Analysis of item characteristics of the Slosson Intelligence Test for British Columbia school children

• Main Author: Gard, Barbara Kathleen
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2010
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/26474

This study investigated item characteristics which may affect the validity of the Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT) when used with school children in British Columbia. The SIT was developed as a quick, easily administered individual measure of intelligence to correlate highly with the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale as an anchor test. Use of the SIT has become widespread, but little technical information is available to support this. To examine the internal psychometric properties of the SIT for British Columbia schoolchildren, SIT responses were collected from 319 children (163 males, 156 females) in three age groups (7 1/2, 9 1/2, and 11 1/2 years). These data were subjected to a variety of item analysis procedures. Indices were produced for: item difficulty, item discrimination (item-total test score correlations), rank correlation between empirically determined item difficulties and item order given in the test, test homgeneity, and item-pair homogeneity. Results of the item analyses suggest that the SIT does not function appropriately when used with British Columbia school children. Two-thirds of the item difficulty indices were found to be outside the desired range: one-third of the items did not discriminate effectively; and many items are not in correct order of difficulty in administration of the SIT. The thesis discusses effects of these findings on the test's internal consistency, criterion validity, and technical utilization. Factors which may underlie the shift in item difficulties are also discussed. === Education, Faculty of === Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of === Graduate