The Concurrent Validity of Self-Estimates of Abilities Relative to Criteria Provided by Standardized Test Measures of the Same Abilities for a Sample of High School Students Eligible for Participation in the Ceta Program

Abstract

For a total sample of 258 high school students who were eligible for participation in the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), for the two subgroups of 108 males and 150 females, and for eight subsamples differentiated by sex and by four age levels (15, 16, 17, or 18), this investigation was concerned with determining the degree of relationship between scores on each of nine ability measures (the criterion variables) included in the standardized General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) and self-estimates by students of their level of ability in each of the same nine aptitude areas as those in the GATB. For the total sample not one of the nine concurrent validity coefficients was statistically significant, and for the subgroups of males and females, only one and two coefficients, respectively, were statistically reliable. Among the 72 validity coefficients for the eight independent subsamples of males and females differentiated by age level, only nine coefficients were statistically reliable—8 for females and 1 for males. Six of these coefficients involved measures of motor coordination, finger dexterity; and manual dexterity. With the possible exception of skills involving psychomotor coordination and precision, adolescents irrespective of age level appear unable to provide valid self-estimates of their standing in the same abilities as those provided by scores on a widely used standardized test.

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