The goal of this book is to sharpen the skill, sophistication, and intuition of the reader in the interpretation of mental test data, and in the construction and use of mental tests both as instruments of psychological theory and as tools in the practical problems of selection, evaluation, and guidance. This has been done by exposing the reader to some psychologically meaningful statistical theories of mental test scores. [p.1, ed].

One of the most important books in the history of psychometrics has been virtually unavailable to scholars and students for decades. A gap in the archives of modern test theory is now being filled by the release in paperback for the first time of the classic text, Statistical Theories of Mental Test Scores, by the late and honored statisticians and psychometricians, Frederic M. Lord and Melvin R. Novick. No single book since 1968 when Lord & Novick first appeared has had a comparable impact on the practice of testing and assessment. Information Age Publishing is proud to make this classic text available to a new generation of scholars and researchers.

This classic volume outlines, for both students and professionals, the mathematical theories and equations that are necessary for evaluating a test and for quantifying its characteristics. The author utilizes formulas that evaluate both the reliability and the validity of tests. He also provides the means for evaluating the reliability and validity of total test scores and individual item analysis. The work remains one of the only books on classical test theory to discuss applications, "true score" theory, the effect of test length on reliability and validity, and the effects of univariate and multivariate selection on validity.