Teaching WAIS—R administration skills: Comparison of the {mastery} model to other existing clinical training modalities.

Used the MASTERY model of the 2nd author (see record 1984-13254-001), a competency-based training paradigm, to bring 20 graduate students in clinical psychology to criterion level for competent administration of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R). 13 other graduate students completed a course in psychological tests and measurements but were not trained in WAIS—R administration with the MASTERY system. This model was then compared to some existing training models used by internship settings in terms of training effects, cost, and verification. In all comparisons, significant differences favored the competency-based approach. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychometric evaluation of scales when their scoring keys are unavailable.

Some psychological and educational tests are scored only by service organizations or computer programs that provide no access to scoring keys. The degree to which the keys need to be publicly available to evaluate different kinds of reliability and validity is examined. It is concluded that if keys are not provided, it is essential that (a) the scoring service provide internal consistency reliabilities on each batch of scales scored and (b) samples of items that correlate well with the total scale be given in the manual if content validity is claimed. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Environmental estrogens and reproductive health: a discussion of the human and environmental data

Estrogenic activity of certain xenobiotics is an established mechanism of toxicity that can impair reproductive function in adults of either sex, lead to irreversible abnormalities when administered during development, or cause cancer. The concern has been raised that exposure to ambient levels of estrogenic xenobiotics may be having widespread adverse effects on reproductive health of humans and wildlife. The purpose of this review is to evaluate (a) the nature of the evidence supporting this concern, and (b) the adequacy of toxicity screening to detect, and risk assessment procedures to establish safe levels for, agents acting by this mechanism. Observations such as adverse developmental effects after maternal exposure to therapeutic levels of the potent estrogen diethylstilbestrol or male fertility problems after exposure to high levels of the weak estrogen chlordecone clearly demonstrate that estrogenicity is active as a toxic mechanism in humans. High level exposures to estrogenic compounds have also been shown to affect specific wildlife populations. However, there is little direct evidence to indicate that exposures to ambient levels of estrogenic xenobiotics are affecting reproductive health. Reports of historical trends showing decreasing reproductive capacity (e.g., decreased sperm production over the last 50 years) are either inconsistent with other data or have significant methodologic inadequacies that hinder interpretation. More reliable historical trend data show an increase in breast cancer rate, but the most comprehensive epidemiology study to data failed to show an association between exposure to persistent, estrogenic organochlorine compounds and breast cancer. Clearly, more work needs to be done to characterize historical trends in humans and background incidence of abnormalities in wildlife populations, and to test hypotheses about ambient exposure to environmental contaminants and toxic effects, before conclusions can be reached about the extent or possible causes of adverse effects. It is unlikely that current lab animal testing protocols are failing to detect agents with estrogenic activity, as a wide array of estrogen-responsive endpoints are measured in standard testing batteries. Routine testing for aquatic and wildlife toxicity is more limited in this respect, and work should be done to assess the validity of applying mammalian toxicology data for submammalian hazard identification. Current risk assessment methods appear to be valid for estrogenic agents, although the database for evaluating this is limited. In conclusion, estrogenicity is an important mechanism of reproductive and developmental toxicity; however, there is little evidence at this point that low level exposures constitute a human or ecologic health risk. Given the potential consequences of an undetected risk, more research is needed to investigate associations between exposures and effects, both in people and animals, and a number of research questions are identified herein. The lack of evidence demonstrating widespread xenobiotic-induced estrogenic risk suggests that far-reaching policy decisions can await these research findings.     

An APA-sponsored law to protect psychologists and subjects from unwarranted use of research data.

Comments on the need for laws in addition to the code of ethics proposed by D. Baumrind (see record 1972-20057-001). A law is proposed and sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA), under which no datum could be used in any manner detrimental to Ss, nor could it be subpoenaed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Giving Psychology Away Is Expensive.

Comment on "Does Psychology make a significant difference in our lives?" by P. Zimbardo (see record 2004-16479-003). We deeply appreciate the documentation and inspiration provided by Zimbardo on how psychology is reaching out to the public by "giving psychology away" (p. 340). We totally agree that psychology has much, much more to offer that could be used to improve human lives. We believe that in addition to a sincere desire to give psychology away, there needs to be a recognition of the realities of living in a capitalist society. In a market-driven economy, it is the value of intellectual property in the form of revenue generated that will determine whether psychological knowledge is widely disseminated and used. Zimbardo made a very good case for using the media to obtain free advertising; however, we believe a more radical approach is needed. The authors go on to discuss their views. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moral obligation and attitudes: Their relation to behavioral intentions.

I. Ajzen and M. Fishbein (1969) have shown that behavioral intention can be viewed as a function of attitudes and subjective norms; however, moral values also may influence behavioral intentions in morally relevant situations. When a component measuring moral obligation was added to Ajzen and Fishbein's model in an experiment with 113 adults (mean age 42 yrs) in Baptist Sunday school classes who were exposed to 2 morally relevant and 2 not morally relevant hypothetical situations, it added significantly to prediction of behavioral intention. In the 2 "moral situations" (as defined independently by 3 criteria—importance, immunity from deliberate change, and form of moral pressure), moral obligation was more highly correlated with intention than attitude or social norms, but in 2 "nonmoral" situations it was not. Hence, moral considerations are necessary to predict behavioral intentions in moral situations. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Number of factors in the personality sphere: Does increase in factors increase predictability of real-life criteria?

Many researchers support a 5- to 8-factor personality theory; Cattell urges a 16-factor system. Factor analysis has been unable to resolve this controversy. Hence, the degree to which 6 and 16 factors related to a proposed new criterion (real-life data) was evaluated in 16 data sets. When factors were increased from 6 to 16, 88% of the studies showed a significant increase in R. The percentage of variance accounted for, after shrinking the Rs, was doubled. We concluded that the 5- to 8-factor position has limited usefulness; use of more factors is strongly supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stepper motor controlled micro gas valve inlet system for gas chromatography

A novel gas valve inlet system for gas chromatography is described. The device incorporates a capillary sample gas delivery tube containing a small orifice in its side from which sample vapor continuously flows. A precision micro stepper motor is used to translate the sample delivery tube parallel to its axis so that the orifice passes by the end of the fused silica separation column. The inlet end of the column and the sample delivery tube are housed in a pressurized injection port which also contains purge flows to vent sample between injections. Two operating modes are described. In the sweep mode, the orifice sweeps past the column end at a constant, adjustable velocity. In the park mode, the orifice is parked in front of the column end for a software selectable time. Injection sample size and bandwidth are adjustable. Bandwidths (σ) as small as a few milliseconds make the inlet suitable for high-speed gas chromatography as well as conventional GC.     

Replication of the factor structure of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Third Edition with a Canadian Sample.

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Third Edition (WAIS—III) were conducted on a stratified sample of Canadian adults (n?=?718). As was previously demonstrated for the children's version of this scale, The factor model of the American standardization sample was replicated across this Canadian national sample. Results of the factor analyses confirmed the presence of the 4 WAIS—III factors: Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, Working Memory, and Processing Speed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)