Does clinical training facilitate feigning schizophrenia on the MMPI-2?

This study assessed the effect of knowledge of psychopathology and psychological testing on the ability to feign schizophrenia on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—2 (MMPI-2). Two groups of clinically trained participants—psychiatric residents and fellows (n?=?26) and clinical psychology graduate students (n?=?28)—and a group of undergraduate students with no clinical training (n?=?24) completed the MMPI-2 under instructions to feign schizophrenia. A sample of outpatients with schizophrenia (n?=?51) responded under standard instruction. Scores from the clinical scales and several validity indicators were compared. Although all participants asked to malinger had validity indicator scores indicating faking, the clinically trained participants produced generally lower scores on the clinical scales and validity indicators than did the undergraduate students. In particular, the scores for the clinical scales 6 (Paranoia) and 8 (Schizophrenia) were higher for all groups asked to feign schizophrenia when compared with the schizophrenic sample. The validity indicators F and the F-K index produced the largest effect sizes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aboriginal, Anglo, and immigrant Australian students' motivational beliefs about personal academic success: Are there cultural differences?

Does being successful at school mean the same thing for all children? In Australia, research posits that Aboriginal Australian, Anglo Australian, and immigrant Australian children embrace different learning goals (i.e., mastery, performance, or social) according to their culture. In this study, a 38-item inventory was used to measure similarities and differences between Aboriginal (n?=?496), Anglo (n?=?1,173), and immigrant (n?=?487) Australian students' learning goal orientations. In contrast to existing conceptions, these findings indicate that the profiles of Aboriginal, Anglo, and immigrant students were remarkably similar, with students embracing a mastery orientation of academic success. Nevertheless, there were significant (albeit small) differences among the groups, and these differences indicated that Aboriginal students are more influenced by social goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can teaching of the WISC—R be improved? Quasi-experimental exploration.

Investigated a new approach to teaching administration and scoring of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised (WISC—R), using a quasi-experimental design in which Ss were sequential cohorts in a master's-level clinical psychology program. The experimental treatment involved giving the experimental group detailed information about frequent errors made by the control group and explicit rules for avoiding these errors. The experimental group (n?=?9) made fewer errors and assigned more accurate IQ scores than did the control group (n?=?14). The accuracy of both groups did not improve over 7 practice administrations. Findings suggest that giving students in testing courses explicit information about likely errors will improve the reliability and validity of IQ scores. Also, the common approach of limiting class instruction to allow students more time to give practice administrations needs to be examined carefully. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative analysis of goal-setting strategies across cultures.

Only a few studies that have examined the effects of participation on an individual's goal acceptance and performance have been conducted within a cross-cultural context. In the present study, we tested for the contingency between the effectiveness of goal-setting strategies and cultural values. We examined three goal-setting strategies within three different cultural groups—assigned goals, goals participatively set by a group representative and the experimenter, and goals participatively set by a group. The three cultural groups studied were U.S. students (n?=?60), individualistic and having a high power distance; Israeli students from urban areas (n?=?60), collectivistic and having a low power distance; and Israeli students from kibbutzim (n?=?60), highly collectivistic and having a low power distance. Results indicated that participative strategies led to higher levels of goal acceptance and performance than the assigned strategy. Culture did not moderate the effect of goal-setting strategies on goal acceptance, but it appeared to moderate the strategy on performance for extremely difficult goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Survival of the fittest: Implications of self-reliance and coping for leaders and team performance.

Using a laboratory methodology, the authors sought to establish an association between self-reliance (based on attachment theory) and team performance and satisfaction. Three hypotheses (direct effect, mediator, and moderator) were tested. With a sample of 187 students, the authors compared leader self-reliance characteristics with group member self-reliance characteristics (group n?=?50) as predictors of group performance and satisfaction. Only group member counterdependence was predictive of decreased performance. Further, the authors examined the possible mediating and moderating effects of coping on the self-reliance–group effectiveness relationships. Coping did not mediate the relationship but did operate as a significant moderator in some instances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of grade retention on self-system processes, school engagement, and academic performance.

Third- through 6th-grade retained students (n?=?74) were compared with random (n?=?60) and matched-ability (n?=?69) samples of nonretained students from their present classrooms and students from earlier classrooms who were socially promoted (n?=?35) when the retained students were held back. Retained students did not differ significantly from the comparison groups in perceptions of self-worth or peer relatedness but had significantly lower perceptions of cognitive competence than the random sample. Retained students did not perform as well academically as the random sample but performed just as well as the matched-ability sample and better than the socially promoted sample. The retained sample's effort grades were significantly lower than the random sample's but no different than those of the other samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between drug use and other problem behaviors in urban adolescents.

Tested the generality of R. Jessor and S. L. Jessor's (1977) problem behavior theory, which states that a variety of problem behaviors constitute a behavioral syndrome in normal adolescents. Relationships among 5 adolescent problem behaviors (cigarette use, alcohol use, marijuana use, delinquency, and sexual intercourse) were examined in 7th-grade boys (n?=?556) and girls (n?=?715), and 9th-grade boys (n?=?481) and girls (n?=?485) in an urban school system in which the majority of students were African American and from low-income families. Measures of problem behavior frequency were positively correlated with each other and negatively correlated with several measures of conventional behavior. Confirmatory factor analyses replicated findings of previous studies that a single common factor underlies adolescent problem behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multisample item response theory analysis of the Beck Depression Inventory-1A.

The widespread employment of the Beck Depression Inventory-1A ({bdi}-1{a}) has spawned a number of practices: (1) The employment of an unweighted total score as a measure of depression; (2) Its use in populations other than that in which it was normed; and (3) The employment of {bdi}-1{a} total scores in hypothesis tests about population differences in mean depression. A sequential procedure based on item response theory was employed to assess the validity of these practices for the case of 4 populations: clinical depressives (n?=?210), mixed nondepressed psychiatric patients (n?=?98), and students from 2 different universities (n?=?624). The findings suggest that the 1st practice was not justified for any of these populations, that the {bdi}-1{a} was employable only with clinical depressives and with 1 of the university populations, and that mean comparisons were not allowable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expressive writing can increase working memory capacity.

The effect of emotional disclosure through expressive writing on available working memory (WM) capacity was examined in 2 semester-long experiments. In the first study, 35 freshmen assigned to write about their thoughts and feelings about coming to college demonstrated larger working memory gains 7 weeks later compared with 36 writers assigned to a trivial topic. Increased use of cause and insight words was associated with greater WM improvements. In the second study, students (n?=?34) who wrote about a negative personal experience enjoyed greater WM improvements and declines in intrusive thinking compared with students who wrote about a positive experience (n?=?33) or a trivial topic (n?=?34). The results are discussed in terms of a model grounded in cognitive and social psychological theory in which expressive writing reduces intrusive and avoidant thinking about a stressful experience, thus freeing WM resources. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factor structure and construct validity of the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms.

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the underlying structure of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia as measured by the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS). Schizophrenia patients (N?=?457) were assessed with the SANS on at least 1 of 2 occasions: (a) 2–4 weeks after an index hospitalization, and (b) after a clinical stabilization period that lasted 3–6 months. Results of an exploratory factor analysis conducted for the first assessment (n?=?401) were largely supported by the CFAs conducted on the data at the second assessment (n?=?345). The CFA solution included 3 factors: Diminished Expression, Inattention-Alogia, and Social Amotivation. Analysis of patients' clinical characteristics, treatment outcome, chronicity of the illness, premorbid history, and social adjustment supported the validity of the 3 factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification of computer-generated facial composites.

Two studies examined the effectiveness of the Mac-a-Mug Pro, a computerized facial composite production system. In the first study, college freshmen prepared from memory composites of other students and faculty from their former high schools. Other students who had attended the same high schools could not recognize the composites of either students or faculty members when the composites of individuals known to them (n?=?10) were mixed with composites of a large number (n?=?40) of strangers. Neither preparer familiarity with the target, preparer-assessed composite quality, nor viewer familiarity predicted composite recognition. Study 2 indicated that naive witnesses who viewed the composites could not select the people depicted in the composites from photo lineups (1 target and 4 foils) . The results raise questions about the efficacy of composite systems as tools to promote recognition of suspects in criminal contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coparenting: A link between marital conflict and parenting in two-parent families.

Coparenting is examined as an explanatory link between marital conflict and parent–child relations in 2-parent families. Data were collected from 3 samples (pilot sample, n?=?220 mothers; preadolescent sample, n?=?75 couples; preschool sample, n?=?172 couples) by using the Coparenting Questionnaire (G. Margolin, 1992b) to assess parents' perceptions of one another on 3 dimensions—cooperation, triangulation, and conflict. Main effects for child's age and for parents' gender were found for cooperation, and an interaction between parent and child gender was found for triangulation. Regression analyses were consistent with a model of coparenting mediating the relationship between marital conflict and parenting. Discussion addresses the theoretical and clinical importance of viewing coparenting as conceptually separate from other family processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Estimating the validity of cross-validity estimation.

Data from a validation study by the present authors (see record 1982-29432-001) were used to provide a field application of a formula-based estimation of cross-validity. The original study was based on sequential derivation (n?=?266) and cross-validation (n?=?359) samples of real estate students. Five formulas for estimating cross-validity were examined with respect to intuitive, component analytic, and empirical inventory development approaches. Findings suggest that compared with actual cross-validation, such formulas may overestimate shrinkage for inventories developed through rational strategies and may underestimate shrinkage for empirically derived inventories. Limitations on the generalizability of Monte Carlo investigations of shrinkage formulas are noted, and the generalizability of biodata research is discussed. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflict and childhood friendship in Taiwan and Canada.

The present study assessed cross-cultural differences in friendship characteristics among children (aged 8–9 yrs) from collectivist and individualist cultures. Same-sex dyads of Grade 3 and Grade 4 students in a middle-class suburb of Toronto, Canada (n?=?1,227) and students from a middle-class suburb of Taipei, Taiwan (n?=?965) reported on the presence of companionship, conflict, help, security, and closeness in their friendships. The analysis reveals that long-term stability rates for friendships were not significantly different between nations or between boys and girls. Companionship was a significant predictor of friendship continuation among students in Taiwan. Friends in Taiwan reported significantly less conflict in their relationships than did friends in Canada. There was also greater agreement among friends in Taiwan than in Canada on the presence of conflict in the friendship relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual drinking changes following a brief intervention among college students: Clinical significance in an indicated preventive context.

This study investigated the clinical significance of previously reported statistically significant mean reductions in drinking and related problems among college students in a randomized trial of a brief indicated preventive intervention (G. A. Marlatt et al., 1998). Data were analyzed over a 2-year follow-up for participants from a high-risk intervention group (n?=?153), a high-risk control group (n?=?160), and a functional comparison group (n?=?77). A risk cutpoint for each dependent measure was based on the functional comparison group distribution. Compared with the high-risk controls, more individuals in the high-risk intervention group improved and fewer worsened, especially on alcohol-related problems and, to a lesser extent, on drinking pattern variables. These data from a prevention context clarify the magnitude and direction of individual change obscured by group means. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transition to motherhood and the self: Measurement, stability, and change.

Different ways of conceptualizing and measuring change in attitudes during transition to motherhood are examined. A series of analyses was performed on data from a cross-sectional sample (N?=?667) and a smaller longitudinal sample (n?=?48) to demonstrate sound psychometric properties for 2 new scales and to show construct comparability across different phases of childbearing. For Childbearing Attitudes Questionnaire, results demonstrated equality of covariance for 16 scales and comparability of structure and meaning of 4 higher order factors—identification with motherhood, social orientation, self-confidence, and negative aspects of giving birth. For Mothering Self-Definition Questionnaire, results demonstrated equality of covariance of 5 scales and comparability of structure and meaning of a single higher order factor, interpreted as reflecting positive feelings about one's mothering characteristics. Analyses of correlations and mean differences identified areas of change and stability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of computer-assisted instruction in using formal decision-making strategies to choose a college major.

Compared the effects of using formal decision-making strategies on the quality of students' decisions about choice of a college major. The interaction of students' decision-making characteristics, stage, and style on treatment outcomes was also examined. University freshmen (n?=?113) were randomly assigned to 3 groups: the Elimination by Aspects Strategy (EBA), the Subjective Expected Utility Strategy (SEU), and the control group. The results showed that the "rational" decision style students who used the EBA scored significantly higher on choice certainty. They also scored lower on choice anxiety and career indecision than rational style students in the control group. The "explorers" who used the EBA sought more information than their counterparts in the control group. Rational style students who used SEU scored significantly higher on cognitive complexity than their counterparts in the control group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The ingratiation construct: An assessment of the validity of the Measure of Ingratiatory Behaviors in Organizational Settings (MIBOS).

Independent samples were used to assess the construct validity of the Measure of Ingratiatory Behaviors in Organizational Settings (MIBOS) scale (K. Kumar & M. Beyerlein, 1991). The 4 samples included managerial personnel (n = 288), members of 2 professional organizations (n?=?144), clerical employees (n?=?110), and working students (n?=?279). Three distinct conceptualizations were examined using confirmatory factor analysis (LISREL 8). Alternative models included (a) a 4-factor conceptualization proposed by Kumar and Beyerlein; (b) a 4-factor, 2nd-order conceptualization; and (c) a unidimensional model. None of the models provided adequate support for the factor structure of the measure. Similarly, convergent and discriminant assessments failed to provide strong support for the validity of the scale. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Co-occurrence of eating disorders and incest: The role of attachment, family environment, and social competencies.

Childhood attachment, family environment, and adult social competencies were examined to explain the association between sexual abuse and eating disorders (EDs). Female college students (n?=?102) and female clients sexually abused in childhood (n?=?52) completed surveys retrospectively that assessed parental bonds, family environment, and sexual abuse, as well as current self-efficacy, social support, intimacy, adult attachment style, and ED symptoms. Client incest survivors had a higher ED rate (47%) than did sexually abused clients (22%), student incest survivors (24%), or nonabused students (17%). Significant associations were found between family environment, incest, social competencies, and eating disorders. Incest survivors had more dysfunctional families and lower social competencies than did nonabused women. Among incest survivors, those with the lowest levels of social competencies and poorest bonds with their mothers had more ED symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical services and demographic characteristics of police psychologists.

Surveyed 56 police psychologists to ascertain their demographic characteristics and the nature of the services that they provide for law enforcement organizations. Ss identified themselves as either staff (n?=?33) or consulting (n?=?23) psychologists. Selected results show that the modal respondent had a doctoral degree in clinical or counseling psychology and provided a wide variety of clinical services. Daily consulting fees varied widely, but the full-time salaries of staff psychologists were comparable with those reported by psychologists in other clinical settings. The staff psychologist's most common service was providing therapy, whereas the consultant's greatest allotment of time was devoted to assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)