Methods for Evaluating the Validity of Test Scores

Abstract

There is another burgeoning area of assessment methods, namely the development and evaluation of methods to estimate the validity of inferences drawn from the test data. In essence, these are meta-methods to determine the validity of the test data themselves as well as to determine the validity of the inferences drawn from the test data. The estimation of premorbid functioning against which to evaluate change demonstrated by the present scores and the estimation of the level of effort exhibited by the subject are two areas that have attracted much recent attention. Because premorbid scores from a prior test session are rarely available, methods have been developed to estimate premorbid functioning. Because the interpretation of scores requires an assumption of optimal effort, methods have been developed to assess the level of effort and aid decisions regarding the possible presence of response bias.