Variance In Test Scores Research Articles

How does cognitive reserve impact on the relationships between mood, rumination, and cognitive function in later life?

Objectives: Higher levels of cognitive reserve (CR) are associated with better cognitive function in later life. In contrast, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and rumination are associated with diminished cognitive function. There has been limited research to date examining the influence of CR on the relationship between mood and cognitive function, and results are inconsistent. The aim of this study was to investigate the role CR plays in the relationships between mood, rumination, and cognitive function in later life.Method: Two hundred and thirty-six healthy people aged 60+ completed measures of CR, depression, anxiety, rumination, recall, and verbal fluency. Participants were dichotomised at the median into those with lower and higher levels of CR.Results: CR, mood, and rumination together accounted for between 13% and 15.6% of the variance in scores on the cognitive tasks in the sample as a whole. Mood and rumination explained a significant amount of variance in cognitive test scores in those with lower levels of CR, but not in those with higher levels of CR.Conclusion: The way in which mood and rumination are related to cognitive function differs depending on the individual's level of CR. These results support the view that it is important to continue to build on CR as people move into later life in order to maintain cognitive health.

Measuring Surgical Competency in Facial Trauma

Surgical education is in a period of significant change. Assessment of surgical competency is imprecise compared with cognitive knowledge and judgment. A surgical competency measurement tool may be useful for plastic surgery training programs and certification societies. We present a validation study of a novel measurement instrument for arch bar placement and dental wire handling. An Arch Bar Placement Assessment Scale (ABPAS) was created via consensus by 2 craniofacial and 2 maxillofacial surgeons. Residents and faculty members of plastic and maxillofacial surgery (n = 20) then placed an arch bar on the lower jaw of a skull model. Performances were video recorded without revealing identities. Two study groups were created based on subjects experience level: group 1 (n = 10) previously placed fewer than 25 arch bars; group 2 (n = 10) previously placed more than 25 arch bars. Two craniofacial surgeons used the ABPAS to blindly grade surgical performance. The ABPAS consisted of a 48-point rating scale that included a 23-point task-specific work list and a 25-point global rating scale. Pearson coefficient showed limited intraobserver (P = 0.97) and interobserver (P = 0.95) variance of test scores. The ABPAS demonstrated superior performance in group 2 in the task-specific work list [12.6 (5.5) vs 17.6 (1.5), P = 0.02], global rating scale [17.4 (4.4) vs 22 (2.1), P = 0.01], and ABPAS score [30 (9.8) and 39.6 (3.2), P = 0.01]. The ABPAS is a novel measurement tool which assesses technical surgical skill and can identify surgical competency in arch bar placement and dental wire handling. This tool may have future use in residency training and continuing education.

C-78 * Predicting Insufficient Effort in Schizophrenia using the Repeated Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status Effort Index

Objective: There is some evidence that insufficient effort may be common in schizophrenia, posing significant threats to the validity of neuropsychological test results. Low effort may account for a significant proportion of variance in neuropsychological test scores and the generalized cognitive deficit that characterizes the disorder. The current study evaluated the role of effort in neuropsychological test results in schizophrenia using an embedded effort measure, the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) Effort Index (EI). Method: Participants were 347 patients meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Patients received a battery of neuropsychological tests, including: (1) Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR), (2) Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), and (3) RBANS, as well as instruments designed to measure functional outcome, symptoms, and premorbid adjustment. Results: Sixty-four schizophrenia patients (18.4%) failed the EI. Patients who failed had lower full-scale, verbal, and performance IQ, as well as poorer performance on RBANS domains not included in the EI (immediate memory, language), with the exception of visuospatial/construction. Patients who failed also had poorer community-based functional outcome, greater severity of negative symptoms, and poorer premorbid adjustment in childhood and adolescence. Conclusion(s): Poor effort in schizophrenia occurs in a significant minority of patients who appear to have a more severe form of the illness with poor premorbid development, higher levels of negative symptoms, and poorer functional outcomes. Poor effort, which is likely the result of apathy and motivational processes characteristic of the disease, may therefore be an important consideration in the neuropsychological evaluation of schizophrenia.

C-08 * Impaired Cognitive Control and Goal Maintenance in Schizophrenia

Objective: Meta-analyses of neuropsychological test performance indicate that individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) display neuropsychological impairments on the order of 1.0 standard deviation below healthy controls (CN). However, there is no distinctive pattern of differential deficits across domains. Rather, SZ is associated with a generalized cognitive deficit. The current study evaluated whether the generalized cognitive deficit in SZ is predicted by impairments in cognitive control and goal-maintenance. Method: Participants included 27 individuals with SZ and 19 healthy controls (CN) who completed a standard neuropsychological test battery (MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery) and a computerized cognitive control measure, the Dot Pattern Expectancy Test (DPX). Results: On the DPX, SZ performed significantly worse than CN on context processing conditions that required goal maintenance. Furthermore, multiple regression analyses indicated that context processing impairments significantly predicted global neuropsychological impairment in SZ, accounting for 31% of variance in neuropsychological test scores. DPX performance did not significantly predict global cognitive impairment in CN. Conclusion(s): Impairments in cognitive control and goal maintenance may underlie the generalized neuropsychological deficit that characterizes individuals with schizophrenia.

On the Relationship between Problem-solving Trait and the Performance on C-test

Individuals attend language classrooms with miscellaneous personal attributes which are going to influence learners’ test performance. Therefore, individual differences play an important role in sources of variance in test scores. This paper aims at investigating the effect of problem solving on the language ability obtained through C-tests. To this end, 70 EFL learners were randomly chosen and they were required to fill Parker’s Problem-Solving Style Questionnaire (PSSQ). Simultaneously, they were given three C-tests to complete. The PSSQ measures four functions of problem solving: Sensing, Intuitive, Feeling, and Thinking. These four functions are the independent variables of this research. The Multiple Regression showed that there is a high positive correlation between C-test and intuitive (.844) and thinking (.838) functions. The results also point out a large effect size (R 2 = .786) for correlations which in turn describes how much of the variance in dependent variable is accounted for by the four functions of problem solving. To link theory into practice, the pedagogical implications in the EFL context are discussed.

Gender differences in academic achievement of twins in mathematics

This study is a part of the project “The origins of individual differences in academic achievement: the impact of the shared environment, non-shared environment and prenatal hormones” (No. 12-06-00790, supported by Russian Humanitarian Scientific fond). Data of Unified state examination (2010–2012) were analyzed in the study. We have got test scores (mathematics exam) of 9592 boys and 12,702 girls – members of twin pairs. Boys show a slightly higher academic achievement in mathematics, than girls. However, they have higher variability of test scores. In deviation extremes number of boys is more than number of girls – both in high achievement (218 vs 82) and low achievement (350 vs 119) groups. Opposite-sex twins (boys and girls) are more successful in Math than same-sex twins. This results may be connected with environmental conditions (for example social attitudes) and with hormonal influences.

Cognitive Skills, Student Achievement Tests, and Schools

Cognitive skills predict academic performance, so schools that improve academic performance might also improve cognitive skills. To investigate the impact schools have on both academic performance and cognitive skills, we related standardized achievement-test scores to measures of cognitive skills in a large sample (N = 1,367) of eighth-grade students attending traditional, exam, and charter public schools. Test scores and gains in test scores over time correlated with measures of cognitive skills. Despite wide variation in test scores across schools, differences in cognitive skills across schools were negligible after we controlled for fourth-grade test scores. Random offers of enrollment to oversubscribed charter schools resulted in positive impacts of such school attendance on math achievement but had no impact on cognitive skills. These findings suggest that schools that improve standardized achievement-test scores do so primarily through channels other than improving cognitive skills.

Differential validity for cognitive ability tests in employment and educational settings: Not much more than range restriction?

The concept of differential validity suggests that cognitive ability tests are associated with varying levels of validity across ethnic groups, such that validity is lower in certain ethnic subgroups than in others. A recent meta-analysis has revived the viability of this concept. Unfortunately, data were not available in this meta-analysis to correct for range restriction within ethnic groups. We reviewed the differential validity literature and conducted 4 studies. In Study 1, we empirically demonstrated that using a cognitive ability test with a common cutoff decreases variance in test scores of Black subgroup samples more than in White samples. In Study 2, we developed a simulation that examined the effects of range restriction on estimates of differential validity. Results demonstrated that different levels of range restriction for subgroups can explain the apparent observed differential validity results in employment and educational settings (but not military settings) when no differential validity exists in the population. In Study 3, we conducted a simulation in which we examined how one corrects for range restriction affects the accuracy of these corrections. Results suggest that the correction approach using a common range restriction ratio for various subgroups may create or perpetuate the illusion of differential validity and that corrections are most accurate when done within each subgroup. Finally, in Study 4, we conducted a simulation in which we assumed differential validity in the population. We found that range restriction artificially increased the size of observed differential validity estimates when the validity of cognitive ability tests was assumed to be higher among Whites. Overall, we suggest that the concept of differential validity may be largely artifactual and current data are not definitive enough to suggest such effects exist.

Students’ understanding of genetics concepts: the effect of reasoning ability and learning approaches

Students tend to learn genetics by rote and may not realise the interrelationships in daily life. Because reasoning abilities are necessary to construct relationships between concepts and rote learning impedes the students’ sound understanding, it was predicted that having high level of formal reasoning and adopting meaningful learning orientation would improve students’ understanding of genetics concepts. To test this hypothesis, relationships among students’ understanding of genetics concepts, reasoning ability and learning approaches were investigated. A total of 586 eleventh-grade students participated in the study. Students’ reasoning ability and learning orientation were measured using the Test of Logical Thinking and the Learning Approach Questionnaire, respectively. Students’ understanding of fundamental genetics concepts was assessed using the Two-tier Genetics Concepts Test. Regression analyses were conducted to examine predictive influence of reasoning ability and learning orientations on students’ understanding of genetics concepts. The results revealed that all cognitive variables investigated accounted for a statistically significant portion (27%) of the variance in students’ understanding of genetics concepts. Reasoning ability and meaningful learning orientation predicted students’ understanding of genetics concepts in a positive direction, rote learning orientation predicted it in a negative direction. Additionally, the results indicated that reasoning ability explained more of the variance in test scores as compared to learning approaches.

Recognition of Facially Expressed Emotions in Patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome

The study investigated the ability to identify facially expressed emotions in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and its association with clinical parameters. Thirty-five FMS patients and 35 healthy controls accomplished a face recognition task. Additionally, pain severity, alexithymia, depression, anxiety, psychiatric co-morbidity and medication use were assessed. The patients displayed reduced task performance in terms of more misclassifications of emotional expressions than controls. Pain severity, alexithymia, depression and anxiety were inversely related to recognition performance, with pain severity accounting for the largest portion of test score variance. Psychiatric co-morbidity and medication had no impact on performance. The study documented impaired emotion recognition in FMS, which may contribute to the interpersonal difficulties and reduced social functioning related to this condition. As potential mechanisms mediating the occurrence of the deficits, altered affective processing due to interoceptive impairment as well as interference of central nervous nociceptive activity with cognitive and emotional processing are discussed.

What Do Test Score Really Mean? A Latent Class Analysis of Danish Test Score Performance

Latent class Poisson count models are used to analyse a sample of Danish test score results from a cohort of individuals born in 1954–1955, tested in 1968, and followed until 2011. The procedure takes account of unobservable effects as well as excessive zeros in the data. We show that the test scores measure manifest or measured ability as it has evolved over the life of the respondent and is, thus, more a product of the socioeconomic status of the parents and the human capital formation process than some latent or fundamental measure of pure cognitive ability. We find that variables which are not closely associated with traditional notions of intelligence explain a significant proportion of the variation in test scores. This adds to the complexity of interpreting test scores and suggests that school culture and possible incentive problems make it more difficult to understand what the tests measure.

Harmonic Regression and Scale Stability

Monitoring a very frequently administered educational test with a relatively short history of stable operation imposes a number of challenges. Test scores usually vary by season, and the frequency of administration of such educational tests is also seasonal. Although it is important to react to unreasonable changes in the distributions of test scores in a timely fashion, it is not a simple matter to ascertain what sort of distribution is really unusual. Many commonly used approaches for seasonal adjustment are designed for time series with evenly spaced observations that span many years and, therefore, are inappropriate for data from such educational tests. Harmonic regression, a seasonal-adjustment method, can be useful in monitoring scale stability when the number of years available is limited and when the observations are unevenly spaced. Additional forms of adjustments can be included to account for variability in test scores due to different sources of population variations. To illustrate, real data are considered from an international language assessment.

The Measurement of Educational Inequality: Achievement and Opportunity1

This paper proposes two related measures of educational inequality: one for educational achievement and another for educational opportunity. The former is the simple variance (or standard deviation) of test scores. Its selection is informed by consideration of two measurement issues that have typically been overlooked in the literature: the implications of the standardization of test scores for inequality indices, and the possible sample selection biases arising from the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) sampling frame. The measure of inequality of educational opportunity is given by the share of the variance in test scores that is explained by pre-determined circumstances. Both measures are computed for the 57 countries in which PISA surveys were conducted in 2006. Inequality of opportunity accounts for up to 35 percent of all disparities in educational achievement. It is greater in (most of) continental Europe and Latin America than in Asia, Scandinavia, and North America. It is uncorrelated with average educational achievement and only weakly negatively correlated with per capita gross domestic product. It correlates negatively with the share of spending in primary schooling, and positively with tracking in secondary schools.

Effects of streaming in P1 (former group A) primary schools in Mutare urban, Zimbabwe

The purpose of the study is to determine the effects of streaming on grade 5 pupils’ academic achievement in P1 (Former group A) primary schools in Mutare Urban, Manicaland. Two primary schools were selected (one streaming school was randomly selected while the non-streaming school was purposely selected). A quasi-experimental design was opted. A sample size of 345 (males=169; females=176) was purposely selected of which 152 pupils (males = 72; females = 78) were from a non-streaming school, while 193 pupils (males = 95; females = 98) were from a streaming school. An adapted Wide Range Achievement test L1 revised for mathematics subtest was used to test for achievement levels. The results indicate a high significant difference (t (345) = -104.24, α=0.01) between non-streaming and a steaming schools. Girls were more represented in the high stream (70%) while boys were more in the middle streams (57%) and low stream (65%). The achievement levels decreases as pupils find themselves in lower streams and the grade equivalent differences (achievement lag) between high and low stream classes translates to 4 years of education while that of a non-streaming school is one year. Greater variability in test scores were found in the streaming school (s=4.37) than nonstreaming school (s=2.91).

Tracking Change in Critical-Thinking Skills

Background and Purpose. Critical thinking, knowledge, skill, and self-reflection are the hallmarks of clinical reasoning in physical therapy. Teaching and measuring a highly complex entity such as clinical reasoning is a challenging task and often requires multiple pedagogies and assessments. Knowledge and skill are frequently assessed by educators, but critical thinking and skills of reflection are not. Previous studies have used standardized tests to assess clinical reasoning skills of physical therapist students. These studies report conflicting findings potentially due to the fact that neither test was designed to test critical thinking of allied health practitioners. The Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) was designed specifically for health science students with questions written in a health care context.Participants. In 2008, 63 students, 37 from a public East Coast university and 26 from a private Midwest university were recruited to complete the HSRT.Method. The students completed the HSRT at 3 points in their education: upon entry to the program, prior to final affiliations, and again just prior to graduation.Outcomes. Analysis indicated a statistically significant change for the total score as well as the deductive and analysis subscales. Post-hoc analysis indicated these differences occurred between times 1 and 2 for the total score as well as both subscales. There was a significant difference between the 2 schools after adjusting for variance in initial test scores. The Midwest school's mean score (24.85) was greater than the east coast school's (22.42), and this difference was significant F^sub l^ = 12.65; P Conclusion. The HSRT was able to detect change in critical thinking scores. This finding, coupled with those of a previous study in which the HSRT was able to detect differences between experts and novices, indicate the HSRT may have validity and therefore may be a useful tool for assessing the critical thinking skills of physical therapist students.Key Words: Assessment, Clinical reasoning, Critical thinking.INTRODUCTIONThe Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) requires physical therapist education programs to develop and assess students' clinical reasoning skills.1 While clinical reasoning skills have always been an important component of physical therapist education, this mandate, coupled with direct access and the move to a doctoring profession, increases the importance of teaching and assessing clinical reasoning skills of physical therapist students.Clinical reasoning refers to the thinking and decision-making process used during examination and management of patients.2 It is a complex mechanism that requires basic scientific knowledge, clinical competence, the ability to self-reflect, and critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is the disciplined, intellectual process of applying skillful reasoning as a guide to belief or action and involves the cognitive abilities of analysis, interpretation, inference, evaluation, and explanation.3 The relationship between critical thinking and clinical reasoning is poorly understood and the terms are often interchanged. Clinical reasoning can be conceptualized as critical thinking within a specific domain or a particular point of view of a field, in this case the field of physical therapy. Physical therapists apply the components of critical thinking about and within the field of physical therapy, which has a certain point of view. This point of view is based on the objects, events, and investigations we consider in our area of expertise.4 The result of this critical thinking within our domain of practice and within the point of view of the field can be considered clinical reasoning. If one accepts this postulate then the skills required for critical thinking (ie, analysis, interpretation, inference, evaluation, and explanation) would be considered inherent in the clinical reasoning process but would be used contextually within the domain of physical therapy. …

How well is psychometric g indexed by global composites? Evidence from three popular intelligence tests.

Global composites (e.g., IQs) calculated in intelligence tests are interpreted as indexes of the general factor of intelligence, or psychometric g. It is therefore important to understand the proportion of variance in those global composites that is explained by g. In this study, we calculated this value, referred to as hierarchical omega, using large-scale, nationally representative norming sample data from 3 popular individually administered tests of intelligence for children and adolescents. We also calculated the proportion of variance explained in the global composites by g and the group factors, referred to as omega total, or composite reliability, for comparison purposes. Within each battery, g was measured equally well. Using total sample data, we found that 82%-83% of the total test score variance was explained by g. The group factors were also measured in the global composites, with both g and group factors explaining 89%-91% of the total test score variance for the total samples. Global composites are primarily indexes of g, but the group factors, as a whole, also explain a meaningful amount of variance.

Inequality in Pupils' Test Scores: How Much do Family, Sibling Type and Neighbourhood Matter?

We explore the relative influence of family and neighbourhood on pupils' test scores and how this varies by sibling type. Using English register data we find that the neighbourhood explains at most 10–15% of the variance in pupils' test scores, whereas the variance explained by family is between 44% and 54% at the end of primary school and between 47% and 61% at the end of compulsory schooling. The family influence is significantly higher for identical twins. It is also higher for dizygotic twins than for non‐twin siblings brought up at different times and therefore experiencing varying family circumstances.

Teaching science from cultural points of intersection

AbstractThis study focuses on a professional development program for science teachers near or on American Indian reservations in Montana. This program was framed by culturally relevant pedagogy premises and was characterized by instructional strategies and content foci resulting from the intersection between three cultures: tribal, science teaching, and science. The study employs a quasi‐experimental design and quantitative methods to examine the impact of the program on teachers' practice and beliefs, and to determine the relationship between student‐centered equity‐focused instruction and students' science test score gains. Results of the analyses indicate that after 2 years in the program teachers changed their teaching practices and beliefs about their ability to teach science and to implement equitable instruction in a way that positively impacted students' performance. Using a multiple regression analysis it was found that gains in teacher beliefs about their ability to implement equitable strategies and the increase of teaching strategies that prompt students to make connections between science and their real‐life issues significantly explained the 36.7% of the variance of student science test scores gains in treatment classrooms. No significant changes in beliefs or teaching strategies were found for comparison teachers. The results obtained from this study contribute to the identification of characteristics of a professional development program that positively impacted the science teaching of American Indian students. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50:12–32, 2013

On Studying Common Factor Variance in Multiple-Component Measuring Instruments

A method for examining common factor variance in multiple-component measuring instruments is outlined. The procedure is based on an application of the latent variable modeling methodology and is concerned with evaluating observed variance explained by a global factor and by one or more additional component-specific factors. The approach furnishes point and interval estimates of the proportion test score variance accounted for by the common factor and by the remaining factors, as well as of the difference in these proportions. The method is readily used in empirical behavioral research for purposes of addressing the issue of whether a scale under consideration is predominantly measuring a construct common to all its components, via application of the widely available software Mplus and R. The described procedure is illustrated using a numerical example.

Cognitive predictors of reading and math achievement among gifted referrals.

This study investigated the predictive power of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) Full Scale IQ (FSIQ), the General Ability Index (GAI), and the WISC-IV index score composites on subsequent reading and math standardized test scores among high-achieving students. The sample consisted of 84 elementary-age students who received an individual cognitive assessment with the WISC-IV in the previous year as part of the application process for gifted and talented programming through their schools. Although there were no significant differences among the mean WISC-IV index scores, 77% of the individual students evidenced statistically significant WISC-IV index score variability. Thus, intraindividual test score variability appears to be the norm among high-achieving students. In spite of this variability, regression analyses indicated that the FSIQ predicted reading comprehension and mathematics achievement better than, or as well as, the GAI or individual scores for verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning. None of the cognitive variables correlated significantly with achievement scores for Word Reading or Pseudoword Decoding scores, but the FSIQ, GAI, Verbal Comprehension, and Perceptual Reasoning scores predicted reading comprehension. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.