Aujourd'hui, les logiciels se doivent d'être efficaces, rapide à exécuter, etc. Ils peuvent être configurés dans le but de répondre à des besoins spécifiques donnés par l'utilisateur. De fait, chaque configuration donne lieu à un système unique, spécialisé pour des besoins précis. Le nombre de configurations possible devient tellement grand qu'il est impossible de générer tous les systèmes associés résultant en une impossibilité à évaluer leurs performances dans leur globalité. En plus de cela, différentes exécutions des systèmes sont souvent nécessaire, en utilisant différents cas de tests qui représentent différents contextes, pour évaluer correctement ces performances. Il y a donc un enjeu en terme d'énergie et de temps à pouvoir cibler correctement les configurations intéressantes pour un utilisateur ainsi que les cas de tests pertinents pour évaluer les performances d'un système. A partir de cette première analyse, deux dimensions émergent: la sélection de configurations de systèmes qui permettent par la suite de générer des systèmes respectant les besoins utilisateurs et, d'autre part, la sélection de cas de tests qui permettent d'observer les performances des systèmes dans différents contextes. Nous proposons dans cette thèse de représenter ces deux dimensions comme une matrice (de performance) dans laquelle : une dimension représente les systèmes sélectionnés (avec leur configuration) tandis que l'autre représente l'ensemble des cas de tests à exécuter sur chaque système. Chaque cellule de la matrice est alors le résultat de l'exécution d'un programme sur un cas de test. Les contributions principales de cette thèse sont : premièrement, l'utilisation de techniques d'apprentissage automatique pour spécialiser une ligne de produit logiciels visant à réduire l'espace de configuration pour sélectionner plus facilement une configuration qui satisfasse les besoins utilisateurs. Les utilisateurs doivent donc être capable d'exprimer leurs besoins de telle sorte que l'on se place dans un problème de classification binaire (i.e., permettant de dissocier les configurations qui ont la capacité à respecter ces besoins et les autres configurations qui n'ont pas l'air de pouvoir). Après cela, une technique d'apprentissage automatique est utilisé pour créer un modèle mathématique séparant les deux classes permettant par la suite de spécialiser la ligne de produits logiciel et de proposer des configurations partielles réduisant l'espace de configuration. Au final, ce travail permet de réduire la première dimension de la matrice qui traite des systèmes. Deuxièmement, nous proposons une nouvelle méthode permettant d'évaluer la capacité d'une suite de tests à montrer des différences de performances significatives exécuter par différents programmes qui présentent la même fonctionnalité. Cette méthode peut être utilisées dans différents cas, par exemple pour savoir si un nouveau cas de tests doit être ajouté ou non à une suite de tests existantes or bien pour réduire une suite de tests existante. Cette méthode vise à réduire la seconde dimension de la matrice. / Nowadays, software have to be efficient, fast to execute, etc. They can be configured to adapt to specific needs. Each configuration leads to a different system and usually it is hard to generate them all. Thus, the exhaustive evaluation of their performance is impossible. Furthermore, several executions of systems, under different conditions, are needed to properly evaluate performances. Two dimensions emerge from this description of performance testing: the selection of system configurations allowing to generate associated systems that meet expressed needs and the selection of test cases allowing to observe performances of systems under different conditions. We propose to represent those two dimensions as a (performance) matrix: one dimension represents selected systems that can be observed while the other dimension represents the set of test cases that will be executed on each of these systems. Each cell is the execution of a program variant regarding a test. The contributions of this thesis are as follows : First, we leverage Machine Learning techniques in order to specialize a Software Product Line (in this case a video generator) helping in selecting a configuration that is likely to meet requirements. End users must be able to express their requirements such that it results in a binary decision problem (i.e., configurations that are acceptable and those that are not). Machine Learning techniques are then used to retrieve partial configurations that specialize a Software Product Line to guide end users and reduce the configuration space. In the end, this work aims at diminishing the first dimension of the matrix that deals with systems and programs. Second, we propose a new method assessing the ability of test suites to reveal significant performance differences of a set of configurations tackling the same task. This method can be used to assess whether a new test case is worth adding to a test suite or to select an optimal test set with respect to a property of interest. In the end, it might help structuring the execution of tests. For instance, it can create an order of execution resulting in using less test cases that are presented in the second dimension of the matrix. We evaluated our approach on several systems from different domains such as OpenCV or Haxe.

The paper-and-pencil integrity test, which is used in industry as an employee selection device, has been largely developed outside the mainstream of psychological testing. The result has been that some testing programs have inadequately standardized testing conditions and/or other safeguards to ensure valid test results. Studies have shown that response distortion, or faking, is a problem with all types of tests, integrity tests being no exception. A correlation between the construct underlying integrity testing, such as the personality trait of conscientiousness, has yet to be investigated. The primary purpose of the present study was to determine how response distortion on integrity tests is affected by the instructions given by test administrators. Also, the connection between integrity tests and conscientiousness is examined. Finally, comparisons were made between currently published integrity tests/scales. Two hundred and forty-nine college students participated in this study by completing the following three integrity tests and two personality test scales: The London House Personnel Selection Inventory (London House Press, Inc., 1980); The Tescor Survey (Bullard, 1992); The Reid Report (Reid, 1967); The Value Orthodoxy Scale from The Jackson Personality Inventory (Jackson, 1976), and the Work Orientation Scale from the California Personality Inventory (Gough, 1985). The three integrity tests offer a variety of validation studies in support of their scales. Also, all three test publishers participated in a pre-publication review of the 1991 APA Task Force Report on integrity testing (Goldberg, Grenier, Guion, Sechrest, & Wing). Results show that responses were affected by instructions given by the administrator. For example, the analysis shows that in a job application situation, an applicant who believes a prospective employer is using an integrity test to identify undesirable applicants will tend to distort his/her responses on a theft scale to appear more favorable. Also for the theft scales, instructions to deliberately give false responses in a socially desirable way did not differ from a standard job applicant instruction set. Instructions emphasizing the ability of the tests to identify high integrity employees also did not differ from the standard instruction set's results. Results also show that conscientiousness is correlated with integrity test scales. Finally, the integrity tests and personality scales studied here are significantly correlated. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2008. / Title from title screen (site viewed Sept. 18, 2008). PDF text: iii, vi, 155 p. ; 4 Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3303721. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy Studies, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

No description available.

No description available.

While there is increasing emphasis in education on the learning of intellectual processes, relatively little attention has been given to the rigorous assessment of these processes. An attempt was made to construct a group test which measured both specific processes of thinking as well as the general level of thinking attained at adolescence. Test Hems were modelled on Piagetian tasks as described by Elkind (1961b), Lawson and Renner (1974) and Shayer et a1. (1976). The test as a whole was considered to have acceptable face and content validity." Most items, as well as the test as a whole, showed low, but acceptable construct · validity for a research instrument. The reliability of the test in its present form was unacceptably low. Further development of the test is discussed as well as the implications which were raised for education. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1980.

No description available.

This study had two specific aims: Firstly, to determine whether or not, within a given group of subjects in a school in Kwa-Zulu Natal, the mediation offered during an application of Feuerstein's Learning Potential Assessment Device (LPAD) in a group-administration format would result in modified cognition, demonstrated by improved performance in post-mediation testing; and secondly, to determine whether in the same group of subjects, the group-administration format of the LPAD would detect differences in the degree of cognitive modifiability of individuals. Feuerstein's LPAD follows a pretest - mediation - post-test procedure in which, by comparing pretest performance with post-test performance, the effects of the mediation, and hence the degree of cognitive modifiability of the individuals concerned, are determined. The present study operationalised Feuerstein's concept of Mediated Learning Experience (Feuerstein, 1979; 1980) and Vygotsky's concepts of mediation and internalisation (Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1985) by making use of Tharp and Gallimore's means of assistance within the zone of proximal development (Tharp and Gallimore, 1988). The pretest phase of the three selected instruments (Numerical Progressions, Organizer and Complex Figure Drawing Test), was administered to a group of twenty one black, female, high-school pupils. On the basis of their performance, the subjects were divided into matched experimental and control groups. In a second session, two weeks later, the experimental group received mediation in the cognitive operations and functions required by the instruments. Immediately following this, the post-test phase was administered to both groups. The scores of the subjects in each group were analysed: the scores of the experimental group as a whole were compared-to the scores of the control group, and the pretest scores of each subject were compared to her post-test scores in each instrument. In Numerical Progressions and Organizer, a significant increase in the post-mediation scores of the experimental group was observed, while the scores of the control group remained approximately at pre-mediation levels. The results of the Complex Figure Drawing Test did not follow the same pattern, however, due to difficulties inherent in both the instrument itself and the process of mediation. An analysis of the post-test scores of individual subjects in the experimental group revealed that some improved significantly, some a little, and some even performed less well on the post-test than on the pretest. It was postulated that this variability in post-test scores was an indication of the various degrees of modifiability of the subjects concerned, demonstrating the ability of these instruments, even in a group administration format, to begin to identify levels in the cognitive modifiability of individuals. The items in Numerical Progressions and Organizer were also categorised according to their levels of difficulty. An examination of the performance of subjects at the various levels gave further evidence of both the efficacy of the mediation and the degrees of cognitive modifiability of individuals. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.