Diagnosing item score patterns on a test using item response theory-based person-fit statistics.

Person-fit statistics have been proposed to investigate the fit of an item score pattern to an item response theory (IRT) model. The author investigated how these statistics can be used to detect different types of misfit. Intelligence test data were analyzed using person-fit statistics in the context of the G. Rasch (1960) model and R. J. Mokken's (1971, 1997) IRT models. The effect of the choice of an IRT model to detect misfitting item score patterns and the usefulness of person-fit statistics for diagnosis of misfit are discussed. Results showed that different types of person-fit statistics can be used to detect different kinds of person misfit. Parametric person-fit statistics had more power than nonparametric person-fit statistics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Note on "personality variables and response to color."

Some criticisms of an article by Cerbus and Nichols (1963) relating to their report of author's work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of response patterns to improve item scoring.

This study compared the validity of 2 methods of scoring the Minnesota Vocational Interest Inventory. One method used keys developed in the usual manner by selecting items that differentiated between specific occupational groups and a reference group of tradesmen-in-general. The other method used keys developed by selecting items that were part of response patterns that differentiated between criterion and reference groups. 3 occupational keys were developed and cross-validated: painter, printer, and electrician. Results showed that the keys were about equal in their ability to separate criterion from reference groups, but the key developed from response patterns used far fewer items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizophrenic and normal response patterns to "aversive" and "neutral" associations in two paired-associate paradigms.

3 groups of Ss (hospitalized psychiatric patients, hospitalized nonpsychiatric patients, and college students) were required to learn 2 classes of paired associates—neutral and aversive by 2 methods of presentation of the material: (a) after the traditional presentation of the stimulus word, S was required to anticipate the correct response; (b) S viewed 2 words in the window and had to select the correct one. The results indicated that in general it was much more difficult to learn the "aversive" words than the neutral ones, and hospital patients as a group had more difficulty than the college Ss. However, sensitivity to group differences was enhanced when S was required to use the 2nd rather than the traditional 1st method. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of psychological stress on the "intolerance of ambiguity."

"The hypothesis that psychological stress will result in increased intolerance for ambiguity is supported by the generally significant differences between the stress and security groups on the experimental measures." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on "Correcting personality scales for response sets or suppression effects."

This short paper reports a correction and certain improvements on a formula reported in an earlier paper (see 33: 5801). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Other Animals as "Psychopaths."

The author describes a female cat that was placed in a private home as a pet instead of being vivisected or extirpated following experimental testing. This cat was the only one that broke through the wind-barrier, showed no nervous symptoms, was generally relaxed and friendly, and was pleasantly responsive to the experimenters. The cat's social, sexual, and maternal behaviors are described. The major point to be made here is that attributes of the human psychopath have been observed in this cat, and that this personality syndrome may represent a dimension of animal behavior that could account for variations in reactions to stress, conflict, and "treatment" in animal experiments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

More sources of variance in accurate empathy ratings: A response.

Three criticisms of my original data are addressed. First, Cicchetti and Ryan confound a methodological and a statistical issue when criticizing Beutler, Johnson, Neville, and Workman for failure to investigate the role of rater memory in the inflation of reliability ratings. Second, data are presented to further suggest that even when ratings are based on the number of segments rather than the number of patients, statistical nonindependience does not result in inflation. Third, the burden of demonstrating that the usual procedure for assessing reliability is not justified rests with the critic, and there are no current data that adequately demonstrate the inappropriateness of the procedure. Hence, it is logical to suggest that Truax and Carkhuff's procedure is justified until proven otherwise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocabulary response as related to lateralization of cerebral lesion: An investigation of "latent aphasia."

The Wechsler-Bellevue Vocabulary of 3 groups was compared. 1 group had brain injury involving the left side, another had brain injury on the right side, and the third group was judged to be entirely free of cerebral pathology. Scoring was based upon mode of response rather than accuracy. There were no differences found between these groups, a refutation of Pichot's concept of "latent aphasia." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some correlates of the empathy of the workers with the foreman.

Can a worker predict the perception of his own foreman? "The Test of Foreman-Worker Relationship was administered to 361 Israeli factory workers and their 51 foremen… . The prediction of the worker is more likely to succeed when the foreman's attention is oriented to the worker. Success is also more likely when the worker believes that the attention of the foreman is not oriented toward the worker… . Certain perceptions are easier to predict than others." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The moderating effects of dispositional empathy on alcohol-related aggression in men and women.

The author investigated the influence of dispositional empathy on alcohol-related aggression in men and women. Participants were 204 (111 men, 93 women) healthy social drinkers, 21-35 years old. Dispositional empathy was measured with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Following the consumption of either an alcoholic or a placebo beverage, participants were tested on a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm in which mild electric shocks were received from, and administered to, a fictitious opponent during a competitive task. Alcohol increased aggression for persons (particularly men) with lower, as opposed to higher, levels of empathy. Men with lower empathy levels exhibited the most aggression followed by men with higher empathy levels. Women displayed the least aggression regardless of their empathy levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Authoritarianism and "Tolerance of Trait Inconsistency."

The California F Scale was found to correlate positively with a paper-and-pencil measure of propensity to expect people to be thoroughly good or thoroughly bad. As a further explanation of this relationship, Ss in a laboratory situation were given mildly derogatory information about one respected partner and nonderogatory information about another respected partner. Ss who had scored high on the F Scale resisted the mildly derogatory information and continued to rate their 2 partners about equally favorably. Low F Ss lowered their evaluations of the partner about whom mildly derogatory information had been received and gave their 2 partners final ratings which were more unequally favorable than those given by high scorers. Low F Ss also conformed more unequally to the judgments expressed by the 2 partners than did high scorers. These experimental findings are interpreted to reflect the greater reluctance of high scorers to believe that "good people" possess a mixture of good and bad attributes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A "pure" measure of perceptual defense uncontaminated by response suppression.

"Using a tachistoscopic recognition technique, an experiment was designed that provided measures both of 'perceptual defense' and of response suppression. The 'perceptual defense' measure could be corrected by the response suppression measure to yield a 'pure' perceptual defense measure. With this method, it was found that Ss scoring high on the Hy scale of the MMPI demonstrate a significant perceptual defense effect over and above a response suppression effect, when confronted by words preselected so as to be emotional for each S individually. It is therefore concluded that perceptual defense effects cannot be accounted for entirely on the basis of response suppression." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Item and response characteristics in attitude and personality measurement: A reaction to L. G. Rorer's "The great response-style myth."

However defined, response style is not a myth. Responses to personality items are the result of, among other things, (1) item content; (2) social desirability of this content; (3) form in which this content is stated, the proportion of each form of statement in an inventory; (4) the desire to dissimulate with respect to the content; and (5) response style. Responses to form of statement—reversed items—conform perfectly to 1 definition of response bias. The differences in correlational and other characteristics of sets of reversed items are a major cause for the confounding and confusion in the interpretation of studies of social desirability and acquiescence. The great need is for external validation studies in relation to the factors that influence personality-item responses. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of interactional semantic patterns on the interpretation of noun–noun compounds.

The CARIN theory (C. L. Gagné & E. J. Shoben, 1997) proposes that people use statistical knowledge about the relations with which modifiers are typically used to facilitate the interpretation of modifier–noun combinations. However, research on semantic patterns in compounding has suggested that regularities tend to be associated with pairings of semantic categories, rather than individual concepts (e.g., P. Maguire, E. J. Wisniewski, & G. Storms, in press; B. Warren, 1978). In the present study, the authors investigated whether people are sensitive to interactional semantic patterns in compounding. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the influence of a given modifier on ease of interpretation varies depending on the semantic category of the head. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the relation preference of the head noun influences ease of interpretation when the semantic category of the modifier is compatible with that preference. In light of these findings, the authors suggest that people are sensitive to how different semantic categories tend to be paired in combination and that this information is used to facilitate the interpretation process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The developmental origins of a disposition toward empathy: Genetic and environmental contributions.

The authors investigated the development of a disposition toward empathy and its genetic and environmental origins. Young twins' (N = 409 pairs) cognitive (hypothesis testing) and affective (empathic concern) empathy and prosocial behavior in response to simulated pain by mothers and examiners were observed at multiple time points. Children's mean level of empathy and prosociality increased from 14 to 36 months. Positive concurrent and longitudinal correlations indicated that empathy was a relatively stable disposition, generalizing across ages, across its affective and cognitive components, and across mother and examiner. Multivariate genetic analyses showed that genetic effects increased, and that shared environmental effects decreased, with age. Genetic effects contributed to both change and continuity in children's empathy, whereas shared environmental effects contributed to stability and nonshared environmental effects contributed to change. Empathy was associated with prosocial behavior, and this relationship was mainly due to environmental effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of real-life motivation on questionnaire response.

400 male omnibus conductor job applicants were given a 2-part personality measure (emotional maladjustment and sociability), 100 each under one of the following 4 conditions: before selection, paper-and-pencil administration; after being notified of selection, paper-and-pencil administration; a box-and-card administration under each of the 2 selection circumstances. The selection circumstances significantly affected the distribution of scores on the emotional maladjustment scale, but not on the sociability scale. Method of administration did not affect the score distributions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)