Note of caution on the factor analysis of the MMPI.

Although the dangers associated with factoring test scales containing overlapping items (items used on more than 1 scale) have been pointed out by Guilford (1952), factor studies of scales embodying item overlap continue. The present study explores the possibility that the neurotic triad and the psychotic triad or tetrad factors found in 4 studies derive from the existence of a methodological artifact associated with item overlap. To test this possibility, MMPI interscale common-element correlations (produced solely by item overlap) were factor analyzed. 2 of 3 factors extracted are highly similar to neurotic triad and psychotic triad or tetrad factors found for 4 samples. These 2 factors do not appear in a factor analysis of truncated (overlap items removed) MMPI scale scores. Since the overlap factors are based solely on the scale intercorrelations due to overlap items, these results appear to support Guilford's warning and open to question the legitimacy of these MMPI factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Brain attack. Acute therapeutic interventions. Free radical scavengers and antioxidants

This study used tests of content memory (item recognition of words and abstract designs), context memory (order recognition of verbal and nonverbal items), and working memory (recognition at a short retention interval) to examine patterns of performance in 27 schizophrenic patients, 52 chronic alcoholic patients, and 66 healthy control participants. When performance was age- and IQ-adjusted the schizophrenia group was significantly impaired in item and order recognition of verbal and nonverbal material; the alcoholic group was impaired only in order recognition for both material types. Item- and order-recognition deficits in the schizophrenia group were greatest at the shortest retention intervals, a pattern previously observed in patients with Parkinson's disease, suggesting a prominence of a working memory deficit in schizophrenia.     

Patterns of content, contextual, and working memory impairments in schizophrenia and nonamnesic alcoholism.

This study used tests of content memory (item recognition of words and abstract designs), context memory (order recognition of verbal and nonverbal items), and working memory (recognition at a short retention interval) to examine patterns of performance in 27 schizophrenic patients, 52 chronic alcoholic patients, and 66 healthy control participants. When performance was age- and IQ-adjusted the schizophrenia group was significantly impaired in item and order recognition of verbal and nonverbal material; the alcoholic group was impaired only in order recognition for both material types. Item- and order-recognition deficits in the schizophrenia group were greatest at the shortest retention intervals, a pattern previously observed in patients with Parkinson's disease, suggesting a prominence of a working memory deficit in schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 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)     

An application of techniques to shorten tests and increase validity.

Used 2 methods of item selection against an external criterion to build 2 short tests for selecting programing and computer-maintenance students. The methods were (a) sequential accretion of items so that at each iteration the item selected was the one leading to the largest increase in the correlation between the test and the criterion, and (b) accretion of items in order of their declining item point biserial correlations with the criterion. The items were given to development and cross-validation samples consisting of 99 computer-maintenance and 315 programing students. There was no significant difference in the validity of tests built using either method. Both methods produced tests with cross-valid coefficients higher than the validity of the item pool and both were reasonably resistant to shrinkage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Methodological considerations in the assessment of acquiescence in the MA and SD scale.

This paper cites certain limitations in making assessment of acquiescence in personality scales by the use of reversed items and the Helmstadter technique. Inadequate item reversals may have contributed to the interpretation by Adams and Kirby (1936) that the SD scale was confounded with acquiescence, a finding not supported here when original items only are used. A criterion of adequate reversal, derived from SD research, may aid in developing "balanced" scales. Precautions in making acquiescence interpretations from the Helmstadter model include the confounding of content and set scores in the formulas, the confounding of response style and trait responses, lack of evidence on what the set score measures, and the uncertainty over the nature of acquiescence and how to measure it. (27 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two forms of minority-group test bias as psychometric artifacts with an animal model (Rattus norvegicus).

Controversy abounds over attributing group differences on tests to nature, nurture, or test bias. Limitations of correlational sampling from natural populations necessitate experimental methods to resolve underlying issues. In classicial psychometrics test items are selected from a larger item pool through analysis of item responses in a sample of subjects. Rats of six inbred strains (n?=?366) were tested in multiple mazes to provide a large item pool. Six populations were created, each with differing proportions of each strain. Items selected through independent item analyses within each population yielded six tests. An independent cross-validation sample (n?=?146) provided scores on all six items. This sample was also tested in another set of maze problems defined as the criterion to be predicted. Strain means and intrastrain predictive validities for the six tests varied with strain representation in the population used for item selection (p?     

Improving Measurement Precision of Test Batteries Using Multidimensional Item Response Models.

A conventional way to analyze item responses in multiple tests is to apply unidimensional item response models separately, one test at a time. This unidimensional approach, which ignores the correlations between latent traits, yields imprecise measures when tests are short. To resolve this problem, one can use multidimensional item response models that use correlations between latent traits to improve measurement precision of individual latent traits. The improvements are demonstrated using 2 empirical examples. It appears that the multidimensional approach improves measurement precision substantially, especially when tests are short and the number of tests is large. To achieve the same measurement precision, the multidimensional approach needs less than half of the comparable items required for the unidimensional approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A factor analysis of? scores.

17 True-False (T-F) and forced-choice (F-C) personality and attitude scales were administered to 130 students. Each scale was scored for the number of evasive of? responses. All of the? scores had a high degree of internal consistency as measured by Kuder-Richardson Formula 21 estimates of internal consistency. The? scores were intercorrelated and the correlation matrix factor analyzed. Factor I, which accounted for 60.68% of the total variance, was interpreted as the tendency to give evasive responses to items in a T-F format. Factor II, which accounted for 16.38% of the total variance, was interpreted as the tendency to give evasive response to personality items in an F-C format. The third factor, which accounted for 5.62% of the total variance, was interpreted as the tendency to give evasive responses to the T-F items dealing with beliefs, opinions, and moral precepts. The probability of an evasive response to an item was found to be unrelated to the social desirability scale value of the item. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Abolishing the Word-Length Effect.

The authors report 2 experiments that compare the recall of long and short words in pure and mixed lists. In pure lists, long words were much more poorly remembered than short words. In mixed lists, this word-length effect was abolished and both the long and short words were recalled as well as short words in pure lists. These findings contradict current models that seek to explain the word-length effect in terms of item-based effects such as difficulty in assembling items, or in terms of list-based accounts of rehearsal speed. An alternative explanation, drawing on ideas of item complexity and item distinctiveness, is proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's in a Name?

The necessity of cross-validating the results of an item analysis has been cogently and humorously demonstrated by Cureton (Educ. psychol. Measmt., 1950, 10, 94-96; see record 1951-00682-001). By using more predictor items than subjects and by computing his validity coefficient on the original group, Cureton obtained a validity coefficient of .82. The writer undertook an experiment which was designed to be equally illustrative of the importance of cross-validation, but which used a somewhat different design. The "test" in this case consisted of a checklist of 81 adjectives describing personality and 22 items relating to personal characteristics, habits, and preferences. The subjects were 59 students in an introductory psychology course at Cornell University. Twenty-nine subjects' tests were chosen at random from this group for preliminary analysis, and the remaining 30 were put aside as the cross-validation group. The answers to the group of 22 items were examined to find an item which split the group of 29 nearly in half. The "number of letters in last name" was chosen as the criterion solely on this basis, leaving a total of 102 predictor items. The criterion was dichotomized between six or less, and seven or more letters. Tetrachoric correlations were computed between each item and the criterion for the group of 29. Discriminant weights were arbitrarily assigned to each item that correlated .36 or better with the criterion. Using this scoring key, 27 out of 29 correct "predictions" were made as to the number of letters in each subject's last name. The over-all tetrachoric correlation was .97, although the split-half reliability coefficient was only .67. Those subjects with long (seven or more letters) last names tended to be less: charming, impatient, stimulating, gay, happy-go-lucky, and impulsive than those with short (six or fewer letters) last names. The subjects with long last names also tended to be more: cautious, persistent, forgiving, quiet, kind, persuasive, talented, direct, humane, conservative, precise, and God-fearing. The results suggested that if the procedure were reversed, and the criterion were used as a predictor, it might have great promise as a quick, economical, and unfakeable personality test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An analysis of test bias and differential item functioning due to race on the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale

The Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (MDRS) is a commonly used cognitive measure designed to assess the course of decline in progressive dementias. However, little information is available about possible systematic racial bias on the items presented in this test. We investigated race as a potential source of test bias and differential item functioning in 40 pairs of African American and Caucasian dementia patients (N = 80), matched on age, education, and gender. Principal component analysis revealed similar patterns and magnitudes across component loadings for each racial group, indicating no clear evidence of test bias on account of race. Results of an item analysis of the MDRS revealed differential item functioning across groups on only 4 of 36 items, which may potentially be dropped to produce a modified MDRS that may be less sensitive to cultural factors. Given the absence of test bias because of race, the observed racial differences on the total MDRS score are most likely associated with group differences in dementia severity. We conclude that the MDRS shows no appreciable evidence of test bias and minimal differential item functioning (item bias) because of race, suggesting that the MDRS may be used in both African American and Caucasian dementia patients to assess dementia severity.     

Strategic item selection to reduce survey length: Reduction in validity?

The practical constraints of conducting rigorous research in applied settings often limit the ability to include well-validated, but lengthy, measures in survey designs. In the current study we tested the utility of using a strategic item selection process to alleviate this issue. We evaluated the measurement and structural model fit of items selected using a strategic item selection format and assessed the predictive validity of those abbreviated scales. We also compared fit and predictive validity to the full version item sets to assess the comparability of the abbreviated scales. Results indicated that measurement models and structural models for the a priori items produced similar fit when compared with full version items across both measures. When comparing the proportion of variance explained in the criterion, there were no differences between the strategically selected items and the full versions of the scales. We conclude that the a priori selection of items based on previous research may be a useful technique for developing short measures of psychological constructs that mitigate practical, analytical, and methodological issues associated with lengthy surveys. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social combination models, persuasive arguments theory, social comparison theory, and choice shift.

Individuals and 5-person groups responded 3 successive times to 4 standard choice-dilemma items in the order of either individual–group–individual or individual–individual–individual; 288 male undergraduates served as Ss. Decisions were made for oneself, for a friend, and for a stranger (the hypothetical protagonist of the standard choice-dilemma instructions). Decisions for the stranger were more risky than decisions for a friend, and decisions for a friend were more risky than decisions for oneself. As predicted from persuasive arguments theory, the best fitting social combination model on the most risky item was risk-supported wins; the best fitting model on the most conservative item was conservative-supported wins; and the best fitting model on 2 less extreme items was majority wins. It is emphasized that social combination models and theories of group-interaction processes, such as persuasive arguments theory or social comparison theory, are complementary rather than rival explanations of collective decision making. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related associative deficits are absent with nonwords.

Words and nonwords were used as stimuli to assess item and associative recognition memory performance in young and older adults. Participants were presented with pairs of items and then tested on both item memory (old/new items) and associative memory (intact/recombined pairs). For words, older participants performed worse than young participants on item and associative tests but to a greater extent on the latter. In contrast, for nonwords, older participants performed equally worse than young participants on item and associative tests. This is the first study to demonstrate that a manipulation of stimulus novelty can alter age-related associative deficits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral determinants of mental illness concerns: A comparison of "gatekeeper" professions.

Asked members of 5 "mental illness gatekeeper" professions (N = 178) from 2 different communities to evaluate 190 behavioral items for the mental illness implications of the behavior described in each item. Items were largely derived from the MMPI and were analyzed in terms of 13 content homogeneous clusters. Professional groups differed significantly in their general readiness to "see" mental illness in the total pool of items. Groups also differed in the ways they defined mental illness in behavioral terms. This was evidenced by between-groups differences on cluster scores when total level of endorsement was used as a covariate. Main effects for professional group differences were obtained for those clusters of items containing the less deviant forms of behavior. For those clusters containing the more severe forms of deviance, Professional Group * Community interaction effects were found. Results are discussed in terms of the professional and social functions that each of these professions seems to serve in the 2 types of communities surveyed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes toward old people: The development of a scale and an examination of correlates.

"The present paper reports on the development of a Likert scale for assessing attitudes toward old people and discusses empirical relations found between such attitudes and other attitudinal and personality variables. Three samples of college undergraduates served as subjects… a scale containing items making unfavorable reference to old people and a scale containing matched favorably worded items [were constructed]… no clear consistent relation obtained between authoritarianism as measured by the F Scale and attitudes toward old people. On the other hand, unfavorable attitudes toward old people were associated with feelings of anomie, and with negative dispositions toward ethnic minorities and a variety of physically disabled groups. A nurturance factor… was significantly correlated with… scale scores, the more nuturant subjects being more positively disposed toward old people." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3GD44K. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Role of Item Extremity in the Emergence of Keying-Related Factors: An Exploration With the Life Orientation Test.

Keying-related factors in psychological scales are variously interpreted substantively or as products of violations of the assumptions underlying item keying. The present study investigated whether the extremity of the wording of items may contribute to the emergence of item-keying factors in a commonly used psychological scale. Respondents (N=277) completed the Life Orientation Test (M. F. Scheier & C. S. Carver, 1985) in either its original or modified, more moderately worded form. Results indicate that the interaction of item extremity and item keying significantly affected subscale means and, more important, that the more moderately worded scale was substantially more unidimensional. Results are explained partially through the association of lesser and greater extremity with the tendency for some respondents to agree or disagree with items irrespective of keying direction. These results, although demonstrated in only 1 scale, have potential relevance to any scale comprising positive and negative items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification of unique cultural response patterns by means of item response theory.

An item response theory (IRT) analysis was used to identify unique cultural response patterns by comparing single-culture groups with a multicultural composite. A survey designed to measure attitudes toward mental health was administered in their native languages to American, German, and French working, retired, and student teachers. Item characteristic curves (ICCs) for each national group were compared with ICCs generated by composite reference containing all 3 cultural groups, thus providing an omnicultural reference point. Items that exhibited differential item functioning, that is, items with dissimilar ICCs for the composite reference and focal groups, were indicative of unique cultural response patterns to the attitude survey items. The advantages and disadvantages of this method in an IRT are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increasing test validity by considering interitem correlations.

Several investigators have proposed item-selection methods which construct a 1st-stage test consisting of the most valid items then a 2nd-stage test by adding to the 1st-stage test items which are moderately valid yet which correlate low with the 1st-stage test. Several proposed indices for selecting 2nd-stage items were compared, and some found noticeably better than others; a 3rd-stage test was noticeably better than a 2nd-stage test, but a 4th-stage test was no better than the 3rd-stage test. A method which adds several items to form each new stage was found superior to a method which adds only 1 item. The best method constructed tests substantially better on cross-validation than methods which ignore interitem correlations. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)