Evaluating potential officer effectiveness in a training situation.

A situational performance test was developed for evaluating potential Air Force officer effectiveness during the officer training program. For the 480 members of an AF Candidate School graduating class reliability of scoring (examiner-observer agreements on a behavior check list) was .75. Correlations between the total test score and Officer Candidate School evaluation measures were in the range .21—.25. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethical dilemmas and U.S. Air Force clinical psychologists: A survey.

Although psychologists work in widely varying settings, all encounter ethical dilemmas. Those who are also officers in the U.S. Air Force have the double burden of upholding the ethics code of psychologists while also supporting the mission of the Air Force. Does this create unique ethical dilemmas? To address this issue, the authors sent active-duty Air Force psychologists a questionnaire asking them to describe recent ethical conflicts. These conflicts are discussed as they relate to the "Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct" (American Psychological Association, 1992) and in comparison with civilian practice. Results suggest a broad range of concerns but center on those related to perceived conflicts between the Air Force mission and the ethical demands of psychologists. Recommendations for dealing with ethical conflicts at the organizational level are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between smoking and body weight in a population of young military personnel.

Evidence indicates that middle-aged smokers weigh less than nonsmokers and that smoking cessation reliably produces weight gain, but recent studies have questioned the weight control "benefits" of smoking in younger populations (the time that people typically initiate smoking). The relationship between smoking and body weight was evaluated in all U.S. Air Force Basic Military Training recruits during a 1-year period (n?=?32,144). Those who smoked prior to Basic Military Training (n?=?10,440) were compared to never smokers or experimental smokers. Results indicated that regular-current smoking had no relationship to body weight in women (p? >?.05) and a very small effect in men (p?     

Relationships between personality variables and components of the expectancy-valence model.

Explored relationships between the personality variables of self-esteem, locus of control, restraint, and Protestant ethic values with components of the expectancy-valence model with 146 US Air Force Ss in a technical training program. Ss were administered a battery of measures, including Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale and the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey. Primary findings were that locus of control and Protestant ethic values were related to expectancy components. Contrary to prediction, restraint was not related to the error of prediction of the expectancy model, but it was related to expectancy components and to ratings of effort. Self-esteem showed no relationships with either of the components, but the reliability of this scale was unacceptably low. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

双预热蓄热式环形加热炉炉压控制及换向对炉内压力波动的影响

蓄热式燃烧技术中,炉压控制和换向时造成的炉压波动是一个非常重要的问题。根据模化理论,发现在各个流量工况下,各段内的压力均可以通过改变各段的鼓风量和排烟量来调节,控制尾部烟道排烟是最佳的控制方法。当加热段段内集中换向时,各段压力波动幅度平均在3~5 Pa;换向周期中,压力最低点均出现在内环鼓风,外环抽风的工况下,而压力最高点则出现在第2加热段第二次换向的过程中;炉压总体波动不大,对加热炉安全运行影响不大。如采用单个烧嘴时序换向,则其对炉压的影响可以降到最低。     

The use of a sentence completion test in measuring attitudes toward superiors and subordinates.

"A sentence-completion test designed to measure attitudes toward superiors and subordinates was administered to 312 Air Force cadets in advanced training. The test was scored with acceptable reliability, and showed a correlation of .32 with a direct attitude measure of the same dimension, and of .27 with an indirect measure based on an information test. Interpretation of these values is restricted due to a correlation of -.45 with a direct scale of alienation, and the absence of significant correlations with reputational criterion measures." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and evaluation of the Air Travel Stress Scale.

Despite anecdotal evidence suggesting that air travel is personally demanding, little research has examined air travel stress. To address these issues, the author developed and evaluated the 1st known measure of air travel stress--the Air Travel Stress Scale--in 3 studies. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis indicated 3 components: (a) anxious reactions to adverse air travel events, (b) angry reactions to other passengers as well as an antecedent of air travel stress, and (c) the lack of trust that the airlines/airports will ensure one's comfort and safety. Each component had good internal reliability and test-retest reliability over a 6- to 7-week interval. Each component showed evidence for discriminant and convergent validity. Implications for research into understanding and intervening on air travel stress are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adaptability measures as predictors of performance ratings.

How well do measures of temperamental and motivational characteristics in training predict success of performance of officers as indicated by Officer Effectiveness Ratings? S were selected from 666 cadets at one base and 69 at another. Variables used were 3 global indicies of adaptability and 10 variables representing the common factors. "(a) measures of adaptability to training and Air Force Life are more highly related to later officer performance than are measures of aptitude or ability; (b) assessments of a man's functioning involving personal judgments of peers, superiors, and experts are predictive of later performance as an Air Force officer." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reliability of the Raven Colored Progressive Matrices Test: Age and ethnic group comparisons.

Reports reliabilities for the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) for 3 age groups (5?–6?, 6?–7?, and 7?–8? yrs) and 3 ethnic groups. The Ss were 783 Anglo, Black, and Hispanic children. Reliability estimates were calculated using all CPM items and only those with p values between .20 and .80. Results indicate that the CPM did not appear to be equally reliable for all age groups, with the lowest reliability found for the youngest. The test appeared to be equally reliable for the 3 ethnic groups. Eliminating items with extremely low or high p values did little to affect the reliability of the test. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' sensitivity to the reliability of information in making causal attributions in an achievement situation.

Examined the effects of reliability and valence of information on attributions in an achievement situation. 164 Ss (teachers and nonteachers) read 1 of 16 different scenarios (a 2?×?4?×?4 design) describing a fictitious student. The information in the scenarios varied in terms of reliability and valence. Ss then rated the extent to which the student's academic success was due to each of 4 causal factors: ability, effort, exam difficulty, and luck. Attributions to ability and effort were greater for positive information; attributions to luck were greater for negative information. Attributions to ability were also influenced by reliability. These results partially follow H. H. Kelley's (1973) discounting and augmentation principles. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Partnership in nursing education: a vision or a fantasy?

Reliability of Energetic Meridian Measurement with Prognos A(R) OBJECTIVE: Is energetic measurement of the Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) meridians with Prognos A a reliable method? PATIENTS: 30 healthy volunteers from the staff of the Stauferklinik, Schw? bisch Gmü nd, Germany. DESIGN: Measuremeuts are taken 4 times from each person at all terminal locations of the meridians (24 points) on fingers and toes with Prognos A. Breaks between each measurement run lastet 2-5 min. The values of skin resistance are compared. RESULTS: Reliabilities of the single meridian measurements range between 0.44 and 0.82 with an overall reliability of 0.72. Lowest reliability is seen in yang -hollow organs, probably a due to their intense lability. Mediating of 4 single runs shows a reliability of 0.9. CONCLUSIONS: Our measurement of reliability confirms Prognos A as a reliable device of determinating skin resistance, especially with repeated measurements. Variations of the readings are probably due to the special quality of the meridian system; increased variations of special meridians seem to be explainable by their characteristic features defined in TCM.     

Interview reliability for assessing mental work demands.

This study presented and evaluated an interview method for the analysis of tasks included in a work situation. What mental demands and possibilities do the work tasks give rise to? When was the work more or less automatic? When was use of active knowledge required? When were problem solving and planning needed? The study included an assessment of the interobserver reliability of the interviews with employees from 5 different careers: bus drivers (n?=?10), home service workers (n?=?32), carpenters (n?=?11), farmers (n?=?14), and teachers (n?=?26). The extent to which this method can be reproduced in studies of different occupations is discussed. The interobserver reliability was good (.75–.82). There is support for the stability and usefulness of the interview for most types of work concerning the 3 categories of mental demands: routine, active knowledge, and problem solving/creativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

分子筛切换系统优化设计探讨

通过杭氧产及川空产两套分子筛装置的运行经验,阐述了两套分子筛系统的设计差异,并从实践角度,尤其从北方室外设计角度,作出评议、并提出优化方案,旨在提高切换系统的可靠性、安全性、稳定性。     

Context-dependent modulation by D? receptors: Differential effects in hippocampus and striatum.

Place-specific firing by hippocampal and striatal neurons was recorded simultaneously following injection of a D? receptor antagonist (SCH23390) and during spatial working memory task performance. SCH23390-induced changes in unit responses were observed during light and dark test conditions. Although hippocampal place field locations were altered by the contextual change, the reliability and specificity of place fields was disrupted only by combining D? antagonism and a change in context. Striatal place field locations were reorganized after either contextual change or D? antagonism, without altering place field reliability and specificity. Disrupted velocity encoding by place cells in both regions was induced by darkness, whereas greater stability in acceleration encoding followed removal of D? receptor activity. Dopamine may differentially regulate hippocampal context learning and striatum-based predictive codes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using item response theory to study the convergent and discriminant validity of three questionnaires measuring cigarette dependence.

To determine whether the Cigarette Dependence Scale, the Fagerstr?m Test for Nicotine Dependence, and the Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale (NDSS) reliably and correctly assessed both weakly and severely dependent individuals, the authors collected data via Internet from 2,435 current smokers, from 2004 to 2007. They used a 2-parameter item response model to determine the difficulty and discrimination of each question and used correlations between latent scores to assess convergent and discriminant validity. The reliability of all scales was close to or exceeded .70. Both the Cigarette Dependence Scale and the Fagerstr?m Test for Nicotine Dependence had 1 misfitting item. Each NDSS scale had at least 2 misfitting items. The information curve of each of the questionnaires peaked between -2 and 2 and was low at both extremes. All questionnaires had adequate reliability and were more informative for a medium level of the underlying cigarette dependence continuum than for both extremes of this continuum. The correlations between latent scores indicated good convergent validity between questionnaires and low discriminant validity between NDSS subscales, except for Tolerance. This result suggests that nicotine dependence may not be composed of 5 dimensions but may be unidimensional and distinct from reduced sensitivity to the effects of smoking (Tolerance). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Faking specific disorders and temporal response consistency on the MMPI-2.

The ability of persons faking posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or closed-head injury (CHI) to respond consistently across serial testings on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—2 (MMPI-2; J. Butcher, W. Dahlstrom, J. Graham, A. Tellegen, & B. Kaemmer, 1989) was investigated. Results showed that individuals faking PTSD obtained 2-week test–retest reliability scores comparable to individuals completing the MMPI-2 with standard instructions; individuals faking CHI obtained reliability coefficients significantly lower than individuals faking PTSD. A 3?×?2 (Response Style?×?Time) analysis of variance indicated that individuals faking a disorder obtained significantly elevated scores on validity scales sensitive to overreporting; no main effect for time was found. Results suggest that test-takers faking specific disorders can describe symptoms consistently on repeated testing and that type of disorder may affect temporal response consistency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparability of the absolute level of ratings on the Inpatient Multidimensional Psychiatric Scale within a homogeneous group of raters.

The comparability of the absolute level of ratings of 10 psychiatric patients (mean age 43 yrs) on the Inpatient Multidimensional Psychiatric Scale (IMPS) by a homogeneous group of raters was assessed employing both reliability coefficients and ANOVA techniques. Even with attempts to standardize the sampling domain and reduce interrater variance, significant and substantial differences between raters on level of IMPS scores were found. Profile analyses indicated that this level difference was a complex function of a Rater?×?Score interaction. Specific recommendations on the usage of the IMPS as an ordinal, outcome, and diagnostic instrument are made based on the results. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences between well and poorly adjusted groups in an isolated environment.

How can adjustment problems of men in the arctic be minimized? "The Ss of the study were 648 enlisted Air Force personnel assigned to eight Arctic bases." Supervisors rated the men by adjustment. Differences were found between them according to Biographical Inventory, Self-Appraisal Blank, Incomplete Sentences Test, Peer Nomination Form, Job Proficiency Tests, aptitude scores, and sick call rate. "In general these results suggest the hypothesis that individuals who adjust well to Arctic isolation are individuals who also adjust well to their military assignments elsewhere. Isolated environments probably present a more extreme stimulus situation which more frequently and more strongly evokes maladjustive behavior." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)