Exam 2

Question 1

concurrent validity

Answer 1

the construct validity of a measure is assessed by examining whether groups of people differ on the measure in expected ways; scores on the measure are related to a criterion measured at the same time (concurrently); Example: if two groups of participants were given the measures, and they differed in predictable ways (e.g, if those in therapy for depression scored higher than those in therapy for an anxiety disorder), then this would be evidence for concurrent validity

Question 2

construct validity

Answer 2

the degree to which a measurement device accurately measures the theoretical construct it is designed to measure

Question 3

content validity

Answer 3

an indicator of construct validity of a measure in which the content of the measure is compared to the universe of content that defines the construct; the content of the measure is linked to the universe of content that defines the construct; Example: depression is defined by a mood and by cognitive and physiological symptoms, so, if the new measure of depression was content-valid, it would include items from each of these domains

Question 4

Cronbach’s alpha

Answer 4

an indicator of internal consistency reliability assessed by examining the average correlation of each item (question) in a measure with every other question

Question 5

discriminant validity

Answer 5

the construct validity of a measure is assessed by examining the extent to which scores on the measure are not related to scores on conceptually unrelated measures; scores on the measure are not related to other measures that are theoretically different; Example: if the new measure, collected at the same time as other measures of anxiety (e.g., state/trait anxiety), was unrelated to those measures, then it could be said to have evidence for discriminant validity because it would indicate that what was being measured was not anxiety

Question 6

face validity

Answer 6

the degree to which a measurement device appears to accurately measure a variable; the content of the measure appears to reflect the construct being measured; Example: if the new measure of depression includes items like “I feel sad” or “I feel down” or “I cry a lot,” then it would have evidence for being face-valid

Question 7

internal consistency reliability

Answer 7

reliability assessed with data collected at one point in time with multiple measures of a psychological construct; a measure is reliable when the multiple measures provide similar results; because all items measure the same variable, they should yield similar or consistent results

Question 8

interrater reliability

Answer 8

an indicator of reliability that examines the agreement of observations made by two or more raters (judges)

Question 9

interval scale

Answer 9

a scale of measurement in which the intervals between numbers on the scale are all equal in size; numeric properties are literal; assume equal interval between values; examples: intelligence, aptitude test score, temperature (Fahrenheit or Celsius); distinction: no true zero

Question 10

item-total correlation

Answer 10

the correlation between scores on individual items with the total score on all items of a measure

Question 11

measurement error

Answer 11

the degree to which a measurement deviates from the true score value

Question 12

nominal scale

Answer 12

a scale of measurement with two or more categories that have no numerical (less than, greater than) properties; categories with no numerical scales; Example: males/females, introverts/extroverts; distinction: impossible to define any quantitative values and/or differences between/across categories

Question 13

ordinal scale

Answer 13

a scale of measurement in which the measurement categories form a rank order along a continuum; rand ordering; numeric values limited; Examples: 2-, 3-, and 4-star restaurants, ranking TV programs by popularity; distinction: intervals between items not known

Question 14

Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient

Answer 14

a type of correlation coefficient used with interval and ratio scale data, in addition to providing information on the strength of relationship between two variables, it indicates the direction (positive or negative) of the relationship; the Pearson correlation coefficient (symbolized as r) can range from 0.00 to +1.00 and 0.00 to -1.00. A correlation of 0.00 tells us that the two variables are not related at all. The closer a correlation is to 1.00, either + or -, the stronger is the relationship. The positive and negative signs tell the direction of the relationship. When the correlation coefficient is positive (a plus sign), there is a positive linear relationship–high scores on one variable are associated with high scores on the second variable. A negative linear relationship is indicated by a minus sign–high scores on one variable are associated with low scores on the second variable.

Question 15

predictive validity

Answer 15

the construct validity of a measure is assessed by examining the ability of the measure to predict a future behavior; scores on the measure predict behavior on a criterion measured at a future time; Example: if the measure of depression predicts future diagnosis of depression, then it would have evidence of predictive validity

Question 16

ratio scale

Answer 16

a scale of measurement in which there is an absolute zero point, indicating an absence of the variable being measured. an implication is that ratios of numbers on the scale can be formed (generally, these are physical measures such as weight or timed measures such as duration or reaction time); zero indicates absence of variable measured; examples: reaction time, weight, age, frequencies of behaviors; distinction: can form ratios (someone weighs twice as much as another person)

Question 17

reactivity

Answer 17

a problem of measurement in which the measure changes the behavior being observed

Question 18

reliability

Answer 18

the degree to which a measure is consistent; Example: if a test given to a person gives them a certain intelligence score on a particular day, it should give them a similar score if they took in again a week later

Question 19

split-half reliability

Answer 19

a reliability coefficient determined by the correlation between scores on half of the items on a measure with scores on the other half of a measure; is an indicator of internal consistency reliability

Question 20

test-retest reliability

Answer 20

a reliability coefficient determined by the correlation between scores on a measure given at one time with scores on the same measure given at a later time; Example: the reliability of a test of intelligence could be assessed by giving the measure to a group of people on one day and again a week later, we would then have two scores for each person, and a correlation coefficient could be calculated to determine the relationship between the first test score and the retest score

Question 21

true score

Answer 21

an individual’s actual score on a variable being measured, as opposed to the score the individual obtained on the measure itself

Question 22

convergent validity

Answer 22

the construct validity of a measure is assessed by examining the extent to which scores on the measure are related to scores on other measures of the same construct or similar constructs; Example: if scores from the new measure, collected at the same time as other measures of depression (e.g., Beck Depression Inventory or Duke Anxiety-Depression Scale), were related to scores from those other measures, then it could be said to have evidence for convergent validity