ABSTRACT
In the 1980s, much new research and discussion focused on the improvement of psychological tests in relation to their uses in education, as well as in industry and government. The implications of cognitive psychology for measurement began to be considered (see, e.g., Snow & Lohman, 1989). New proposals for using technological as well as substantive theoretical advances to develop more diagnostic forms of assessment were increasingly developed (see e.g., Frederiksen, Glaser, Lesgold, & Shafto, 1990). And psychometric theory and test design principles were reviewed and expanded, particularly by the contributors to this volume. The possibility now exists to bring new concepts and measures of aptitude, learning, development, and achievement, together with instructional innovations, to create truly diagnostic and adaptive systems. But we must learn how to use the new psychometric, substantive, and technological advances in concert to do it right. This is the main challenge for the 1990s, in our view.
