Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 63

Psychological Testing and Assessment

9th Edition Cohen Test Bank


Go to download the full and correct content document:
https://testbankfan.com/product/psychological-testing-and-assessment-9th-edition-co
hen-test-bank/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Psychological Testing and Assessment 9th Edition Cohen


Solutions Manual

https://testbankfan.com/product/psychological-testing-and-
assessment-9th-edition-cohen-solutions-manual/

Psychological Testing and Assessment An Introduction to


Tests and Measurement 8th Edition Cohen Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/psychological-testing-and-
assessment-an-introduction-to-tests-and-measurement-8th-edition-
cohen-test-bank/

Psychological Testing and Assessment An Introduction to


Tests and Measurement 8th Edition Cohen Solutions
Manual

https://testbankfan.com/product/psychological-testing-and-
assessment-an-introduction-to-tests-and-measurement-8th-edition-
cohen-solutions-manual/

Psychological Testing Principles and Applications 6th


Edition Murphy Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/psychological-testing-principles-
and-applications-6th-edition-murphy-test-bank/
Psychological Testing History Principles and
Applications 7th Edition Gregory Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/psychological-testing-history-
principles-and-applications-7th-edition-gregory-test-bank/

Psychological Testing Principles Applications and


Issues 8th Edition Kaplan Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/psychological-testing-principles-
applications-and-issues-8th-edition-kaplan-test-bank/

Mastering Modern Psychological Testing Theory and


Methods 1st Edition Reynolds Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/mastering-modern-psychological-
testing-theory-and-methods-1st-edition-reynolds-test-bank/

Psychological Assessment and Theory Tests 8th Edition


Kaplan Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/psychological-assessment-and-
theory-tests-8th-edition-kaplan-test-bank/

Foundations of Psychological Testing A Practical


Approach 5th Edition Miller Test Bank

https://testbankfan.com/product/foundations-of-psychological-
testing-a-practical-approach-5th-edition-miller-test-bank/
Chapter 07 - Utility

Chapter 07
Utility

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Chapter 7's Meet an Assessment Professional, you met Dr. Delphine Courvoisier, whose
Ph.D. is in _______ and who works as a ______.
A. biometrics; research consultant
B. clinical psychology; counselor
C. health psychology; psychometrician
D. psychometrics; biostatistician

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

2. In a typical work day, Dr. Delphine Courvoisier might


A. help out one team of researchers in conceptualizing initial hypotheses.
B. assist a research team in selecting the most appropriate outcome measure.
C. help a research team with data analysis or interpretation.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

3. According to Dr. Delphine Courvoisier, quality-of-life research for patients with a chronic
disease
A. is best conducted at the time the disease is first diagnosed.
B. is best conducted one-year after onset of the disease.
C. is of limited applied value five years after the first diagnosis of the disease.
D. may be conducted at different points in time through the course of the disease.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-1
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

4. Which of the following tests was mentioned by name by Dr. Delphine Courvoisier as an
instrument that she uses in her daily work?
A. SFQ
B. HAQ
C. OPQ-2
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

5. Dr. Delphine Courvoisier described her use of one test in health outcome research and the
proprietary "DAS" it yielded. What did she mean by "DAS" in this context?
A. disease activity score
B. drug after-effect score
C. disability adjustment score
D. differential ability scaled score

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

6. According to Dr. Delphine Courvoisier, when a research project demands that subjects
respond to a series of telephone calls, it would be instructive to understand how _______
affects the other variables in the study.
A. anxiety
B. compliance
C. intelligence
D. distraction

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-2
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

7. According to Dr. Delphine Courvoisier, ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a tool


of assessment that researchers can use to examine behaviors and subjective states in the
settings in which they naturally occur, and at a frequency that can capture their
A. validity.
B. volume.
C. variability.
D. volatility.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

8. According to Dr. Delphine Courvoisier, psychologists who raise compelling research


questions must understand that the road to satisfactory answers is paved with psychometric
essentials such as
A. a sound research design.
B. the use of appropriate measures.
C. accurate analysis and interpretation of findings.
D. All of these.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

9. According to Dr. Delphine Courvoisier, contrary to what many may hold as an intuitive
truth, success in the world of psychometrics cannot be measured by
A. a psychological test.
B. zeroes in a bank statement.
C. publication citations.
D. numbers alone.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-3
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

10. "Will the use of police-worn body cameras reduce use-of-force complaints?" According to
the textbook, this question is a question regarding
A. reliability.
B. validity.
C. utility.
D. None of these.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

11. In the Chapter 7 Everyday Psychometrics in your textbook, the vignettes at the beginning
were used to illustrate the fact that the police can do what they were trained to do and
A. the result will be "win-win."
B. the result will be "lose-lose."
C. and no one ever has to get hurt.
D. error can still find its way into the situation.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

12. The Ariel et al. (2015) study of police use of force was conducted using officers from the
police department of
A. San Francisco, California.
B. Rialto, California.
C. Los Angeles, California.
D. San Dimas, California.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

13. In the Ariel et al. (2015) study, police officers were assigned to the Camera or No Camera
condition
A. by the commander on duty at the time.
B. using the Cambridge Randomizer.
C. on the basis of case history data.
D. None of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-4
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

14. In the Ariel et al. (2015) study, the research protocol required officers to
A. wear cameras only during Camera shifts.
B. keep cameras on throughout their entire Camera shift.
C. issue verbal warnings during the Camera shifts to advise citizens confronted that the
interaction was being videotaped by a camera attached to the officer's uniform.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

15. The Ariel et al. (2015) study was conducted over the course of
A. one year.
B. two years.
C. three years.
D. four years.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

16. For the purposes of the Ariel et al. (2015) study, "use of force" was coded as being present
on any occasion that a police verbal confrontation with a citizen escalated to the point of
A. shouting back-and-forth.
B. any physical contact.
C. the citizen being restrained by the officer.
D. shots fired.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

17. Ariel et al. (2015) found that police use-of-force rates were ______ that in the No Camera
shifts as compared to the Camera shifts.
A. less than half
B. more than half
C. less than twice
D. more than twice

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-5
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

18. Ariel et al. (2015) found that body cameras worn by police have utility in reducing use-of-
force incidents, as well as use-of-force complaints by citizens. However, given the procedures
used in their study, questions remain regarding whether changes in the participants' behavior
was more a function of the camera or
A. the police officer's verbal warning.
B. the ten directives in the experimental protocol.
C. officers attempting to give citizens two or more chances to comply with commands.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

19. In Chapter 7 of your textbook, if the illustrative case of the man who complained of leg
pain while playing basketball was a story, the "moral" of the story is BEST captured by:
A. "Never play basketball, or other contact sport, if you are on the wrong side of 30."
B. "The utility of playing the game must be weighed against that of not playing."
C. "There are costs associated with testing, and costs associated with not testing."
D. "What goes up, eventually comes down."

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

20. As used in utility analyses, the term cost refers to


A. insurance payments.
B. mortgage payments.
C. payments for test protocols.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

21. As noted by the Hansen et al. study cited in Chapter 7 of your text, the addition of two
more x-ray views in addition to the conventional two is advisable because
A. it may make a more expensive procedure such as a CAT scan unnecessary.
B. the additional radiation exposure was shown to be insignificant.
C. it may be helpful in diagnosing whether physical abuse has occurred.
D. the procedure can do "double duty" as a drug screening tool.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-6
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

22. In industrial settings, there are many non-economic benefits to be derived for the company
that runs an effective testing program. Which of the following is NOT one such benefit?
A. increase in quality of workers' performance
B. decrease in time to train workers
C. reduction of work turnover
D. decrease in worker healthcare benefits

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

23. The selection policies of the admissions office of a university can be instrumental in
A. building a good reputation for the university.
B. developing a good learning environment for students.
C. building high morale for the university's faculty.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

24. The tools of assessment used to make clinical judgments regarding the need for
involuntary hospitalization
A. benefit society at large.
B. may cause some to be unjustly denied their freedom.
C. include tests, case history data, and interviews.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

25. The textbook authors caution that in addition to formulas, tables, and other formal
methodologies, _____ must also be factored into any utility analysis.
A. common sense
B. physical property
C. intellectual property
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-7
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

26. The textbook defines a utility analysis as


A. a proprietary technique.
B. a family of techniques.
C. an exclusionary procedure.
D. a multidisciplinary effort.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

27. A utility analysis of a test may BEST be thought of as


A. a model for understanding the costs of producing the test.
B. a way of envisioning new uses for the test.
C. an evaluation of the costs and benefits of the test.
D. an amalgam of reliability and validity data on the test.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

28. A utility analysis may be undertaken for many different purposes. Which of the following
reasons is LEAST LIKELY to be one of them?
A. to determine if one test is preferable to another test
B. to determine if one method of intervention is preferable to another
C. to evaluate the validity of a test publisher's claim
D. to evaluate whether maintaining a training program is better than not having one.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

29. Thinking of the illustration of a utility analysis in the Close-up in Chapter 7, what type of
error would have been made if a driver who was hired was actually not qualified for the job?
A. a false positive
B. a false negative
C. a near outlier
D. none of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-8
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

30. A limitation of the Taylor-Russell tables is that


A. the relationship between the test and the rating of performance must be linear.
B. the relationship between the predictor and the criterion must be linear.
C. criterion score difficulties in differentiating "successful" from "not successful."
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

31. An index of utility can be distinguished from both an index of reliability and an index of
validity in that an index of utility can tell us something about
A. how consistently a test measures what it measures in a particular context.
B. whether a test measures what it purports to measure in a particular context.
C. the practical value of the information derived from what a test measures.
D. None of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

32. Test validity


A. has nothing whatever to do with test utility.
B. sets a ceiling on test reliability.
C. sets a ceiling on test utility.
D. None of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

33. Which is the BEST general statement regarding a self-report test of integrity?
A. It is a valid test.
B. It is a reliable test.
C. It is not a psychometrically sound test.
D. It is a test of questionable utility.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-9
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

34. A group of testtakers all fail to follow the directions for taking a particular test. Which is
TRUE?
A. The test results could still have great utility.
B. The test could still be psychometrically sound.
C. The test results could still be valid.
D. The reason for this must have to do with the test and not the testtakers.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

35. High morale on a university campus can be ____________ resulting from a utility
analysis of student selection procedures.
A. an economic cost
B. a non-economic cost
C. an economic benefit
D. a non-economic benefit

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

36. This is a tool that can be used to conduct a utility analysis. It is


A. expectancy tables.
B. Taylor-Russell tables.
C. Naylor-Shine tables.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

37. Generally speaking, the specific objective of a utility analysis will dictate what sort of
information will be required, as well as the specific
A. methods to be used.
B. expectancy tables to be used.
C. Naylor-Shine tables to be used.
D. Rise-and-Shine tables to be used.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-10
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

38. The end-point of a utility analysis is typically an educated decision about


A. limits on monetary expenditures for a new test or testing program.
B. which of many possible courses of action is optimal.
C. where to fix a cut point on a new test.
D. how to structure an intervention so that it is most cost efficient.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

39. In the now classic utility analysis for the Bell system telephone company conducted in the
1980s, Cascio and Ramos concluded that
A. the use of a particular approach to assessment in selecting managers could save the
company millions of dollars.
B. the use of a new approach to assessment in selecting managers was of little utility and
would cost millions of dollars.
C. charging for 411 calls to "Information" could result in millions of dollars in new revenue
for the company.
D. customers would make more calls if they could understand their phone bills.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

40. If undertaken for the purpose of evaluating a particular intervention, a utility analysis can
be helpful in making decisions about whether
A. one training program is preferable to another training program.
B. any intervention is better than no intervention.
C. one tool of assessment is more practical than another.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-11
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

41. When the purpose of a utility analysis is to answer some finance-related question with a
dollars-and-cents answer, the utility analysis will most likely employ
A. the Cascio-Ramos formula.
B. the Brogden-Cronbach-Gleser formula.
C. Kuder-Richardson Formula 20.
D. Taylor-Naylor Formula 1.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

42. The Brogden-Cronbach-Gleser formula was developed by


A. the team of Brogden, Cronbach, and Gleser working together.
B. Brogden, Cronbach, and Gleser, each working independently.
C. the work of Brogden and later, the work of Cronbach and Gleser.
D. the work of Cronbach, and later, the work of Brogden and Gleser.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

43. The term multiple cut scores refers to


A. the use of two or more cut scores with reference to one predictor for the purpose of
categorizing testtakers.
B. the use of two or more cut scores with reference to a multi-stage evaluation process that
employs several predictors.
C. Both the use of two or more cut scores with reference to one predictor for the purpose of
categorizing testtakers and the use of two or more cut scores with reference to a multi-stage
evaluation process that employs several predictors.
D. None of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-12
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

44. Multiple hurdles as used in a decision-making process regarding a selection decision


refers to
A. the use of two or more cut scores with reference to one predictor for the purpose of
categorizing testtakers.
B. the multiple stages each applicant must successfully complete in order to get to the next
stage in the evaluation process.
C. the obstacles to success placed before each of the raters judging a competitive event.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

45. Decision theory is used to determine a test's utility for hiring employees who need to have
high attention to detail to be successful on the job. In this context, to what does the term hit
rate refer?
A. the proportion of people the test accurately identified as having this characteristic
B. the proportion of people the test failed to identify as having this characteristic
C. the number of people the test incorrectly identified as having this characteristic
D. the number of people having this characteristic that the test did not identify

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

46. The Angoff method of setting cutting scores relies heavily on


A. data and empirical findings.
B. the judgment of experts.
C. researching the scholarly literature.
D. Both data and empirical findings and researching the scholarly literature.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

47. The "Achilles heel" of the Angoff method is


A. incremental validity.
B. test-retest reliability.
C. inter-rater reliability.
D. non-economic costs.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-13
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

48. The television program Dancing With the Stars


A. has a multiple hurdle selection model in place.
B. employs an absolute cut score for selection.
C. uses the known groups method to validate results.
D. once encouraged William Angoff to compete.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

49. The known groups method for setting cut scores is also known as
A. the method of contrasting groups.
B. an IRT-based method.
C. the method of discriminant analysis.
D. the Angoff method.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

50. A problem with using the known group method of setting cut scores is that
A. there is no consistent method of obtaining contrasting groups.
B. strong deterrents to test user acceptance of the data are in place.
C. no standards are in place for choosing contrasting groups.
D. test users must be personally familiar with each member in the known group.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

51. When a cut score is set based on norm-related considerations rather than on the
relationship of test scores to a criterion, the cut score is referred to as
A. a relative cut score.
B. a fixed cut score.
C. an absolute cut score.
D. a referential cut score.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-14
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

52. Which is NOT an economic cost typically factored in a test utility analysis?
A. legal costs of doing business
B. fees paid by testtakers for testing services
C. computerized test processing services
D. cost of supplies of blank test protocols

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

53. Which of the following is a direct economic cost that could result as a consequence of
NOT evaluating personnel for employment positions within a large corporation?
A. the cost of public confidence in the corporation
B. the cost of accounting services and other routine costs of doing business
C. the cost in terms of lowered morale for employees of the corporation
D. the cost of lawsuits against the corporation

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

54. A study that explored the utility of diagnostic X-rays in routine screening of children at
risk for child abuse concluded that there was most utility in
A. a four-view series of X-rays.
B. a two-view series of X-rays.
C. one X-ray combined with visual examination.
D. visual examination only.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

55. In the context of utility analysis, which is NOT a direct economic benefit to a company?
A. increase in worker morale
B. less product being trashed as waste
C. increase in international sales
D. higher worker productivity

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-15
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

56. A potential non-economic benefit of a well-run evaluation program is


A. an increase in quality of workers' on-the-job performance.
B. a decrease in time it takes to train new workers.
C. a reduction in the number of workplace accidents.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

57. Which is an example of a false negative in the context of employee selection?


A. hired applicants who scored at or above the cut-off score on the employment test and then
went on to fail on the job
B. hired applicants who scored at or above the cut-off score on the employment test and then
went on to succeed on the job
C. rejected applicants who scored below the cut-off score on the employment test who would
have never gone on to succeed on the job
D. rejected applicants who scored below the cut-off score on the employment test who would
have succeeded on the job had they been hired

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

58. A hospital uses a compensatory model of selection in hiring surgeons. In their hiring
evaluations, ratings regarding past safety record is given more weight than ratings regarding
the surgeon's "bedside manner." From this, one could reasonably conclude that the people
who are in charge of hiring surgeons believe that:
A. bedside manner is not very important for surgical staff members.
B. surgical safety is an art and a skill that is amenable to training.
C. a safe, bedside manner is essential for all staff members.
D. bedside manner is more amenable to training than surgical safety.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-16
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

59. The term item-mapping refers to an IRT-based method of


A. setting cut scores that entails expert judgments based, in part, upon how culturally fair
items are deemed to be.
B. setting cut scores that entails the use of experts rearranging items placed on maps by level
of difficulty.
C. setting cut scores that entails a histographic representation of test items.
D. test construction that was first used for a high school geography achievement test.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

60. The term bookmark method refers to an IRT-based method


A. of marking items with regard to difficulty in a book of items.
B. of setting cut scores based on expert judgment.
C. with possible drawbacks such as floor or ceiling effects.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

61. The term bookmark method refers to an IRT-based method


A. of estimating item difficulty using Las Vegas style odds.
B. of setting cut scores based on scholarly book reviews.
C. derived by researchers on sabbatical in Monte Carlo.
D. None of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

62. A large corporation scrupulously avoids any possibility of discrimination and adverse
impact in its hiring practices. The selection procedure it probably has in place with regard to
its entry-level test is one that entails
A. personnel selection based on a cut score.
B. a top-down selection policy based on test score.
C. personnel interviews using translators, if necessary.
D. None of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-17
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

63. When the selection ratio for new personnel at a corporation goes down,
A. top-down selection policy can become discriminatory.
B. hiring becomes less selective.
C. competition for the position is likely to increase.
D. Both top-down selection policy can become discriminatory and hiring becomes less
selective.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

64. When the selection ratio goes up,


A. the bookmark procedure has less validity.
B. hiring becomes less selective.
C. hiring becomes more selective.
D. hiring is unaffected by the selection ratio.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

65. Which is an example of a false positive in the context of employee selection?


A. hired applicants who scored at or above the cut-off score on the employment test went on
to fail on the job
B. hired applicants who scored at or above the cut-off score on the employment test went on
to succeed on the job
C. rejected applicants who scored below the cut-off score on the employment test were
rejected but would have gone on to succeed on the job had they been given a chance
D. rejected applicants who scored below the cut-off score on the employment test were
rejected but went on to succeed at another, totally different job

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

66. The more complex the job,


A. the more people differ on how well they do it.
B. the less complex the decision process in hiring.
C. the less selective the hiring process.
D. the more the need for item-mapping procedures.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-18
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

67. When setting a cut score on a predictor,


A. the Brogden-Cronbach-Gleser is usually used.
B. the utility of the test must first be quantitatively determined.
C. the goal of selection must be taken into account.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

68. When setting a cut score on a predictor, an objective is to attain


A. the highest false positive rate.
B. the lowest false negative rate.
C. a moderate hit rate.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

69. In Chapter 7 of your textbook, a pedagogical tool was presented to help you remember the
implications of a low selection ratio. It was:
A. "Selection ratio low, more employees to know."
B. "Selection ratio high, watch workers wave good-bye."
C. "Selection ratio down, less employees around."
D. "Selection ratio low, long road to hoe."

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

70. In Chapter 7 of your textbook, a pedagogical tool was presented to help you remember the
implications of a high selection ratio. It was:
A. "Selection ratio up, more coffee in your cup."
B. "Selection ratio up, the bigger the cut."
C. "Selection ratio high, more employees say ‘Goodbye.'"
D. "Selection ratio high, more employees say ‘Hi.'"

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-19
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

71. Using a cut score of 50 on a predictor test a researcher finds a base rate of 1.00. This
means that when a cut score of 50 is used,
A. 50% of applicants will perform successfully on a criterion measure.
B. 100% of applicants will perform successfully on a criterion measure.
C. 100% of applicants will fail on a criterion measure.
D. 50% of applicants will fail on a criterion measure.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

72. Offering permanent positions to only top-performing applicants is a strategy that can
backfire because
A. competing companies could offer these same applicants positions.
B. these applicants, once hired, might not stay.
C. it may be discriminatory.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

73. Having a personnel selection policy in place that scrupulously seeks to avoid the hiring of
unqualified personnel, even at the expense of not hiring qualified personnel,
A. is patently discriminatory.
B. usually has costs attached to it that tend to outweigh the benefits.
C. can be justified if the position is one of great responsibility.
D. usually has benefits attached to it that tend to outweigh the costs.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

74. Validity is to ____________ as utility is to ____________.


A. accuracy; consistency
B. usefulness; consistency
C. usefulness; accuracy
D. accuracy; usefulness

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-20
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

75. Consider an employment test that is highly accurate (about 98% correct in classifications),
but very costly (about $5,000 per test). For which of the following positions would use of the
test be most warranted?
A. Translator for the United States Ambassador to the U.N.
B. Short-order cook for the President of the United States
C. Assistant buyer for Sam's Club
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

76. Which of the following is NOT an assumption of utility analysis?


A. the value of people and their performance can be estimated.
B. psychological tests are always preferred over other means of assessment.
C. the performance of people in organizations can affect organizational viability.
D. large amounts of information can be integrated to make good decisions.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

77. An educational psychologist conducts a utility analysis of a teaching program used to


improve the handwriting of very young children. The measure of utility in this analysis will
MOST likely be a variable related to
A. an increase in performance level.
B. a decrease in the cost of the program.
C. a reduction in program-related accidents.
D. an increase in program-related revenue.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

78. An instructor assigns a grade of "A" to all students who earn 900 or more points out of a
total of 1000 points during the semester. In this case, 900 points is equal to
A. the cut score for an A.
B. the success rate.
C. the selection ratio.
D. the base rate of A-level students.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-21
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

79. The term used to describe the proportion of people in a population who are distinctive due
to their exhibition of a particular trait is
A. success rate.
B. base rate.
C. target rate.
D. cut rate.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

80. Over the last year, a personnel manager hired 20 new employees but only 12 of them
performed successfully. Here, the base rate of successful performance is
A. 0.375.
B. 0.625.
C. 0.600.
D. 0.750.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

81. What follows are the selection ratios from four different undergraduate programs. Which
of these reflects the most selective program?
A. 0.03
B. 0.50
C. 0.99
D. 1.00

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

82. In the context of utility, the hit rate is equivalent to


A. the miss rate divided by the selection ratio.
B. the base rate divided by the selection ratio.
C. the success rate divided by the base rate of successful performance.
D. the number of correct classifications divided by the total number of classifications.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-22
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

83. Grethela scores very high on a graduate school admission test and is admitted to graduate
school, largely on the basis of that test score. But Grethela subsequently flunks out. In
retrospect, Grethela's score on the admission test is BEST viewed as a
A. false positive.
B. false negative.
C. true negative.
D. positive hit.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

84. Mahalia applies for a job at a company called "The Denver Recreational Marijuana
Factory" (DRMF). DRMF routinely administers a drug test to prospective employees to
screen-out drug users. Despite the fact that Mahalia smokes marijuana almost daily, the
company's test report indicates that she is drug-free. Mahalia is hired. In this case, the BEST
conclusion is that
A. a false positive was reported.
B. a false negative was reported.
C. DRMF drug testing is only for appearances.
D. the DRMF personnel director needs to be drug tested.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

85. Which of the following is included in the calculation of a miss rate?


A. false positives
B. borderline negatives
C. test utility index
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-23
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

86. If criterion-related validity is .40, and the base rate is .60, the false positive rate is likely to
be highest if the selection ratio is:
A. .10.
B. .50.
C. .95.
D. This is impossible to answer based on the data provided.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

87. "An empirical standard used to divide a group of data into two or more distinct categories"
is a formal description of a
A. cut score.
B. predictive yield.
C. norm-referenced test.
D. hit rate.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

88. "Multiple predictors may be used so that applicants must meet or exceed the cut score for
each predictor before moving to the next round of the selection process." This BEST
describes which of the following processes?
A. known-groups selection
B. top down selection
C. compensatory model of selection
D. multiple hurdle selection

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

89. When minimum levels of several competencies are required, which of the following
selection strategies is BEST?
A. compensatory selection
B. multiple hurdle with fixed cut scores
C. the method of predictive yield
D. norm-referenced cut scores

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-24
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

90. "It's a method of setting cut scores that relies heavily on judgments made by experts."
Which of the following is BEST described by this statement?
A. the known groups method
B. the Angoff method
C. discriminant analysis
D. the Brogden-Cronbach-Gleser method

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

91. Using the Angoff method as applied to personnel selection, ____________ are used to
estimate the proportion of minimally competent people for the position of interest.
A. focus groups
B. known groups
C. known experts
D. disinterested bystanders

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

92. _________ refers to a family of techniques that provides information about the costs and
benefits of testing.
A. Item response theory
B. Compensatory models of selection
C. Utility analysis
D. Conjoint analysis

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

93. A method of utility analysis method that can yield utility information in either monetary
or non-monetary terms is the:
A. Taylor-Russell tables.
B. Naylor-Shine tables.
C. Expectancy tables.
D. Brogden-Cronbach-Gleser formula.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-25
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

94. In the context of utility considerations, a direct relationship exists between a cut score and
the
A. base rate.
B. selection ratio.
C. utility of the test being evaluated.
D. Both base rate and selection ratio.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

95. Which of the following is synonymous with the term "utility" as used in Chapter 7 of your
text?
A. consistency
B. truthfulness
C. usefulness
D. accuracy

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

96. Costs associated with psychological or other testing typically include all of the following
EXCEPT
A. administrator time.
B. use of test facility.
C. return on investment.
D. test administrator's time.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

97. Which term BEST describes the ratio of the benefits of testing compared to the costs of
testing?
A. incremental liquidity
B. assessment investment
C. practical significance
D. return on investment

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-26
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

98. If scores on a test are attributed with great utility, then it's MOST probably the case that
the scores are
A. reliable.
B. valid.
C. Both reliable and valid.
D. None of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

99. __________ are used by organizations in order to assess the savings associated with
different decisions.
A. Focus groups
B. Discriminant analyses
C. Utility analyses
D. Taylor-Naylor-Fayva tables

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

100. A test's ____________ rate is equal to the proportion of people a test accurately
identifies as possessing or not possessing a particular trait, behavior, characteristic, or
attribute.
A. miss
B. base
C. hit
D. success

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

101. Research suggests that approximately 25% of the U.S. population are introverts.
Accordingly, 25% best corresponds to the
A. base rate of introversion in the U.S. population.
B. hit rate of identifying introversion on tests.
C. success rate for classification of introverts.
D. None of these

7-27
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

102. With reference to the graph (below), what is the base rate?

A. 11/25 = 0.44
B. 13/25 = 0.52
C. 15/25 = 0.60
D. 19/25 = 0.76

7-28
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

103. With reference to the graph (below), what is the hit rate?

A. 14/17 = 0.82
B. 14/30 = 0.47
C. 17/30 = 0.57
D. 25/30 = 0.83

7-29
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

104. With reference to this graph (below) what is the miss rate?

A. 3/10 = 0.30
B. 5/13 = 0.38
C. 5/18 = 0.28
D. 10/18 = 0.56

7-30
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

105. With reference to the graph (below) what is the selection ratio?

A. 4/5 = 0.80
B. 4/9 = 0.44
C. 5/20 = 0.25
D. 9/20 = 0.45

106. Which of the following vignettes BEST illustrates a false negative?


A. Terry's MCAT scores are too low to be accepted to a U.S. medical school yet Terry goes
on to win a Nobel Prize in medicine.
B. Maurice scores at the top of his class on tests of speed, strength, and agility and is very
successful as a starting player on a college basketball team.
C. Lynn scores in the top 1% of the population on a test of cognitive ability yet flunks out of
college within the first year.
D. Morgan does not get hired as a pharmacy technician after failing a polygraph test and is
arrested several months later for drug possession.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-31
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

107. Which of the following methods of setting cut-scores is NOT data-driven?


A. the known groups method
B. the method of discriminant analysis
C. the Angoff method
D. the decision-theoretic method

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

108. A Director of Human Resources is setting up a series of tests to use to select applicants
for sales positions. Inherent in the tests, and applied in the model of selection, is the Director's
assumption that high sales ability can make up for limited product knowledge. The model of
selection being applied could BEST be characterized as
A. a multiple hurdle model of selection.
B. a compensatory model of selection.
C. the method of predictive yield in action.
D. the method of contrasting group for selection.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

109. A problem with the use of the known groups method to set cut scores is
A. the two groups are always indistinguishable at a particular score.
B. low scores in one group that compensate for high scores in the other.
C. determining the minimally acceptable level of performance on the criterion.
D. the lack of any guidelines or standards for choosing contrasting groups.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

110. Which of the following researchers (or research teams) is BEST associated with
presenting utility information in financial terms?
A. Naylor
B. Taylor & Russell
C. Brogden, Cronbach, & Gleser
D. Goldman, Sachs, Morgan, & Stanley

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-32
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

111. In general, the ____________ the misclassification rate, the lower the ____________.
A. lower; test's utility
B. lower; base rate
C. higher; test's utility
D. higher; base rate

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

112. The Admissions Committee at Mount Mayhem Medical School is in the process
selecting applicants. They use applicant's scores on the MCAT (the Medical College
Admissions Test) to assess aptitude for a career in medicine, scores on an interview to assess
interpersonal skills, and college transcripts to assess past performance. The Admissions
Committee set minimum scores on each predictor rather than allowing high performance on
one predictor to compensate for low performance on another predictor. How would you
describe the selection model in place at Mount Mayhem?
A. chaotic
B. multiple hurdle
C. compensatory
D. known groups

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

113. Jennifer and Rafael happen to walk in to a large company at the same time to apply for
an advertised position as an accounting clerk. The Human Resource (HR) professional
responsible for selecting the best candidate for the position orders an appropriate test of basic
mathematical skills for each of these applicants. Based on their scores, the HR professional
chooses Jennifer for the job. The reason for this choice is a determination that Jennifer has an
85% chance of performing at an acceptable level. By contrast, Rafael's score indicated that he
had only a 50% chance of performing successfully. The tool of assessment used to make this
hiring decision MOST probably was
A. the method of predictive yield.
B. a Taylor-Russell table.
C. an expectancy table.
D. a test administered and scored by Rafael's ex.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-33
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

114. The administrative office for a large newspaper wants to improve accuracy of employees
in the copy editing office. A short test of copy editing knowledge is developed and given to
100 existing copy editors. The current copy editors are divided into two groups: (a) those
whose performance was rated as acceptable on the most recent performance review, and, (b)
those whose performance was rated as unacceptable. Results are presented in graphed form
(below).

Based on this graph and the information in your text, what score should be chosen as the cut
score on the copy editing knowledge test in order to best predict who will be an acceptable or
unacceptable copy editor?
A. 4
B. 5
C. 6
D. 7

7-34
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

115. Which of the following statements regarding cut scores is FALSE?


A. The setting of cut scores impact utility though the accuracy of decisions made based on test
scores.
B. In multiple hurdle selection, there will be a cut score for each predictor used in the
selection process.
C. An instructor who assigns an "A" to the top 10% of students in a class is using a fixed cut
score.
D. Absolute cut scores are preferred when applicants must demonstrate a minimum level of
competence.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

116. Taylor-Russell tables provide evidence of


A. content validity.
B. criterion-related validity.
C. split-half reliability.
D. one attempt to "outshine" Naylor-Shine.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

117. Both Taylor-Russell and Naylor-Shine expectancy tables must include which type of
validity coefficient?
A. concurrent criterion-related
B. predictive criterion-related
C. construct-related
D. content-related

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-35
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

118. A difference between the Naylor-Shine and Taylor-Russell expectancy tables is that the
A. Taylor-Russell tables use concurrent validity coefficients; Naylor-Shine tables do not.
B. Naylor-Shine tables use predictive validity coefficients; Taylor-Russell tables use
concurrent validity coefficients.
C. Naylor-Shine tables do not require that the criterion be dichotomized; the Taylor-Russell
tables do.
D. Taylor-Russell tables are more useful than the Naylor-Shine tables for judging the utility of
tests.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

119. What is the selection ratio for a position that has 1,000 applicants and 5 openings?
A. 50
B. 05
C. 005
D. None of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

120. What factor is perhaps most prominent in keeping decision theory from being widely
used in employee hiring?
A. the validity of the measures typically used
B. the complexity of the process
C. the lack of demonstrated utility of decision theory
D. the expense of the software that must be used

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-36
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

121. Based on experience using Taylor-Russell tables, a test user would MOST likely
conclude that
A. tests must have unquestionably high validity to be useful in employee selection.
B. tests must have unquestionably low validity to be rejected for use in employee selection.
C. a test with well-documented face validity is more valuable in the workplace than a test with
well documented construct validity.
D. a test that is not high in validity may still improve accuracy in employee selection under
some conditions.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

122. Of the following list, which place would Taylor-Russell tables be MOST likely to be
found?
A. mental hospitals.
B. school guidance counselors' offices.
C. physicians' offices.
D. personnel offices.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

123. A municipal hospital employs various tests in the hiring of its staff. With regard to the
hiring of a neurosurgeon and the hiring of a cafeteria worker, which is MOST likely to be
TRUE?
A. The cut-off score for the neurosurgeon would be set at a level to maximize false negatives
as opposed to false positives.
B. The cut-off score for the cafeteria worker would be set to minimize false negatives as
opposed to false positives.
C. Cut-off scores for each position would be set to equalize false-positive and false-negative
errors for both positions.
D. None of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-37
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

124. Your textbook listed many frequently raised questions related to test utility. Which is
NOT one of those questions?
A. Is the time it takes to administer this test worth it?
B. What is the practical value of using this test over another?
C. Is the cost of using this test worth the cost savings that may result?
D. Does this test measure what it purports to measure?

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

125. Which of the following is NOT a factor that affects a test's utility?
A. the test's validity
B. the test's publisher
C. the cost of the test
D. the benefits of the test

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

126. In comparing one test to another in terms of utility, test users will evaluate whether
A. no testing is better than testing.
B. one tool of assessment is preferable to another.
C. one particular test is preferable to another.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

127. If undertaken for the purpose of evaluating a training program or intervention, the utility
analysis will help make decisions regarding whether
A. one training program is preferable to another.
B. one method of intervention is preferable to another.
C. no training program is preferable to any training program.
D. All of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-38
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - Utility

128. The end point of a utility analysis is typically an educated decision about which of many
possible courses of action is
A. optimal.
B. the "hands down" best.
C. the "hands down" worst.
D. None of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

129. In a now-classic utility analysis, Cascio and Ramos found that the use of a particular
approach to assessment for selecting managers by the telephone company
A. was costing the company over two million dollars per year.
B. could save the company more than $13 million over four years.
C. had to remain outdated because modernization was too costly.
D. None of these

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

130. A new women's professional basketball team uses a composite score on a series of tests
to evaluate 100 prospective players. For the 25 openings on the team, a process of top-down
selection is used to award team positions. Accordingly,
A. the least qualified player still may be hired.
B. the lowest scorer is in the first position to be hired.
C. the highest scorer is in the first position to be hired.
D. the tallest scorer is in the first position to be hired.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

7-39
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Six modern
women: Psychological sketches
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Six modern women: Psychological sketches

Author: Laura Marholm

Translator: Hermione Charlotte Ramsden

Release date: July 31, 2022 [eBook #68655]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: Roberts Brothers, 1896

Credits: David E. Brown and the Online Distributed Proofreading


Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
images generously made available by The Internet
Archive/American Libraries.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX


MODERN WOMEN: PSYCHOLOGICAL SKETCHES ***
SIX MODERN WOMEN
SIX
MODERN WOMEN

Psychological Sketches

BY
LAURA MARHOLM HANSSON

Translated from the German


BY
HERMIONE RAMSDEN

BOSTON
ROBERTS BROTHERS
1896
Copyright, 1896,
By Roberts Brothers.

All rights reserved.

University Press:
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A.
PREFACE
It is not my purpose to contribute to the study of woman’s intellectual
life, or to discuss her capacity for artistic production, although these
six women are in a manner representative of woman’s intellect and
woman’s creative faculty. I have little to do with Marie Bashkirtseff’s
pictures in the Luxembourg, Sonia Kovalevsky’s doctor’s degree and
Prix Bordin, Anne Charlotte Edgren-Leffler’s stories and social
dramas, Eleonora Duse’s success as a tragedian in both worlds, and
with all that has made their names famous and is publicly known
about them. There is only one point which I should like to emphasize
in these six types of modern womanhood, and that is the
manifestation of their womanly feelings. I want to show how it
asserts itself in spite of everything,—in spite of the theories on which
they built up their lives, in spite of the opinions of which they were
the teachers, and in spite of the success which crowned their efforts,
and bound them by stronger chains than might have been the case
had their lives been passed in obscurity. They were out of harmony
with themselves, suffering from a conflict which made its first
appearance in the world when the “woman question” came to the
fore, causing an unnatural breach between the needs of the intellect
and the requirements of their womanly nature. Most of them
succumbed in the struggle.
A woman who seeks freedom by means of the modern method of
independence is generally one who desires to escape from a
woman’s sufferings. She is anxious to avoid subjection, also
motherhood, and the dependence and impersonality of an ordinary
woman’s life; but in doing so she unconsciously deprives herself of
her womanliness. For them all—for Marie Bashkirtseff as much as
Sonia Kovalevsky and A. C. Edgren-Leffler—the day came when
they found themselves standing at the door of the heart’s innermost
sanctuary, and realized that they were excluded. Some of them burst
open the door, entered, and became man’s once more. Others
remained outside and died there. They were all individualistic, these
six women. It was this fact that moulded their destiny; but Eleonora
Duse was the only one of them who was individualistic enough.
None of them were able to stand alone, as more than one had
believed that she could. The women of our day are difficult in the
choice of a husband, and the men are slow and mistrustful in their
search for a wife.
There are some hidden peculiarities in woman’s soul which I have
traced in the lives of these six representative women, and I have
written them down for the benefit of those who have not had the
opportunity of discovering them for themselves.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction xi
I. The Learned Woman: Sonia Kovalevsky 3
II. Neurotic Keynotes: George Egerton 61
III. The Modern Woman on the Stage: Eleonora Duse 97
IV. The Woman Naturalist: Amalie Skram 131
V. A Young Girl’s Tragedy: Marie Bashkirtseff 147
VI. The Woman’s Rights Woman: A. Ch. Edgren-Leffler 185
INTRODUCTION
The subjects of these six psychological sketches are well known to
English readers, with the exception of Amalie Skram, the Norwegian
novelist, and Fru Leffler, who is known only as the biographer of
Sonia Kovalevsky.
Laura Marholm, the writer of this book, is a German authoress of
Norwegian extraction, who is celebrated for her literary criticisms and
the beauty of her style. In September, 1889, she married Ola
Hansson, the Swedish author of “Sensitiva Amorosa,” “Young
Scandinavia,” and a novel called “Fru Esther Bruce,” in which the
heroine is said to bear a strong resemblance to Eleonora Duse. He
has also published a volume of prose poems, called “Ofeg’s Ditties,”
which has been translated by George Egerton, whose vivid style and
powerful descriptions have gained a place for her among the
foremost women writers of the day.
Laura Marholm was the first to introduce her husband to the German
public by means of two articles in the Neue Freie Presse. The first,
called “A Swedish Love Poet,” appeared May 24th, 1888, before
they had met, and was written in praise of his early work, “Sensitiva
Amorosa.” The second article was a criticism on “Pariahs,” and it is
an interesting fact that in it she compares him to Gottfried Keller.
In all her writings, Laura Marholm looks at life through the spectacles
of a happy marriage; she believes that matured thought and widened
views can—in a woman’s case—be only the direct result of
marriage; and consequently she considers marriage to be absolutely
indispensable to every woman, and that without it she is both
mentally and morally undeveloped. She has little sympathy with the
Woman’s Rights movement, judged either from the social, political,
or educational point of view; with regard to the latter, she has not had
a university education herself, and she is not at all impressed by
those who have. She considers that a woman’s individuality is of
greater importance than her actions; she upholds woman’s influence
as woman, and has no sympathy with the advanced thinkers, who,
with Stuart Mill at their head, would fain have women exert their
influence as thinking, reasoning human beings, believing all other
influence to be unworthy the dignity of the modern woman. Laura
Marholm has the intuitive faculty, and this enables her to gauge the
feelings of those women who spend a long youth in waiting—who
are taught to believe, and who do believe, that their youth is nothing
more than a transition period between childhood and marriage,—
women who grow old in waiting, and awake to reality to find behind
them nothing but a wasted youth, and in the future—an empty old
age. But these are not modern women, they are the women of the
ancien régime, who have missed their vocation, and failed to attain
their sole object in life,—viz., marriage. On the one hand we are
confronted with the old-fashioned girl, on the other by the new
woman. Of the two, we prefer the new woman; and while recognizing
her mistakes, and lamenting her exaggerated views, Laura Marholm
acknowledges that she is formed of the best material of the age, and
prophesies for her a brighter future. But her views differ greatly from
those of Ibsen and Björnson. According to Ibsen, a woman is first of
all a human being, and then a woman; she places the woman first,
the human being last. Björnson believes that an intellectually
developed woman with a life-work can get on very well by herself;
Laura Marholm maintains that, apart from man, a woman is nothing.
According to her, woman is a creature of instinct, and this instinct is
her most precious possession, and of far greater value than the
intellect. Of all the studies in this book, Fru Leffler is probably the
one with whom she is least in sympathy. Fru Leffler was essentially
intellectual, possessed of a somewhat cold and critical temperament,
and in writing the biography of Sonia Kovalevsky she was often
unable to appreciate the latter’s very complicated character. Sonia
was a rare combination of the mystic and the scientist; she was not
only a mathematician, but also, in every important crisis of her life, a
dreamer of prophetic dreams. The biography was intended to be the
continuation of Sonia’s own story of her childhood, and the two
should be read together. As a child, Sonia suffered from a painful
conviction that in her family she was not the favorite, and it is
probable that her unaccountable shyness, her want of self-
confidence, and her inability to attract love in after life, were due to
the fact of her having passed an unhappy and unloved childhood.
Fru Leffler’s writings are remarkable for the simplicity and directness
of her style, her keen observation, and love of truth. Her talents were
by no means confined to her pen; she held a salon,—the resort of
the intellectual world of Stockholm,—and attained great popularity by
her tactfulness and social gifts. She did not, however, shine in
society to the same extent as Sonia Kovalevsky. Her conversation
was not as brilliant and witty as the latter’s, but it was always
interesting, and it was of the kind that is remembered long
afterwards. “When she told a story, analyzed a psychological
problem, or recounted the contents of a book, she always succeeded
in setting forth its real character in a clear and decided manner.”
Sonia, on the other hand, was ever ready with an original remark.
Ellen Key tells how one day, when the conversation turned upon
love, Sonia exclaimed: “These amiable young men are always
writing books about love, and they do not even know that some
people have a genius for loving, just as others have a genius for
music and mechanics, and that for these erotic geniuses love is a
matter of life and death, whereas for others it is only an episode.”
Fru Leffler travelled a great deal, and made many friends in the
countries that she visited. She took great interest in socialism,
anarchism, and all religious and educational movements. In London
she attended lectures given by Mrs. Marx-Aveling, Bradlaugh, and
Mrs. Besant. Theosophy, positivism, spiritualism, and atheism,—
there was nothing which did not interest her. The more she saw the
more she doubted the possibility of attaining to absolute truth in
matters either social or religious, and the more attracted she became
by the doctrine of evolution.
From this authoress, who was the chief exponent of woman’s rights
in Sweden, we turn to a very different but no less interesting type.
Eleonora Duse, the great Italian actress, has visited London during
the past few years, acting in such a natural, and at the same time in
such a simple and life-like manner, that a knowledge of the language
was not absolutely indispensable to the enjoyment of the piece.
Besides most of the pieces mentioned here, she acted in La Femme
de Claude, Cleopatra, and Martha; but she attained her greatest
triumph in Goldoni’s comedy, La Locandiera.
In all these typical women, Fru L. Marholm Hansson traces a
likeness which proves that they have something in common.
Numerous and conflicting as are the various opinions on the so-
called “woman question,” the best, and perhaps the only, way of
elucidating it is by doing as she has done in giving us these
sketches. We have here six modern women belonging to five
nationalities, three of whom are authoresses, and the other three—
mathematician, actress, and artist, portrayed and criticised by one
who is herself a modern woman and an authoress.
H. R.
I
The Learned Woman
I
It sometimes happens that a hidden characteristic of the age is
disclosed, not through any acuteness on the part of the spectator,
nor as the result of critical research, but of itself, as it were, and
spontaneously. A worn face rises before us, bearing the marks of
death, and never again may we gaze into the eyes which reveal the
deep psychological life of the soul. It is the dead who greet us, the
dead who survive us, and who will come to life again and again in
future generations, long after we have ceased to be; those dead who
will become the living, only to suffer and to die again.
These self-revelations have always existed amongst men, but
among women they were unknown until now, when this tired century
is drawing to its close. It is one of the strangest signs of the coming
age that woman has attained to the intellectual consciousness of
herself as woman, and can say what she is, what she wishes, and
what she longs for. But she pays for this knowledge with her death.
Marie Bashkirtseff’s Journal was just such a self-revelation as this;
the moment it appeared it was carried throughout the whole of
Europe, and further than Europe, on far-reaching waves of human
sympathy. Wherever it went it threw a firebrand into the women’s
hearts, which set them burning without most of them knowing what
this burning betokened. They read the book with a strange and
painful emotion, for as they turned over these pages so full of ardent
energy, tears, and yearning, they beheld their own selves, strange,
beautiful, and exalted, but still themselves, though few of them could
have explained why or wherefore.
It was no bitter struggle with the outer world to which Marie
Bashkirtseff succumbed at the age of four-and-twenty; it was not the
struggle of a girl of the middle classes for her daily bread, for which
she sacrifices her youth and spirits; she met with no obstacles
beyond the traditional customs which had become to her a second
nature, no obstruction greater than the atmosphere of the age in
which she lived, which bounded her own horizon, although in her
inmost soul she rebelled against it. She had everything that the world
can give to assist the unhindered development of the inner life,—
mental, spiritual, and physical; everything that hundreds of
thousands of women, whose narrow lives need expanding, have not
got,—and yet she did not live her life. On every one of the six
hundred pages of her journal (written, as it is, in her penetrating
Russian-French style) we meet the despairing cry that she had
nothing, that she was ever alone in the midst of an everlasting void,
hungering at the table of life, spread for every one except herself,
standing with hands outstretched as the days passed by and gave
her nothing; youth and health were fading fast, the grave was
yawning, just a little chink, then wider and wider, and she must go
down without having had anything but work,—constant work,—
trouble and striving, and the empty fame which gives a stone in the
place of bread.

The tired and discontented women of the time recognized


themselves on every page, and for many of them Marie
Bashkirtseff’s Journal became a kind of secret Bible in which they
read a few sentences every morning, or at night before going to
sleep.
A few years later there appeared another confession by a woman;
this time it was not an autobiography, like the last one, but it was
written by a friend, who was a European celebrity, with a name as
lasting as her own. This book was called “Sonia Kovalevsky: Our
Mutual Experiences, and the things she told me about herself.” The
writer was Anne Charlotte Edgren-Leffler, Duchess of Cajanello, who
had been her daily companion during years of friendship.
There was a curious likeness between Marie Bashkirtseff’s Journal
and Sonia Kovalevsky’s confessions, something in their innermost,
personal experiences which proves an identity of temperament as
well as of fortune, something which was not only due to the
unconscious manner in which they criticised life, but to life itself, life
as they moulded it, and as each was destined to live it. Marie
Bashkirtseff and Sonia Kovalevsky were both Russians,[1] both
descended from rich and noble families, both women of genius, and
from their earliest childhood they were both in a position to obtain all
the advantages of a good education. They were both born rulers,
true children of nature, full of originality, proud and independent. In
all respects they were the favorites of fortune, and yet—and yet
neither of these extraordinary women was satisfied, and they died
because they could not be satisfied. Is not this a sign of the times?

II
The story of Sonia Kovalevsky’s life reads like an exciting novel,
which is, if anything, too richly furnished with strange events. Such is
life. It comes with hands full to its chosen ones, but it also takes
away gifts more priceless than it gave.
At the age of eighteen Sonia Kovalevsky was already the mistress of
her own fate. She had married the husband of her choice, and he
had accompanied her to Heidelberg, where they both matriculated at
the university. From thence he took her to Berlin, where she lived
with a girl friend, who was a student like herself, and studied
mathematics at Weierstrass’s for the space of four years, only
meeting her husband occasionally in the course of her walks. Her
marriage with Valdemar Kovalevsky, afterwards Professor of
Paleontology at the university of Moscow, was a mere formality, and
this extraordinary circumstance brings us face to face with one of the
chief characteristics of her nature.
Sonia Kovalevsky did not love her husband; there was, in fact,
nothing in her early youth to which she was less disposed than love.
She was possessed of an immense undefined thirst, which was
something more than a thirst for study, albeit that was the form which
it took. Her inexperienced, child-like nature was weighed down
beneath the burden of an exceptional talent.
Sonia Krukovsky was the daughter of General Krukovsky of Palibino,
a French Grand-seigneur of old family; and when she was no more
than sixteen, she had in her the making of a great mathematician
and a great authoress. She was fully aware of the first, but of the
latter she knew nothing, for a woman’s literary talent nearly always
dates its origin from her experience of life. She was high-spirited and
enterprising,—qualities which are more often found among the
Sclavonic women than any other race of Europeans; she had that
peculiar consciousness of the shortness of life, the same which
drove Marie Bashkirtseff to accomplish more in the course of a few
years than most people would have achieved during the course of
their whole existence.
Sonia Kovalevsky’s girlhood was spent in Russia, during those years
of feverish excitement when the outbreaks of the Nihilists bore
witness to the working of a subterranean volcano, and the hearts
and intellects of the young glowed with an enthusiasm which led to
the self-annihilating deeds of fanaticism. A few winter months spent
at St. Petersburg decided the fate of Sonia and her elder sister,
Anjuta. The strict, old-fashioned notions of their family allowed them
very little liberty, and they longed for independence. In order to
escape from parental authority, a formal marriage was at this time a
very favorite expedient among young girls in Russia. A silent but
widespread antagonism reigned in all circles between the old and
young; the latter treated one another as secret allies, who by a look
or pressure of the hand could make themselves understood. It was
not at all uncommon for a girl to propose a formal marriage to a
young man, generally with the purpose of studying abroad, as this
was the only means by which they could obtain the consent of their
unsuspecting parents to undertake the journey. When they were
abroad, they generally released each other from all claims and
separated, in order to study apart. Sonia’s sister was anxious to
escape in this way, as she possessed a remarkable literary talent
which her father had forbidden her to exercise. She accordingly
made the proposal in question to a young student of good family,
named Valdemar Kovalevsky; he, however, preferred Sonia, and this
gave rise to further complications, as their father refused to allow the
younger sister to marry before the elder.
Sonia resorted to a stratagem, and one evening, when her parents
were giving a reception, she went secretly to Valdemar, and as soon
as her absence was discovered she sent a note to her father, with
these words: “I am with Valdemar; do not oppose our marriage any
longer.” There remained no alternative for General Krukovsky but to
fetch his daughter home as speedily as possible, and to announce
her engagement.
They were accompanied on their honeymoon by a girl friend, who
was equally imbued with the desire to study, and soon afterwards
Anjuta joined them. The first thing that Sonia and Valdemar did was
to visit George Eliot in London; after which Valdemar went to Jena
and Munich, while Sonia, with her sister and friend, studied at
Heidelberg, where they remained during two terms before going to
Berlin. The sister went secretly to Paris by herself.
Arrived at Berlin, Sonia buried herself in her work. She saw no one
except Professor Weierstrass, who expressed the greatest
admiration for her quickness at mathematics, and did all in his power
to assist her by means of private lessons. If we are honest enough to
call it by its true name, we must confess that the life led by these two
girls, during eight terms, was the life of a dog. Sonia scarcely ever
went out of doors unless Valdemar fetched her for a walk, which was
not often, as he lived in another part of the town, and was constantly
away. She was tormented with a vague fear of exposing herself.
Inexperienced as both these friends were, they lived poorly, and ate
little, allowing themselves no pleasure of any sort, added to which
they were tyrannized over and cheated by their maid-servant. Sonia
sat all day long at her writing-table, hard at work with her
mathematical exercises; and when she took a short rest, it was only
to run up and down the room, talking aloud to herself, with her brains
as busy as ever. She had never been accustomed to do anything for
herself; she had always been waited upon, and it was impossible to
persuade her even to buy a dress when necessary, unless Valdemar
accompanied her. But Valdemar soon tired of rendering these
unrequited services, and he often absented himself in other towns
for the completion of his own studies; and as they both received an
abundant supply of money from their respective homes, they were in
no way dependent upon each other.

You might also like