A psychometric study of the Adult Attachment Interview: Reliability and discriminant validity.

The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) stimulates Ss to retrieve and evaluate attachment-related autobiographical memories and has increasingly been used to predict the quality of parent–child interactions and infant–parent attachment relationships. Its reliability and discriminate validity, however, have not yet been examined. In this study, 83 mothers were interviewed twice, 2 mo apart, by different interviewers so that the instrument's test–retest reliability and potential interviewer effects can be evaluated. To examine the AAI's discriminate validity, tests were administered for autobiographical memory, intelligence, and social desirability. The reliability of the AAI classifications was quite high over time (78% on the level of the 3 main categories κ?=?.63) and across interviewers. The unresolved category was less stable. The AAI classifications turned out to be independent on non-attachement-related memory, verbal and performance intelligence, and social desirability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Child Attachment Interview: A psychometric study of reliability and discriminant validity.

While well-established attachment measures have been developed for infancy, early childhood, and adulthood, a measurement gap has been identified in middle childhood, where behavioral or representational measures are not yet sufficiently robust. This article documents the development of a new measure--the Child Attachment Interview (CAI)--which seeks to bridge this gap. The CAI is a semistructured interview, in which children are invited to describe their relationships with their primary caregivers. The coding system is informed by the Adult Attachment Interview and the Strange Situation Procedure, and produces 4 attachment categories along with a continuous measure of attachment security based on ratings of attachment-related dimensions. The main psychometric properties are presented, including interrater reliability, test-retest reliability, and concurrent and discriminant validities, both for normally developing children and for those referred for mental health treatment. The CAI correlates as expected with other attachment measures and predicts independently collected ratings of social functioning. The findings suggest that the CAI is a reliable, valid, and promising measure of child-parent attachment in middle childhood. Directions for improvements to the coding system are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student ratings: The validity of use.

In this article, the author discusses the other articles in this Current Issues section (see records 85-00210, 00217, 00208, 00211) and concludes that all of the authors agree that student ratings are valid but that contextual variables such as grading leniency can affect the level of ratings. The authors disagree about the wisdom of applying statistical corrections for such contextual influences. This article argues that the problem lies neither in the ratings nor in the correction but rather in the lack of sophistication of personnel committees who use the ratings. Thus, more attention should be directed toward methods of ensuring more valid use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability and discriminant validity of the Adult Attachment Interview: A psychometric study in young Israeli adults.

59 male and female Israeli students were interviewed twice by 2 different interviewers at 3 mo intervals to assess the Adult Attachment Interview's (AAI; C. George et al, 1985) test–retest reliability and the effects of the interviewers on the interview itself as well as its subsequent classification. Various memory measures were used to obtain a wide range of information about Ss' memory abilities. Information was also obtained from the students' records about various intelligence-related skills. Results showed high degree of interjudge and test–retest reliabilities, irrespective of interviewers. The classifications on the AAI were not found to be associated with nonattachment-related memory and intelligence abilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Smoking outcome expectancies: Factor structure, predictive validity, and discriminant validity.

Recent models of addiction posit that drug outcome expectancies are influential determinants of drug use. The current research examines the dimensional structure, predictive validity, and discriminant validity of expectancies for cigarette smoking in a prospective study. There was a good fit between the factor structure of the Smoking Consequences Questionnaire and the observed data. In addition, the internal consistency of each scale was satisfactory. Moreover, there was considerable evidence for the predictive and discriminant validity of expectancies. Expectancies of positive outcomes (positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and appetite-weight control) predicted withdrawal severity. Negative reinforcement expectancies and expectancies of negative consequences predicted cessation success. Predictive relations remained significant after controlling for related constructs: negative affect, stress, and dependence measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Convergent and discriminant validity of five classroom observation systems: A secondary analysis.

Reanalyzed data from a study by G. D. Borich et al (see record 1979-09731-001) in which (a) the convergent and discriminant validity of behavioral measures obtained from 5 classroom observation systems was evaluated and (b) evidence of construct validity was found for only approximately half of the behaviors. Five behaviors thought common to all 5 observation systems were identified by the present authors: approves/praises, asks questions, criticizes/disapproves, gives directions, and presents facts or judgments. Scores for each behavior-system variable were intercorrelated and arranged in a single multitrait-multimethod matrix. Application of D. T. Campbell and D. W. Fiske's (1959) criteria and a multimethod factor analysis provided evidence of construct validity for all behaviors examined. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Convergent and discriminant validity of selected assertiveness measures.

Used D. T. Campbell and D. W. Fiske's (see record 1976-20103-001) multitrait-multimethod design and D. N. Jackson's (see record 1976-00077-001) multimethod factor analysis to investigate the convergent and discriminant validity of selected assertiveness measures as compared with those of aggression and dominance. The selected assertiveness measures were the College Self-Expression Scale (J. P. Galassi et al; see record 1974-30156-001), the Wolpe-Lazarus Assertiveness Questionnaire (J. Wolpe and A. Lazarus, 1966), and global self-ratings of assertiveness. 159 undergraduates served as Ss. Results provide strong support for the convergent and discriminant validity of the assertiveness measures. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sociometric ratings as predictors of academic performance.

An experiment to determine the degree of accuracy with which sociometric ratings can be used to predict academic performance. A 14-item sociometric questionnaire was administered to 86 students before any academic grades were available. 2 rating measures, one emphasizing future job performance and the other dealing with personal adjustment, were found to be significantly related to academic performance (r = .40, p     

Trait validity of airline stewardess performance ratings.

Correlated performance ratings obtained at various decision points in the career of 121 airline stewardesses with ability and motive scores on the Project TALENT test battery to illustrate a method of assessing trait evaluations of employees or potential employees. Although the trait validity was low, training and on-the-job performance ratings of stewardesses did reflect knowledge of etiquette and typical high school behavior characterized by sociability. The method also illuminated aspects of the interviewer ratings and termination data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Convergent and discriminant validity of personality disorder prototypic acts.

The diagnosis of personality disorders is problematic, largely because of low interrater reliability. One proposal has been to increase the behavioral specificity of the diagnostic criteria by using prototypic acts. However, the methodology by which prototypic acts have been selected has relied solely on face validity. The convergent and discriminant validity of prototypic acts for the schizoid, histrionic, and obsessive–compulsive personality disorders was assessed in this study, using a sample of patients who were diagnosed with personality disorder symptomatology after a semistructured interview. It was demonstrated that some acts might indeed be useful as either inclusion or exclusion criteria but that others lacked convergent and/or discriminant validity. The results are discussed regarding the limitations of prototypic acts and the methodology by which they are developed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence.

Two studies with 399 university students provide methodological refinement in the measurement of loneliness. Study 1 presents a revised version of the self-report UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Loneliness Scale, designed to counter the possible effects of response bias in the original scale, and reports concurrent validity evidence for the revised measure. Results of Study 2 demonstrate that although loneliness is correlated with measures of negative affect, social risk taking, and affiliative tendencies, it is nonetheless a distinct psychological experience. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The convergent and discriminant validity of subjective fit perceptions.

This study examined whether employees develop perceptions about 3 different types of fit: person-organization fit, needs-supplies fit, and demands-abilities fit. Confirmatory factor analyses of data from 2 different samples strongly suggested that employees differentiate between these 3 types of fit. Furthermore, results from a longitudinal design of 187 managers supported both the convergent and discriminant validity of the different types of fit perceptions. Specifically, person-organization fit perceptions were related to organization-focused outcomes (e.g., organizational identification, citizenship behaviors, turnover decisions), whereas needs-supplies fit perceptions were related to job- and career-focused outcomes (e.g., job satisfaction, career satisfaction, occupational commitment). Although demands-abilities fit perceptions emerged as a distinct construct, they were not related to hypothesized outcomes (e.g., job performance, raises). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maximizing the discriminant validity of phallometric assessment data.

Independent data sets from phallometric assessment studies were analyzed to examine methods of maximizing the discriminant validity of phallometric testing. Community volunteers and non-sex-offender patients were compared with rapists and child molesters recruited primarily from a maximum security psychiatric institution. The results indicate that the discriminant validity of phallometric assessment was enhanced by the use of (1) z (rather than raw) scores to compensate for individual differences in responsivity, (2) deviance indexes (computed by calculating the difference in responsivity between deviant and nondeviant stimuli) rather than responses to deviant categories alone, (3) stimuli depicting brutal sexual coercion, and (4) pubescent stimuli for assessing sexual age preferences. Discriminant validity was unimpaired by including Ss with low levels of response. The implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Invariance and convergent and discriminant validity between mothers' and fathers' ratings of oppositional defiant disorder toward adults, ADHD-HI, ADHD-IN, and academic competence factors within Brazilian, Thai, and American children.

Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the invariance of an oppositional defiant disorder toward adults, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-hyperactivity/impulsivity, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-inattention, and an Academic Competence factor model between mothers' and fathers' ratings within Brazilian (n = 894), Thai (n = 2,075), and American (n = 817) children with the Child and Adolescent Disruptive Behavior Inventory (G. L. Burns, T. Taylor, & J. Rusby, 2001a, 2001b). The results showed invariance of item loadings, intercepts, and residuals, as well as factor variances, covariances, and means between mothers' and fathers' ratings within each sample. Convergent and discriminant validity was also observed for the between-parent factor correlations, thus providing additional support for the construct validity of the Child and Adolescent Disruptive Behavior Inventory. The confirmatory factor analysis invariance procedure provides a much better way to examine between-source ratings of behavior problems in children than do the simple correlation and raw discrepancy score procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reputation, halo, and ratings of counseling programs.

Tested the hypothesis that previous ratings of programs in psychology reflect both an experimental psychology and general institutional halo bias. A questionnaire similar to one used in an earlier study of graduate programs by H. D. Roose and C. J. Andersen (1970) was used to survey the responses of 598 professionals in the field of counseling psychology. Respondents were furnished with a listing of 70 doctoral programs in counseling psychology and other closely related programs and were asked to rate each of the programs. It was found that applied programs in counseling psychology received ratings that differed from overall ratings of psychology in general. Programs ranked as strong, good, and adequate are listed. Ratings were related to institutional halo, program age, rater knowledge of program, geographic location, and approved status by the American Psychological Association. Implications for program evaluation are discussed, and users of reputational ratings are cautioned about the need for supplemental information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further evidence for the validity of assessment center dimensions: A meta-analysis of the incremental criterion-related validity of dimension ratings.

This study investigates the incremental variance in job performance explained by assessment center (AC) dimensions over and above personality and cognitive ability. The authors extend previous research by using meta-analysis to examine the relationships between AC dimensions, personality, cognitive ability, and job performance. The results indicate that the 7 summary AC dimensions postulated by W. Arthur, Jr., E. A. Day, T. L. McNelly, & P. S. Edens (2003) are distinguishable from popular individual difference constructs and explain a sizeable proportion of variance in job performance beyond cognitive ability and personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of cohesion and adaptability in component family dyads: A question of convergent and discriminant validity.

In the assessment of family cohesion and adaptability, researchers typically overlook the possibility that different components of the family may be more cohesive or adaptable than others. This potential problem is often compounded by monomethodism, reliance on a single source of information. Using a multitrait-mutimethod approach, we obtained three measures of cohesion and adaptability in three component dyads of relatively healthy families. Mothers, fathers, and college students reported about cohesion and adaptability in the mother–student, father–student, and mother–father relationships. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we found significant differences in the convergent validities of mothers', fathers', and students' reports. Furthermore, significant differences emerged among the correlations between mother–father, mother–student, and father–student cohesion (and adaptability), which suggests that noteworthy differences exist between family subsystems on these constructs. Implications for assessment strategies in marital and family counseling are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of an audiovisual taxonomy of pain behavior: Reliability and discriminant validity.

Developed a pain behavior taxonomy derived from patients', spouses', and health care providers' nominations of pain behaviors. 71 chronic low back pain patients and 40 controls (Ss' mean age 38.25 yrs) were videotaped while undergoing a sequence of movements involving sitting, standing, walking, bending, and exercising, and a brief standardized interview component. Two observers rated each S's videotape employing a 16-category observational rating system that included verbal and nonverbal pain behaviors. Seven of the pain behavior categories, including guarding, bracing, position shifts, partial movement, grimacing, limitation statements, and sounds, had acceptable reliabilities and frequencies and were selected for inclusion in a discriminant analysis. Ss were randomly divided into 2 groups, and analysis on the 1st subsample indicated that partial movement, limitation statements, sounds, and position shifts accounted for 75% of the variance in group membership and correctly classified 94.4% of the patients and 95.2% of the controls. On cross-validation, the same 4 categories identified in the initial discriminant function correctly classified 88.9% of the Ss in the 2nd subsample. The utility of this pain behavior observational recording system is discussed in reference to both patient assessment and treatment outcome research. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Convergent and discriminant validity of measures of cognitive styles and abilities.

Used 10 measures (e.g., Group Embedded Figures Test, Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices) that yielded 15 scores representing the following constructs: analytic style, global style, analytic ability, global ability, and general spatial ability. 50 undergraduates participated. In a factor analysis, the ability measures formed an ability factor, but the stylistic measures failed to converge and formed 4 factors. The Group Embedded Figures Test correlated significantly with the ability measures, but with only 1 of the 2 analytic measures, and it failed to correlate negatively with any global style measure. Most Ss preferred an analytic approach. Results indicate that present field dependence–independence measures are best interpreted as ability tests rather than measures of a cognitive style. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment center validity: A longitudinal study.

Data on 254 managers attending an assessment center were examined for changes in validities over time. 24 predictors were correlated with a criterion of salary growth measured 1, 3, and 5 yrs after Ss were assessed. Before conducting the analyses, Ss were grouped into 3 generations based on the year they were assessed. Peer and assessor ratings, along with linear combinations, were significantly correlated with the criterion. The multiple correlations generalized well across time and generations. A general increasing trend in the validity coefficients was noted over time. Comparison of overall assessor rating with multiple correlation did not indicate any marked superiority for actuarial prediction. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)