The Miller Analogies Test 60 minutes long and is composed of 120 analogies (Meagher, Pan, Wegner, & Miller, 2012a), of which only 100 contribute to the actual score. The other twenty are research questions to test for possible use in future versions of the MAT. Pearson defines an analogy as a statement identifying a relationship between two items that is equal to a relationship between two other items. For example, tall is to short as wet is to dry, which would be formatted tall:short = wet:dry. The two relationships are equal to each other because both are antonyms. In the test, however, the analogies are partial, meaning one of the items is missing and four options are presented in a multiple choice format from which the test taker has to select the correct response (Meagher, 2008b).
The purpose of the test, as mentioned before, is to determine future success in graduate work in a university in the United States. The MAT accomplishes this by testing reasoning skills. In order to succeed in the test, the test taker must be fluent in English, be able to establish a correlation between two items, and have a general knowledge of the sciences (both the natural and social), mathematics, language, and humanities. Within these content areas, several types of relationships are assessed: semantic, logical, classification, and association. This means that the relationship presented can ask for anything from a synonym, sequence, pattern, etc. (“Candidate Information Booklet,” 2013).
The validity of the test all hinges on the validity of the analogy in assessing analytical ability. While many other standardized tests have moved away from the analogy, the MAT is entirely made up of analogies, with the publishers arguing that th...
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...ng Performance with the Miller Analogies Test (MAT). Pearson.
Meagher, D. (2008b). Understanding Analogies: The Analogy Item Format and the Miller Analogies Test. Pearson.
Meagher, D., Perez, C., Yang, Z., Wegner, R., Bilicek, M. J., & Tromonski, A. (2008). MAT Technical Manual: A Guide to Interpretation. Pearson.
Meagher, D., Pan, T., Wegner, R., & Miller, J. (2012a). MAT Basics: Test Structure and Score Interpretation. Pearson.
Meagher, D., Pan, T., Wegner, R., & Miller, J. (2012b). MAT Reliability and Validity. Pearson.
Platz, A., McClintock, C., & Katz, D. (1959). Undergraduate grades and the Miller Analogies Test as predictors of graduate success. American Psychologist, 14(6), 285-289. doi:10.1037/h0045116
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As well, metaphors exists everywhere. They influence the way we process information in our minds. Without the idea of comparison in order to achieve a better understanding of material, everything would be abstract and the way we perceive the information would be completely
A young girl is excited about graduating high school and attending her first year at college. She tries hard at school and receives above-average grades. She is an active student involved in student council, band, the drama team, and peer tutoring, but her ACT scores are extremely low, disqualifying her from many universities. The young girl represents many students who are not successful at taking standardized tests because they have not developed the advanced skills required to take a test like the ACT or SAT. An academically motivated and responsible student should not be prevented from attending college because a "standard" test is not his or her standard. The current methods of testing for the ACT or SAT should be abolished and replaced with modified and less "standard" questions to better measure a student's learning potential. In addition to different testing techniques, a student's learning potential should be a measure of a culmination of activities and methods; testing should be less important than other methods in determining a student's learning potential, if not the least important. Standardized testing must evolve to encompass a more diverse student population, and it should not be the primary factor in measuring learning potential.
Schacter, D. L., Gilbert, D. T., & Wegner, D. M. (2010). Psychology. (2nd ed., p. 600). New York: Worth Pub.
Even with material being taught incessantly, standardized tests can not accurately measure a student’s ability. The tests are “single-target—meaning that every student, no matter what level of achievement or ability, course selection, or cu...
Evans, Donia. "The Case Against Standardized Tests." The Meridian Star. 24 Nov. 2013. The Meridian Star. 01 Dec. 2013 .
Waiten,W., (2007) Seventh Edition Psychology Themes and Variations. University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Thomson Wadsworth.
The term ‘analogy’ is very vague in nature, but when used in this context, we assume that the behavior of other people is in many ways analogous in reference to causes. These causes being behavior directed from sensation or thought. It is apparent and observable that people or beings other then I behave in ways in which we behave when placed in different situations. For example sadness or the nature of anger or happiness can be seen in others. Others then can and do react to different causes similar to the way in which I do as well. Another consideration is that of shared experience. Russell uses the example of two friends having a conversation in which memoirs are explored. These two individuals have shared experiences together. They eventually discover that each other’s memories aid each other in recalling information forgotten with time. (Russell 89)
In accordance to the analogy argument, although an individual may experience the same sensations or feelings as I do, this does not mean that we share the same conscious experiences. For example, let’s consider the conscious experiences between a blind man and a man with normal eyesight who partake in the same routines and/or activities throughout their day. In this scenario, both men cannot claim that they know what it is like to be the other person based on their different experiences with their sense of vision. In other words, the man who has normal eyesight is usually able to understand what he is reading, eating, or doing at a certain time throughout his day.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. (5th ed.). (2003). Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
Gall, S. B., Beins, B., & Feldman, A. (2001). The gale encyclopedia of psychology. (2nd ed., pp. 271-273). Detroit, MI: Gale Group.
Intelligence has been defined in many different ways including ones capacity for logic, abstract thought, creativity, and problem solving. Standardized tests play a major role in education systems today. Although these tests do exemplify a student’s ability to read and write English, this test promotes “teaching to a test.” I have first handedly experienced this in my own life. Standardized tests undermine critical thinking and innovation and are not the best example of intelligence.
On the contrary, there are better ways to determine if a student has a keen success in their education. According to a study conducted by The National Center for Fair and Open Testing observed that “students with higher high school GPAs performed better in college, regardless of drooping test scores in their records” (Brown 1). This research means that Standardized Testing
Myers, D. G., & Dewall, N. C. (n.d.). Psychology (11th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
In the concept of analogical reasoning, an analogy indicates a comparison between to objects or concepts that highlights the ways which the two are similar. Analogical reasoning consequently refers to any kind of reasoning and decision making that relies on an analogy. Analogical reasoning is widely used in human thoughts, where analogies are used to infer and influence decisions on two or more issues in problem solving and decision making. The concept is highly used as a justificatory factor in support of a conclusion in decision-making. While in some cases analogical reasoning can provide a strong support for a conclusion, in other cases the analogical reasoning provides very weak support for its responding conclusions by providing what is
Edited by Raymond J. Corsini. Encyclopedia of Psychology, Second Edition, Volume 3. New York: John Wiley and Sons Inc.