ITEM AMBIGUITY AND ITEM DISCRIMINATION IN MMPI

EVALUATED 2 CONCEPTUAL MODELS OF ITEM AMBIGUITY WITH RESPECT TO THE DISCRIMINATION POWER AND RESPONSE DIRECTION OF MMPI ITEMS. INTERPRETIVE AMBIGUITY RATINGS AND RESPONSE AMBIGUITY VALUES WERE OBTAINED ON THE ITEMS IN ORDER TO DIVIDE THEM INTO GROUPS BY AMBIGUITY CHARACTERISTICS. A CHI-SQUARE ANALYSIS INDICATED THE PRESENCE OF A LOW POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE 2 MEASURES. THE ITEMS WERE ANALYZED WITH RESPECT TO THE NUMBER OF SCALES ON WHICH THEY ARE KEYED AND IN TERMS OF THEIR VARIABILITY IN RESPONSE DIRECTION. IT WAS EXPECTED THAT ITEMS HIGH IN INTERPRETIVE AMBIGUITY AND LOW IN RESPONSE AMBIGUITY WOULD HAVE GREATER DISCRIMINATION POWER AND WOULD BE MORE VARIABLE IN KEYED RESPONSE DIRECTION. BOTH EXPECTATIONS WERE CONFIRMED. THE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN INTERPRETIVE AND RESPONSE AMBIGUITY IS USEFUL TO CONSIDER IN ITEM-ANALYSIS PROCEDURES. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1968 American Psychological Association.