Re:Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination

Liz,

No, copyrighted instruments like the BDAE, intended to be administered by professionals with specific training, will NOT be available on the Internet for free. You will need to purchase a copy of the BDAE from a vendor such as Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc., for from $150 - $160. If you are still a student, you may need to get your professor to purchase it for you (you will need to fill out a credentials form to purchase certain instruments at vendors like this).

When writing your paper, do not print the actual test questions. Make up similar items and say, "items like ......"

Professionals have a responsibility to keep the specific contents of standardized tests like this out of the hands of potential test-takers. Prior knowledge of specific items can threaten the validity of a test. This is especially true for achievement and aptitude tests like college entrance exams (SAT, ACT, etc.). Once in awhile you hear of teachers who have access to test items who "teach to the test," giving students correct answers to specific questions rather thanteaching the material in a thorough manner.

Some personality tests that ask, for example, for a respondent's level of agreement with certain statements are less vulnerable to threats of validity from respondents' prior knowledge of test items, and they are available on the internet. Most such tests on the Internet are either in the public domain, open for use by anyone, or merely quizzes without validity and reliability studies to back up their usefulness.

Most student papers deal with reliability and validity issues, and can be written from the test reviews and journal reports of their use with particular populations. You may not need to see the test in question at all to write your paper. But you are correct, you will not truly understand a test until you examine it first-hand.

Best wishes.

Don H. Morris, Ed.D.
Little Rock, Arkansas

Replies:

There are no replies to this message.

| Behavior OnLine Home Page | Disclaimer |

Copyright © 1996-2004 Behavior OnLine, Inc. All rights reserved.