Are ethnic differences in diagnosis of childhood psychopathology an artifact of psychometric methods? : an experimental evaluation of Harrington's hypothesis using parent reported symptomatology /
Based on a series of animal studies in the 1960s and 1970s, Harrington, developmental psychobiologist, hypothesized that the differences evident on various measures of aptitude among different ethnic groups were the result of flawed psychometric methods used in test item selection. Since items are...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
1996.
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| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=739363371&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | Based on a series of animal studies in the 1960s and 1970s, Harrington, developmental psychobiologist, hypothesized that the differences evident on various measures of aptitude among different ethnic groups were the result of flawed psychometric methods used in test item selection. Since items are selected on the basis of the total sample, Harrington argued that the selection of items is affected primarily by the whites (the numerical majority of a population proportionate sample) and therefore favor the majority. The primary purpose of this study was to construct a human experimental model to test empirically Harrington's hypothesis of race differences on tests using data from the Parent Rating Scale (Adolescent form) from the Behavior Assessment System for Children (PRS-A; BASC, Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992). Three separate tests were developed in which each ethnic group completely and separately was the population represented, termed a Black form, a Hispanic form, and a White form. According to Harrington by developing individual homogeneous ethnic tests, each group would score in the direction of less pathology on their dedicated test. Results indicated that Harrington's proposed effect is not evident for this test of emotional functioning. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: School Psychology". |
| Physical Description: | ix, 133 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilms Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references: pages 95-102. |