which was determined by computing the percentage of total repetitions throughout the five presentations during which rewards were given. Gradients were plotted for each group from the percentages of repetition of rewarded responses and of repetitions one, two, and three steps before and after rewarded responses. The results are such that the null hypothesis must be accepted, that is, intelligence as measured by a standard test is not a variable factor in determining the spread of effect. Of the group differences found, none is statistically reliable. In so far as can be judged from a single experiment and within the parameters of that experiment, it is concluded that reward has equal effect on bright and dull students in a serial learning situation. The relatively low percentage levels of repetition as compared with those of previous studies is attributed to one of two factors, or possibly to a combination of both. In the first place, the method of assembling the data precluded favored responses from contributing to the gradients obtained, and so reduced the number of repetitions calculated. In the second, the word-list was of a length commonly used with subjects at the college level. From these facts, two tentative conclusions are reached. One, that to the extent that favored responses contribute to gradient data, levels of repetition obtained in a number of previous studies and attributed to the effect of reward, are spuriously high, and the influence of reward has been exaggerated. Two, the length of the test (in this case, the word-list), is a factor determining the influence of reward. It is thought that both of these conditions may be responsible, to a degree so far undetermined, for the results obtained in this study. Similarly to the levels of repetition found in each response category, the height of the established base-line is conspicuously lower than any previously adopted, and is noteworthy in its close approximation to the pure chance figure. It has been accounted for on the basis of elimination of favored responses and serial position effects, and would also have been affected by the factor of length of the word-list if this were an experimental variable. A summary consideration of the slope of the gradients from these data compared with gradient curves from previous studies where punishment in the form of the announcement "wrong," as well as reward, was administered to the subjects, revealed no consistent trends and added nothing conclusive by way of evidence on the influence of punishment in a learning situation, other than to emphasize the apparently varying roles this type of "punishment" can play, and the inadvisability of generalizing from the evidence thus far available on its modus operandi. In addition, the fact that unrewarded responses, which were not punished, in seven out of twelve categories were repeated less frequently than consideration of the neutral base-lines would have led one to expect requires explanation. It has been hypothesized that reward, in emphasizing the correct response, acts as a distraction on neighboring connections and thereby reduces their rate of repetition below the chance level. Suggestions were made for further research into the relation of intelligence and extent of spread; into the technique for establishing a base-line; into the factor of favored responses as unduly magnifying the effect of reward; and into the falling off of repetitions of unrewarded though unpunished responses below the obtained chance line. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to establish the reliability and validity of the Power Master isokinetic ergometer in measuring skating power for 34 hockey players (14 professional, 11 recreational, and 9 female university players). Comparisons between two on-ice tests and four laboratory tests of skating speed and power, and prediction of sprint skating speed were also examined for 19 hockey players (10 recreational and 9 female university players). The Power Master displayed internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and criterion related validity. Significant correlations occurred between the on-ice tests and the laboratory test (r =.55 to r =.95), and the Power Master was a significant variable in predicting sprint skating speed. It was concluded that the Power Master is a reliable and valid machine for the measurement of skating power in hockey players.

The purpose of this study was to establish and describe the validity and reliability of an instrument based on a model of teaching behaviors conceived as magnetic lines of force.Content validity was established by reviewing the literature and identifying possible teaching behaviors which researchers felt contributed to increased pupil learning. These behaviors were presented to a panel of judges from faculty in the Teachers College, Ball State University, to ascertain behaviors which they felt increase the likelihood pupils would increase comprehension in reading. After the panel had made their suggestions, the list of behaviors was revised and used with two middle school classes at the Burris Laboratory School. Pupils were asked to identify the behaviors which they felt were associated with their increased learning. A final list of twenty items became the revised instrument for use in the study.A group of practicing teachers critiqued the list of twenty behaviors. This group was directed to identify how strongly they agreed with the placement of each of the behaviors under one of the four scales postulated. Construct validity was established by discussing the research supporting each of the scales, subscales and behaviors listed in the instrument.Each of the twenty items was judged as valid by a minimum of 70 percent of the selected panel members and two classes of selected middle school pupils. Each of the twenty items included was recognized as a valid example of the constructs identified with the exception of those items assumed to reflect firmness.I t was possible to relate each of the twenty items in the instrument to research studies accepted by editors and authors in the field despite inherent weaknesses in definitions, experimental designs, and theoretical orientation. In this sense, the instrument has acceptable construct validity.The instrument was then used to gather data on a group of teacher trainees assigned to a laboratory school at Ball State University. After each teacher trainee had taught a short unit, the pupils taught filled out the instrument which had been devised. Reliability measures consisted of computing coefficient alpha for various major scales and subscales of the instrument. Computations were run by the Ball State University Center using the reliability program from the SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences DEC system -10.The coefficient alpha reliability indexes of .90 for the total scale, .86 for the cognitive scale, and .78 for the affective scale were judged acceptable for use in additional research studies in the field. The coefficient alpha reliability index of .82 for the clarity subscale, .81 for the flexibility subscale, and .78 for the warmth subscale were also judged acceptable for use in additional research studies in the area. The coefficient alpha reliability index of .68 for the firmness subscale suggests questionable reliability for all but the most general research purposes.Recommendations were formulated to encourage further development of the model and refinement of the instrument (particularly the "firmness" subscale).

No description available.