Adverse impact from a psychometric perspective.

Applied latent trait theory to an analysis of a 64-item multiple-choice skill test administered to 1,035 police recruits to illustrate how 2 shorter tests measuring the same attribute, but having different test characteristic curves, have different degrees of adverse impact. Specifically, ability differences between groups (195 Blacks, 373 Whites) were minimized by use of a 22-item wide-range test and exaggerated by use of a 22-item narrow-range test. In light of these data, claims such as those that performance tests have less adverse impact than paper-and-pencil tests are open to question; the differences attributed to the type of test are completely confounded with the differences in psychometric properties of the tests. The authors propose that the concept of adverse impact be redefined in terms of the degree to which test scores distort any underlying true subgroup differences in the attribute measured. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A psychometric perspective on psychophysiological measures.

Psychophysiological measures are a useful complement to self-report or behavioral measures because they can assess fundamentally different processes or more sensitively assess the same processes as those targeted by other types of measures. To be maximally beneficial, psychophysiological measures must meet the psychometric criteria that are commonly applied to self-report or behavioral measures. Empirical findings to date indicate that the temporal stability of psychophysiological measures thought to assess individual differences is variable and that researchers should devote more attention to systematic assessment of reliability, stability, and generalizability. The most critical psychometric issue involves construct validity and the establishment of linkages between psychophysiological measures and specific psychological processes. Several methodological and conceptual reasons for the difficulties that researchers encounter in the attempt to establish such linkages are discussed. Methodological guidelines for maximizing the reliability, temporal stability, and psychological meaningfulness of psychophysiological measures are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On "Sir Cyril Burt in perspective."

Responds to A. R. Jensen's (see record 1979-12278-001) criticism of M. McAskie's (see record 1979-12282-001) article on the interpretation of C. Burt's kinship data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acculturation: A psychometric perspective.

A review of recent research indicates that the measurement of individual acculturation is not only a legitimate area of investigation but can also meet conventional criteria of reliability and validity. Furthermore, particularly within the framework of a full measurement model, psychometric methods have the potential to contribute to a better understanding of complex issues such as the identification and cross-cultural equivalence of the cultural variable as an antecedent of behavior. Recent developments in the quantification of acculturation along multiple dimensions suggest that this approach is more promising than arbitrary cultural group or generational typologies. (51 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Complex posttraumatic stress disorder in women from a psychometric perspective

The Brief Symptom Inventory was administered to 228 women (M age: 37) consecutively admitted to specialized inpatient treatment for trauma-related disorders. Subsamples of patients were administered different posttraumatic stress disorder scales, the Impact of Events Scale-Revised, the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, and the PTSD scale of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III, as well as a measure of child abuse and neglect, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. In this severely traumatized group, every scale of the Brief Symptom Inventory was significantly more elevated than the inpatient female norms, with the five most highly elevated scales being Depression, Obsessive-Compulsive, Anxiety, Interpersonal Sensitivity, and Psychoticism. Different indicators of trauma (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, PTSD scales, and PTSD diagnosis) show different patterns of relationships with the individual scales of the Brief Symptom Inventory. There is no simple relationship between trauma and BSI symptoms, but clinicians should consider severe interpersonal trauma to be one pathway to pervasively elevated profiles of the Brief Symptom Inventory.     

The "stuff" of hypnotic performance: A review of psychometric approaches.

Reviews psychometric investigations into the nature of the processes that underlie hypnotic performance and examines issues that underlie psychometric investigations of hypnosis scales, such as the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale. The issues addressed are dimensionality and the problem of difficulty factors, the interpretation of factorial dimensions, and componential alternatives to the factor analytic approach. It is argued that hypnotic performances are most likely overdetermined in that they reflect the combined influence of a plurality of processes. The relevance of various componential models, each reflecting a different contemporary theoretical perspective toward hypnosis, and some of the implications of such models for future research are discussed. (77 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Becoming a sibling: "With a little help from my friends."

The qualities of children's friendships that may promote the development of positive sibling relationships were examined. 30 3- to 5-yr-old 1st-born children whose families were expecting a 2nd child participated in longitudinal assessments of parent–child, sibling, and best-friend peer relationships. Families were studied from the last trimester of pregnancy to 14 mo following the new child's birth. Peer relationship variables, particularly, the overall quality of peer play, engagement in fantasy play, and conflict management were found to be significant predictors of the quality of children's interactions with their 6- and 14-mo-old siblings. Results are discussed in terms of the functions friendships may hold for helping children make the transition to the sibling role. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A public health perspective on "The ethics of asking and not asking about abuse."

Comments on the article by K. Becker-Blease and J. Freyd (see record 2006-03947-003), which provides a thought-provoking and important perspective regarding the ethics of researchers asking or not asking adults about abuse they experienced as children. Many of these authors' concerns with research on abuse during childhood apply equally to abuse and violence experienced at all life stages. Focusing on intimate partner violence (IPV), we wish to amplify upon and respond to their observations from the perspective of public health scientists involved in large-scale telephone survey research on violence (including family violence, IPV, sexual violence, and suicide). We strongly agree with Becker-Blease and Freyd that decisions not to ask about abuse play directly into the social forces that perpetuate IPV and other forms of violence as pervasive and pernicious social and public health problems. From a public health perspective, the question is not whether to ask but how to ask about participants' experiences with violence and abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Taking a position on "appropriate educational services."

Several years ago the Division 16 Executive Council (EC) was invited by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) to support a position paper entitled "Advocacy for Appropriate Educational Services for All Children," which had been adopted by NASP and the National Coalition of Advocates for Students (NCAS). The discussion of the position paper by the EC revealed several different points of view, and EC action on it was tabled. The issues raised by the position paper, as well as the actions taken toward implementing its recommendations, have become part of a national debate about how best to serve students. Because of the continuing relevance of the position paper with respect to the delivery of psychological services in the schools, I was encouraged to undertake the development of a mini-series around it for Professional School Psychology, now School Psychology Quarterly. The objective of this mini-series is to assist readers in framing the issues raised by the position paper in relation to the ongoing dialogue about service delivery systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demonstrating specific cognitive deficits: A psychometric perspective.

Cognitive deficits associated with psychopathology often do not occur in isolation. Consequently, identifying a specific deficit in a disorder requires comparing the magnitude of group differences on theoretically relevant measures with those on control tasks measuring other constructs. L. J. Chapman and J. P. Chapman (1973) noted that common forms of such Group?×?Task interactions are theoretically ambiguous unless performance measures have comparable discriminating power. The principles of psychometric matching for discriminating power developed in the Chapmans' research program are reviewed, and both criticisms and alternative psychometric approaches are evaluated. Psychometric matching can be mindful of threats to the construct validity of measures and frequently remains methodologically necessary. Otherwise, interactions involving measures that vary in sensitivity to individual differences may be misinterpreted as evidence for specific deficits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond "competing," beyond "compatible." Commentary on J. Archer.

Comments on J. Archer's 1996 article in which he considers whether observed patterns of sex differences in human social behavior are best explained by social role theory or by the evolutionary principles of Darwinian theory. The author believes that Archer's conclusion that the 2 theories are actually compatible is important and is concerned that such a valuable conclusion may be lost to discussions over the rest of the article. The author argues several points made in the original article and then concludes that Darwinian and cultural perspectives on human sex differences are not opposing theories, nor are they merely compatible but instead are necessarily interdependent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reemphasizing Martin and Terris's (1991a) "Predicting infrequent behavior: Clarifying the impact on false-positive rates."

High false-positive rates have been used to argue against the use of valid psychological tests, and this argument is typically adopted when base rates are low. S. L. Martin and W. Terris (see record 1991-28965-001) noted that this argument has merit in some situations but is generally inappropriate in the context of personnel selection. G. Ben-Shakhar and M. Bar-Hillel (see record 1993-23709-001) criticized Martin and Terris's article for a number of reasons. The present article demonstrates that each of these criticisms is either inappropriate or incorrect. Furthermore, the authors show that Ben-Shakhar and Bar-Hillel's article repeats the same error that was identified by Martin and Terris. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on "Right-wing authoritarianism."

Canadian scholarship has recently been honoured in that Bob Altemeyer's book, Enemies of Freedom: Understanding Right wing authoritarianism (see record 1988-98419-000) received the 1988 prize for behavioural science research, awarded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The book has also received a number of favourable reviews. Ray feels that some comments on the limitations of the book are needed to balance the account, and submits that, in fact, the book is a complete failure as far as achieving what it set out to achieve is concerned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Adding legs to a snake": A reanalysis of motivation and the pursuit of happiness from a Zen Buddhist perspective.

Current theories of motivation provide insightful discussions of why people behave as they do. In addition, the research studies surrounding these theories provide insights that can help people move toward the goals of greater competence, autonomy, and relatedness. However, these theories cannot lead to realization of what is widely considered the most fundamental goal of humanity: underlying contentment. In this article, a Zen Buddhist perspective is presented that illuminates some problematic aspects of current theories of motivation. The article also presents the way in which Zen Buddhism avoids these problems and points toward contentment (whether linked to Buddhist doctrine or not). The article closes with educational implications of a Zen Buddhist perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A personal commentary on "schizophrenia as a brain disease."

Presents comments on D. L. Johnson's (see record 1989-29564-001) article on schizophrenia (SCZ) as a brain disease from the perspective of a person with SCZ. Johnson's focus on the medical disease model tends to exclude consideration of the sexual, psychological, environmental, educational, interpersonal, social, and cultural aspects of life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Testing" a relationship.

Given the fallibility of humans in their judgments of others, W. G. Dahlstrom (see record 1993-31800-001) made a convincing case for the use of reliable and valid tests in therapy. However, Dahlstrom was able to make contact with a female patient not necessarily because of the tests he used, but because of his approach and attitude. No test is more critical than the patient–therapist relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"I live in a large tree."

Briefly recounts the author's experience upon suffering a stroke and subsequent loss of coherent speech capability, and of the life-saving insight and resourcefulness shown by a U. S. West telephone operator. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on "Articulation of values."

This article clarifies several research issues raised in a recent article by Krieshok, Arnold, Kuperman, and Schmitz concerned with repertory grid methodology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Was McGraw a maturationist?": Reply.

Replies to T. C. Dalton's (see record 83:33646) commentary concerned with the labeling of M. B. McGraw as a maturationist as raised in Thelen's (see record 1995-20907-001) study on infant/child motor skill development. The issues raised by Thelen did not depend on whether McGraw was labeled a maturationist; what was evident in McGraw's work was a real tension between her manifest maturational theory on the one hand and her writings expressing the richness of the developmental process on the other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A "change-of-standard" perspective on the relations among context, judgment, and memory.

Conducted 3 studies that tested a "change-of-standard" perspective on the relations among context, judgment, and recall. Each study consisted of 2 or 3 sessions held a few days apart. All Ss read about the sentencing decisions of 1 or 2 target trial judges and of 6 nontarget trial judges who consistently gave either higher or lower sentences than the target judge(s). Each study varied both the standard that was available when Ss initially judged the sentencing decisions of a target judge and the standard available when subjects subsequently recalled those decisions. To accomplish this, we varied the context of judgment, the timing of judgment, and the overall category norm for trial judges' sentencing decisions that was available at recall. We found that although Ss had been exposed to the same target information and had initially judged it in the same way, their recall of the information was different depending on whether and how a change-of-standard had occurred between judgment and recall. Unique predictions of the change-of-standard perspective were confirmed that could not be accounted for in terms of other types of context effects on judgment and memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)