The Trail Making Test (TMT) is a useful measure of executive dysfunction in elderly subjects. This study aims to investigate the discriminative validity of the oral version of the TMT (OTMT), which can be administered to subjects with visual or motor disabilities, in elderly patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI; n = 30), Alzheimer's disease (AD; n = 30), and healthy controls (HCs; n = 25). The WAIS-R Digit Span Backwards Subscale, written form of the Trail Making Task, the Clock Drawing Test, the AD Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale, and the OTMT were also administered to all participants in order to examine the concurrent validity of the OTMT. The OTMT part B discriminated between patients with MCI, AD, and HC correctly. The OTMT completion time was not correlated with age, but was negatively correlated with education. In conclusion, the OTMT (mostly part B) is a valid and practical measurement tool for different levels of cognitive impairment, especially for patients with visual or motor disabilities for whom the classical written form is not feasible.
This study aims to determine whether items in the Ankara University Examination for Foreign Students Basic Learning Skills Test function differently according to country and gender using the Recursive Partitioning Analysis in the Rasch Model. The variables used in the recursive partitioning of the data are country and gender. The population of the study is composed of 2476 individuals. Since the study includes comparisons across countries, the country is accepted as a criterion in determining the sample group. Thus, the sample of the study consists of 615 individuals selected from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, and Syria. To investigate differential item functioning (DIF) of the items of the test, the Rasch tree method was used. As a result of the analysis, DIF has been detected in 16 items at the 0.001 significance level. However, these items have been identified to have similar difficulty parameters in all countries. Finally, items have not shown DIF according to gender.
Educational assessment tests are designed to measure the same psychological constructs over extended periods. This feature is important considering that test results are often used for admittance to university programs. To ensure fair assessments, especially for those whose results weigh heavily in selection decisions, it is necessary to collect evidence demonstrating that the assessments are not biased and to confirm that the scores obtained from different test forms have statistical equality. Therefore, test equating has important functions as it prevents bias generated by differences in the difficulty levels of different test forms, allows the scores obtained from different test forms to be reported on the same scale, and ensures that the reported scores communicate the same meaning. In this study, these important functions were evaluated using real college admission test data from different test administrations. The kernel equating method under the non-equivalent groups with covariates design was applied to determine whether the scores that were obtained from different periods and measured the same psychological constructs were statistically equivalent. The non-equivalent groups with covariates design was specifically used because the test groups of the admission test are non-equivalent and there are no anchor items. Results from the analyses showed that the test forms had different score distributions and that the relationship was non-linear. Thus, the equating procedure was adjusted to eliminate these differences and thereby allowing the tests to be used interchangeably.
Bireyin var olan potansiyelini yaşamın her alanında ve her zaman gerçekleştirebilmesi mümkün müdür? Carol S. Dweck bireylerin potansiyellerini gerçekleştirmesinde rol oynayan etkenlere ilişkin sabit zihin yapısı ve gelişen zihin yapısı şeklinde iki anahtar kavrama dayalı bir kuram ortaya koymuştur. Gelişen zihin yapısı kavramı insana ilişkin zekâ, yetenek, kişilik gibi özelliklerin geliştirilebilir olduğu inancı üzerine kuruludur. Öğrencilerin, 21. yüzyılın öğrenmeye odaklı, yaşam boyu öğrenen, motivasyonu yüksek bireyler olmalarında gelişen zihin yapısına sahip olmaları önemli görülmektedir. Bu önemin bir sonucu olarak, PISA 2018'de gelişen zihin yapısı kavramı ilk kez ele alınmıştır. Bu araştırmada, PISA 2018 verilerine dayalı olarak öğrencilerin gelişen zihin yapısına ilişkin özelliklerinin okuma becerileri üzerindeki etkisinin derinlemesine incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Bu amaçla, okuma becerileri üzerindeki doğrudan etkilerin yanı sıra içsel ve dışsal motivasyon kaynaklarının dolaylı etkileri ortaya koyulmuştur. Okumaktan keyif alma ve öğretmenin okumaya teşvikinin motivasyon kaynakları olarak ele alındığı çalışmada ilgili değişkenlerin aracılık etkisi, çoklu aracılık modelinin işe koşulmasıyla belirlenmiştir. Buna göre, gelişen zihin yapısının okuma becerileri üzerindeki doğrudan etkisinin yanında ilgili değişkenler aracılığında incelenen dolaylı etkiler de manidardır. Başka bir anlatımla öğrencilerin gelişen zihin yapıları gelişme gösterdikçe okuma becerilerinde de artış olmakta, bu artışın %24'ü öğrencilerin okumaktan keyif almaları ve öğretmenin okumaya teşvik etmesi ile açıklanmaktadır.
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