Repetitive Psychometric Measures: Memory-for-Faces

Abstract

interviews, and psychomotor or psychophysical measures to assess many of the attributes which are best measured by traditional psychometric techniques. Recently, consuuction was begun on a battery of brief Repetitive Psychometric Measures (RPM) designed specifically for making multiple repetitive measurements on the same individual for extended periods of time (Moran & Mefferd, 1959). The first six tests of the battery provided 20 alternate forms equated empirically for difficulty level. These followed the format of tests in French's (1954) kit of reference aptitude and achievement factors. The present report describes a seventh brief repetitive test, Memory-for-Faces. Unlike the ocher six tests, Memory-for-Faces was not selected because it represented a distinct factor. However, the test has face validity as a measure of recognition memory, an ability not measured directly by the other six tests. Moreover, comparable measures of the abiliry to recognize faces have been employed in attempts to measure social intelligence (Gilliland & Burke, 1926; Hunt, 1928; Thorndike & Stein, 1937; Kraess & Witryol, 1955), a personality correlate which would be of value to measure in conjunction with the various abilities measured by the RPM. However, it is not the purpose of the present report to establish correlates of Memory-for-Faces, but rather to present a progress report on the construction and preliminary standardization work with the test. The report also may be used as a preliminary manual by investigators who might wish to use the repetitive measure in exploratory research.