Dorothy Adkins

Dorothy Christina Adkins (April 6, 1912 – December 19, 1975) was an American psychologist. Adkins is best known for her work in psychometrics and education testing, particularly in achievement testing. She was the first female president of the Psychometric Society and served in several roles in the American Psychological Association.

Early life Adkins was born on April 6, 1912, in Atlanta, a town in Pickaway County, Ohio, United States. Adkins father, George Hoadley Adkins, worked as a businessman as well as a farmer and her mother, Peal F. James-Adkins worked as a teacher at a local school. Dorothy was the couple's third child.

Education

She attended public school in Atlanta until graduation in 1927. Growing up, Adkins developed a love of music, which led her to later study violin at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. After only one year at the Conservatory, she quit to pursue a degree in mathematics from Ohio State University. Her interest in mathematics quickly drew her to statistics and psychometrics, and she took up psychology. Toops was a student of Edward Lee Thorndike for psychology and Truman Kelly for statistics. Adkins competed her PhD in 1937 under the title “A Comparative Study of Methods of Selecting Test Items”.

Career U.S. Government Adkins' time as a psychometrics assistant examiner at the University of Chicago and research experience made her a desirable job candidate upon her graduation. In 1940 she was offered a position with the United States government, working as an assistant chief of Research and Test Development for the United States Social Security Board in Washington, D.C. She would later be promoted to the chief of this department. Adkins also worked as Chief of Social Sciences and Administrative Testing and the Chief of Test Development for the U.S. Civil Service Commission while in D.C. from 1940 to 1948. During this time, she received special assignments from the government to the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Georgia, and Thailand. It would be almost a decade before Adkins returned to academia.

Educational testing Over the course of her career, Adkins because interested in new (at the time) statistical techniques of factor analysis. She applied factor analytic techniques in order to examine and better understand curriculum, program evaluation, and affect in children. She published several books examining measurement and analysis in education and achievement tests. Google Ngram can be used to view the number of times the phrase “education testing” was used in books in the 20 years prior to and after the publication of Adkins book. Prior to the publication there was a slight decline in the used of the phrase, however after its publication, there was a steady increase in use of the phrase. Following the same trend (but to a lesser degree) the same post publication trend can be seen with a search of “Dorothy Adkins” name.

Selected works Adkins, D. C. (1947). Construction and analysis of achievement tests. Oxford, England: U. S. Government Printing Office, Oxford. Adkins, D. C. (1958). Measurement in relation to the educational process. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 18, 221–240. Adkins, D. C. (1973). A simpler structure of the American psychological association. American Psychologist, 28(1), 47–54. Adkins, D. C., & Kuder, G. F. (1940). The relation of primary mental abilities to activity preferences. Psychometrika, 5(4), 251–262. Adkins, D. C., Payne, F. D., & Ballif, B. L. (1972). Motivation factor scores and response set scores for ten ethnic-cultural groups of preschool children. American Educational Research Journal, 9(4), 557–572. Flanagan, J. C., Adkins, D., & Cadwell, D. H. B. (1950). Major developments in examining methods. (PAR no. 504.) (mimeo.). Oxford, England: Civil Service Assembly, Oxford

Personal life While at the University of North Carolina, Adkins was again colleagues with L.L Thurstone. She became dear friends with Thurstone and his wife, Thelma Thurstone, a friendship that lasted many years. Adkins was highly regarded by her students and colleges. She was known as a precise, dedicated, and excellent teacher, never unprepared for a lecture or meeting. To her friends, Adkins was known as compassionate, though she was always busy. She was known to take time to cook homemade meals/desserts or pick flowers from her garden to bring to friends who were ill. Adkins enjoyed travel, concerts, parties and games. She had two Weimaraner dogs that she loved dearly. In June 1974 Adkins retired from University of Hawaii to Plain City, Ohio, for medical reasons. She eventually wanted to return to teaching at Chapel Hill, but her health never permitted. On December 19, 1975, Dorothy Adkins died in her home near her family. In 1976 Thelma Thurstone wrote a biography/memoir for Adkins, which was published in Psychometrika.