Aphysiologic performance on dynamic posturography

The remarkable ability of the body to maintain balance is the result of central nervous system integration of sophisticated inputs from the vestibular, visual, and somatosensory systems. Strategies by patients with balance dysfunction are aphysiologic when their performance is relatively better on more difficult conditions of sensory conflict than on easier ones. Twenty-two aphysiologic patterns on computerized dynamic posturography were compared with age-matched normal and vestibular patterns. The aphysiologic group performed significantly better than the patients in the vestibular dysfunction group on the most difficult subtests of computerized dynamic posturography, conditions 5 and 6, yet significantly poorer on the easier subtests, conditions 1 through 4. In addition, patients in the aphysiologic group tended to show greater intertrial variability compared with patients in both normal and vestibular system dysfunction groups. A stepwise linear discriminant analysis was used to determine a set of conditions that had significant value in discriminating between the three patient groups. Case studies are presented to further illustrate the clinical usefulness of computerized dynamic posturography testing in the evaluation of patients suspected of having a functional component to their on-feet balance problems.     

Assessing the effects of selection bias on validity data for the General Aptitude Test Battery.

Previous analyses have suggested that the database of 755 studies of the validity of the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) demonstrates a small but consistent positive correlation with criteria relevant to job performance. Critics have noted that some of the validity studies conducted were not included in the database and have speculated that these studies may have found negligible or even negative validities, so that the extant database is subject to selection bias. The authors use a mathematical model to estimate the magnitude of possible selection and its effects on the mean and variance of GATB validities. Although evidence of selection is found for some GATB scales and composites, the estimated effect of selection is probably too small to influence conclusions about the validity of the GATB. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual discrimination in the use of letters of recommendation: A case of reverse discrimination.

Possible sexual discrimination was examined in the use of letters of recommendation. Eight different letters of recommendation (male or female writer, male or female applicant, favorable or unfavorable letter) were written for applicants applying for a management (trainee) position. A mailed questionnaire along with 1 version of the letter was sent to 128 personnel managers. An ANOVA was computed on the 75 usable responses to the questionnaire. Female applicants were preferred over male applicants in terms of proceeding with an interview, thus demonstrating a case of reverse discrimination. In addition, managers judged female applicants to have more initiative and responsibility and greater ability to learn quickly than male applicants. The sex of the writer had no significant main effect on the dependent variables, but entered into several interesting interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships among ratings, production, efficiency, and the General Aptitude Test Battery scales in an industrial setting.

Examined relations among the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) scales, job-related behavior (supervisor's ratings), and actual production and efficiency rates of 76 coil winders in an overhead distribution transformer plant. The correlations between the GATB scales and the rating, production, and efficiency variables were from low to insignificant, including more than 1/3 that were negative. Published selection strategies were ineffective in differentiating between good and poor Ss in terms of ratings, production, and efficiency. Additionally, the correlations between the rating, production, and efficiency variables were at best only from moderate to insignificant. Results indicate a need for further evaluation of the GATB in the industrial setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychological marketplace.

At a meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association "there were 206 applicants for 125 academic positions, 157 applicants for 467 clinical and counseling positions, and 163 applicants for 198 industrial and research positions." There are "more jobs available than there are psychologists to fill them in the total employment picture." While "the degree requirements are the lowest for the Industrial and Research area, the median starting salary is the highest. The converse is true for the academic positions." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The natural killer activity and indices of the interferon status of patients with recurrent genital herpes being treated with ridostin

There are many advantages to the computerization of colour vision tests. However, previous computerized colour vision tests have involved equipment and methods not commonly used in clinical practice. We created computer emulations of the City University Colour Vision Test (CUT), Ishihara plates and American Optical Hardy-Rand-Rittler (AO-HRR) plates using a commonly available 24-bit colour Macintosh computer. Our colour monitor was calibrated to standard display white (D65), and colour plates were imaged with a colour scanner. The computerized colour images were compared with the standard test plates in a sample of 21 subjects with normal colour vision, 10 patients with congenital red-green defect and 1 patient with an acquired mixed colour defect. The computer images of the three tests correlated well with their conventional counterparts on kappa statistic analysis (p < 0.001), for both the colour normal and colour defective groups. We conclude that our computer emulations of the CUT, Ishihara and AO-HRR tests screen subjects with normal colour vision with high specificity and delineate congenital colour defects with a sensitivity comparable to that of their conventional counterparts.     

Verbal and visuospatial performance in male alcoholics: A test of the premature-aging hypothesis.

Tested the premature-aging hypothesis of generalized dysfunction, using a paired-associate learning test that has separate verbal and visuospatial subtests of the same structure and method. Ss were 36 hospitalized White male chronic alcoholics (mean age 42.4 yrs), 36 control Ss (mean age 42.5 yrs), and 24 elderly Ss (mean age 71.4 yrs). Ss were also administered the Shipley Institute of Living Scale for Measuring Intellectual Impairment and Memory-for-Designs test. Results show that elderly control Ss performed significantly worse than middle-aged control Ss on both learning subtests. For Ss between 30 and 80 yrs of age, increasing age resulted in increasing errors. According to the generalized dysfunction hypothesis, the performance of alcoholics should be similar to that of the elderly, showing impairment compared to control Ss on both learning tests. However, alcoholics performed at the same level as the middle-aged control Ss on verbal learning and were significantly poorer on visuospatial learning. The generalized dysfunction version of the premature-aging hypothesis for performance of alcoholics on neuropsychological tests was not supported. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of acamprosate on psychomotor performance and driving ability in abstinent alcoholics

The possible effects of acute and long-term treatment of the antidipsotropic agent acamprosate on psychomotor performance and driving ability were studied in a prospective open clinical trial involving 5 alcoholic patients without any clinical evidence for cognitive impairement. Acamprosate 1995 mg/day was given for 6 months for relapse prevention with all patients being abstinent throughout the study. No side effects were reported during treatment. Psychomotor performance and driving ability were assessed using the ART 90, a standardized and computerized neuropsychological test battery. A number of relevant subtests measuring peripheral vision, split attention, sensomotoric function, reaction time, stress resistance and the capacity to integrate information was used at study entry, 6 weeks and 6 months after onset of treatment. While in two subtests a moderate improvement in psychomotor performance was found, in most subtests no differences compared to baseline could be shown. The results of this pilot study do not indicate any impairment of psychomotor performance by acamprosate.     

Confirmatory factor analysis of the WAIS–III standardization data.

Confirmatory factor analyses with the standardization data of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Third Edition (Wechsler, 1997a) compared 6 models with 1 to 4 factors for 11- and 13-subtest versions of the test. Three factors usually fit the data better than 2 factors, but 2-factor models were more parsimonious. A 2-factor model with a Verbal Comprehension factor (Vocabulary, Similarities, Information, and Comprehension) was as good as and sometimes better than the 2-factor model defined by the traditional separation of Verbal and Performance subtests. For 3-factor models, alternative specifications of processing speed subtests on either the Perceptual Organization or Freedom From Distractibility factor were comparable, and specifying a 4th factor for Digit Symbol and Symbol Search had little advantage in comparison with 3-factor models with correlated errors for the 2 subtests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of three approaches to criterion measurement.

3 different criterion measures were used to assess comparative job competency of 1711 workers in 16 occupations. These were used in conjunction with the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) aptitude scores to establish prediction patterns of occupational success. Rating A was job oriented, Rating B was behavior oriented, and Rating C was trait oriented. The 3 scales are described and the distribution of highest r's with GATB aptitudes is given as an empirical means of determining the relative effectiveness of the 3 approaches to criterion measurement. Conclusions are: (a) Ratings A and C are generally more useful than Rating B; (b) use of Rating A may well be justified, despite the time and expense involved if the occupations under consideration are "white-collar" and predictor aptitudes are already identified; and (c) the more economical Rating C appears to be most useful for "blue-collar" occupations and for exploratory studies to identify predictor batteries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of everyday memory in age-associated memory impairment.

A battery of tests that uses computer and laser disk technology to simulate learning and memory tasks of everyday life, such as recalling names after introduction and remembering items on a grocery list, is described. The performance of 110 persons suffering Age-Associated Memory Impairment was factor analyzed and yielded everyday memory dimensions of verbal memory, visual memory, psychomotor speed, attention, and vigilance. These computerized performance dimensions are associated with relevant standard clinical measures of memory performance, such as the Benton Visual Retention Test and the Wechsler Memory Scale Paired-Associated Learning and Logical Memory subtests. The clinical and research utility of the computerized measures and the new diagnostic category of Age-Associated Memory Impairment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reliability and validity of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in studies of autism.

Three studies were conducted with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) with autistic individuals. In Study 1, it was found that the traditional WCST is a highly reliable test for use with both autistic children and children with learning disabilities over time. In Study 2, the equivalence of the standard and computerized versions of the WCST was examined. Low-to-moderate alternate format reliability for both autistic and nonautistic samples was revealed. Study 3 dealt with group differences in performance as a function of WCST format. Although autistic children were significantly impaired relative to controls on the standard WCST, group differences on the computerized version of the test were attenuated. Autistic children tended to perform better on the computer than with the traditional format, suggesting that alternative forms of the test are not equivalent for this group. The potential contribution of social-motivational factors to this finding is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Computerized adaptive personality testing: A review and illustration with the MMPI-2 computerized adaptive version.

Computerized adaptive testing in personality assessment can improve efficiency by significantly reducing the number of items administered to answer an assessment question. Two approaches have been explored for adaptive testing in computerized personality assessment: item response theory and the countdown method. In this article, the authors review the literature on each and report the results of an investigation designed to explore the utility, in terms of item and time savings, and validity, in terms of correlations with external criterion measures, of an expanded countdown method-based research version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), the MMPI-2 Computerized Adaptive Version (MMPI-2-CA). Participants were 433 undergraduate college students (170 men and 263 women). Results indicated considerable item savings and corresponding time savings for the adaptive testing modalities compared with a conventional computerized MMPI-2 administration. Furthermore, computerized adaptive administration yielded comparable results to computerized conventional administration of the MMPI-2 in terms of both test scores and their validity. Future directions for computerized adaptive personality testing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships of perceived job design characteristics to job ability requirements and job value.

The relationships between perceived job design characteristics and both job ability requirements and job value were examined for 256 employees of a large pharmaceutical firm. Measures included the Position Analysis Questionnaire, Job Diagnostic Survey, and General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB). Correlational analyses revealed significant relationships between the perceived job characteristics scores and estimated GATB scores and between the job design scores and the job evaluation estimates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employment battery performance of Hispanic applicants as a function of English or Spanish test instructions.

Identified 1,300 Hispanic applicants for operator/clerical jobs in northeastern, southern, and southwestern US regions, and determined their language preference. Ss who indicated a preference for receiving the employment test battery with Spanish instructions were allocated to 2 groups; the 1st group was administered the battery with Spanish instructions, and the 2nd group received the same test battery with English instructions. The battery included arithmetic, word meaning, filing, coding, and marking subtests. Comparisons of test performance under the 2 conditions suggest that Spanish instructions resulted in small but significant gains in scores, especially on the marking subtest. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in information sent to minority and nonminority prospective applicants to clinical, counseling, and school psychology programs.

Investigated whether doctoral-level professional psychology programs responded differently to initial requests for information from minority and nonminority applicants. A letter from a fictitious student was sent to 257 programs. Programs were randomly assigned to an ethnic condition (White, Black, or Hispanic). The minority students were more likely to receive a response than were nonminority students, and minority students received more personal forms of communication than did the nonminority student. However, the overall amount of minority recruitment information shared with applicants was the same for both minority and nonminority students. The findings suggest that few programs are using materials sent to prospective minority applicants as a method for implementing their affirmative action policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of corrections for faking on the validity of noncognitive measures in selection settings.

In selection research and practice, there have been many attempts to correct scores on noncognitive measures for applicants who may have faked their responses somehow. A related approach with more impact would be identifying and removing faking applicants from consideration for employment entirely, replacing them with high-scoring alternatives. The current study demonstrates that under typical conditions found in selection, even this latter approach has minimal impact on mean performance levels. Results indicate about .1 SD change in mean performance across a range of typical correlations between a faking measure and the criterion. Where trait scores were corrected only for suspected faking, and applicants not removed or replaced, the minimal impact the authors found on mean performance was reduced even further. By comparison, the impact of selection ratio and test validity is much larger across a range of realistic levels of selection ratios and validities. If selection researchers are interested only in maximizing predicted performance or validity, the use of faking measures to correct scores or remove applicants from further employment consideration will produce minimal effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acquiring a Cognitive Skill With a New Repeating Version of the Tower of London Task.

A computerized version of the Tower of London task was used to investigate cognitive skill learning. Thirty-six healthy volunteers were assigned to either a random condition (nonrecurring problems), or to a sequence condition in which, unbeknownst to the subjects, a repeating sequence of three problems was presented. Indices of execution, planning, and total time, as well as number of moves performed, were used to measure behavioural change. Subjects' performance improved in both conditions across blocks of practice. A distinct learning effect related to the repeating sequence was also observed. This suggests that a specific skill that reflects procedural learning of the strategies, rules, and procedures pertaining to repeating problems can develop over and above a more general skill at solving cognitive planning problems with practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The nature of stereotypes: A comparison and integration of three theories.

In the present research we examined predictions derived from the following three theoretical approaches to stereotyping: complexity-extremity theory, assumed characteristics theory, and expectancy-violation theory. In order to assess these predictions, we manipulated the race, personal appearance, and dialect style of target job applicants. White judges rated these applicants of a set of characteristics relevant to hiring decisions. Results were consistent with all three theories. Specifically, the range of judges' evaluations of black applicants was larger than the range of their evaluations of white applicants; the effects of personal appearance and dialect style were larger that the effects of race; and black applicants, on average, received more favorable ratings than white applicants. We present a model integrating all three perspectives, and we demonstrate its usefulness for explaining our results and for understanding past research on stereotypes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)