Comparative validity of two projective and two structured attitude tests in a prison population.

Which is better for assessing personality—structured or projective devices? "Attitude toward Home & Parents and Attitude toward Law & Justice of 79 prison inmates were each measured by a sentence completion test and a structured attitude test. As examined through a multitrait-multimethod matrix, these tests were found to validate each other quite satisfactorily. Insofar as the two measurement approaches differed at all in the efficacy with which they differentiated crime groups among the prisoners, the structured tests were slightly the better." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of the construct validity of two burnout measures in two groups of professionals.

The authors studied certain aspects of the construct validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS), the most popular measure of burnout, and that of the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM). These burnout measures were compared with respect to their psychometric characteristics and factorial validity in two groups of professionals, human service and other professionals (N=196 and 226, respectively), who completed questionnaires at work. As hypothesized, the confirmatory factor analyses supported a two-factor and a three-factor structure invariance across the two groups considered for the SMBM and the MBI-GS, respectively, with superior fit found for the SMBM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's internal representations, empathy and fantasy play: A validity study of the SCORS-Q.

The authors investigated relationships among internal representations, empathy, and affective and cognitive processes in fantasy play to test the validity of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale Q-Sort (SCORS--Q; D. Westen, 1995) with children. Eighty-six 8--10-year-olds were administered 8 Thematic Apperception Test cards, a standardized play task, and a self-report empathy measure. Teachers rated children's empathy and helpfulness. As predicted, internal representations were related to empathy, helpfulness, and quality of fantasy play. Developmental differences on the SCORS--Q were consistent with object relations theory and with results from the original SCORS. The findings support the value of internal representations as a means of understanding children's interpersonal functioning and contribute to the validity of the SCORS--Q for use with children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discriminant validity of well-being measures.

The convergent and discriminant validities of well-being concepts were examined using multitrait-multimethod matrix analyses (D. T. Campbell & D. W. Fiske, 1959) on 3 sets of data. In Study 1, participants completed measures of life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, self-esteem, and optimism on 2 occasions 4 weeks apart and also obtained 3 informant ratings. In Study 2, participants completed each of the 5 measures on 2 occasions 2 years apart and collected informant reports at Time 2. In Study 3, participants completed 2 different scales for each of the 5 constructs. Analyses showed that (a) life satisfaction is discriminable from positive and negative affect, (b) positive affect is discriminable from negative affect, (c) life satisfaction is discriminable from optimism and self-esteem, and (d) optimism is separable from trait measures of negative affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-report and projective measures of achievement and affiliation.

Projective (TAT) and direct self-report measures of achievement (n Ach) and affiliative motivation (n Aff) were compared as predictors of behavior in 2 studies with 67 and 80 Ss. For n Ach, there was no significant difference in the predictive validities of the 2 measures, but both measures together predicted better than either one alone. For n Aff, the projective measure was a better predictor than self-report for males, and there was an opposite tendency for females. For males who reported themselves as being revealing about themselves to others, self-report n Aff was correlated with affiliative behavior; for concealing males, the correlation was nonsignificant. Where self-reports were collected with instructions to fake responses, they were uncorrelated with behavior and with previous self-reports. There were no differences in self-reports taken in individual interviews or in a group setting. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Level validity of self-report whole-family measures.

This article introduces an approach to testing the level validity of family assessment instruments (i.e., whether a family instrument measures family functioning at the level of the system it purports to assess). Two parents and 2 adolescents in 69 families rated the warmth in each of their family relationships and in the family as a whole. Family members' ratings of whole-family warmth assessed family functioning not only at the family level (i.e., characteristics of the family as a whole) but also at the individual level of analysis (i.e., characteristics of family members as raters), indicating a lack of level validity. Evidence was provided for the level validity of a latent variable based on family members' ratings of whole-family warmth. The findings underscore the importance of assessing the level validity of individual ratings of whole-family functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stages of change in methadone maintenance: Assessing the convergent validity of two measures.

This study compared 2 alternate measures of stage of change as conceived by J. O. Prochaska and C. C. DiClemente (see record 1983-26480-001). A sample of 276 methadone maintenance patients completed both categorical and dimensional measures of stage of change regarding quitting illicit drug use. The categorical measure places participants into 1 of 5 stages based on their stated intentions regarding future illicit drug use. The University of Rhode Island Change Assessment scale (URICA) provides continuous scores on 4 stage-of-change scales. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the URICA's factor structure. The relationship between URICA scores and self-reported drug use was also assessed. Comparison of the URICA and the categorical measure using discriminant function analysis indicated limited convergence between the 2 measures and suggests that they may assess different aspects of readiness to change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between projective and direct measures of fear arousal.

The present study reports on the use of a projective measure which in 2 independent replications appeared to be a valid measure of level of induced fear, and which showed a high correlation (+.75) with a direct response scale. However, the data suggest that despite the magnitude of their relationship, the 2 measures are differentially sensitive to expressions of motivation which reflect the Ss' general style of defensive emotional response. Ss who reported themselves as being reticent in expressing their feelings of pain showed greater fear arousal on the projective measure than on the direct measure, while the opposite was true of Ss who reported that they were likely to express their pain to others (p     

Criterion validity of objective and projective dependency tests: A meta-analytic assessment of behavioral prediction.

A meta-analysis of published studies in which scores on objective (i.e., self-report) or projective measures of interpersonal dependency were used to predict some aspect of dependency-related behavior revealed that validity coefficients for projective tests (number of comparisons=32) were generally larger than validity coefficients for objective tests (number of comparisons=54). The relationships of setting in which data were collected, source of behavioral ratings, and participant classification method on observed test score–behavior correlations were also assessed. Implications of these findings for use of objective and projective dependency measures in clinical, laboratory, and field settings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression in children and adolescents: A comparative analysis of the utility and construct validity of two assessment measures.

The utility and construct validity of the Children's Depression Inventory and the youth version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale were examined. No significant grade, sex or race effects were obtained for either measure. Examination of convergent and discriminate validity for these measures revealed high correspondence with self-report measures of related constructs. Children's self-reports corresponded poorly with ratings by teachers or parents. Finally, the utility of recommended cutoff scores for identifying extreme groups of depressed children and adolescents was evaluated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the construct validity of open-field measures.

This article is a supplement to the summary by R. N. Walsh and R. A. Cummins (1976) of the current status of open-field measures of emotionality. The relevant factor-analytic and multifactor-experimental evidence is summarized. It is concluded that 3 lower order invariant factors underlie the 5 most extensively investigated open-field measures. Latency to move, locomotor activity, and penetration to the center are primarily indices of motor discharge. Open-field defecation is primarily an index of autonomic balance, and open-field urination is primarily an index of territorial marking. It is also concluded that the higher order factor of emotional stability is common to the 3 lower order factors. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's Rorschach object representations: Findings for a nonclinical sample.

Data are presented on the Mutuality of Autonomy (MOA) Scale for 40 preadolescent, normal Ss (21 girls, 19 boys). Ss gave modal responses indicative of benign interaction; counterbalanced maladaptive scores with adaptive representations in 90% of the cases; and avoided toxic, malevolent responses. This pattern lends further criterion validity to a measure increasingly used with psychiatric populations. Age and IQ were not significantly correlated with MOA scores. Pronounced gender differences were found, with girls producing significantly more adaptive and less malevolent MOA scores. A more detailed assessment of gender differences in object representational paradigms appears warranted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Malevolent object representations in borderline personality disorder and major depression.

To study malevolent representations, earliest memories were reliably coded on scales of affect tone. Ss were diagnosed with borderline personality disorder: 31 without and 30 with concurrent major depression. Nonborderline comparison Ss had either major depressive disorder (n?=?26) or no psychiatric diagnosis (n?=?30). Borderline Ss were discriminated from comparison Ss by their more malevolent representations; they more frequently produced memories involving deliberate injury, and they portrayed potential helpers as less helpful. Results suggest the diagnostic significance of malevolent representations, which need to be explained by any theory of borderline personality disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative validity of two measures of psychomotor function in patients with severe depression

Psychomotor function is a key construct in depressed patients and two measures have been developed for systematic rating. Parker and colleagues utilise an observer-rated scale (CORE) while the scale (DRRS) developed by Widl?cher assesses motor and ideational aspects. Association between the scales and their relative capacity to predict ECT response were investigated in a sample of 81 depressed patients. Both predicted ECT response. While the CORE scale rates a wider variety of phenomena (including non-interactiveness and agitation) and does not rely on the subject's capacity to report aspects of their cognitive function, the study supports the predictive and comparitive validity of both scales.     

A validity study of the Neural Efficiency Analyzer in relation to selected measures of intelligence

The hypothesis that physiognomic perception, rather than being an immature mode, characterizing, in particular, children, primitives, and schizophrenics, is, instead, a basic mode, was tested. Children of both Eastern and Western parentage in Grades 3, 5, 6, and 11 were given the Physiognomic Form Perception Test, an instrument specially developed for testing physiognimic perception. No decrease with age in such perception was noted. Although there was a tendency for scores to increase with age for girls of Eastern origin, in general the scores do not increase with age. Physiognomic perception is apparently not acquired. Sex differences were not significant.     

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)     

Construct validity of measures of college teaching effectiveness.

Compared evaluation form, student, colleague, trained observer, former student, and self-rating teacher assessments of 43 university instructors. Data show that student and former student ratings displayed substantially greater validity coefficients of teaching effectiveness than self-report, colleague, and trained observer ratings. Advantages of student rating techniques (i.e., greater exposure to instructor's teaching), various teaching assessment methods, and problems in the literature due to limitations of research approaches typically used are discussed. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-disclosure between friends: A validity study.

Required each member of 26 pairs of undergraduates and their friends to indicate on the Self-Disclosure Questionnaire the amount of personal information disclosed to his friend and the amount of information received. Results indicate considerable agreement as to the amount of information exchanged. Ss reported that they had disclosed approximately the same amount of information as they had received. The consensual validation of the amount of personal information exchanged between friends suggests that the Self-Disclosure Questionnaire is a valid measure of self-disclosure to a specific target person. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)