Week 3 Individual Assignment DUE DATE This assignment is due on Monday, Day 7 of Week 3. OVERVIEW This is an assignment to give you experience applying the knowledge of reliability and validity that you obtained in Week 2 in real-life scenarios. RESOURCES There is no limitation on the resources you may use in answering the questions below. It is not necessary to include citations in the text or a References list at the end. Dr. Tom’s Cookbook should be useful for this assignment. SPECIFICATIONS DOCUMENT TYPE REQUIRED: Insert your answers after the questions below. LENGTH: No minimum length. Each response should not exceed 7 lines of 12-point Times New Roman text. FORMAT REQUIREMENTS: * APA format is not required * Use 12-point Times New Roman font * In-text citations and a References page are not required SCORING The 18 answers below are weighted equally. The score for each answer will be based 70% upon content and 30% upon writing mechanics and clarity of expression. Insert your answers into the spaces below each question using 12-point Times New Roman font. I will grade only the first 7 lines of each response. Scenario 1: A high school is planning a final exam to be used at the end of all its Algebra II classes. The purpose of the test is to evaluate how well the students have learned the topics on the syllabus for Algebra II. They will administer the exam for the first time on the last day of Fall semester, in December,. At that time about 90 students will take this exam. The principal has requested that the exam scores, plus reliability and validity results, be available for the School Board meeting in the first week of January. Reliability: 1a. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using alternate-forms reliability as the only measure of reliability for this new final exam. Give an answer that applies to this situation, not a “textbook” answer. (7 lines or less) 1b. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using split-half reliability as the only measure of reliability for this new final exam. Give an answer that applies to this situation, not a “textbook” answer. (7 lines or less) 1c. Which of those two reliability methods would you recommend to the principal? Why? (7 lines or less) Validity: 1d. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using content validity as the only measure of validity for this new final exam. Give an answer that applies to this situation, not a “textbook” answer. (7 lines or less) 1e. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using predictive validity as the only measure of validity for this new final exam. Give an answer that applies to this situation, not a “textbook” answer. (7 lines or less) 1f. Which of those two validity methods would you recommend to the principal? Why? (7 lines or less) Scenario 2: A large testing company is creating a standardized test of Computer Programming Using JavaScript. (“JavaScript” is a programming language.).

1. Week 3 Individual Assignment
DUE DATE
This assignment is due on Monday, Day 7 of Week 3.
OVERVIEW
This is an assignment to give you experience applying the
knowledge of reliability and validity that you obtained in Week
2 in real-life scenarios.
RESOURCES
There is no limitation on the resources you may use in
answering the questions below. It is not necessary to include
citations in the text or a References list at the end. Dr. Tom’s
Cookbook should be useful for this assignment.
SPECIFICATIONS
DOCUMENT TYPE REQUIRED: Insert your answers after the
questions below.
LENGTH: No minimum length. Each response should not
exceed 7 lines of 12-point Times New Roman text.
FORMAT REQUIREMENTS:
* APA format is not required
* Use 12-point Times New Roman font
* In-text citations and a References page are not required

2. SCORING
The 18 answers below are weighted equally. The score for each
answer will be based 70% upon content and 30% upon writing
mechanics and clarity of expression.
Insert your answers into the spaces below each question using
12-point Times New Roman font. I will grade only the first 7
lines of each response.
Scenario 1: A high school is planning a final exam to be used
at the end of all its Algebra II classes. The purpose of the test
is to evaluate how well the students have learned the topics on
the syllabus for Algebra II. They will administer the exam for
the first time on the last day of Fall semester, in December,. At
that time about 90 students will take this exam. The principal
has requested that the exam scores, plus reliability and validity
results, be available for the School Board meeting in the first
week of January.
Reliability:
1a. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using
alternate-forms reliability as the only measure of reliability for
this new final exam. Give an answer that applies to this
situation, not a “textbook” answer. (7 lines or less)
1b. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using split-
half reliability as the only measure of reliability for this new
final exam. Give an answer that applies to this situation, not a
“textbook” answer. (7 lines or less)
1c. Which of those two reliability methods would you
recommend to the principal? Why? (7 lines or less)
Validity:
1d. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using
content validity as the only measure of validity for this new
final exam. Give an answer that applies to this situation, not a
“textbook” answer. (7 lines or less)

3. 1e. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using
predictive validity as the only measure of validity for this new
final exam. Give an answer that applies to this situation, not a
“textbook” answer. (7 lines or less)
1f. Which of those two validity methods would you recommend
to the principal? Why? (7 lines or less)
Scenario 2: A large testing company is creating a standardized
test of Computer Programming Using JavaScript. (“JavaScript”
is a programming language.) The purpose of the test is to
measure an individual’s skill with the JavaScript language. The
test will be sold to employers as a tool for predicting software
engineers’ job performance. A software company is helping
with the development of the test; they have offered to allow the
testing company try out the test on their current staff of
software engineers, and will allow the testing company to
access data on those software engineers’ recent performance
ratings. The testing company wants to begin the pilot test on
May 1 and have the tryout completed by September 1.
Reliability:
2a. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using test-
retest reliability as the only measure of reliability for this new
employment test. Give an answer that applies to this situation,
not a “textbook” answer. (7 lines or less)
2b. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using
internal consistency reliability as the only measure of reliability
for this new employment test. Give an answer that applies to
this situation, not a “textbook” answer. (7 lines or less)
2c. Which of those two reliability methods would you
recommend to the testing company? Why? (7 lines or less)
Validity:
2d. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using face
validity as the only measure of validity for this new
employment test. Give an answer that applies to this situation,
not a “textbook” answer. (7 lines or less)
2e. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using

4. concurrent validity as the only measure of validity for this new
employment test. Give an answer that applies to this situation,
not a “textbook” answer. (7 lines or less)
2f. Which of those two validity methods would you recommend
to the testing company? Why? (7 lines or less)
Scenario 3: Two Forensic Psychology professors are
developing a personality test to be given to individuals
incarcerated for non-violent crimes. The purpose of the test is
to predict whether the test taker will be re-arrested for
committing new crimes after they have been released from
prison. A local prison has agreed to let them administer the test
to current prisoners who are serving sentences for non-violent
crimes, but the professors must do all testing in a single visit to
the prison. The professors would like to be able to publish the
results within 18 months.
Reliability:
3a. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using test-
retest reliability as the only measure of reliability for this new
test. Give an answer that applies to this situation, not a
“textbook” answer. (7 lines or less)
3b. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using
internal consistency reliability as the only measure of reliability
for this new test. Give an answer that applies to this situation,
not a “textbook” answer. (7 lines or less)
3c. Which of those two reliability methods would you
recommend to the professors? Why? (7 lines or less)
Validity:
3d. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of correlating
the test scores with scores on a different test that has been
shown to successfully predict recidivism (this would be a form
of construct validity) as the only measure of validity for this
new test. Give an answer that applies to this situation, not a
“textbook” answer. (7 lines or less)

5. 3e. Discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of using
predictive validity as the only measure of validity for this new
test. Give an answer that applies to this situation, not a
“textbook” answer. (7 lines or less)
3f. Which of those two validity methods would you recommend
to the professors? Why? (7 lines or less)
1
1
Week 2 Individual Assignment
DUE DATE
This assignment is due on Monday, Day 7 of Week 2.
ASSIGNMENT
Select one of the following significant occurrences in the
development of psychological
testing:
* Initial creation of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (now called the
SAT)
* The increase over the last 15 years in the number of states
requiring high school seniors

6. to pass a statewide graduation exam
* Attempts to relate human body shape to personality
characteristics, especially
phrenology and the theory of somatotypes.
Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper exploring your selected event
and its historical roots. In
your paper, explain why the event is significant and how it has
affected the development of
psychological testing in the 21st century.
SPECIFICATIONS
DOCUMENT TYPE REQUIRED: MS Word, .RTF, or .PDF
document
LENGTH: 700 to 1,050 words
APA FORMAT REQUIREMENTS:
* Page headers
* Title page

7. * References with citations in the text (minimum number of
references: one)
* 12-point Times New Roman
* Double-spaced
2
GRADING RUBRIC
Task Criteria Weight
Content and Organization (70%)
" Select one of the following
significant occurrences in the
development of psychological
testing."
Topic is one of those listed in the
assignment.

8. 5%
"Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper
exploring your selected event and its
historical roots. In your paper,
explain why the event is significant
and how it has affected the
development of psychological testing
in the 21st century."
Explored its historical roots. 5%
Explained why the event is significant. 5%
Explained how the event has affected the
development of psychological testing in
the 21st century.

9. 5%
The paper is 700 to 1,050 words. 4%
The content is the student's own work 10%
The content is comprehensive and
accurate
10%
The paper develops a central theme or
idea, directed toward the appropriate
audience.
8%
Major points are stated clearly; are
supported by specific details, examples, or
analysis; and are organized logically.
10%
The introduction provides sufficient
background on the topic and previews
major points.
4%

10. The conclusion is logical, flows from the
body of the paper, and reviews the major
points.
4%
Clarity and Flow of Ideas (10%)
Write with a style that is appropriate
and readable
Ideas are expressed clearly and
coherently.
5%
Sentences and paragraphs create a
smooth flow of ideas.
5%
Mechanics (10%)
Use correct grammar, spelling,
punctuation, and word usage

11. Rules of grammar are followed. 4%
Spelling is correct. 2%
Word usage is correct. 4%
3
APA Style (10%)
APA FORMAT REQUIREMENTS:
* Page headers
* Title page
* References with citations in the text
* 12-point Times New Roman font
* Double-spaced
Title page and page headers 2%
Font and line spacing 3%
Reference and citation format (from mini-

12. rubric below)
5%
APA REFERENCES CRITERIA Mini-Rubric
Used 12-point Times New Roman font
throughout
Listed references alphabetically by author(s) last
name
Uses first initials for authors, not first names
Included all required components (authors,
article title, journal title, etc.)
Placed components in correct order
Used plain text for article titles (not italics, or
bold, or all-caps, etc.)
Used proper capitalization for article, journal,
and book titles
Used italics for journal or book titles
Formatted volume number and page numbers
correctly

13. Used double spacing throughout the References
list
Used hanging indents
Used other APA format features correctly
Avoided using articles that appear to be
secondary references (e.g. references more than
60 years old).
Articles cited in text match articles in Reference
section
Used correct format for citations
WATCH OUT FOR . . .
The most frequent issues that cause students to lose points on
this assignment are:
• Failing to describe how the event influences psychological
testing in the 21st century
• Using too many direct quotes
• Including references for books or articles that they are
unlikely to have read (for

14. example, books written more than 50 years ago)
4
• Failing to include good introductory and/or closing paragraphs
• Using improper APA formatting of citations and references
• Improper referencing of secondary sources (see below)
NOTES
This is one of the few assignments that does not require your
references to be from peer-
reviewed professional journals. You're free to use Wikipedia
and other websites.
As noted above, avoid listing references that you haven't
personally read. Frequently for
this assignment students will cite an ancient book that they are
highly unlikely to have read.
If you're reading an article about a psychologist that contains a
good quote from one of his
articles or books, and you use the quote in your paper, your
citation for the quote should be
to the article you actually read, not to the older article or book.

15. In this case, the article you
read is called a secondary source.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's an example I’ve adapted from the Purdue OWL website
(http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/09/):
Work Discussed in a Secondary Source
Suppose you were reading an article by Smith, and Smith
mentions information from
something published by Jones in 1943. You want to use the
Jones information in your
paper, but you haven’t actually read Jones’ article, you’ve only
read what Smith said about
it. Here’s what you do:
* In your references list, list the article you’ve actually read:
Smith’s.
* In the text of your paper, mention both Smith and Jones.
For example, in the references list, list the source the work was
discussed in:
Smith, J. (1993). Models of reading aloud: Dual-route and
parallel-distributed-processing
approaches. Psychological Review, 100, 589-608.

16. In the text of your paper, use the following citation:
In Jones’ study in 1943 (as cited in Smith, 1993), ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~