retrospective validity

the extent to which an instrument that purports to measure a particular behavior can be shown to correlate with past occurrences that demonstrate this behavior. For example, a researcher evaluating a new measure of accident proneness might administer it to a sample of respondents and then check their archived medical records to determine if higher test scores on the measure correlate with the number of actual treated injuries in the past. It is one of several types of criterion validity. Also called postdictive validity. See also concurrent validity; predictive validity.

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Psychology term of the day

October 9th 2024

method of absolute judgment

a psychophysical procedure in which stimuli are presented in random order to a participant, whose task is to place each stimulus in a particular category. The stimuli usually vary along one or two dimensions, such as brightness or loudness. Also called absolute-judgment method.