Stability of Response Process and Response

Abstract

The process culminating in the response to an item in a personality inventory affects the value of that response's contribution to test score. Some response components are inappropriate from the examiner's viewpoint. Interrelationships were predicted among inappropriate components of response process, relative locations of subject and item on an underlying trait continuum, and instability of response. The recurrence of inappropriate processes on retest was also predicted. In group administration, subjects indicated whether, in responding to each item, they used any of six inappropriate components. All hypotheses were supported. Thus inappropriate components are a function of the subject as he interprets and reacts to the particular item and also are related to the instability of his response.

Response Processes During the Description of Others

“…As in Kuncel and Fiske (1974), the Rasch model (Rasch, 1960(Rasch, , 1966Wright and Panchapakesan, 1969) was used to scale items and score groups. Every described person within a particular score group was given the same point along an underlying continuum for each scale.…”

“…Subjects were asked to select &dquo;a same-sex peer whom (they) had known long enough to be able to describe accurately in some depth.&dquo; From this point on, the procedure followed very closely the method used by Kuncel and Fiske (1974), which can be consulted for additional details. Subjects were given a warm-up booklet with the first page containing five items randomly selected from PRF scales other than Autonomy and Affiliation.…”

“…The primary objective was to determine whether these processes would be like those observed in responding to self-report instruments. Kuncel (1973) and Kuncel and Fiske (1974) have identified inappropriate components in response processes during self-descriptions and have found the occurrence of these components to be related to the relative proximity of the item and subject points on an underlying trait continuum.…”

A Measurement Model for Likert Responses That Incorporates Response Time

“…If it is assumed that when respondents answer an item they use some type of self-schema, then item contents that most closely fit this schema are likely to require shorter latencies (Amelang et al, 1991;Bassili, 1996;Holden & Fekken, 1993). In the personality domain, Kuncel and Fiske (1974) and Nowakowska (1970) proposed some measures of content-schema degree of fit. In the attitude domain, related measures of this type were proposed by Bassili and Krosnick (2000), Kuiper (1981), and Schuman and Presser (1996).…”

An Item Response Theory Analysis of Response Stability in Personality Measurement

“…When θ = b, examinees could feel that both responses are applicable. Therefore, they will most likely change their responses to the items about which they are unsure (Kuncel & Fiske, 1974;Mac Eaton & Fiske, 1971).…”