What method does Griffin Hill use to test validity with non-resource or bandwidth items?

• A. Embed inconsistent or unrealistic options to detect random responding and measure attention.
• B. Exclude them from scoring.
• C. Replace them with standard items.
• D. Ignore them entirely.

Answer: (A)

The idea here is to embed attention-check style items by including inconsistent or obviously unrealistic options within non-resource or bandwidth items. This tests whether someone is answering thoughtfully or wandering, which directly affects validity. When a respondent selects these implausible choices, it signals careless responding or low effort, meaning their results may not reflect their true beliefs or abilities. By detecting these patterns, researchers can flag or adjust data, ensuring that the validity assessment rests on genuinely engaged responses. This technique aligns with Griffin Hill’s approach to quality control in integrity testing, using these checks to measure attention and weed out low-effort data.

Excluding these items from scoring is a data-cleaning step, not the validity-testing method itself. Replacing them with standard items would defeat the purpose of the checks, and ignoring them entirely misses the opportunity to assess response quality.