Assessing Levels of Epistemological Understanding: The Standardized Epistemological Understanding Assessment (SEUA)

Abstract

This article describes the process of modification and Polish adaptation of an instrument constructed to assess the level of epistemological understanding. The original tool was developed by Kuhn et al. (Cogn Dev 15:309-328, 2000) in order to account for transitions between, and coordination of, subjective and objective dimensions of knowing across different judgement domains (the domains of personal taste, aesthetics, moral values, truths about the social world and truths about the physical world). Our aim was to improve its psychometric properties. The main changes included extending the list of test items, a new administration procedure and the introduction of a quantitative scoring method. The outcome is a valid, reliable and standardised instrument-the Standardized Epistemological Understanding Assessment.

Yet Another Shade of Deduction. On measuring deductive flexibility and how it may relate to other cognitive abilities

“…One significant exception is SEUA administered for the first time in a paper-and-pencil setting. Analysis showed lower levels of reliability than the ones obtained in an interview setting [32]. Table 5.…”

“…The final version of DFT was administered in the course of research on correlations between fluency in difficult deductive reasoning and fluid intelligence [21] and also some other high-level cognitive abilities: need for cognitive closure [14,12] and level of epistemological understanding [13,32]. The majority of data used in the study was collected by the students and the first author of this article.…”

“…As the fourth instrument Standardized Epistemological Understanding Assessment in a paper-and-pencil version was employed [32]. SEUA is a result of a Polish adaptation and modification of an instrument developed by Kuhn, Cheney and Weinstock [13].…”

The Development of Epistemological Understanding Revisited: Enhancing Reliability of the Tool by Using Only Abstract Items

“…The main aim of this paper is to describe the process of modification of the research tool designed for measuring the development of personal epistemology— Standardized Epistemological Understanding Assessment (SEUA; Żyluk et al, 2016). The effect of the modifications described in this article is the tool SEUA-A (where the added letter “A” stands for “abstract”).…”

“…In developing SEUA, we suggested (Żyluk et al, 2016) several changes to the original instrument by Kuhn et al (2000). The proposed modifications addressed most controversies that could have influenced the tool’s psychometric properties.…”