Using Retrospective Pre-Ratings to Counteract Response-Shift Confounding

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Abstract
A potential confounding effect present in research designs which employ self-report instruments is response-shift, i.e., a change in the internalized standard by which a subject rates himself. Howard et al. (6) suggest that when self-report measures must be used to measure behavioral changes there should be a modification of Campbell and Stanley’s design (2) so as to include a “retrospective pre-rating.” In the current research, the response-shift phenomenon is demonstrated in the context of a typical classroom setting. Retrospective pre-ratings are shown to yield significantly more accurate estimates of preinstruction knowledge than simple pre-ratings. However, there was no statistically significant difference between correlation co-efficients relating “behavioral change” and “self-reported change” when self-reported change was defined in terms of retrospective pre-ratings rather than in terms of simple pre-ratings.