Anxiety and intellectual performance: A partial failure to replicate.

The study tried to replicate Sarason's (1957) findings of the interfering effect of test anxiety and the facilitating effect of general anxiety on academic work. The study also tested the generality of the Taylor-Spence (1952) hypothesis of the negative effect of anxiety on behavior. A study of the effects of different types of anxiety on academic performance, Taylor, Test, and General anxiety scores, course grades and grade-point averages were obtained on private college Ss (N = 55) and state college Ss (N = 70). Results failed to demonstrate a significant correlation between Test anxiety and academic work, but confirmed the facilitating influence of general anxiety on course grade. The differential effects of anxiety were discussed in terms of the interaction between anxiety and grade level, overlearning, nature of the tasks, and intellectual ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Water-Jar Einstellung Test as a measure of rigidity: Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by E. E. Levitt (Psychological Bulletin, 1955[Sep], Vol 53[5], 347-370). On page 368, right-hand column; the text: "1. After eight years of research, evidence for the validity of the water-jar test as a measure of validity is still lacking." should read: "1. After eight years of research, evidence for the validity of the water-jar test as a measure of rigidity is still lacking.". (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1958-02905-001.) The primary purpose of the present paper is to examine the validity of the water-jar test as a rigidity measure by critically reviewing studies involving its use as such an index." Correlations between the water-jar test (WJT) and numerous criterion measures are generally statistically nonsignificant. On the basis of several studies it is tentatively concluded that a low negative correlation between the WJT and intelligence exists. The notion that rigidity increases under stress is not supported by the research evidence. The author concludes that evidence for the validity of the WJT is lacking and that the WJT, from a psychometric point of view, is poor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of the measurement properties of the Spot-the-Word test in a community sample.

Intellectual ability is assessed with the Spot-the-Word (STW) test (A. Baddeley, H. Emslie, & I. Nimmo Smith, 1993) by asking respondents to identify a word in a word-nonword item pair. Results in moderate-sized samples suggest this ability is resistant to decline due to dementia. The authors used a 3-parameter item response theory model to investigate the measurement properties of the STW in a large community-dwelling sample (n=2,480) 60 to 64 years of age. A number of poorly performing items were identified. Substantial guessing was present; however, the number of words correctly identified was found to be an accurate index of ability. Performance was moderately related to a number of tests of cognitive performance and was effectively unrelated to visual acuity and to physical or mental health status. The STW is a promising test of ability that, in the future, may be refined by the deletion or replacement of poorly functioning items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The intelligence test performance of Maori children: A cross cultural study.

Maori children and New Zealand children were given the SRA form of Thurstone's Test of Primary Mental Abilities and a special nonverbal test battery. The Maori groups did worse than the control on the nonverbal test than on the PMA. This findings raises some doubt on the effectiveness of nonverbal tests for the evaluation of mental ability of culturally handicapped groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development and validation of a test of creativity in engineering.

"Two forms of a 20-item test of creativity were developed through analyses of item response data of 345 engineering students at Purdue University. Three scores were developed for the test: Fluency score, Flexibility score, and Originality score. Investigations of the validity, reliability, interscorer agreement, relationships with other tests, and 'face validity' of the Creativity scores were made with 64 product development engineers and process engineers in a large automobile accessories manufacturing company." Significant validity was found (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Well- and ill-defined measures of everyday cognition: Relationship to older adults' intellectual ability and functional status.

The present study examined 2 approaches to the measurement of everyday cognition in older adults. Measures differing in the degree of structure offered for solving problems in the domains of medication use, financial management, and food preparation and nutrition were administered to a sample of 130 community-dwelling older adults ranging in age from 60 to 90 (M=73 years, SD=7.02 years). Well-defined and ill-defined everyday problem-solving measures, which varied in the amount of means--end-related information provided to participants, were used. The study found that (a) well- and ill-defined measures were moderately interrelated, (b) the 2 approaches were differentially related to basic cognitive abilities, and (c) together the 2 approaches explained over half of the variance in older adults' everyday instrumental functioning and were in fact better predictors of everyday functioning than traditional psychometric cognitive measures. Discussion focuses on the differential importance of both methods for assessing older adults' everyday cognitive functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dirty dozen: A concise measure of the dark triad.

There has been an exponential increase of interest in the dark side of human nature during the last decade. To better understand this dark side, the authors developed and validated a concise, 12-item measure of the Dark Triad: narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism. In 4 studies involving 1,085 participants, they examined its structural reliability, convergent and discriminant validity (Studies 1, 2, and 4), and test–retest reliability (Study 3). Their measure retained the flexibility needed to measure these 3 independent-yet-related constructs while improving its efficiency by reducing its item count by 87% (from 91 to 12 items). The measure retained its core of disagreeableness, short-term mating, and aggressiveness. They call this measure the Dirty Dozen, but it cleanly measures the Dark Triad. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Concept of Validity.

This article advances a simple conception of test validity: A test is valid for measuring an attribute if (a) the attribute exists and (b) variations in the attribute causally produce variation in the measurement outcomes. This conception is shown to diverge from current validity theory in several respects. In particular, the emphasis in the proposed conception is on ontology, reference, and causality, whereas current validity theory focuses on epistemology, meaning, and correlation. It is argued that the proposed conception is not only simpler but also theoretically superior to the position taken in the existing literature. Further, it has clear theoretical and practical implications for validation research. Most important, validation research must not be directed at the relation between the measured attribute and other attributes but at the processes that convey the effect of the measured attribute on the test scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of college achievement from the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule using intellectual ability as a moderator.

Following the procedures of Goodstein and Heilbrun (see 37:3), scores for 102 males on the EPPS, the Minnesota Scholastic Aptitude Test (MSAT), and 2 grade-point indices were analyzed for the entire sample and for low, middle, and high ability groups using partial correlation with MSAT scores held constant. The results show little agreement with those reported by Goodstein and Heilbrun. The sample was also randomly divided into cross-validation groups and a similar analysis performed. These results were not stable. The possible moderating effects of intellectual ability are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Broad View of Intelligence: The Theory of Successful Intelligence.

This article reviews the theory of successful intelligence and attempts to construct-validate the theory of successful intelligence. It describes 4 distinct converging operations that have been used in these attempts. Two sets involve internal validation of the structure of the theory and 2 sets external validation of the theory with outside criteria. The internal validation operations involve information-processing (componential) analyses and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The external validation operations involve correlational analysis and analyses of instructional interventions based on the theory. The results are generally supportive of the theory and suggest that conventional conceptions of intelligence may be too narrow. The theory is of use in consulting because it broadens the scope of skills one looks for in seeking "intelligent" people for hiring, retention, and promotion and in assessing a person's ability to do his or her current job. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of college achievement from the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule at three levels of intellectual ability.

The scores on the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) were correlated with the semester grade point average on a sample of 357 undergraduates, 206 males and 151 females, with the variance attributable to a brief vocabulary test estimate of scholastic ability partialled out. While the results of the analysis of the total male and female groups were essentially negative, further analyses which followed a subdivision of each of the 2 sex groups into low, middle, and high ability groupings yielded more promising results, especially for the middle ability male subgroup. Following a comparison of the obtained results with previous studies, the importance of using levels of intellecutal ability as a control variable in studies of nonintellectual factors in achievement was noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The ability to judge people.

Five methods for measuring the ability to judge others are described. This ability, viewed as a personality trait, is discussed along with its correlates, and is sufficiently general to permit discrimination between "good" and "poor" judges. Contradictions between studies may be due partially to the low reliability of the measures used or to the effects of the type of judgment required, traits judged, and subjects used. The corner-stones of this ability appear to be (1) appropriate judgmental norms (judge and subject background similarity), (2) judging ability (general and social intelligence), and perhaps a specific factor for non-analytic judgment ("intuition"), and (3) motivation (to make accurate judgments), which is probably the most important. 81 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A proposed framework for conducting data-based test analysis.

The authors argue that the current state of applied data-based test analytic practice is unstructured and unmethodical due in large part to the fact that there is no clearly specified, widely accepted test analytic framework for judging the performances of particular tests in particular contexts. Drawing from the extant test theory literature, they propose a rationale that may be used in data-based test analysis. The components of the proposed test analytic framework are outlined in detail, as are examples of the framework as applied to commonly encountered test evaluative scenarios. A number of potential extensions of the framework are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of symptom change on intellectual function in schizophrenia.

20 "improved" schizophrenics were matched with 20 "unimproved" schizophrenics, all of whom had been given individual intelligence tests on admission to the hospital. After from 16 to 142 mo. from admission, the same tests were administered again. While the improved group gained an average of 7.30 points, the unimproved group lost an average of 2.65 points. While 16 of 20 improved patients gained IQ points, and 1 remained the same (p=.002), only 5 unimproved patients gained, and 2 remained the same (p=.048). These data support the view that intellectual deficit in schizophrenia is reversible, and that the magnitude of such deficit is related to the intensity and persistence of psychotic symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quantifying construct validity: Two simple measures.

Construct validity is one of the most central concepts in psychology. Researchers generally establish the construct validity of a measure by correlating it with a number of other measures and arguing from the pattern of correlations that the measure is associated with these variables in theoretically predictable ways. This article presents 2 simple metrics for quantifying construct validity that provide effect size estimates indicating the extent to which the observed pattern of correlations in a convergent-discriminant validity matrix matches the theoretically predicted pattern of correlations. Both measures, based on contrast analysis, provide simple estimates of validity that can be compared across studies, constructs, and measures meta-analytically, and can be implemented without the use of complex statistical procedures that may limit their accessibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The reciprocal effects of leisure time activities and intellectual functioning in older people: A longitudinal analysis.

By using data from a representative longitudinal survey, the authors provide strong evidence that complex leisure time activities increase intellectual functioning for workers and nonworkers. Ss were 315 men and 320 women aged 41–88 yrs. Although the effects were relatively moderate, both the present article and its predecessor on the effects of paid work (C. Schooler, M. Mulatu, & G. Oates, 1999) showed that, even in old age, carrying out complex tasks has a positive effect on intellectual processes. In both cases, initially high levels of intellectual functioning led to high levels of environmental complexity, which in turn raised levels of intellectual functioning, thus providing a pathway contributing to the high correlation of intellectual functioning over a 20-year period in middle and late adulthood. The present findings indicate that even in old age carrying out substantively complex tasks builds the capacity to deal with the intellectual challenges such complex environments provide. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Revision and extension of a multidimensional measure of sexual minority identity: The Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity Scale.

Two studies were conducted to investigate a revised and extended version of the Lesbian and Gay Identity Scale (Mohr & Fassinger, 2000): the 27-item Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity Scale (LGBIS). This revision features more inclusive and less stigmatizing language than the previous version and includes 2 new subscales assessing identity affirmation and centrality. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis (n = 297) and a confirmatory factor analysis (n = 357) supported an 8-factor solution assessing acceptance concerns, concealment motivation, identity uncertainty, internalized homonegativity, difficulty with the identity development process, identity superiority, identity affirmation, and identity centrality. Predicted associations with measures of identity-related constructs and psychosocial functioning provided preliminary validity evidence for LGBIS scores in a college student population. Study 2 (N = 51) provided evidence of the test–retest and internal consistency reliability of LGBIS scores. These studies suggest that the LGBIS may offer researchers an efficient means of assessing multiple dimensions of sexual orientation minority identity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Validity" of short-form intelligence tests.

A short-form intelligence test is commonly "validated" by demonstrating a high correlation between it and the full scale from which it is taken. It has been argued, however, that the correlation between the short form and the full scale is less meaningful than the extent to which they agree in classifying individuals as to intellectual level; the latter depends in part upon the width of the categories in the classification system. A table is provided which shows the theoretical agreement between the short form and the full scale as a function of their correlation and category width. Empirical values from two studies approximate fairly closely the values given in this table. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Desegregation and the intellectual performance of the Negro: Comment.

I should like to make three criticisms of Irwin Katz' timely and stimulating article, "Review of Evidence Relating to Effects of Desegregation on the Intellectual Performance of Negroes" (see record 1965-01781-001). My first criticism is that the author failed to include in his extensive bibliography reference to several pertinent studies/papers. My second criticism is directed against the author's failure to consider the possibility of hereditary differences between Negro and white children. My third criticism is directed toward the widespread tendency of psychologists to neglect the importance of heredity as a determinant of behavior, personality, and even of the environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)