Which of these terms describes the ability of a test to predict future performance?

Predictive validity refers to the extent to which a test is able to accurately forecast an individual's future performance on a given task or criterion. This type of validity is crucial in various contexts, such as educational assessments or employment testing, where the stakes are related to predicting how well an individual will perform in real-world scenarios after taking a specific test. For instance, if a standardized test is designed to predict students' success in college, high predictive validity would mean that those who score well on the test are likely to perform well academically in college.

Other types of validity, while important in their own contexts, do not focus on the future performance prediction. Concurrent validity assesses how well test results correlate with performance on an already established measure at the same time. Internal validity focuses on the degree to which a study or test accurately measures the intended construct without interference from external factors. External validity deals with the generalizability of test results beyond the immediate study or sample. Thus, these terms emphasize different aspects of validity and do not specifically address the predictive capabilities of a test regarding future performance, making the concept of predictive validity distinctly relevant in this context.