Unacquainted Se worked in three-man groups under relevant (mathematical tasks) and irrelevant (socializing) acquaintance conditions. The Ss rated one another OB scales that defined several cognitive skills, They were also rated on these same scales by observers who were dependent on visual information, exclusively, and were unacquainted with the group members or the specific nature of the tasks being performed. As hypothesized, group members under the relevant acquaintance condition achieved consistently good validity for all three cognitive areas--with the best validity for ratings of math anility. Validity under the irrelevant acquaintance condition was nil on all scales. Observers, surprisingly, achieved significant validity (although at lower levels than participating group members) for ratings under the relevant acquaintance condition. Levels of inter-and intrarater reliability were not associated with levels oi validity under the various rating conditions. Efforts devoted to improvement of the rating process have focused primarily upon content, construction, and format of the rating instrument. Only limited attention has been paid to the nature of the rater-ratee relationship-s-In terms of the conditions under which raters make their observations or the availability of behavioral cues relevant to the characteristics being judged.The importance of this aspect of rating has not gone unnoticed in general discussions by such writers as Thorndike and Hagen (1961) who conclude that "the ideal rater is the person who has had a great deal of opportunity to observe the person being rated in situations in which he would be likely to show the qualities on which ratings are desired [Ch. 13]." Burtt (1942) has similarly stressed "the conditions under which the ratee has been observed" as affecting the accuracy of rating and suggests that, in addition to requiring information regarding how long or how well the rater knows the ratee, one might also request information regarding the circumstances under which he was known. In his mathernatico-deductive Theory of Rating, Wherry ( 1952) derives a theorem which specifies that "raters will vary in the accuracy 1 The research reported in this paper is based, in part, on data utilized for a doctoral dissertation submitted to the Ohio State University.

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Dimensional continuity was examined longitudinally at grades 7,9, and 11 using an inventory of social, academic and recreational activities administered to male and female dents. Indices indicating degree of factor presence, overall similarity of loading patterns, and structural stability of factors shown to result in a transitional’ shift’ or discontinuity, its locus at the time of high school entry (i.e., 9th grade). Although the finding was applicable to either sex, the nature of the discontinuity differed, in terms of factor presence, for those activities customarily shown to be sex-linked (e.g., social achievements for females, sports activities for males). The demonstrated changes in dimensional configurations raise challenging issues for conventional longitudinal study practices that assume uniform interpretability of the same scales at differing developmental stages.

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