The appropriateness of the MMPI-2 K correction

The extent to which the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) K scale serves as a suppressor variable that influences the validity of clinical scale scores was examined using 274 male and 425 female outpatients from a community mental health center and 105 male and 247 female clients from a university psychological clinic. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed with MMPI-2 K scale scores and clinical scale scores as predictors and therapist ratings as criteria. In most cases, the K scale did not act as a suppressor Optimal K weights were different from the traditional K corrections. In most instances, there were no significant differences between correlations of therapist ratings with K-corrected and uncorrected clinical scale scores. The results do not support the K scale as a suppressor variable in these settings, although additional research is needed in settings where higher levels of defensiveness are common.     

News of Y2K and Experiencing Y2K: Exploring the Relationship Between the Third-Person Effect and Optimistic Bias

This study gauged Americans' beliefs about predicted Y2K problems during the weeks before New Year 2000. It examined the alleged relationship between the third-person effect and the social psychological theory of optimistic bias. The third-person effect predicts that people judge themselves less influenced than others by media messages. To explain the effect, some media researchers have drawn on optimistic bias, which posits that people judge themselves less likely than others to experience negative life events. Few researchers, however, have directly tested the empirical relationship between the two perceptual approaches. As hypothesized, respondents judged themselves less influenced than others by news reports about Y2K (third-person perception) and less likely than others to experience Y2K problems (optimistic bias). But the study did not find the hypothesized relationship between the approaches. Furthermore, third-person perception and optimistic bias were functions of mirror opposite blocks of predictors. The findings indicate that third-person perception is not merely a media case study of optimistic bias. We suggested that people use different criteria to estimate experiencing events and believing media messages about the events.     

Asking the Right Questions About g

It is our position that a complete understanding of human intellectual development is of ultimate interest to researchers and of great import to society. In this article, we ask questions that reflect common themes seen in the debate regarding the nature and importance of general cognitive ability (i.e., the g factor), sources of individual and group differences, and the viability of arguments against g theory. We also examine questions reflecting aspects of these debates that are commonly ignored or misconstrued. Our goal is to help researchers and debaters continue or begin to ask clear, critical, and dispassionate questions about g that will stimulate productive research and promote informed public policy.     

movies about intelligence: the limitations of g

There is a strong tendency for the same people to do better or worse on a wide variety of IQ tests. On this basis, some psychologists posit the concept of g , or a general intelligence factor. Does g show that performance on a wide range of cognitive tasks is influenced by individual differences in brain quality? It may, but if so, g lacks a sociological dimension and cannot explain cognitive trends over time or assess their significance. It also encourages a paradox about nature versus nurture and oversimplifies the causes of the Black-White IQ gap.     

MMPI-2 L + K and L + K - F indexes of underreporting: normative and desirable responding

Norms based on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) normative sample are provided for the L + K and L + K - F indexes of underreporting and defensiveness. Index scores produced by consistently desirable responding, which was guided by desirability ratings of the MMPI-2 items, also are provided and compared with scores produced by underreporting in other studies. The indexes correlate highly with other measures of underreporting in both normative and clinical samples. The L and K scales assess different types of underreporting and should be interpreted separately as well as in combination. The L scale can be elevated by undesirable responding or random responding in addition to desirable responding.     

Practical Intelligence,g, and Work Psychology

Intelligence has been the most widely studied and controversial factor used to explain individual differences in job performance. The controversy stems not so much from the validity of some kind of g-the evidence in support of some kind of g is impressive-but from the perspective that g is the best or even the only indicator of human abilities. Although g is a fairly consistent predictor of performance, it is far from the sole determinant of performance. There are many other factors that influence performance, such as personality and motivational constructs, that should be considered in addition to g. But perhaps more important, g represents a limited conceptualization of intelligence. This article focuses on the concept of practical intelligence, which reflects a broader conceptualization of the abilities needed for real-world success. We review research on tacit knowledge as an aspect of practical intelligence and consider the implications that practical intelligence has for work psychology.     

Societal consequences of the g factor in employment

This article reviews and rebuts seven common arguments that intelligence (g) is of little or no practical importance in employment. It then illustrates in several ways the profound effect that differences in intelligence in a work force may have on the structure and functioning of whole societies. First, evidence and theory are presented to support the position that the occupational status hierarchy, which is of central concern in the study of social inequality, is an intellectual complexity factor among occupations that has evolved in response to the wide dispersion in intelligence levels within populations. Second, the large and stubborn mean black-white difference in intelligence is used to illustrate more concretely some of the society-wide ramifications of individual and group differences in intelligence, particularly when social policies are based on misconceptions about intelligence or its impact.     

Central role of g in military pilot selection

The role of general cognitive ability (g) in the selection of military pilots is discussed. Four seminal issues that threaten the interpretation of the results of ability studies are introduced and examined. A brief history of the use of g in pilot selection is presented, going back to the World War I era. At that time, many countries used tests such as perception and reaction time, later shown to be mostly measures of g. The World War II era brought the age of the multiple aptitude batteries, and with it, the theory of differential abilities. However, most militaries still used highly g-saturated measures. More recently, an awareness of the prominence of g in job performance has led to a series of studies that showed the central role of g in predicting pilot success. In comparative analyses, g was found to be a better predictor of pilot criteria than specific abilities. However, some specific abilities or measures of job knowledge were found to increment the predictiveness of g. Several selection variables that appeared to measure characteristics other than g were found to measure, at least in some part, g. These include psychomotor tests and structured interviews. Finally, speculation on the future of the measurement of g is presented.     

Where and Why g Matters:Not a Mystery

g is a highly general capability for processing complex information of any type. This explains its great value in predicting job performance. Complexity is the major distinction among jobs, which explains why g is more important further up the occupational hierarchy. The predictive validities of g are moderated by the criteria and other predictors considered in selection research, but the resulting gradients of g's effects are systematic. The pattern provides personnel psychologists a road map for how to design better selection batteries. Despite much literature on the meaning and impact of g, there nonetheless remains an aura of mystery about where and why g cognitive tests might be useful in selection. The aura of mystery encourages false beliefs and false hopes about how we might reduce disparate impact in employee selection. It is also used to justify new testing techniques whose major effect, witting or not, is to reduce the validity of selection in the service of racial goals.     

PREDICTING TRAINING SUCCESS: NOT MUCH MORE THAN g

The roles of general ability ( g ) and specific abilities ( s₁ … s_g ) were investigated in prediction of job-training-school grades. Subjects were 78,041 Air Force enlistees in 82 jobs. General ability and specific abilities were defined by scores on the first and subsequent unrotated principal components of the enlistment selection and classification test, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. Linear models analyses revealed that s₁ … s ₉ added little to the prediction afforded by g. It was also determined that a common prediction equation for all jobs was almost as predictive as an equation for each job.     

No narrowing in mean Black-White IQ differences-Predicted by heritable g

Comments on the original article, "Intelligence: New findings and theoretical developments," by R. E. Nisbett, J. Aronson, C. Blair, W. Dickens, J. Flynn, D. F. Halpern, and E. Turkheimer (see record 2011-30298-001). The present authors assert Nisbett et al were incorrect when they claimed that between 1972 and 2002 there was a 5.5-point narrowing of the 15-point IQ gap between Blacks and Whites (p. 146). In doing so, they sidestepped Rushton and Jensen's (2006) objections to Dickens and Flynn's (2006) evidence and failed to include subsequent evidence. The present authors maintain that Nisbett et al failed to describe accurately how heritable g provides evidence of a significant genetic contribution to Black-White differences. The present authors claim Nisbett et al obscured the topic by invoking alleged age and social class interactions and adoption studies of very young children. Many twin and adoption studies have shown that by adolescence, there are equal heritabilities (about 50%) for Whites, Blacks, and East Asians (Hur, Shin, Jeong, & Han, 2006; Rushton & Jensen, 2010b). There is no evidence of any special cultural influence, such as extreme deprivation or being raised as a visible minority, that operates in one group and not in others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Theory Versus Reality: Evaluation of g in the Workplace

Although it is recognized that g is important for success in the workplace, it is suggested that further research is necessary to understand the nature of g and to determine how prediction of job performance may be enhanced. Major relevant theories of intelligence are discussed and criticized. Questions about the roles of measures of knowledge, interests, and personality in providing incremental validity to that afforded by g are discussed. Difficulties in criterion definition and measurement are assessed. Additions to utility analysis are recommended. New findings relevant to group differences are discussed. The future of the prediction of workplace performance is discussed, and recommendations regarding the roles of both theoretical concepts and practical innovations are made.     

Removal of S6K1 and S6K2 leads to divergent alterations in learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity

Protein synthesis is required for the expression of enduring memories and long-lasting synaptic plasticity. During cellular proliferation and growth, S6 kinases (S6Ks) are activated and coordinate the synthesis of de novo proteins. We hypothesized that protein synthesis mediated by S6Ks is critical for the manifestation of learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity. We have tested this hypothesis with genetically engineered mice deficient for either S6K1 or S6K2. We have found that S6K1-deficient mice express an early-onset contextual fear memory deficit within one hour of training, a deficit in conditioned taste aversion (CTA), impaired Morris water maze acquisition, and hypoactive exploratory behavior. In contrast, S6K2-deficient mice exhibit decreased contextual fear memory seven days after training, a reduction in latent inhibition of CTA, and normal spatial learning in the Morris water maze. Surprisingly, neither S6K1- nor S6K2-deficient mice exhibited alterations in protein synthesis-dependent late-phase long-term potentiation (L-LTP). However, removal of S6K1, but not S6K2, compromised early-phase LTP expression. Furthermore, we observed that S6K1-deficient mice have elevated basal levels of Akt phosphorylation, which is further elevated following induction of L-LTP. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that removal of S6K1 leads to a distinct array of behavioral and synaptic plasticity phenotypes that are not mirrored by the removal of S6K2. Our observations suggest that neither gene by itself is required for L-LTP but instead may be required for other types of synaptic plasticity required for cognitive processing.