: EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY
The score may be the difference between the performance
of the subject and some previously established group norm
or consensus of expert opinion.
The score may be the difference between test perfor-
mances of an individual under varying conditions.
If the differences between subjects in test performance
are discrete, the investigator can assign numerical values
to the types of response, in accordance with his judgment
of their excellence, or he can build a scale in accordance
with experimental findings based on the Cattell-Fullerton
principle that “equally often noticed differences are equal,”
the principle which underlies the construction of many edu-
cational scales such as the Thorndike scale of merit in
handwriting. It is not always necessary, however, to assign
quantitative values to qualitative differences of response.
If the subject is required to place a number of variants in
their true order, correlation with true order may be used
as the score.
Some tests have been scored by rating scales; that is, the
examiner observes the type of response and then by refer-
ence to a table obtains the score which is assigned to that
type of response. This method lacks objectivity, but no
one has determined just how much error exists in it. For
certain types of responses it is the only feasible scoring
method.
An example of the use of a rating scale in the scoring of a
test is to be found in the Manual of Directions for the Dow-
ney Individual Will-Temperament test. The directions for
Test 12 (called Resistance to Opposition) are as follows:
“Close your eyes and write your name again with this pencil.
Be sure to keep your eyes closed.”
After the writing of the name is well started, place a small
obstruction (such as a small fountain-pen pasteboard box) in
front of the pencil-point, exerting enough pressure so that to con-
tinue writing will require considerable effort. Continue the pres-
sure until the name is completed. If the subject stops movement
or opens his eyes, say, “Go on.”
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