THE CONTRIBUTION OF A RESPONSE-PRODUCTION COMPONENT TO A FREE-RESPONSE SYNONYM TASK

A cognitive approach to the study of format differences is illustrated using synonym tasks. By means of a multiple regression analysis with latent variables, it is shown that both a response-production componen t and an evaluation component are involved in answering a free-respons e synonym task. Given the results of Janssen, De Boeck, and Vander Ste ene (1996), the format differences between the multiple-choice evaluat ion task and the free-response synonym task can be explained in terms of the kinds of verbal abilities measured. The evaluation task is a pu re measure of verbal comprehension, while the free-response synonym ta sk is affected by verbal comprehension and verbal fluency, as well. Th e design used to study format differences controls both for content ef fects and for the effects of repeating item stems across formats.