Validity

1. Validity By Chris VanOrmer

2. What is Validity? • The extent to which a test measures what it is suppose to measure. • Reliability is also a necessary condition for validity.

3. Types of Validity • Construct Validity-The extent to which an assessment accurately measures an underlying, non-observable characteristic such as motivation, self-esteem, or visual-spatial ability. • Example- we might use our observations of students on-task and off-task behavior in class to draw inferences about their motivation to learn academic subject matter

4. Types of Validity • Predictive Validity- the extent to which the results of an assessment predict the future behavior • Example- if the school psychologist tells us the IQ score a particular student has obtained on an intelligence test, we may be interested in knowing how well scores from the test predict students future academic achievement.

5. Types • Content Validity- the extent to which the tasks we ask students to perform are a representative sample of the knowledge and skills we are trying to assess. Content Validity is especially important in formal assessment. • Example- a study is being conducted about biology questions regarding math would not be relevant to the study. The content of the study should yield accurate results while using pertinent subject matters.

6. Darley and Gross Experiment (1983) • Undergraduate student were told that they were participating in a study on teacher evaluations methods and were asked to view a video tape of a 4th grade girl named Hannah. There were two versions of the video tape designed to give two different impressions about Hannah’s socioeconomic status; Hannah’s clothing playground and parents occupation indirectly made Hannah seem as if she was from a low socioeconomic background and to others that she was from a high socioeconomic background.

7. Continued Darley and Gross • All students then witnessed Hannah taking an oral achievement test ( on which she performed at grade level) and were asked to rate Hannah on a number of characteristics. Students who believed Hannah was from wealthy surroundings, rated her ability above grade level. Students who believed she came from an impoverished environment evaluated her as being below grade level. The two groups of students also rated Hannah differently in terms of her work habits, motivation, social skills, and general maturity.

8. Factors Influencing Results • The Validity of any experiment can be affected positively or negatively depending upon: - age, social status, sex, race, environment These are only a few of the many factors that may influence the results.

9. Well Known Validity Tests • Personality and IQ tests are a few of the more common validity tests used on people. • Examples- MMPI( Minnesota Multi-Phasic Personality Inventory-2). This is a T/F test that is used to Identify people with particular psychological problems • Rorschach Inkblot Test- This test is used to identify personal conflict and fantasies. These Factors allow psychologists to detect emotional disturbances. • Stanford-Binet Test- a popular IQ test used to test intelligence. Its made up of “Intellectual” question and problems. Many Scholars don’t believe that this test is valid.

10. Works Cited Ormrod, Jeanne Ellis. Educational Psychology: Developing Learners. 3rd Edition. Prentice Hall, 2000. Coon, Dennis. Essentials of Psychology. 9th Edition. Wadsworth/Learning, 2003.