Confluence is a primary measure of test validity and it includes the creditability of test taker

College Student Journal, Sept, 2003 by Russell N. Cassel

The Confluence Score is comprised of 21 pairs of items of which about half are opposites and the other half simply do not agree with each other to a significant degree. They are a part of the regular 200 test items. The degree to which a Test Taker answers the first item in a pair in opposition to the second item in the pair is a measure of integrity of test results; as well as integrity of the Test Taker. The correlation of the CON score with all part scores on the PDT is statistically significant (r = 0.500 or better). The validity of any psychological test begins with the creditability of the Test Taker.

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The American Psychiatric Association used 26 advisory committees in the development of DSM-III-R which served as the basis for DSM-IV (1994), It consists of a five point rating scale where a rating of 5 suggests full global functioning; a rating of 3 as average; and a rating of 1 as the absence of global functioning. The Global Assessment Functioning Scale was determined to be critical in the health and success of all individuals, and is being used for such purposes. Third Force Psychology with it's "Person Centered" theory largely by Rogers (1945) and Maslow (1954) determined that "Personal Development" was central to the success and happiness of all individuals. It is clear that the "personal Development" of Rogers and Maslow serves as the basis for the Global Functioning of all individuals.

Group Involved

The Group involved in this study consisted of 550 high school students (306 females and 204 males), and 216 college students 196 females and 90 males, all from the state of Tennessee. The group ranged in age from 14 to 49 years, with a mean age of 17.68 years, and a standard deviation of 3.90 years. The largest portion of the high school students were seniors, and the largest portion of the college students were freshmen. This means that a high number of the 766 students were in their culminating stage of adolescent development, where growing problems are at the maximum for the usual life span.

Assessing Personal Development

The Personal Development Test (PDT) by Cassel and Chow (2002) is designed to assess the "personal development" of youth and adults. It consists of 200 true/false type items distributed with 25 items in each of the 8 part scores. It is based on Dewey's (1938) definition of a democracy-the interdependence of independent individuals. The first 4 of the 8 part scores seeks to measure "Personal Maturity" for the "independence" element in the Dewey definition, and the second 4 measure "Social Integration" for the "interdependence" one.

I. Part I- Personal Maturity--the ability to make a living in a competitive economic based society:

Self-efficacy--exercise of control using high expectations with long staying power, and the development of long-term goals.

Coping Skills--possession of personal manipulative skills with the ability and willingness to develop others as needed.

Positive Assertiveness--begins with character education and moral development, and includes the abuse of cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs as they are related to an absence of goal attainment.

Locus of Control--belief that success is not luck, but is based on use of scientific decision making where full range of alternatives are weighed against usual hazards and likely consequence as a realistic basis for choice.

II. Social Integration--the ability to accept as equals and get along with all different kinds of people--race, gender, and religion:

Conformity--accept and become an integral part of community and nation like others, and always with a "team-like" spirit in community and work endeavors.

Sympathy--ability to empathize and put self in the place of all others, and to personally sense their individual pains and pleasures.

Self-esteem--sensing personally the image that peers hold for you in relation to the team concept, and that the image is lofty in relation to others.

Caring--full understanding and acceptance that whatever happens to any single individual or animal anywhere in the world is important to every person every where in the world.

Confluence Score

The "Confluence Score" is comprised of 42 items which are apart of the 200 test items; that are carefully selected for the 21 different pairs. About half of those 21 pairs are direct opposites, and the other half disagree with each other in varying degrees. If the person taking the test (Test Taker) marks one of the pairs that are direct opposites one way and fails to mark the other in an opposite direction, it means the Test Taker fails to agree with self. This, of course, may mean that h/she has not read or maybe failed to understand the item, but, nevertheless, the creditability of test results are at stake in the decision. Thus, we have a measure, first, of the creditability of Test Taker, and second, as a measure of the validity of the test being taken. These two concepts are not inseparable, and must be considered as a single entity in terms of test validity.

Reliability of Confluence Score