Unpacking the grammar of tests and measures : the hidden complexity in psychological test items and its association with item responses
department or school: Education, Faculty of
department or school: Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Lynch, Sarah Elizabeth
issued: 2025-04-18T00:25:40Z
issued: 2025
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: It has been suggested that the use of complex syntax in psychological test items may hinder some respondents’ comprehension of items (Graesser et al., 2000; Tourangeau et al., 2000). However, the prevalence and patterns of syntactic complexity features in psychological tests are not well understood, nor is their relationship with item responses. This two-part study addresses this underexplored area. Study 1 uses the Register Functional approach, which involves a corpus-based analysis, to identify the prevalence of one type of syntactic complexity, dependent clauses, in non-commercial psychological tests. It reveals nonfinite complement clauses—commonly used to express cognitive states, desires, stances, or probabilities (Biber et al., 2021)—as the most prevalent type. Study 2 then investigates the relationship between dependent clause types and item responses and subsequently examines any moderating effect of respondent’s vocabulary familiarity for associations found. Of the five dependent clause types analyzed, only nonfinite complement clauses showed a significant association with item responses, and this association was moderated by respondents’ vocabulary familiarity scores. Overall, these studies highlight the value of an interdisciplinary approach to measurement issues. The research emphasizes the importance of considering linguistic complexity in psychological test development, offering important insights into patterns of syntactic complexity in non-commercial psychological tests and the relationship between clausal complexity and response processes. By establishing foundational findings, this research sets the stage for future studies to explore the interplay between linguistic complexity and response processes, with the potential to inform test design and enhance validity and fairness for diverse populations.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/90695
note: UNPACKING THE GRAMMAR OF TESTS AND MEASURES: THE HIDDEN COMPLEXITY IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST ITEMS AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH ITEM RESPONSES by SARAH ELIZABETH LYNCH B.A., St. Thomas University, 2004 B.Ed., The University of New Brunswick, 2006 M.A., Carleton University, 2012 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Measurement, Evaluation, and Research Methodology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April 2025 © Sarah Elizabeth Lynch, 2025 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: Unpacking the Grammar of Tests and Measures: The Hidden Complexity in Psychological Test Items and Its Association with Item Responses submitted by Sarah Elizabeth Lynch in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Measurement, Evaluation, and Research Methodology Examining Committee: Dr. Bruno Zumbo, Professor and Distinguished University Scholar, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, UBC Supervisor Dr. Anita Hubley, Professor, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Anne Gadermann, Associate Professor, School of Population and Public Health, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Nancy Perry, Professor and Associate Dean, Research, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, UBC University Examiner Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc, Professor and Distinguished University Scholar, Director, School of Nursing, UBC University Examiner iii Abstract It has been suggested that the use of complex syntax in psychological test items may hinder some respondents’ comprehension of items (Graesser et al., 2000; Tourangeau et al., 2000). However, the prevalence and patterns of syntactic c…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2025-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0448445
language: eng
degree discipline: Measurement, Evaluation and Research Methodology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Zumbo, Bruno D.
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90695