Deck 7: Test Administration

Question 1

Research on the effects of examiners' expectations upon test scores have shown that

A) examiners' expectations influence scores only when rapport has developed.
B) examiners' expectations have little effect upon test scores.
C) there is inconsistency with regard to the effect of examiners' expectations.
D) too few studies have been done to draw any conclusions.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Mr.and Mrs.Lozano have recently moved to Ohio from Mexico and have been notified that their son Reuben will be given an English IQ test to determine school placement.They should

A) not be concerned about the language of the test because one of the secretaries has offered to translate.
B) be pleased because the school is hiring a professional to translate the test especially for Reuben.
C) ask the school to only use a test that has been translated and subjected to reliability and validity studies in Spanish speaking populations.
D) realize that by testing their son in English,they are helping him to acculturate to his new environment much faster.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The study by Terrell,et al.in which four groups of African-American children were provided four different kinds of feedback shows

A) an effect of race of examiner.
B) no difference between types of feedback.
C) the importance of culturally relevant rewards.
D) that tangible rewards outperform any verbal feedback.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Rosenthal asserted that expectancy effects are likely to result from subtle uses of

A) reinforcement.
B) nonverbal communication.
C) disapproving comments.
D) gender and racial bias.

Question 5

Studies on the effect of reinforcement upon intelligence test performance by African-American children (by Terrell and colleagues)suggest that

A) African-American children will improve their performance if given simple verbal praise such as "Excellent performance".
B) African-American children will not be affected by the administration of tangible awards.
C) only "culturally relevant" verbal praise will help boost performance by African-American children.
D) culturally specific feedback such as "Nice job,blood" alienates African-American youngsters and may damage test performance.

Question 6

The school board decided to send professional test administrators into the schools in an attempt to establish stricter standardization procedures for the administration of IQ tests.If you are from a socio-economically disadvantaged area,you can expect that the test scores for your school district will

A) benefit greatly from the use of outside examiners.
B) be equal to the scores received by students in upper socio-economic groups.
C) be more negatively impacted by the use of unfamiliar examiners than for wealthier districts.
D) be more positively impacted by the use of unfamiliar examiners than for wealthier districts.

Question 7

In general,studies have indicated that the race of the examiner

A) should be the same as that of the subject.
B) should be different than that of the subject.
C) is unrelated to test performance.
D) is not as important as sex of the examiner.

Question 8

Studies have demonstrated that

A) disapproving comments by an examiner can hinder test performance.
B) disapproving comments by the examiner can actually motivate children and enhance their performance.
C) too much approval by the examiner can hinder performance.
D) there is no relationship between the examiner's comments and test performance.

Question 9

For children up through about the 3^rd grade,a friendly examiner

A) significantly affects performance on a test.
B) does not significantly affect performance on a test.
C) increased IQ scores by nearly one standard deviation.
D) decreased IQ scores by nearly one standard deviation.

Question 10

The "Rosenthal effect" occurs when

A) race of the tester produces a bias.
B) the administrators' expectations influence the respondents' scores.
C) test-takers do poorly because they are fatigued.
D) the gender of the test administrator is different than that of the examinee.

Question 11

Why is it of concern that there is not a standardized protocol for training on how to administer the WAIS-R?

A) Individuals with only undergraduate degrees are permitted to administer it,making training especially important.
B) The courts have repeatedly ordered the development of standardized training for the WAIS-R,but it has not been done.
C) There is no evidence that training will improve the ability of examiners to administer and score the WAIS-R.
D) Research indicates that errors are common until examiners have administered 10 practice tests and declines thereafter.

Question 12

Mrs.Collins and Mrs.Grey both administered the same IQ test to their regular classes by reading instructions,refraining from providing any verbal feedback,and generally following strict procedural guidelines.Even though the classes were comparable,Mrs.Grey's class had much lower test scores than Mrs.Collins.It is likely that

A) the instructions were not clear.
B) standard test administration does not work.
C) some subtle non-verbal cue or body language affected scores.
D) the race of the teachers affected test scores.

Question 13

Mrs.Morgan and Mrs.Malcolm are African-American and only want an African-American examiner to administer an IQ test to their children.They

A) are justifiably concerned that their children's scores will be adversely affected by a Caucasian examiner.
B) are operating under the widely held myth that the race of the examiner impedes performance of African-American children.
C) realize that strict standards for proper test administration do not exist.
D) realize that it is important to have an examiner that is new and unknown to the test-taker.

Question 14

Because situational variables can affect test scores,testing requires

A) standardized conditions.
B) at least two test administrators.
C) a test administrator and an observer.
D) test administrators with similar backgrounds and characteristics.

Question 15

Worry,emotionality,and lack of self-confidence are the three components of

A) test anxiety.
B) expectancy effects.
C) human factors.
D) reactivity.

Question 16

Dominic,a Caucasian male,is in the first grade and his reading skills are being assessed for placement next year.His teacher is out sick on the day of his assessment test.You can expect his test score to be

A) substantially higher than if the test were administered by the regular teacher.
B) unaffected by the change in examiner.
C) significantly lower as a result of an unfamiliar examiner.
D) nothing more than a reflection of his reading ability.

Question 17

The Rosenthal effect

A) appears to be consistent but relatively small.
B) is limited to human subjects.
C) has been consistently replicated.
D) shows no gender effect.

Question 18

As sample size increases,expectancy effects tend to

A) become more important.
B) decrease.
C) remain stable.
D) increase.

Question 19

Studies on the effect of the race of the tester have demonstrated that

A) African-American children consistently score higher when they are tested by African-American examiners.
B) African-American children consistently score lower when they are tested by African-American examiners.
C) White children consistently score higher when they are tested by White examiners.
D) that the race of the examiner does not have a significant effect on the test scores of African-American or White children.

Question 20

Patty has just received a graduate degree in psychology and has been hired by a local organization to administer the WAIS-R.They should

A) have no qualms about her qualifications for this position because she has a degree.
B) have no qualms about her qualifications because her program required that she engage in at least 5 practice administrations of this test.
C) be aware that errors are likely to be high unless she has completed at least 10 practice sessions.
D) realize test administer training is a highly standardized process with high quality standards.

Question 21

Which of the following is an advantage of computer-assisted test administration?

A) Use of computers greatly increases validity.
B) Test takers can look ahead and skip back and forth to items they feel confident about.
C) Computer generated reports are less likely to be misinterpreted.
D) Items can be administered in any order.

Question 22

Which of the following is true of self-report of health issues?

A) People report more symptoms when a mailed questionnaire is used than when they are interviewed face to face.
B) People are typically reluctant to report symptoms when completing a mailed questionnaire because it feels so impersonal.
C) Mailed questionnaires should not be used due to the possibility that private health information might be accidentally made public.
D) It is important for an examiner to be present to explain difficult terms to those taking the test.

Question 23

When asking people to provide answers to sensitive health care questions,it might be better to

A) conduct face-to-face interviews.
B) use self-administered questionnaires.
C) conduct telephone interviews.
D) use younger males to conduct the interviews.

Question 24

Test takers who speak more than two languages should be given a test in

A) the test taker's first language.
B) the test administrator's first language.
C) the standard language used in that area.
D) the language with which the test taker is most comfortable.

Question 25

The decrease in motivation among test takers due to random feedback is called

A) experimenter bias.
B) expectation error.
C) learned helplessness.
D) test anxiety.

Question 26

Ms Aimee reported that the interrater reliability of the observers in her experiment was quite high during training.One should

A) question whether or not the observers were assessed at any time after training.
B) be able to rely comfortably on the reliability estimate.
C) be comfortable with the reliability because of the formal training.
D) not question the reported interrater reliabilities of any published experiment.

Question 27

When Helen was being trained to record the behavior of zoo animals,her performance improved when her instructor was watching.This is an example of

A) drift.
B) self-presentation bias.
C) reactivity.
D) expectancy.

Question 28

Which of the following is true concerning the language of the test taker?

A) Language should not be of concern,since there are computer programs that will translate.
B) The use of interpreters is helpful and typically will not affect reliability or validity.
C) The test should be administered in the language of the majority,even if the test taker is not fluent.
D) It is important to ensure that the translated version of the test is comparable to the original version.

Question 29

Test anxiety is an example of a(n)

A) test variable.
B) reactivity variable.
C) expectancy variable.
D) subject variable.

Question 30

Patterson and colleagues (1995)reported that in order to reduce administration errors,test administrators should

A) be disciplined for mistakes.
B) practice administration about 10 times.
C) always have a supervisor observe them.
D) reinforce test takers.

Question 31

Studies on computer-administered interviews have shown that

A) people will sometimes divulge more personal information to a machine than they will to a human interviewer.
B) people are reluctant to give personal information unless an interviewer is warm and empathetic.
C) the computer is too impersonal as a mechanism for obtaining personal information.
D) students typically dislike computer-assisted interviews and thus do not pay attention to questions..

Question 32

Donna,an inexperienced examiner,wants to encourage the individuals to whom she is administering a particularly difficult test of problem solving.Because she is nervous about her own skills,she decides the easiest method is to compliment each test taker exactly 10 times,regardless of whether they are giving correct or incorrect responses.What might be expected?

A) Motivation to respond will decrease and problem solving will worsen.
B) Performance will improve for those who like the examiner and worsen for those who dislike the examiner.
C) Because the praise is given at random,it is unlikely to have an effect.
D) Test takers will be distracted by the praise and will have to ask the examiner to repeat questions.

Question 33

Why might so few studies demonstrate an effect of the examiner's race on intelligence test performance?

A) Intelligence tests are culture fair; this prevents any possible impact of examiner race.
B) Special administration methods are used when the examiner and test-taker are of different races.
C) While early studies did not find an effect of race,more recent studies show consistent and substantial effects of race.
D) The standardized test administration methods typical of intelligence tests may minimize the effects of racial differences.

Question 34

Which of the following is true of telephone questionnaires that use an electronically generated voice rather than a live person?

A) Use of electronically-generated voices is superior because people do not worry about being judged,as they might when interviewed by a live person.
B) Use of electronically-generated voices is not permissible because of concerns related to privacy.
C) Because they are so difficult to understand,electronically generated voices should only be used with very simple questions.
D) Use of electronically-generated voices results in increased variability.

Question 35

Deviations from standardized testing procedures

A) do not affect scores unless the deviations are severe.
B) should be avoided by an examiner regardless of the population in question.
C) may be necessary for particular populations like the blind.
D) can be avoided by never using tape recorded instructions.

Question 36

The tendency to report the same behavior differently when observations are repeated in the same context is referred to as

A) reactivity.
B) expectancy.
C) drift.
D) contrast effect.

Question 37

Once observers have been trained in behavioral studies,they have a tendency to go back to their own personal rating system when they are not under supervision.This phenomenon is known as

A) reactivity.
B) drift.
C) expectancies.
D) statistical control of rating errors.

Question 38

Which of the following is,according to the APA,characteristic of a good test manual?

A) A good manual should be brief and emphasize the importance of the examiner bringing their own style to the testing situation.
B) A good manual should be written using technical language,since doing so will reduce misunderstandings and misinterpretation.
C) A good manual should provide instructions that include the exact words to be used during testing administration.
D) A good manual should focus on what can go wrong during administration rather than providing rigid instructions.

Question 39

The effect of praise for children is in general

A) better than the effect of money or candy.
B) worse than the effect of money or candy.
C) damages the test's reliability and validity.
D) as strong as the effect of money or candy.

Question 40

Test scores of paper and pencil tests compared to computer assisted tests indicate that

A) better scores are achieved by paper and pencil tests.
B) better scores are achieved by computer assisted tests.
C) the scores are about equivalent.
D) poorer control with computer assisted tests.

Question 41

An overcrowded,financially strapped school system is required to use behavioral observation for students with disabilities.In order to save time and reduce costs,the teachers of students are asked to prepare a report describing the problem behaviors of each student.These reports are provided to the raters prior to the students being observed.What can be said about this procedure?

A) It is an excellent idea since it will make it easier for observers to identify problem behaviors.
B) It will allow the school system to eliminate training for the behavioral observers.
C) It is improper and may create bias due to expectancies.
D) It should not be done because it requires that teachers,who may not be trained in behavioral observation,make critical decisions.

Question 42

Even though Art had been thoroughly trained to observe and assess behavior,he had started to show less concern for the rules and guidelines he had learned.This is an example of

A) reactivity.
B) drift.
C) expectancy.
D) contrast effect.

Question 43

Studies of the accuracy of raters have shown

A) rating accuracy can easily be achieved with training.
B) rater characteristics are unrelated to rater accuracy.
C) efforts to improve the accuracy of raters have produced discouraging results.
D) rater training can be done inexpensively and quickly.

Question 44

Data in behavioral observation studies have sometimes been found to be biased in the direction of the observer's own beliefs.This is a result of

A) reactivity.
B) drift.
C) expectancies.
D) statistical control.

Question 45

Observers in behavioral studies are usually more accurate when they are being observed by their supervisors.This phenomenon is known as

A) reactivity.
B) drift.
C) expectancies.
D) partial correlation.

Question 46

Integrity tests are used to estimate who is likely to steal from a company,however,

A) the validity of the tests is questionable.
B) test-retest reliability is poor.
C) employers are not in favor of their use.
D) they are not as reliable as lie detector tests which are often used in pre-employment screenings.

Question 47

Which approach is used to remove the effect of uncontrolled variability?

A) standardized reactivity
B) statistical drift
C) expectancies
D) partial correlation

Question 48

Which of the following is not related to the relationship between the behavioral observer and his or her supervisor?

A) reactivity
B) drift
C) expectancies
D) observing the observer

Question 49

Which of the following statistical methods can be used to control rating errors?

A) Pearson r
B) path analysis
C) ANOVA
D) partial correlation

Question 50

"Drift" refers to a problem inherent in the training of

A) personality assessors.
B) test proctors.
C) behavioral observers.
D) computer-assisted test administrators.

Question 51

Which of the following is true about behavioral rater reliability?

A) Estimates of reliability during training are often higher than those made later,when raters are less closely supervised.
B) When the behaviors to be rated are tightly defined,rater reliability has little relevance.
C) Rater reliability should increase as experience with the rating scale increases.
D) Once an individual has developed an acceptable level of reliability,there is no need to assess reliability again.

Question 52

The research on integrity tests suggests that

A) most commercial tests have strong evidence for validity.
B) the construct validity of most commercial tests is not well documented.
C) no tests have been developed to detect honesty.
D) most of these tests meet the APA's ethical principles code.

Question 53

In general,the average person's ability to detect when someone else is lying is

A) normally much better than chance.
B) normally much worse than chance.
C) better than a police officer.
D) as good as a Secret Service agent.

Question 54

How has the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)impacted the use of behavioral observation?

A) IDEA mandates the use of behavioral observation for students with disabilities.
B) IDEA bans the use of behavioral assessment for students with disabilities.
C) IDEA requires behavioral observation only for students with severe to profound disabilities.
D) IDEA allows behavioral observation only when the student being observed is capable of giving consent.

Question 55

Evidence from studies of integrity tests indicates that they measure

A) one narrow construct.
B) a broad part of job performance.
C) pre-employment honesty.
D) post-employment honesty.

Question 56

If A,B,and C are all correlated,you can control for the variability in C and this will leave you with

A) the result of the halo effect.
B) the partial correlation between A and B.
C) the correlation between A and B.
D) biserial correlation of A and B.

Question 57

Camara and Schneider (1994)suggested that the APA's Ethical Principles of Psychologists and their Code of Conduct

A) support using integrity tests for selecting new employees.
B) support using integrity tests only for existing employees.
C) fail to support the use of integrity tests.
D) are neutral with regard to the use of integrity tests.

Question 58

Expectancies are

A) consistently found in all kinds of situations.
B) a stronger source of bias if observers are offered incentives.
C) not found to bias behavioral observations with or without incentives.
D) only found when the observers are unaware of what behavior to expect.

Question 59

Which is an undesirable way to solve problems associated with behavioral observations?

A) Have periodic retraining.
B) Have frequent meetings to discuss methods.
C) Do not let supervisors look over observers' shoulders.
D) Covertly observe the observers.

Question 60

The tendency to ascribe positive attributes independently of an observed behavior is called

A) the halo effect.
B) drift.
C) reactivity.
D) expectancy.