In this study, I examined the relation between various construct relevant and irrelevant variables and a math problem solving assessment. I used independent performance measures representing the variables of mathematics content knowledge, general ability, and reading fluency. Non-performance variables included gender, socioeconomic status, language proficiency and special education qualification. Using a sequential regression and commonality analysis, I determined the amount of variance explained by each performance measure on the Oregon state math assessment in third grade. All variables were independently predictive of math problem solving scores, and used together, they explained 58% score variance. The math content knowledge measure explained the most variance uniquely (12%), and the measures of math content and general ability explained the most variance commonly (16%). In the second analysis, I investigated whether additional variance was explained once student demographic characteristics were controlled and how this affected the unique variance explained by each independent performance measure. By controlling for demographics, the model explained slightly more than 1% additional variance in math scores. The unique variance explained by each independent measure decreased slightly. This study highlighted the influence of various construct relevant and irrelevant variables on math problem solving scores, including the extent to which a language-free measure of general ability might help to inform likely outcomes. The use of variance partitioning expanded understanding of the unique and common underlying constructs that affect math problem solving assessment. Finally, this study provided more information regarding the influence demographic information has on outcomes related to state math assessments.

This study extends the literature on interview validity by attempting to create a structured employment interview with both construct- and criterion-related validity. For this study, a situational interview was developed with the specific purpose of enhancing the interview's construct validity while retaining the interview's predictive power. To enhance the construct validity, two guidelines were applied to the creation of the interview based on previous research in interview and assessment center literature limit the number of applicant characteristics to be rated to 3; and (2) ensure that the dimensions to be measured are conceptually distinct. Based on these two guidelines, three constructs were chosen for assessment of real estate sales agents extraversion, proactive personality and customer orientation. The critical incident technique was used to develop six interview items. To test the construct validity of the interview, the six items were correlated with other measures, specifically, self-report questionnaires and managers' ratings, of extraversion, proactivity and customer orientation. Correlations were weak, at best (rs ranged from -.06 to .25). To test the predictive validity of the interview, the six items were correlated with both objective and subjective measures of performance. Predictive validities were stronger, ranging from .23 to .30. These findings are consistent with previous research on employment interviews which have found that although the predictive validity of the interview is strong, the construct validity is very weak, leaving researchers to wonder what it is that the interview is actually measuring. Possible explanations for these findings are offered, and the implications of these findings are discussed.

What is going on in a therapeutic setting when one person tells a story to another? Is it really as it appears to be, with the story being told in order to communicate some information, either affective or factual? Or is this way of thinking about the business of therapy limiting, both for the people concerned (therapist and patient) and for those who theorise about the therapeutic process? These are the questions around which this work is organised. The thesis itself takes the form of a story being told, the story of a therapist, his client, and his clinical supervisor.The story of these relationships is used to argue that stories are told more to create something (a relationship) and forge something (a more vital connection to an animating world) than to communicate something.The author draws on both a philosophical, and a psychoanalytical tradition to show what he suggest are more vital ways of thinking about human behaviour in general and the therapeutic encounter in particular. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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Performance measurement and criterion theory are critical topics in the fields of I/O psychology, yet scholars continue to note several issues with the criterion, including empirically redundant behaviors, construct and measure proliferation, and definitions that conflict. These interconnected problems hinder the advancement of criterion measurement and theory. The goal of this study was to empirically examine the issues of theory/construct clarity and measurement as they exist regarding work performance behaviors. This study's first objective was to clarify definitions of core performance behaviors, particularly to resolve issues of construct proliferation and conceptual conflict. Universal definitions of four core criterion constructs (i.e., task performance, citizenship performance, counterproductive work behavior, and withdrawal) were developed that integrated existing definitions of similar behaviors. Each definition reflects a parsimonious conceptualization of existing performance behaviors, which serves to clarify existing, and at times divergent, criterion conceptualizations. Importantly, these integrated definitions represent commonly-held definitions of the constructs and replace the largely discrepant accumulation of definitions. The second objective was to determine whether existing items assumed to measure the four core work performance behaviors were judged by raters to represent their respective constructs. The results showed that of the 851 items examined, over half were judged to not represent their respective constructs which, importantly, replicated previous research. Additionally, the results highlight items that match their respective construct definition and contain minimal overlap with non-posited constructs. Finally, the third objective was to determine the implications of using the problematic items for both the empirical relationships among work performance behaviors and evidence of construct-related validity. The results provided preliminary evidence that while nomological networks are minimally affected, relationships among some work performance dimensions are significantly affected when problematic items are removed from measures of performance constructs. This dissertation demonstrated the need for more attention to the construct labels placed on the behaviors described in work performance items, as there are potentially adverse consequences for theory and measurement. Ultimately, the results of this study showed that work performance behaviors/items have often been assigned incorrect construct labels which, subsequently, may cast considerable doubt on the theoretical and empirical understanding of the criterion domain.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2008.

Thesis--University of Florida. / Description based on print version record. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-135).

The Tolerance/Intolerance of Ambiguity literature is plagued by conceptual confusion and methodological inadequacies. In particular, formulations of the construct and the instruments constructed to measure it suffer from a number of faults, including (1) incomplete and logically inconsistent definitions, (2) confusion regarding the relation between Tolerance/Intolerance of Ambiguity and Rigidity, (3) test confounds such as verbal ability and reactivity, (4) problems of item interpretation due to their verbal nature, (5) low estimates of internal consistency, and (6) questionable construct validity. In this study, a reconceptualization of Tolerance/Intolerance of Ambiguity was distinguished from the construct of Rigidity, and a non-verbal measure was developed which employs ambiguous figures as item stimuli and reaction statements as a response format for each item. Figural stimuli were utilized in order to circumvent confounding factors such as verbal ability, reactivity, and "fakeability." Analysis of 142 ambiguous figures yielded five categories which served as subscales of the test. After pilot testing and refinement, the psychometric properties of the resultant 30-item test, the Figural Measure of Ambiguity Tolerance (FMAT), were investigated by including it as part of battery of tests administered to high school, college, and university students (N=160). This battery included verbal and non-verbal tests of Authoritarianism, Intolerance of Ambiguity and Cognitive Ability chosen so as to allow for an evaluation of construct validity via examination of a Multi-Trait, Multi-Method correlation matrix. A second matrix, generated by adjusting for verbal and non-verbal Cognitive Ability, was also examined. In addition, a criterion-group referencing approach was used to examine construct validity. The Figural Measure of Ambiguity Tolerance showed evidence of good internal consistency reliability at the subscale and total scale levels. The a priori subscale structure was well-supported by factor-analytic results. Results of the validation portion of the study were inconclusive in that evidence of construct validity was minimal for all the measures involved. Given the limitations of previous conceptualizations and current verbal tests of Tolerance/Intolerance of Ambiguity, however, the results support the viability of this non-verbal measurement approach. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

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