Past Quiz Questions
Statement 1: Aptitude and achievement tests are both types of personality test. Statement 2: In psychology, we generally need a normative sample in order to standardize raw scores.
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: Binet's original intelligence tests (later adapted for use in the US army) were GROUP-ADMINISTERED. Statement 2: The US army intelligence tests used in the First World War involved a Beta version for illiterate recruits and those who could not speak English, and an Alpha version for recruits literate in English.
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: If an examination is criterion-referenced, then marks are protected from changes in examination difficulty. Statement 2: If an examination is norm-referenced, then marks will be affected by the average quality of students.
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: If the correlation between a test question and some appropriate criterion measure is low relative to other items, then it is likely to be improving the test's validity. Statement 2: If your test responses are dichotomous and your criterion measure is continuous then it is probably appropriate to examine the relationship between them using a t-test.
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: If we test a large sample when estimating the correlation between two variables, then it is likely that the magnitude of the correlation coefficient will be large. Statement 2: If the validity coefficient for a criterion measure is statistically significant, then this does not necessarily indicate that the test is valid.
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: If we want to calculate correlations that involve a criterion-referenced test, then any restrictions of range on the variables would never be a problem. Statement 2: The magnitude of Pearson's correlation between two variables will NOT change if we multiply all the scores on one of the variables by ten.
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
A man completes an intelligence test and his raw score is converted into a z score of -2. If his raw score were instead converted into an IQ score, what would it be?
70
Statement 1: In psychology, raw scores do not always need to be converted into standard scores for ease of interpretation. Statement 2: If a skills test can consistently produce the same score for an applicant on multiple administrations, then we would consider the test to be reliable.
(a) Both statements are true.
Imagine I used a psychological test (where a higher score is indicative of better performance) to decide which of 30 applicants to hire for 15 potential job positions. The test has high criterion-referenced validity with respect to job performance. If I set a very high cut-off for the test to minimise false positives, what would be the most likely outcome? (a) Most of the applicants would fail the test and I would end up with insufficient people to fill the job positions. (b) The worst candidates would be likely to perform better at the test than the best candidates. (c) I could obtain my 15 applicants, but it would be unlikely that I had selected the best people for the job. (d) Most of the applicants would pass the test and I would end up with more people than job positions.
(a) Most of the applicants would fail the test and I would end up with insufficient people to fill the job positions.
If a child scores 6 on an age-normed test that uses a Stanine scale (where higher scores = better reading), then what does this mean? (a) They are better than the average child their own age. (b) They are similar to the average child their own age. (c) They are worse than the average child their own age. (d) They are similar to the average child who is a year younger than them.
(a) They are better than the average child their own age.
Spearman's g refers to: (a) What different intelligence tests have in common. (b) The specific factors assessed by different intelligence tests. (c) A type of non-parametric correlation coefficient. (d) A statistic for predicting the effect of changing the length of a test on its reliability.
(a) What different intelligence tests have in common.
The five groups of tests used in the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (5th edition) are: (a) Fluid Intelligence, Processing Speed, Working Memory, Perceptual Reasoning, and Verbal Comprehension. (b) Fluid Reasoning, Crystallised Intelligence, Working Memory, Quantitative Reasoning, and Visual-Spatial Reasoning. (c) Working Memory, Fluid Reasoning, Knowledge, Verbal Comprehension, and Perceptual Reasoning. (d) Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Comprehension, Working Memory, Fluid Reasoning, and Crystallised Intelligence.
(b) Fluid Reasoning, Crystallised Intelligence, Working Memory, Quantitative Reasoning, and Visual-Spatial Reasoning.
The __________ measurement scale(s) is/are the only one(s) that can be rank-ordered; whereas the __________ measurement scale(s) has/have an absolute zero point. (a) Ordinal; Ratio. (b) Ordinal, interval and ratio; Ratio. (c) Ordinal and interval; Interval and ratio. (d) Nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio; Interval and ratio.
(b) Ordinal, interval and ratio; Ratio.
Which of the following is classed as an information-processing model of intelligence? (a) The Cattell-Horn Model. (b) Sternberg's Triarchical Model. (c) Piaget's Four Stage Model. (d) Carroll's Hierarchical Model.
(b) Sternberg's Triarchical Model.
When calculating a T score in Microsoft Excel, which of the following formula would be appropriate, if the original z score was in cell A1? (a) A1*50+10. (b) (A1-10)*50. (c) A1*10+50. (d) (A1+50)*10.
(c) A1*10+50.
Statement 1: When writing using APA 6th edition rules, if you are citing multiple references at once, then they should go in chronological order. Statement 2: When writing using APA 6th edition rules, you should double space your lines.
(c) Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: If the correlation between two variables is found to be reliably zero, then this means that you cannot conclude ANYTHING about how the two variables vary relative to each other. Statement 2: The magnitude of the correlation coefficient reflects the slope of the linear relationship between two variables.
(d) Both statements are false.
Statement 1: A seven-year-old boy completes a test of reading comprehension and his raw score is converted into a z score of +1.68 compared with other children his own age (where a higher score = better comprehension). This means he is performing within the middle 68% of children his age, assuming a normal distribution. Statement 2: A six-year-old girl completes a test of reading comprehension and her raw score is converted into a z score of +1.00 compared with other children her own age (where a higher score = better comprehension). This means her T score on this test would be 70.
Both statements are false.
Statement 1: Based on twin studies cited by Plomin and Spinath (2004), intelligence has been estimated to be about 86% inherited. Statement 2: According to twin IQ correlation data collected by Plomin and Spinath (2004), heritability (i.e., genetics) appears to become LESS of a factor in determining IQ with increasing age.
Both statements are false.
Statement 1: Converting a z score into a percentile rank is an example of a linear transformation. Statement 2: The number of people from a representative standardisation sample who would score 5 on a test using a stanine scale will be the same as the number of people scoring 4.
Both statements are false.
Statement 1: Expectancy tables involve an analysis of the reliability scatterplot for a test. Statement 2: When Schmidt et al. (1979) used utility analysis to evaluate the efficacy of the Programmer Aptitude Test for selecting programmers over traditional non-test methods such as interviews, they found the key factor behind their saving of approximately $6 million per year was that the test was much quicker to administer than the non-test methods.
Both statements are false.
Statement 1: Herrnstein and Murray, in their book "The Bell Curve", used multiple regression techniques to show that IQ was changeable. Statement 2: Herrnstein and Murray, in their book "The Bell Curve", failed to control for Socio-Economic Status (SES) in their analyses of IQ.
Both statements are false.
Statement 1: If we're creating a criterion-referenced test, then items with a reduced spread of scores are a problem. Statement 2: If the item-rest correlation for a test question is higher than the rest then we might consider replacing it.
Both statements are false.
Statement 1: The Standard Error of Measurement for a test will increase if its reliability is improved. Statement 2: We can estimate the 95% confidence interval of an individual's test score by adding and subtracting one Standard Error of Measurement from their score.
Both statements are false.
Statement 1: The standardisation sample used for the First World War US army intelligence tests was a small sample of students and businessmen selected because they were already KNOWN to have a mental age of 16. Statement 2: Eugenics refers to a movement advocating practices designed to improve the genetic composition of the population through strictly positive and humane interventions.
Both statements are false.
Statement 1: Unlike other intelligence tests, African American people were found to perform at the same level as white people on the BITCH test of intelligence. Statement 2: Research on the "Pygmalion effect" (Rosenthal & Jacobsen, 1966) found that if teachers were told that certain students were likely to do well academically (when in reality these students were identified at random), then the selected students showed greater IQ score gains across all age groups.
Both statements are false.
Statement 1: If an examination is criterion-referenced, then an individual's score will not be affected if the norm for the course changes. Statement 2: If an examination is norm-referenced, then an individual's score will be less likely to be affected by changes in the quality of teaching.
Both statements are true.
Statement 1: If the proportion of higher grades changes substantially between semesters for a course, this probably means the course scoring is criterion-referenced. Statement 2: When I convert your percentage score to your grade score at the end of this course, this is an example of a non-linear transformation.
Both statements are true.
Statement 1: If we're creating a criterion-referenced test, then items with a reduced spread of scores are not necessarily a problem. Statement 2: If the item-rest correlation for a test question is lower than the other test items then we might consider replacing it.
Both statements are true.
Statement 1: The significance test you get with a correlation coefficient tells you whether it is significantly DIFFERENT from zero. Statement 2: The smaller the degree of scatter in a scatterplot between two variables (both with Gaussian distributions), the larger the correlation coefficient between those two variables will be.
Both statements are true.
Statement 1: We use a t-test to determine whether a correlation coefficient is significantly different from zero. Statement 2: If we test more people when estimating a correlation coefficient, then we are likely to obtain a more accurate estimate of the population correlation.
Both statements are true.
One group of people scores higher on a test designed to predict job performance than another group of people. Overall, the test is found to be valid. On a scatterplot (of job performance versus test score), the two groups are best modelled with a single regression line. What does this mean? (a) Either the test is not biased or the test score and job performance measure are equivalently biased. (b) The test is biased, but can still predict job performance to the same degree within each group separately. (c) The test is biased and yields a different criterion validity coefficient for each group. (d) The test is differentially valid.
Either the test is not biased or the test score and job performance measure are equivalently biased.
Ahmed has an IQ score of 105 and Steve has an IQ score of 95. They were both tested on the same IQ test, which has a standard deviation of 15 and an internal consistency of .90. Are their IQ scores significantly different, given a 95% confidence interval? SEdiff = SD*sqrt(2-r1-r2)
No, their IQ scores are not significantly different.
A categorical variable can always be measured using a(n) __________ scale.
Nominal.
If we can state that a score on a measure is twice that of another score on the same measure, then these scores must have been gauged on a(n) __________ scale.
Ratio.
Statement 1: In US court cases, intelligence tests (such as the WISC and Stanford-Binet) have been CONSISTENTLY judged to be racially biased when used in educational settings. Statement 2: In Australian employment law, it is possible to overcome a claim of discrimination on the basis of a disability, if you can demonstrate that the disability is directly relevant to some inherent requirement of the job.
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: In psychology, raw scores must always be converted into standard scores for ease of interpretation. Statement 2: If a skills test can consistently produce the same score for an applicant on multiple administrations, then we would consider the test to be reliable.
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: In the case "Australian Industrial Relations Commission vs. Coms21" (1999), the court held that Coms21 had terminated the employment of five individuals unfairly because, IN ADDITION TO the usual competency tests, the terminations were also based on personality profiles. Statement 2: The current national Australian body dealing with unfair workplace practices is the Fair Work Commission.
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: It is generally a good idea to aim to create only as many items for your new psychological test as you're likely to need in the final version. Statement 2: In JAMOVI, you can generate histograms by selecting the "Exploration" option.
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: Jensen argued that a key problem with factor analytic approaches to intelligence is that they tend to treat intelligence as no more than a theoretical construct. Statement 2: Sternberg's Triarchical Model of intelligence includes an emphasis on planning as a key component of intelligence.
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: Power analysis can tell you how many people you need to test in order to guarantee that you would find a statistically significant correlation coefficient. Statement 2: If you had two normally-distributed variables that were both on the interval scale of measurement, then you could use Pearson's r to evaluate the correlation between them.
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: Raven's Progressive Matrices were originally designed to allow the intellectual comparison of people who spoke different languages. Statement 2: The pre-schooler version of the Wechsler intelligence tests is known as the "WPPSI".
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: The significance test you get with a correlation coefficient tells you whether it is significantly ASSOCIATED with zero. Statement 2: The greater the degree of scatter in a scatterplot between two normally-distributed variables, the smaller the correlation coefficient between those two variables will be.
Statement 1 is false; Statement 2 is true.
Statement 1: If a test is differentially valid, it yields different validity coefficients for different groups of people, indicating it is biased. Statement 2: Expectancy data can be used to evaluate the CONTENT validity of a test.
Statement 1 is true; Statement 2 is false.
Statement 1: If someone has a negative z score on some measure, then we can potentially convert this into a percentile rank by referring to the column marked "smaller portion" on a typical standard normal distribution table. Statement 2: We can estimate the 95% confidence interval of an individual's test score by adding and subtracting one Standard Error of Measurement from their score.
Statement 1 is true; Statement 2 is false.
Statement 1: If the "Cronbach's alpha if item dropped" for a test question is high compared with other questions, then we might consider replacing it. Statement 2: To determine the contribution of a test question to the overall test validity, we could look at the correlations between it and the overall test score.
Statement 1 is true; Statement 2 is false.
Statement 1: If the correlation between two variables is found to be reliably zero, then we can draw conclusions about the association between the two variables. Statement 2: The magnitude of the correlation coefficient reflects the slope of the linear relationship between two variables.
Statement 1 is true; Statement 2 is false.
Statement 1: Imagine we revised a test and, as a result, the true variance became a greater proportion of the total variance. This would mean that the standard deviation of scores of a single person taking the test multiple times would become smaller. Statement 2: The fact that we cannot ask students everything about the course in this series of quizzes will increase the proportion of the observed score that can be accounted for by the true score (assuming the quiz marks are supposed to reflect students' PSYC3020 knowledge).
Statement 1 is true; Statement 2 is false.
Statement 1: Thurstone proposed that intelligence should be thought of as a number of different primary mental abilities, where he used factor analysis to extract eight CORRELATED factors to describe intelligence. Statement 2: The Cattell-Horn Model of intelligence proposed that intelligence was comprised of ONLY two types of cognitive ability: crystallised and fluid intelligence.
Statement 1 is true; Statement 2 is false.
Statement 1: Traditional tests of intelligence should NOT be used as achievement tests. Statement 2: Tests of intelligence designed for pre-schoolers are predictive of the intelligence of most individuals later in life.
Statement 1 is true; Statement 2 is false.
Statement 1: When we calculate the confidence interval of an individual's test score, we assume that their observed score is their true score. Statement 2: If a revised version of a test is found to be more reliable, then this will increase the Standard Error of Measurement (assuming that the standard deviation of the revised test is the same as the original).
Statement 1 is true; Statement 2 is false.
Statement 1: When writing using APA 6th edition rules, including the DOI of articles in the reference list is mandatory (assuming it has a DOI). Statement 2: When writing using APA 6th edition rules, Level 2 headings are indented.
Statement 1 is true; Statement 2 is false.
A man completes an IQ test in 1950 in the UK and scores 105 (mean = 100, SD = 15). Thirty years later, in 1980, he completes exactly the same test again (but the test has been re-standardised using a contemporary adult UK sample). He scores 105 again. Which of the following statements is the most likely interpretation of his data? Hint: remember the Flynn effect. (a) The man's intelligence appears to have improved with age. (b) The man's intelligence appears to have declined with age. (c) The man's intelligence appears to be identical to what it was. (d) The man's ability to do IQ tests appears to have declined.
The man's intelligence appears to have improved with age.
Imagine you had a questionnaire with 20 items and you were disappointed that its internal consistency was .68. What effect would adding another 10 equivalent items be predicted to have on the reliability? rSB = (n x rxx)/(1+((n-1) x rxx))
The predicted reliability of the new test would be .76.