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Pitfalls and Challenges in Constructing Short Forms of Cognitive Ability Measures
Ist Teil von
Journal of individual differences, 2014, Vol.35 (4), p.190-200
Ort / Verlag
Hogrefe Publishing
Erscheinungsjahr
2014
Link zum Volltext
Quelle
Alma/SFX Local Collection
Beschreibungen/Notizen
Especially in survey research and large-scale assessment there is a growing
interest in short scales for the cost-efficient measurement of psychological
constructs. However, only relatively few standardized short forms are available
for the measurement of cognitive abilities. In this article we point out
pitfalls and challenges typically encountered in the construction of cognitive
short forms. First we discuss item selection strategies, the analysis of binary
response data, the problem of floor and ceiling effects, and issues related to
measurement precision and validity. We subsequently illustrate these challenges
and how to deal with them based on an empirical example, the development of
short forms for the measurement of crystallized intelligence. Scale shortening
had only small effects on associations with covariates. Even for an ultra-short
six-item scale, a unidimensional measurement model showed excellent fit and
yielded acceptable reliability. However, measurement precision on the individual
level was very low and the short forms were more likely to produce skewed score
distributions in ability-restricted subpopulations. We conclude that short
scales may serve as proxies for cognitive abilities in typical research
settings, but their use for decisions on the individual level should be
discouraged in most cases.