Professor Cantu develops a new measure of depression. He finds that scores on his new measure correlate well with scores on existing well-validated measures of depression, but that scores on his new measure also correlate well with scores on well-validated measures of anxiety. The results of Professor Cantu's research suggest that there is a problem with the ________ of his new measure.
A) reliability
B) content validity
C) differential validity
D) discriminant validity

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Discriminant validity refers to the extent to which a measure is able to distinguish between the construct it is intended to measure and other related constructs. In this case, because scores on the new measure are also highly correlated with scores on measures of anxiety, it suggests that the new measure is not able to effectively differentiate between depression and anxiety, indicating a problem with its discriminant validity.

Professor Cantu Develops a New Measure of Depression