The Centrality of the Response Process in Construct Validity: An Illustration via the Rorschach Space Response

Recently, psychologists have emphasized the response process—that is, the psychological operations and behaviors that lead to test scores—when designing psychological tests, interpreting their results, and refining their validity. To illustrate the centrality of the response process in construct validity and test interpretation, we provide a historical, conceptual, and empirical review of the main uses of the background white space of the Rorschach cards, called space reversal (SR) and space integration (SI) in the Rorschach Performance Assessment System. We show how SR and SI's unique response processes result in different interpretations, and that reviewing their literatures with these distinct interpretations in mind produces the expected patterns of convergent and discriminant validity. That is, SR was uniquely related to measures of oppositionality; SI was uniquely related to measures of cognitive complexity; and both SR and SI were related to measures of creativity. Our review further suggests that the Comprehensive System use of a single space code for all uses of white space likely led to its lack of meta-analytic support as a measure of oppositionality (Mihura, Meyer, Dumitrascu, &; Bombel, 2013 *Mihura, J. L., Meyer, G. J., Dumitrascu, N., &; Bombel, G. (2013). The validity of individual Rorschach variables: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the Comprehensive System. Psychological Bulletin, 139, 548–605. doi:10.1037/a0029406[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We close by discussing the use of the response process to improve test interpretation, develop better measures, and advance the design of research.     

The Impact of R-Optimized Administration Modeling Procedures on Brazilian Normative Reference Values for Rorschach Scores

To generate normative reference data for the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R–PAS), modeling procedures were developed to convert the distribution of responses (R) in protocols obtained using Comprehensive System (CS; Exner 2003 Exner, J. E. (2003). The Rorschach: A Comprehensive System. Vol. 1. Basic foundations (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. [Google Scholar]) administration guidelines to match the distribution of R in protocols obtained using R-Optimized Administration (Meyer, Viglione, Mihura, Erard, &; Erdberg, 2011 Meyer, G. J., Viglione, D. J., Mihura, J. L., Erard, R. E., &; Erdberg, P. (2011). Rorschach Performance Assessment System: administration, coding, interpretation, and technical manual. Toledo, OH: Rorschach Performance Assessment System. [Google Scholar]). This study replicates the R–PAS study, examining the impact of modeling R-Optimized Administration on Brazilian normative reference values by comparing a sample of 746 CS administered protocols to its counterpart sample of 343 records modeled to match R-Optimized Administration. The results were strongly consistent with the R–PAS findings, showing the modeled records had a slightly higher mean R and, secondarily, slightly higher means for Complexity and V-Comp, as well as smaller standard deviations for R, Complexity, and R8910%. We also observed 5 other small differences not observed in the R–PAS study. However, when comparing effect sizes for the differences in means and standard deviations observed in this study to the differences found in the R–PAS study, the results were virtually identical. These findings suggest that using R-Optimized Administration in Brazil might produce normative results that are similar to traditional CS norms for Brazil and similar to the international norms used in R–PAS.     

Calibrated Bayes Factors Should Not Be Used: A Reply to Hoijtink,van Kooten,and Hulsker

Hoijtink, Kooten, and Hulsker (2016 Hoijtink, H., van Kooten, P., &; Hulsker, K. (2016). Why Bayesian psychologists should change the way they use the Bayes factor. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 51, 1--9. doi: 10.1080/00273171.2014.969364.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) present a method for choosing the prior distribution for an analysis with Bayes factor that is based on controlling error rates, which they advocate as an alternative to our more subjective methods (Morey &; Rouder, 2014 Morey, R.D., &; Rouder, J.N. (2014). Bayesfactor: Computation of Bayes factors for common designs. R package version 0.9.9. Retrieved from http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=BayesFactor [Google Scholar]; Rouder, Speckman, Sun, Morey, &; Iverson, 2009 Rouder, J.N., Speckman, P.L., Sun, D., Morey, R.D., &; Iverson, G. (2009). Bayesian t-tests for accepting and rejecting the null hypothesis. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 16, 225–237. doi: 10.3758/PBR.16.2.225[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Wagenmakers, Wetzels, Borsboom, &; van der Maas, 2011 Wagenmakers, E.-J., Wetzels, R., Borsboom, D., &; van der Maas, H. (2011). Why psychologists must change the way they analyze their data: The case of psi. A comment on Bem (2011). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 426–432. doi: 10.1037/a0022790[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We show that the method they advocate amounts to a simple significance test, and that the resulting Bayes factors are not interpretable. Additionally, their method fails in common circumstances, and has the potential to yield arbitrarily high Type II error rates. After critiquing their method, we outline the position on subjectivity that underlies our advocacy of Bayes factors.     

An Interrater Reliability Study of Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R–PAS) Raw and Complexity-Adjusted Scores

Recently, the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R–PAS; Meyer, Viglione, Mihura, Erard, &; Erdberg, 2011 Meyer, G. J., Viglione, D. J., Mihura, J. L., Erard, R. E., &; Erdberg, P. (2011). A manual for the Rorschach Performance Assessment System. Toledo, OH: R–PAS. [Google Scholar]) was introduced to overcome some possible limitations of the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003 Exner, J. E. (2003). The Rorschach: A comprehensive system. Vol. 1: Basic foundations and principles of interpretation (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. [Google Scholar]) while continuing its efforts to link Rorschach inferences to their evidence base. An important, technical modification to the scoring system is that R–PAS interpretations are based on both standard scores and complexity-adjusted scores. Two previous U.S. studies reported good to excellent interrater reliability (IRR) for the great majority of R–PAS variables; however, IRR of complexity-adjusted scores has never been investigated. Furthermore, no studies have yet investigated R–PAS IRR in Europe. To extend this literature, we examined R–PAS IRR of Page 1 and Page 2 raw and complexity-adjusted scores with 112 Italian Rorschach protocols. We collected a large sample of both clinical and nonclinical Rorschach protocols, each of which was coded separately by 2 independent raters. Results demonstrated a mean intraclass correlation of .78 (SD = .14) for raw scores and.74 (SD = .14) for complexity-adjusted scores. Overall, for both raw and complexity-adjusted values, most of the variables were characterized by good to excellent IRR.     

Boundary Disturbances Revisited: An Application With an Apperception Test

A Rorschach study of boundary disturbance and thought disorder by Blatt and Ritzler (1974 Blatt, S., &; Ritzler, B. (1974). Thought disorder and boundary disturbances in psychosis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 370–381.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) was replicated using the newly developed Picture Projection Test (PPT), a modern alternative to the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). Twenty-five individuals with pathological Rorschach records were compared to 25 individuals with nonpathological Rorschachs. A coding system for the PPT was devised using concepts from the Blatt and Ritzler study and Rorschach thought disorder variables from the Comprehensive System (Exner, 2003 Exner, J. (2003). The Rorschach: A comprehensive system. Vol. I. Basic foundations and principles of interpretation (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. [Google Scholar]). The pathological group showed significantly more boundary disturbance on the PPT. Only one Contamination (the most severe manifestation of boundary disturbance and thought disorder) appeared in the pathological group. The nonpathological group had no Contamination responses. It is recommended that future researchers repeat the study with a psychotic group compared to a nonpsychotic group.     

Examining Current Conceptualizations of Psychopathology With the MMPI–2/MMPI–2–RF Restructured Clinical Scales: Preliminary Findings From a Cross-Cultural Study

Watson (2005 Watson, D. (2005). Rethinking the mood and anxiety disorders: A quantitative hierarchical model for DSM–V. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114, 522–536.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) proposed a hierarchical reorganization of the underlying structure of emotional disorders. This study cross-culturally evaluated Watson's (2005) structure of mood and anxiety disorders, using mainly dichotomous criteria, and explored the placement of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) in this model. It also tested Sellbom, Ben-Porath, and Bagby's (2008) proposed elaboration of the 2-factor model (positive and negative activation) that incorporates a higher order dimension of demoralization. One hundred men and 133 women from psychiatric settings in Israel completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (Butcher et al., 2001 Butcher, J. N., Graham, J. R., Ben-Porath, Y. S., Tellegen, A., Dahlstrom, W. G., &; Kaemmer, B. (2001). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI–2): Manual for administration, scoring and interpretation (Rev. ed.). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) and the Maudsley Obsessional–Compulsive Inventory (Hodgson &; Rachman, 1977 Hodgson, R. J., &; Rachman, S. (1977). Obsessive–compulsive complaints. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 15, 389–395.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). They were interviewed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (Sheehan et al., 1998 Sheehan, D. V., Lecrubier, Y., Sheehan, K. H., Amorim, P., Janavs, J., &; Weiller, E. (1998). The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.): The development and validation of a structured diagnostic psychiatric interview for DSM–IV and ICD–10. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 59, 22–33.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Confirmatory factor analyses replicated Watson's structure for women but not for men. Mixed results were obtained regarding OCD's location in the model. Findings among women support the applicability of Watson's (2005) model across a variety of assessment modalities, as well as in a different language and for diversified cultural backgrounds. This conclusion, however, should be tempered in consideration of the results among men. Findings also provide evidence of the importance of demoralization in mood and anxiety disorders.     

The Structure of Multidimensional Perfectionism: Support for a Bifactor Model With a Dominant General Factor

Evidence suggests perfectionism is a multidimensional construct composed of 2 higher order factors: perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. However, the substantial overlap between perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns is problematic, as are the unanswered questions regarding the structure of perfectionism following removal of common variance. This research addressed this through bifactor modeling. Three student samples (N = 742) completed Hewitt and Flett's (1991 Hewitt, P. L., &; Flett, G. L. (1991). Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 456.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, Frost, Marten, Lahart, and Rosenblate's (1990 Frost, R. O., Marten, P., Lahart, C., &; Rosenblate, R. (1990). The dimensions of perfectionism. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14, 449–468.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, and Slaney, Rice, Mobley, Trippi, and Ashby's (2001 Slaney, R. B., Rice, K. G., Mobley, M., Trippi, J., &; Ashby, J. S. (2001). The revised almost perfect scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 34, 130–145.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) Almost Perfect Scale–Revised. Greater support was consistently found for the bifactor model, relative to the 2-factor model. Results suggest the bifactor model best represents the structure of perfectionism and provide preliminary support for the use of a general factor score. Researchers are cautioned that removal of general variance may render the reliability of specific factors (i.e., perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns) suspect.     

Potential Projective Material on the Rorschach: Comparing Comprehensive System Protocols to Their Modeled R-Optimized Administration Counterparts

Exner (1989 Exner, J. E. (1989). Searching for projection in the Rorschach. Journal of Personality Assessment, 53, 520–536.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Weiner (2003 Weiner, I. B. (2003). Principles of Rorschach interpretation (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. [Google Scholar]) identified 3 types of Rorschach codes that are most likely to contain personally relevant projective material: Distortions, Movement, and Embellishments. We examine how often these types of codes occur in normative data and whether their frequency changes for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or last response to a card. We also examine the impact on these variables of the Rorschach Performance Assessment System's (R–PAS) statistical modeling procedures that convert the distribution of responses (R) from Comprehensive System (CS) administered protocols to match the distribution of R found in protocols obtained using R-optimized administration guidelines. In 2 normative reference databases, the results indicated that about 40% of responses (M = 39.25) have 1 type of code, 15% have 2 types, and 1.5% have all 3 types, with frequencies not changing by response number. In addition, there were no mean differences in the original CS and R-optimized modeled records (M Cohen's d = –0.04 in both databases). When considered alongside findings showing minimal differences between the protocols of people randomly assigned to CS or R-optimized administration, the data suggest R-optimized administration should not alter the extent to which potential projective material is present in a Rorschach protocol.     

Amplitude and Width Manipulations in Fitts' Paradigm: Comment on Heath et al. (2011) and Heath et al. (2016)

Heath, Weiler, Marriott, Elliott, and Binstead (2011 Heath, M., Weiler, J., Marriott, K. A., Elliott, D., &; Binstead, G. (2011). Revisiting Fitts and Peterson (1964): Width and Amplitude manipulations to the reaching environment elicit dissociable movement times. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 65, 259–268.1.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Heath, Samani, Tremblay, and Elliott (2016 Heath, M., Samani, A., Tremblay, L., &; Elliott, D. (2016). Fitts' theorem in oculomotor control: Dissociable movement times for amplitude and width manipulations. Journal of Motor Behavior, 48, 489–499.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) have claimed that there are dissociable movement times for amplitude and width manipulations in the Fitts' paradigm. This may to some extent be true, but the Heath et al. (2011 Heath, M., Weiler, J., Marriott, K. A., Elliott, D., &; Binstead, G. (2011). Revisiting Fitts and Peterson (1964): Width and Amplitude manipulations to the reaching environment elicit dissociable movement times. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 65, 259–268.1.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Heath et al. (2016 Heath, M., Samani, A., Tremblay, L., &; Elliott, D. (2016). Fitts' theorem in oculomotor control: Dissociable movement times for amplitude and width manipulations. Journal of Motor Behavior, 48, 489–499.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) data do not support that contention, as shown in this comment. It is shown that data from the research of Heath et al. is not in the range of index of difficulty where ongoing visual control would be used and hence their fits of data to Fitts' law are spurious. The data of Heath et al. (2011 Heath, M., Weiler, J., Marriott, K. A., Elliott, D., &; Binstead, G. (2011). Revisiting Fitts and Peterson (1964): Width and Amplitude manipulations to the reaching environment elicit dissociable movement times. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 65, 259–268.1.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) for arm movements and for the primary eye saccade submovements of Heath et al. (2016 Heath, M., Samani, A., Tremblay, L., &; Elliott, D. (2016). Fitts' theorem in oculomotor control: Dissociable movement times for amplitude and width manipulations. Journal of Motor Behavior, 48, 489–499.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) are well correlated by the ballistic movement time equation of Hoffmann (1981 Hoffmann, E. R. (1981). An ergonomic approach to predetermined motion time systems. Proceedings of the 9th National Conference of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, Australia, 30–47. [Google Scholar]) and Gan and Hoffmann (1988 Gan, K.-C. &; Hoffmann, E. R. (1988). Geometrical conditions for ballistic and visually controlled movements. Ergonomics, 31, 829–839.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). When the ballistic equation is used to model data for constant amplitude and constant target width conditions, the effects of the amplitude and width manipulations disappear. Other research indicates that the independent effects of movement amplitude occur due to changes in the time for the distance-covering phase of the movement.     

Introducing a Bayesian Approach to Determining Degree of Fit With Existing Rorschach Norms

This article offers a new methodological approach to investigate the degree of fit between an independent sample and 2 existing sets of norms. Specifically, with a new adaptation of a Bayesian method, we developed a user-friendly procedure to compare the mean values of a given sample to those of 2 different sets of Rorschach norms. To illustrate our technique, we used a small, U.S. community sample of 80 adults and tested whether it resembled more closely the standard Comprehensive System norms (CS 600; Exner, 2003), or a recently introduced, internationally based set of Rorschach norms (Meyer, Erdberg, & Shaffer, 2007 Meyer, G. J., Erdberg, P., & Shaffer, T. W. (2007). Toward international normative reference data for the Comprehensive System. Journal of Personality Assessment, 89(Suppl. 1), S201–S216.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Strengths and limitations of this new statistical technique are discussed.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Autistic Traits and Body Image,Body Satisfaction,and Body Competence

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been linked to bodily disorders (anorexia nervosa, obesity), and individuals with ASD are known to experience unique bodily states (e.g., exaggerated interoceptive sensitivity). Though there is evidence to suggest body variables may significantly impact quality of life in those with ASD, research has yet to examine the potential relationship between ASD and body image variables, that is, the evaluation of one's body. The present study examined 80 healthy college students (40 male, 40 female) who completed an online set of questionnaires regarding body image and satisfaction, body competency, depression, anxiety, and autistic traits (Autism Spectrum Quotient, or AQ) (Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Skinner, Martin, &; Clubley, 2001 Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Skinner, R., Martin, J., &; Clubley, E. (2001). The autism spectrum quotient (AQ): Evidence from asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists, and mathematicians. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 31, 5–17.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Of primary interest was whether AQ scores, gender, and the interaction between AQ scores and gender could successfully predict participants' scores on body image, satisfaction, and competency scales. Autistic traits were only a significant predictor of scores on one measure of momentary body image and satisfaction (Body Image States Scale: Cash et al., 2002 Cash, T. F., Fleming, E. C., Alindogan, J., Steadman, L., &; Whitehead, A. (2002). Beyond body image as a trait: The development and validation of the body image states scale. Eating Disorders, 10, 103–113. https://doi.org/10.1080/10640260290081678[Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). However, our results did suggest the possibility of an interaction between gender and AQ scores in predicting reports of body image, satisfaction, and competency.     

Computer Scoring of Emotional Awareness in a Nonclinical Population of Young Adults

The Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS; Lane, Quinlan, Schwartz, Walker, &; Zeitlin, 1990 Lane, R. D., Quinlan, D. M., Schwartz, G. E., Walker, P. A., &; Zeitlin, S. B. (1990). The Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale: A cognitive-developmental measure of emotion. Journal of Personality Assessment, 55, 124–134. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa5501&;2_12[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) is an open-ended measure of the ability to describe emotional reactions. Scoring the LEAS by hand is complex and time consuming (Barchard, Bajgar, Leaf, &; Lane, 2010 Barchard, K. A., Bajgar, J., Leaf, D. E., &; Lane, R. D. (2010). Computer scoring of the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale. Behavior Research Methods, 42, 586–595. doi:10.3758/BRM.42.2.586[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Therefore, Program for Open-Ended Scoring (POES; Leaf &; Barchard, 2010 Leaf, D. E., &; Barchard, K. A. (2010). Program for Open-Ended Scoring [POES] version 1.4.1 [Unpublished program]. Available from Kim Barchard, Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV, 89154–5030, kim.barchard@unlv.edu [Google Scholar]) was designed to score the LEAS quickly and easily. Using 268 undergraduates, this article compares traditional LEAS hand scoring to 6 POES methods, 2 of which are holistic methods that have never before been examined. Based on split-half reliability, correlations with measures of emotional and social intelligence, and partial correlations once response length and vocabulary were partialed out, we recommend 3 of the POES methods when testing nonclinical samples of young adults. Because POES scoring is fast and efficient, it allows more researchers and clinicians to use the LEAS, thus moving away from self-report measures of emotional awareness.     

Mapping the MMPI–2/MMPI–2–RF Restructured Clinical Scales Onto Mood Markers in an Israeli Sample

This study cross-culturally evaluated the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2/MMPI–2 Restructured Form (MMPI–2/MMPI–2–RF) emotion-focused Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales to examine whether their patterns of associations with positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) are as expected based on Tellegen, Watson, and Clark's (1999a Tellegen, A., Watson, D., &; Clark, L. A. (1999a). Further support for a hierarchical model of affect. Psychological Science, 10, 307–309.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 1999b Tellegen, A., Watson, D., &; Clark, L. A. (1999b). On the dimensional and hierarchical structure of affect. Psychological Science, 10, 297–303.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) mood model. The sample was composed of 100 men and 133 women from psychiatric settings in Israel who completed the MMPI–2 and the Mood Check List (MCL; Zevon &; Tellegen, 1982 Zevon, M. A., &; Tellegen, A. (1982). The structure of mood change: An idiographic/nomothetic analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 111–122.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Results indicated that RCd was substantially correlated with both PA and NA in opposite directions, and that RC2 and RC7 were more highly correlated with PA and NA, respectively. Further, when compared with their Clinical Scale counterparts, RC2 and RC7 exhibited comparable convergent validities and improved discriminant properties. Findings provide support for Tellegen et al.'s (2003 Tellegen, A., Ben-Porath, Y. S., McNulty, J. L., Arbisi, P. A., Graham, J. R., &; Kaemmer, B. (2003). MMPI–2 Restructured Clinical (RC) scales: Development, validation, and interpretation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [Google Scholar]) goal to link the RC scales to contemporary conceptualizations of mood.     

Incarcerated Violent Offenders' Ability to Avoid Revealing Their Potential for Violence on the Rorschach and the MMPI–2

Recently, Hartmann and Hartmann (2014) Hartmann, E., &; Hartmann, T. (2014): The impact of exposure to Internet-based information about the Rorschach and the MMPI–2 on psychiatric outpatients' ability to simulate mentally healthy test performance, Journal of Personality Assessment, 96, 432–444. doi:10.1080/00223891.2014.882342.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] found that psychiatric outpatients, both with and without access to Internet-based information about the Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM; Weiner, 2003 Weiner, I. B. (2003). Principles of Rorschach interpretations (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. [Google Scholar]) and the MMPI–2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, &; Kaemmer, 1989 Butcher, J. N., Dahlstrom, W. G., Graham, J. R., Tellegen, A., &; Kaemmer, B. (1989). Manual for the Restandardized Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory: MMPI–2. An administration and interpretive guide. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [Google Scholar]), were unable to imitate healthy test performance on these tests. We replicated the study by administering the RIM and the MMPI–2 to 63 incarcerated violent offenders using similar testing conditions. As in the previous study, comparisons were made not only among the 3 subgroups of incarcerated offenders, but also between these offender groups and the group of nonpatients examined in the previous study. On the RIM, Internet-coached and uncoached “faking good” offenders produced records with significantly higher F% and X–% and significantly lower M, m, SumC, X+%, P, AG, and COP than nonoffenders under standard instructions (effect sizes between d = 0.24 and d = 2.39). For AgC, AgPot, AgPast, and TCI% there were no significant differences between the faking offenders and the nonoffenders under standard instructions. On the MMPI–2 clinical scales, there were no significant differences between the faking good groups and the nonoffenders under standard instructions, except on Hs, Pd, and Sc. Both faking groups were identifiable by their high L scale scores. Although both faking groups managed to avoid giving responses with aggressive and generally psychopathological content on the RIM, they were unable to produce test profiles demonstrating healthy test performance on any of the tests; nevertheless, Internet-based test information might weaken test validity.     

Grit Happens: Moderating Effects on Motivational Feedback and Sport Performance

Research on motivational climates within athletics has focused on mastery and ego achievement approaches, yielding different psychological consequences (Smith, Smoll, &; Cumming, 2007 Smith, R. E., Smoll, F. L., &; Cumming, S. P. (2007). Effects of a motivational climate intervention for coaches on young athletes' sport performance anxiety. Journal of Sport &; Exercise Psychology, 29, 39–59.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Further, the motivational climate may interact with athletes' trait characteristics, such as grit, resulting in different outcomes. Grit may alter athletes' experience of the motivational climate by helping them remain oriented to their long-term quest in sport (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, &; Kelly, 2007 Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., &; Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1087–1101. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). However, to date, the impact of these motivational climates and potential moderating factors on athlete performance remains in question, as the research utilizing objective measures of athletic performance is limited (Harwood, Keegan, Smith, &; Raine, 2015 Harwood, C. G., Keegan, R. J., Smith, J. M., &; Raine, A. S. (2015). A systematic review of the intrapersonal correlates of motivational climate perceptions in sport and physical activity. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 18, 9–25. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2014.11.005[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We used a motivational research paradigm (e.g., Mueller &; Dweck, 1998 Mueller, C. M., &; Dweck, C. S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children's motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 33–52. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.75.1.33[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to examine the effects of mastery- or ego-involving feedback on 71 high school adolescent soccer players' (M_age = 15.81) performance on a kicking task. Then we explored the potential moderating effects of grit on the relationship between motivational feedback and the athletes' performance, desire to persist, and choice of task difficulty on a soccer task. Athletes performed significantly better receiving mastery- as opposed to ego-involving feedback. Further, grit was a significant moderator of the feedback-shooting performance relationship, accounting for 3.9% of variance. Simple slopes analysis revealed a significant effect for low (B = 13.32, SE_b = 4.44, p =.004, t = 2.99), but not high (B = 2.11, SE_b = 4.31, p =.63, t = 0.49), grit on task performance. These results suggest that the feedback athletes receive matters, especially for those low in grit.     

The Abbreviated Character Strengths Test (ACST): A Preliminary Assessment of Test Validity

The 24-item Abbreviated Character Strengths Test (ACST) was developed to efficiently measure character strengths (Peterson, Park, &; Castro, 2011 Peterson, C., Park, N., &; Castro, C. A. (2011). Assessment for the US Army Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program: The Global Assessment Tool. American Psychologist, 66, 10–18.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). However, its validity for this purpose has not yet been sufficiently established. Using confirmatory factor analysis to test a series of structural models, only a modified bifactor model showed reasonably acceptable fit. Further analyses of this model failed to demonstrate measurement invariance between male and female respondents. Relationships between ACST dimension and Big Five personality trait scores were generally weak-to-moderate, and support for hypotheses regarding each ACST virtue's expected correspondence with specific Big Five dimensions was mixed. Finally, scores on ACST dimensions accounted for a combined 12% of the variance in satisfaction with life scores, after controlling for socially desirability. Although an abbreviated measure of character strengths represents a practical need, considerable improvements to the ACST are needed for it to adequately meet this purpose.     

A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire Very Short Form: An Item Response Theory Analysis of Infant Temperament in New Zealand

The Infant Behavior Questionnaire–Revised Very Short Form (IBQ–R VSF; Putnam, Helbig, Gartstein, Rothbart, &; Leerkes, 2014 Putnam, S. P., Helbig, A. L., Gartstein, M. A., Rothbart, M. K., &; Leerkes, E. (2014). Development and assessment of short and very short forms of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire–Revised. Journal of Personality Assessment, 96, 445–458. doi:10.1080/00223891.2013.841171[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) is a newly published measure of infant temperament with a 3-factor structure. Recently Peterson et al. (2017 Peterson, E. R., Waldie, K. E., Mohal, J., Reese, E., Atatoa Carr, P.E., Grant, C. C., &; Morton, S. M. B. (2017). Infant Behavior Questionnaire–Revised Very Short Form: A new factor structure's associations with parenting perceptions and child language outcomes. Journal of Personality Assessment. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/00223891.2017.1287709[Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) suggested that a 5-factor structure (Positive Affectivity/Surgency, Negative Emotionality, Orienting Capacity, Affiliation/Regulation, and Fear) was more parsimonious and showed promising reliability and predictive validity in a large, diverse sample. However, little is known about the 5-factor model's precision across the temperament dimensions range and whether it discriminates equally well across ethnicities. A total of 5,567 mothers responded to the IBQ–R VSF in relation to their infants (N = 5,639) between 23 and 52 weeks old. Using item response theory, we conducted a series of 2 parameter logistic item response models and found that 5 IBQ–R VSF temperament dimensions showed a good distribution of estimates across each latent trait range and these estimates centered close to the population mean. The IBQ–R VSF was also similarly precise across 4 ethnic groups (European, Māori, Pacific peoples, and Asians), suggesting that it can be used as comparable measure for infant temperament in a diversity of ethnic groups.