Applying item-response theory to the development of a screening adaptation of the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation-2

PURPOSE: Item Response Theory (IRT) is a psychometric approach to measurement that uses latent trait abilities (e.g., speech sound production skills) to model performance on individual items that vary by difficulty and discrimination. An IRT analysis was applied to preschooler’s productions of the words on the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation-2 (GFTA-2) to identify candidates for a screening measure of speech sound production skills. METHOD: The phoneme accuracies from 154 preschoolers, with speech skills on the GFTA-2 ranging from the 1st to above the 90th percentile, were analyzed with a two-parameter logistic model. RESULTS: A total of 108 of the 232 phonemes from stimuli in the sounds-in-words subtest fit the IRT model. These phonemes, and subgroups of the most difficult of these phonemes, correlated significantly with the children’s overall percentile scores on the GFTA-2. Regression equations calculated for the five and ten most difficult phonemes predicted overall percentile score at levels commensurate with other screening measures. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that speech production accuracy can be screened effectively with a small number of sounds. They motivate further research towards the development of a screening measure of children’s speech sound production skills whose stimuli consist of a limited number of difficult phonemes

Assessment of the Mate Retention Inventory-Short Form Using Item Response Theory

The mate retention inventory (MRI) has been a valuable tool in the field of evolutionary psychology for the past 30 years. The goal of the current research is to subject the MRI to rigorous psychometric analysis using item response theory to answer three broad questions. Do the individual items of the MRI fit the scale well? Does the overall function of the MRI match what is predicted? Finally, do men and women respond similarly to the MRI? Using a graded response model, it was found that all but two of the items fit acceptable model patterns. Test information function analysis found that the scale acceptably captures individual differences for participants with a high degree of mate retention but the scale is lacking in capturing information from participants with a low degree of mate retention. Finally, discriminate item function analysis reveals that the MRI is better at assessing male than female participants, indicating that the scale may not be the best indicator of female behavior in a relationship. Overall, we conclude that the MRI is a good scale, especially for assessing male behavior, but it could be improved for assessing female behavior and individuals lower on overall mate retention behavior. It is suggested that this paper be used as a framework for how the newest psychometrics techniques can be applied in order to create more robust and valid measures in the field of evolutionary psychology

A Psychometric Assessment of OCB: Clarifying the Distinction Between OCB and CWB and Developing a Revised OCB Measure

© 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. This study was performed to (1) assess the appropriateness of using negatively worded items in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) scales, (2) psychometrically demonstrate the construct distinctness of OCB and counterproductive work behavior (CWB), and (3) report on a revised, short-form OCB scale. Leveraging classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT), we demonstrate that the negatively worded items from a popular OCB scale (Williams and Anderson 1991) do not measure OCB, but rather a unique construct (CWB). CTT analyses (factor analyses) indicate that the negatively worded items load onto a unique factor when the scale is analyzed on its own and load onto a CWB factor when the scale is analyzed with a CWB scale. Additionally, IRT analyses indicate that the negatively worded items exhibit lower discrimination parameters and higher levels of local independence than the positively worded items, and similar discrimination parameters and levels of local independence as the CWB items. In turn, IRT analyses were used to identify the best items from the OCB scale to create a revised, short-form scale. The short-form scale showed comparable or improved convergent and discriminant validity and internal consistency reliability, as well as similar patterns of psychometric information yielded from IRT analyses, compared to the original scale. In short, the revised measure better aligns with conceptual definitions of OCB, demonstrates acceptable psychometric characteristics, and, given its reduced length, is of more practical value to researchers wishing to assess this construct within different types of research designs (e.g., longitudinal, multi-source)

A Public-Domain Personality Item Bank For Use With The Raymark, Schmit, and Guion (1997) PPRF

Presented is the development of a repository of work-related personality items that may be used to assess job-related traits identified by the Personality-Related Position Requirements Form (PPRF: Raymark, Schmit, & Guion, 1997). Analyses of the item pool administered to a sample (n = 412) of trade apprentices showed evidence to support the12 work-related Big 5 sub-dimensions identified by the PPRF. A smaller validity study (n = 47) suggested that personality dimensions identified as job-related by the PPRF were related to important job-related outcomes

Research strategies for organizational history:a dialogue between historical theory and organization theory

If history matters for organization theory, then we need greater reflexivity regarding the epistemological problem of representing the past; otherwise, history might be seen as merely a repository of ready-made data. To facilitate this reflexivity, we set out three epistemological dualisms derived from historical theory to explain the relationship between history and organization theory: (1) in the dualism of explanation, historians are preoccupied with narrative construction, whereas organization theorists subordinate narrative to analysis; (2) in the dualism of evidence, historians use verifiable documentary sources, whereas organization theorists prefer constructed data; and (3) in the dualism of temporality, historians construct their own periodization, whereas organization theorists treat time as constant for chronology. These three dualisms underpin our explication of four alternative research strategies for organizational history: corporate history, consisting of a holistic, objectivist narrative of a corporate entity; analytically structured history, narrating theoretically conceptualized structures and events; serial history, using replicable techniques to analyze repeatable facts; and ethnographic history, reading documentary sources "against the grain." Ultimately, we argue that our epistemological dualisms will enable organization theorists to justify their theoretical stance in relation to a range of strategies in organizational history, including narratives constructed from documentary sources found in organizational archives. Copyright of the Academy of Management, all rights reserved

The Influence Of Dimensionality On Parameter Estimation Accuracy In The Generalized Graded Unfolding Model

The generalized graded unfolding model (GGUM) is an ideal point model of responding that is consistent with the Thurstonian theory of respondent behavior. Ideal point models have recently generated interest in the realms of attitude and personality assessment. One unclear aspect of applying ideal point models is the influence of multidimensionality on GGUM item and person parameters estimation accuracy. Using simulated data, the authors tested the influence of the balance, or ratio, of items loading onto two dimensions, the degree of bidimensionality and sample size on parameter estimation accuracy. The results suggest that bidimensionality and the proportion of items loading onto a second trait increases estimation error. The second trait was chosen in estimation when a large number of the items in the survey reflected a highly irrelevant second trait. Estimation error was greater for persons and items at the extreme ends of the continuum; positive estimates were biased upward and positive parameters downward. The results suggest that although the GGUM chooses another trait in estimation, in most cases conventional fit analyses and checks for item parameter extremity are likely to be successful in identifying items measuring another trait. Furthermore, the conditions in which the trait being estimated may not be clear should be rare in practice. The implications of these results for researchers who wish to apply these models to real-life data are discussed. © The Author(s) 2011

A Comparison Of The Lr And Dfit Frameworks Of Differential Functioning Applied To The Generalized Graded Unfolding Model

Recently, applied psychological measurement researchers have become interested in the application of the generalized graded unfolding model (GGUM), a parametric item response theory model that posits an ideal point conception of the relationship between latent attributes and observed item responses. Little attention has been given to considerations for the detection of differential item functioning (DIF) under the GGUM. In this article, the authors present a Monte Carlo simulation meant to assess the efficacy of the likelihood ratio (LR) and differential functioning of items and tests (DFIT) frameworks, two popular ways of detecting DIF. Findings indicate a marked superiority of the LR approach over DFIT in terms of true and false positive rates under the GGUM. The discussion centers on possible explanations for the poor performance of the DFIT framework in detecting DIF under the GGUM and addresses limitations of the current study as well as future research directions. © SAGE Publications 2011