Multiple True-False Items: A Study of Interitem Correlations, Scoring Alternatives, and Reliability Estimation

Intercorrelations among multiple true-false items were examined to determine to what extent each true-false option can be treated as independent. Results from 157 health science students and 170 medical students showed that correlations between true-false options associated with the same stem were from 2.6 to 7.0 times larger than those from different stems. This suggests that results from previous research indicating that each true-false option could be treated as an independent item cannot be generalized to other tests and examinee populations without supporting evidence. Four scoring methods were explored which varied chance success levels and scoring for partial knowledge. The results showed that scoring methods incorporating partial knowledge were more reliable and possessed greater concurrent and predictive validity than those minimizing chance success. Methods for computing reliability estimates were compared and suggestions were offered regarding practical use     

Factors influencing mothers' reactions to intrafamily sexual abuse

A mother's question of whether to believe her child's disclosure of intrafamily child sexual abuse is complex, with many factors influencing her conclusion. Variables related to the abuse and to the family's functioning are examined to determine if particular circumstances are too threatening to mothers, resulting in their disbelief. The findings indicate that the age of the victim, nature of the abuse, presence of the mother in the home during the abuse, relationship of the victim to the offender, prior physical abuse of the child, and alcohol abuse by the offender all contribute to mother's conclusion regarding the reported abuse. The majority of mothers do believe their child, with difficult situations and other family stressors occasionally detracting from a mother's willingness to accept the report.     

Attitudes toward the level of men's involvement in abortion decisions

College students completed a questionnaire that assessed their attitudes toward the level of male responsibility in abortion decisions. Overall, both men and women thought that men should have some degree of involvement in the abortion decision. However, as expected by the first hypothesis, men indicated a desire for more responsibility in the abortion decision than women thought the men should have. A second hypothesis predicted women would feel more strongly than men that abortion was strictly a woman's issue. Contrary to the hypothesis, women tended to disagree that abortion was strictly a women's issue. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

HORIZONS: 2000: A model for gender fair education

This article presents evidence that girls are not receiving an equal education and describes a program model which offers solutions for counselors and teachers to adopt.     

Evidence for a calorically costly negative consummatory contrast effect in rats

For 2 h prior to their daily meal of Purina Chow, rats (which were 14% below ad-lib weight levels) had access to a sucrose solution. For half (Group 16-4), the solution was alternated daily between 18% and 4%; for the other half (Group 4-4), the solution was always 4%. On 18% days, Group 16-4 consumed significantly more calories and gained significantly more weight than did Group 4-4, because of a greater consumption of sucrose calories (Purina intake was similar for the two groups). On 4% days, however, Group 16-4 consumed both significantly fewer sucrose calories and significantly fewer Purina calories than did Group 4-4. These two contrast effects resulted in a 17% shortfall in total caloric intake for Group 16-4 on 4% days. As a consequence, Group 16-4 showed a significant drop in body weight, compared to Group 4-4, on 4% days. A second experiment was carried out to investigate whether the contrast-induced reduction in Purina intake shown by Group 16-4 on 4% days would be eliminated if (1) a 30-min interval separated sucrose ingestion from Purina ingestion, or (2) a 25-min interval plus 5-mmn exposure to 16% sucrose separated ingestion of 4% sucrose from Purina ingestion. Purina intake was still suppressed in Group 16-4 under both conditions.