Biographical data in employment selection: Can validities be made generalizable?

The hypothesis was examined that organizational specificity of biodata validity results from the methods typically used to select and key items. In this study, items were initially screened for job relevance, keying was based on large samples from multiple organizations, and items were retained only if they showed validity across organizations. Cross-validation was performed on approximately 11,000 first-line supervisors in 79 organizations. The resulting validities were meta-analyzed across organizations, age levels, sex, and levels of education, supervisory experience, and company tenure. In all cases, validities were generalizable. Validities were also stable across time and did not appear to stem from measurement of knowledge, skills, or abilities acquired through job experience. Finally, these results provide additional evidence against the hypothesis of situational specificity of validities, the first large-sample evidence in a noncognitive domain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Subjective probability of accident and apprehension in relation to self-other bias, age, and reported behavior

Responses from over 900 male drivers were examined on items measuring the subjective probability of two adverse driving scenarios (accident and apprehension) for a number of speeding and drink-driving-related events. The items were constructed to focus on self versus average referent driver comparisons. Respondents were categorised into "offenders" and "non-offenders" according to their reported behaviour concerning speeding and drink-driving. The data were analysed using repeated measures analysis of variance. The results indicated that both accident and apprehension are seen as less probable when self is the reference compared to the average driver. There was evidence to suggest that this self-favouring bias did vary over presented scenarios. It was suggested that such perceptions may vary in relation to the perceived influence of driver skill within scenarios. Weak age effects were found, but it was concluded that, generally, self-favouring biases were common across all age groups. Concerning the offender/nonoffender classification, the results indicated that speeders and drink-drivers generally perceived the probability of apprehension and accident as being lower than did the nonoffender groups. There was no evidence to suggest that self-average driver biases were associated with offender/nonoffender grouping.     

Behavioral classification project.

To establish an adequate nosology for children's emotional disorders a multidisciplinary team devised strictly behavioral items and administered these and demographic items to 37 clinical and 90 control Ss, 6 through 13 CA, with parent or parent surrogate as respondent. Clinical Ss yielded a larger number of responses to the BCP items. A factor analysis of 142 variables resulted in 10 factors. Comparison of 32 Ss apiece from clinical and control groups, drawn on a stratified random basis, showed more "positive" behaviors in controls and more relative concern over sadistic aggressiveness and social immaturity among control parents. Cluster analysis of standard score profiles of the clinical subsample produced 5 clusters or "types" of children. (38 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Research and the cumulation of knowledge in Physical Therapy

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Published research contributes to the knowledge base that distinguishes one discipline from another. More research is now published in the physical therapy journals, but concerns with the profession's knowledge base continue. SUBJECTS: The study examined citations from 78 clinical articles published and indexed on three thematic areas in Physical Therapy between 1951 and 1990. METHODS: Unique items and multiple-cited items were identified and counted and their sources ascertained. Linkages among multiple-cited items in each thematic area were identified and described. RESULTS: Most cited items were unique and not from the physical therapy literature. Few linkages were identified among the clinical articles. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION: The lack of evidence of cumulation or of coherence among the articles examined and the extent of reliance on non-physical therapy sources suggest that concerns with the knowledge base of the profession are well founded.     

Analysis of a theoretical model based on similarity for studying RNA base pairings

A prospective health-education research project about AIDS knowledge and attitudes towards AIDS was conducted in Athens and nine adjacent municipalities in west Attica, Greece. Socioeconomic and demographic data, AIDS knowledge, and attitudinal information were collected from 1552 respondents and analysed treating the attitudes of stigmatization, discrimination and fear towards AIDS as the dependent variable. Statistically significant correlations were found between each of the three attitudinal variables and the independent ones; specifically, age, place of residence, marital status and level of AIDS knowledge. Our working hypothesis--that the higher the level of AIDS knowledge, the lower the level of discrimination and stigmatization--was supported by our data. The relationship between AIDS knowledge and fear was less clear. Fear probably inhibits a rational approach to screening for HIV, and more empirical research is needed about fear and its interaction with stigmatizing and discriminatory attitudes and behaviours. Such research should be aimed at identifying population groups 'at risk' of expressing high levels of negative social attitudes about AIDS so that educational programmes can be appropriately designed.     

Attitudes toward rape: A comparative analysis of police, rapists, crisis counselors, and citizens.

This study was designed to (a) examine the dimensionality of rape attitudes; (b) explore the relationships between perceptions of rape and background characteristics of rapists, police, female rape crisis counselors, and citizens; and (c) determine how these groups might differ with regard to rape attitudes. Data were collected from 1,448 Ss from the aforementioned groups using measures of Ss' attitudes toward and knowledge of rape, the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, and a personal data form. Results show that the groups were similar in their structures of rape attitudes. As predicted, sex, race, and marital status were the most important characteristics for predicting rape attitudes; within the respondent groups, however, other characteristics were found to be important. Significant differences were also found among the groups in their perceptions of rape. The counselors differed from the police, citizens, and rapists in their views of rape, while citizens and police were most similar. No differences were found between the police and rapists on half of the attitudinal dimensions. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of attitudes toward rape. (82 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between culture and responses to biodata employment items.

The relationship between Black–White cultural value differences and responses to biodata employment items was investigated. Black and White college students were found to differ in endorsement of cultural values pertaining to basic human nature, the relationship between the individual and nature, temporal focus, and interpersonal relations. Using the loglinear approach suggested by B. F. Green et al (see record 1990-02999-001), the researchers found that over one quarter of the biodata employment items they examined exhibited differential item functioning (DIF) between racial subgroups. Although cultural values of the respondent were related to biodata response option selection, only limited evidence was found for the hypothesis that cultural values are associated with the observed differences in Black–White response choices. Recommendations regarding the further investigation of cultural influences on DIF are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reporting of life events over time: Methodological issues in a longitudinal sample of women.

The number of life events reported by study participants is sensitive to the method of data collection and time intervals under consideration. Individual characteristics also influence reporting; respondents with poor mental health report more life events. Much current research on life events is cross-sectional. Data from a longitudinal study of women's health from 4 waves over a decade suggest that over time additional systematic biases in reporting life events occur. Inconsistency over time is due to both fall-off of reporting and telescoping. Intracategory variability and ambiguity of items, as well as respondent characteristics, also potentially contribute to response biases. Although some factors (e.g., item wording) are controllable, others (e.g., respondents' mental health) are not and must be factored into data analysis and interpretation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of estimation methods on making trait-level inferences from ordered categorical items for assessing psychopathology.

In assessments of attitudes, personality, and psychopathology, unidimensional scale scores are commonly obtained from Likert scale items to make inferences about individuals' trait levels. This study approached the issue of how best to combine Likert scale items to estimate test scores from the practitioner's perspective: Does it really matter which method is used to estimate a trait? Analyses of 3 data sets indicated that commonly used methods could be classified into 2 groups: methods that explicitly take account of the ordered categorical item distributions (i.e., partial credit and graded response models of item response theory, factor analysis using an asymptotically distribution-free estimator) and methods that do not distinguish Likert-type items from continuously distributed items (i.e., total score, principal component analysis, maximum-likelihood factor analysis). Differences in trait estimates were found to be trivial within each group. Yet the results suggested that inferences about individuals' trait levels differ considerably between the 2 groups. One should therefore choose a method that explicitly takes account of item distributions in estimating unidimensional traits from ordered categorical response formats. Consequences of violating distributional assumptions were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

HIV knowledge, beliefs and sexual behavior of male heterosexual drug users and non-drug users attending an HIV testing clinic in Israel

The aim of the study was to compare HIV-related knowledge, beliefs in self-control and sexual behavior of non-drug using and drug using heterosexual men. All individuals attending an HIV testing site during a two-month period were asked to complete a questionnaire anonymously. Data for 49 drug users (DU), most of them non-injectors, were compared to that of 94 non-drug using (non-DU) men with similar education levels (high school or less). Sexual behavior items refer to previous six months. FINDINGS: HIV-related knowledge was reported correctly by the majority of men in both groups, but the DU showed significantly more misconceptions (p < 0.01). Consistent but statistically insignificant lower levels of self-control were reported by the DU. Type of sexual relations and the number of regular sexual partners were not different between the groups: 55% of the DU and 67% of the non-DU were not monogamous. DU had either none or many casual partners (three or more), significantly different from the non-DU. The proportion of DU who never used condoms (65%) was higher as compared to non-DU men (43%, p < 0.05). However, when controlling for type of partnership, this difference was sustained only among monogamous men (82% of DU vs. 42% of non-DU never used condoms, p < 0.05). Condom use was significantly associated with age, HIV knowledge and sexual partnership in the DU. The greater deficiencies in HIV-related knowledge, and the prevalence of risk behaviors among DU require intensive individual and group counselling, specifically adapted for the needs and the culture of drug users in Israel and incorporated with social-influence-orientated change processes.     

Development of Recall in 2- to 4-Year-Old Children.

Three studies were carried out to examine early development or recall. Children between 2 years and 9 months and 5 years of age were tested on nine-item lists containing three objects from each of three conceptual categories or nine objects from nine different conceptual categories. Recall was poor, although age differences were observed. There was no evidence of active or deliberate strategy use in either age group, No overt rehearsal was observed, parallel serial position curves indicating a lack of primacy effects were obtained, and there were similar low levels of clustering over the age range studied. There was evidence of semantic category effects on recall of both age groups. All children recalled more items from categorically related than unrelated lists, responded more rapidly when reporting adjacent pairs of related than unrelated items, produced above-chance-level category clustering, and profited from categorical blocking at presentation and categorical cuing at retrieval. Reliable Age × List Type interactions indicated that the presence of category relations was more facilitating to older than younger children. The results were discussed in terms of a nondeliberate, but categorical, nature of very young children's memory, and it was suggested that early improvements in recall may be related to growth in semantic category knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religious activity and depression among community-dwelling elderly persons with cancer: the moderating effect of race

OBJECTIVES: Research has been oriented toward elucidating the links between religion and mental health. The purpose of this article is to further our knowledge in this area by examining the effect of religious activity on depressive symptomatology among community-dwelling elderly persons with cancer. We also test whether these effects differ between Blacks and Whites. METHODS: We use two waves of data collected from a community-dwelling sample of elderly persons living in North Carolina. Depressive symptomatology is measured using four subscales from the CES-D 20 scale: somatic-retarded activity, depressed affect, positive affect, and interpersonal relations. Measures of religious activity include service attendance, religious devotion, and watching or listening to religious programs. RESULTS: The findings indicate that among Blacks with cancer, religious activity is related to lower levels of depressive symptomatology; no such relationship is found for respondent with other illnesses or no illness. Further, the effects of religious activity are stronger among Blacks than Whites. DISCUSSION: The analyses lend support to the hypothesis that religious activity is a strong predictor of depression in elderly adults with cancer. This finding, however, is not as strong as we had anticipated.     

Changes in knowledge of HIV/AIDS and attitudes for PWA in Tokyo: 1992-1995

In order to assess changes in knowledge of HIV/AIDS and attitude for People With HIV/AIDS (PWA), interview surveys (Dec. 1992, Jan. 1994, Jan. 1995) were carried out annually on random samples of the general public in Tokyo, age between 15-69 years. In total, 4,270 individuals were sampled, with an average response rate of 63.2%. Answers were scored and classified in 12 sex and age sub-groups. Additionally, correlations between scores of questions and social indices were analyzed. The results of the study are as follows: 1) The 15-19, 20-29 and 30-39 age groups showed higher scores on knowledge about HIV transmission modes. During the entire study period, the score increased in 7 groups, but decreased in 5 groups. 2) The 30-39 and 40-49 age groups showed higher scores on knowledge about HIV antibody test. During the period, the score increased in 11 groups, and among them 6 groups showed statistically significant (p < 0.05) increases. However, the score decreased in 9 groups at the third survey. 3) The 15-19, 20-29 and 30-39 age groups showed higher scores on acceptable attitudes for PWA. During the period, the score increased in all groups, and among them 3 groups showed statistically significant (p < 0.05) increases. 4) Rank correlations between two scores-knowledge quantity about the transmission modes and acceptable attitudes for PWA-were positive (0.2 < R) and statistically significant (p < 0.05) in 11 groups at the first survey, 9 groups at the second, and 6 groups at the third. 5) During the entire study period, 6 groups showed positive correlations (0.7 < R) between two changes: (1) score of knowledge about the transmission modes and (2) score of acceptable attitudes. 6) During the entire study period, 10 groups showed positive correlations (0.7 < R) between two changes: (1) score of acceptable attitudes and (2) number of newspaper articles regarding acceptance or discrimination of the PWA. 7) Knowledge about HIV/AIDS in the general public in Tokyo showed increase in younger generation, but there is concern of decrease in the older generation. These result indicate that acceptable attitude forward PWA are affected by related knowledge about the transmission modes and mass-media information, and must be considered in HIV/AIDS programs.     

Not evidence for separable controlled and automatic influences in artificial grammar learning: Comment on Higham, Vokey, and Pritchard (2000).

P. A. Higham, J. R. Vokey, and J. L. Pritchard (see record 2000-16324-006) claimed to provide evidence for separable controlled and automatic processes in artificial grammar learning. It is argued that their results are compatible with a single controlled influence: Participants might mistakenly identify more grammatical items than nongrammmatical items as belonging to the other grammar, because the grammars are very similar to each other, and the nongrammatical items are relatively highly dissimilar. Participants' knowledge may be ambiguous, rather than automatic. It is further argued that even if Higham et al's data do support automatic effects, opposition logic, in this case, cannot be said to have succeeded where dissociation logic has failed, because it is used to address the issue of whether participants have conscious control over the knowledge they acquire, rather than whether they possess conscious awareness of that knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New measure of daily coping: Development and preliminary results.

Developed a new measure of coping with daily problems for use in longitudinal studies with repeated assessments. Development began with a checklist of specific coping behaviors and cognitions taken from existing questionnaires, but adequate levels of internal consistency could not be achieved for items grouped into rationally derived coping categories. A study in which the checklist items were sorted into the categories showed that particular behaviors or cognitions could represent different types of coping. This led to the development of a questionnaire with an open-ended response format. This brief questionnaire was used by 60 married couples (mean age of husbands 43 yrs; mean age of wives 40 yrs) for 21 consecutive days. Sex of respondent and problem appraisal were associated with amount and type of coping. A moderate amount of within-S consistency in coping with the same problem over time was also observed. Implications of the developmental studies and attributes of the new assessment are discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An adaptive typological approach to psychiatric screening.

Tested the feasibility of an adaptive typological approach to psychiatric screening using 9 MMPI code types as prototypal of more comprehensive systems of differential diagnosis. Ss were 1,350 White adult psychiatric outpatients (over 18 yrs of age) whose intake MMPIs fell within 1 of the 9 selected code types. Each code type was represented by 100 Ss in the developmental sample and 50 Ss in the cross-validational sample. Those 69 items that displayed the highest level of statistical difference in endorsement percentage between 2 and/or among several groups were used as predictor variables in a stepwise multiple discriminant-function analysis. The criterion was code type on the standard form. Results indicate that the percentage of correct classifications (when a case was classified into that code type for which he/she obtained the highest probability) was 61% after 30 items and rose to only 69% after 69 items. A variety of decision rules and cutoff points were applied to the data; all demonstrated (a) the ability to discriminate among the groups after the introduction of only 20–30 items into the stepwise program, and (b) the phenomenon of "diminishing returns" with the introduction of more items. There was a point relatively early in testing (30 items) at which it was possible to eliminate most groups from further consideration and beyond which it was counterproductive to introduce more items if one's aim was a 1st-level molar categorization. Implications for branched adaptive testing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Non-random associations between fears, beliefs and behaviors among panic patients

Self-report questionnaires have been used to compare panic patients' fears, anxious thoughts and behaviors with those of a group of controls. Individual items revealed significant differences between groups in all three areas: factor analysis revealed group differences in the pattern of intraquestionnaire associations between items. Correlational analysis of factor scores revealed significant group differences in the pattern of interquestionnaire associations. These findings only partly support a formulation of panic based upon "catastrophic interpretations." On the other hand, they do provide evidence of cognitive rigidity among panic patients which can be interpreted as evidence of impaired effortful processing when anxious.     

Reciprocal influences between parental knowledge and adolescent self-control: A cross-sequential nationwide study of Korean youth.

The main purpose of this study was to examine the bidirectional relation between parental knowledge and self-control among South Korean youth using a nationwide cross-sequential data. Data included early adolescents (N = 2,844, mean age at Wave 1 = 9.86 years) and middle adolescents (N = 3,449, mean age at Wave 1 = 13.79 years) over the 3 and 4 yearly assessments, respectively. Latent growth curve models revealed that the relation between parental knowledge and adolescent self-control was not a unidirectional phenomenon, but rather bidirectional dynamic set of interactive processes. Evidence of reciprocal influences indicated that higher initial levels of adolescents' perceptions of parental knowledge of their whereabouts and activities predicted slower rates of increase in their self-control and that higher initial levels of self-control predicted slower rates of increase in parental knowledge over time. The results point to the importance of a bidirectional, transactional view for understanding parent-adolescent interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality development across the life span: Longitudinal analyses with a national sample from Germany.

Longitudinal data from a national sample of Germans (N = 20,434) were used to evaluate stability and change in the Big Five personality traits. Participants completed a brief measure of personality twice, 4 years apart. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to establish measurement invariance over time and across age groups. Substantive questions about differential (or rank-order) and mean-level stability and change were then evaluated. Results showed that differential stability was relatively strong among all age groups but that it increased among young adults, peaked in later life, and then declined among the oldest old. Patterns of mean-level change showed that Extraversion and Openness declined over the life span, whereas Agreeableness increased. Mean levels of Conscientiousness increased among young adults and then decreased among older adults. Trajectories for Neuroticism were relatively flat, with slight increases during middle age and a slight decline in late life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)