Sense, nonsense, and the use of personality measures

Criticize measurement-based personality research by recounting a well-known limitation: indices of relationship are often inflated because of the similarity of content across measures of presumably different constructs. In this paper we endorse the major contention of Nicholls et al. that measurement-based research may be conducted thoughtlessly, and we extend their thinking by pointing out an important underlying issue—the problem of defining what constitutes a “syndrome.” In contrast to them, however, we argue that the problems in measurement they cite do not entail the consequences they foresee and, in addition, have limited application.     

Disfluency of nonstuttering children in relation to specific measures of language,reading, and mental maturity

Speech samples from 92 first-grade children were quantified on the basis of disfluency types and judges' ratings of language level. Intelligence and reading scores were also obtained for each subject. Correlational analysis indicated that the measures of language performance, intelligence, and reading ability used in this study were not highly and significantly associated with frequency of disfluency whether considered by individual type, type combinations, or total disfluency.     

Metaphors do not use associations between concepts,they are used to create them

Does the interpretability and aptness of a metaphor depend on prior existing associative relations between the metaphor topic and vehicle? Lexical decision latencies for pairs of words drawn from apt, comprehensible metaphors were no faster than latencies for randomly paired words. In contrast, lexical decision latencies for associatively related word pairs were faster than latencies for randomly paired words. These data suggest that good metaphors do not use preexisting associations to achieve their effects. Instead, we argue tht people use metaphors to create new relations between concepts. Implications for a theory of metaphor comprehension are discussed.     

The use of Tholos software for combining measures of mental workload: Toward theoretical and methodological improvements

Mental workload is a concept central to a range of disciplines (including cognitive psychology and ergonomics) that has given rise to various theoretical and methodological debates. As a result, researchers have used a number of techniques for measuring mental workload. Traditionally, three categories of measurement technique have been recognized: performance measures (e.g., the dual-task paradigm), subjective measures (e.g., rating scales), and physiological measures (e.g., heart, respiration, and blink rates). Each technique has advantages and limitations; however, some limitations may prevent an accurate evaluation of the mental workload. In this article, we focus on the benefits of combining multiple measures of mental workload. However, because combining several techniques is a very complex process, we have developed the Tholos software in an attempt to reduce this complexity. This software package uses measures from each of the three categories: a dual-task paradigm with auditory signals; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration task load index (NASA-TLX) scale and its simplified version, the “raw” task load index (RTLX); and physiological (such as pupil-dilation) measurements with which our software can merge results from the dual-task paradigm. To illustrate the benefits of using Tholos, we describe a puzzle-solving experiment in which we combined multiple measures of mental workload. The results indicate the importance of combining multiple measures to build upon the theoretical and methodological foundations of mental workload.     

Separate roles for executive and phonological components of working memory in mental arithmetic

A dual-task methodology was used to investigate the roles played by executive and phonological aspects of working memory in mental arithmetic. Experiment 1 showed that suppression of articulation impaired the ability to add a pair of briefly presented three-digit numbers. Suppression had no effect when the need to store temporarily was minimized by making the numbers visible throughout calculation. Experiment 2 showed that disrupting executive processes by requiring concurrent performance of a Trails task impaired the ability to add numbers that remained permanently visible. Performance on the Trails task deteriorated as the number of carry operations in the addition increased. Experiment 3 showed that this decline in Trails performance was not simply due to the extra time taken by carrying. These and other features of the results suggest that the carrying component of mental arithmetic places substantial demands on executive processes, whereas the need to retain problem information is met by the phonological loop. The results are consistent with an interpretation of executive processes according to which there is a limit on the capacity to inhibit strongly primed routine operations.     

Comparisons of second-generation holocaust survivors, immigrants, and nonimmigrants on measures of mental health

To determine whether a "children-of-holocaust-survivors syndrome" could more parsimoniously be explained as an "immigration effect," we performed a comparative study on a sample of 25 children of holocaust survivors, 25 children of immigrants, and 25 children of American-born parents. Subjects were matched on age and educational level and were assessed with four measures of mental health. Contrary to the findings of some researchers whose data supported such a syndrome, our data indicate no significant differences between children of holocaust survivors and the children of other immigrants. These data are suggestive of an immigration effect that is common to the children of immigrants and not limited to the children of holocaust survivors, rather than a survivors syndrome. The children of American-born parents showed greater alienation, less religiosity, and a tendency toward feelings of less guilt than the other two groups. Our data underscore the need to control immigrant status in multiple samples and studies before definitive conclusions can be drawn in this area.     

Examining the convergent validity of shared mental model measures

Despite widespread interest in shared mental models (SMMs) within teams and groups and an extensive empirical literature examining SMM?Cperformance links, very little is known about the convergent validity of commonly used measures of SMMs. In this study, two-person teams (n = 96) engaged in a complex flight task and completed three SMM measures: concept mapping, paired ratings, and causal mapping. Task-based sharedness scores were compared across the measures. Analyses were conducted in two ways: using SMMs of actual team members (n = 96 pairs) and using the SMMs of pairs of participants who worked separately but for whom similarity indices were calculated after the study (n = 18,240). The purpose of the latter pairs, coined pseudo-partners, was to create a sample with considerable power to test the convergent validity of the SMM measures. The results call into some question the convergent validity of these task-based SMM measures.     

Violation of pure insertion during mental rotation is independent of stimulus type, task, and subjects' age

The experiment validated and extended the finding of Ilan and Miller (1994) [A violation of pure insertion: mental rotation and choice reaction time. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Psychophysics 20, 520-536] that the mental rotation process is not purely inserted into a mirror-normal discrimination task. In contrast to their work we used other experimental stimuli (drawings of animals instead of characters), a different task (same/different comparison) and investigated this effect under a developmental perspective. Adults and children between the age of 8 and 10 took significantly longer to respond to upright drawings of animals in conditions containing rotated stimuli than in conditions containing only upright stimuli, indicating a violation of pure insertion. In general, we found evidence that the violation of pure insertion during a mental rotation task itself can be generalised across stimulus type, task, and subject populations. However, for children this effect was independent of the format of the stimuli, while for adults the effect was larger for mirror-imaged than for identical objects. This suggests that the violation of pure insertion might occur at different processing stages as a function of age.     

Effects of imagery training on cognitive performance and use of physiological measures as an assessment tool of mental effort

The effectiveness of motor imagery training on cognitive performance was examined and the physiological mechanisms involved in the contribution of mental practice to motor learning were considered. The subject's mental effort during motor imagery was assessed by using psychophysiological measures and particularly eye blink activity as an 'indirect' measurement of subjects' attention. An electronic flight simulation program (Multiple Attribute Task Battery--MATB) was used to assess performance. Twenty healthy volunteers participated in the study divided in two groups: the control group and the imagery-training group. The subjects of the imagery group were asked for additional imagery training. The subjects of the actual performing group were asked additionally to passively observe the task in order to have equal time of exposure to the task. Performance scores and physiological parameters such as heart rate, respiratory rate, eye blinking activity and muscular activity were recorded during all sessions. The results revealed significantly higher performance level of the imagery-training group than the control group. Heart rate and respiratory rate significantly increased during imagery sessions compared to rest. A slight electromyographic activity was observed during the imagination of movement. Our findings support the notion that mental practice improves motor performance in a task where spatiotemporal or dynamic control of the action is highly required. The effects of mental practice on motor performance could be explained by the existence of a top-down mechanism based on the activation of a central representation of the movements, since the vegetative activation during motor imagery seems to be centrally controlled.     

Some philosophical concerns about how the VIA classifies character traits and the VIA-IS measures them

ABSTRACT

Written from the perspective of a philosopher, this paper raises a number of potential concerns with how the VIA classifies and the VIA-IS measures character traits. With respect to the 24 character strengths, concerns are raised about missing strengths, the lack of vices, conflicting character strengths, the unclear connection between character strengths and virtues, and the misclassification of some character strengths under certain virtues. With respect to the 6 virtues, concerns are raised about conflicting virtues, the absence of practical wisdom, and factor analyses that do not find a 6 factor structure. With respect to the VIA-IS, concerns are raised about its neglect of motivation and about the underlying assumptions it makes about character traits. The paper ends by sketching a significantly improved classification which omits the 6 virtues and introduces additional strengths, vices, and a conflict resolution trait.     

The assessment of analogical thinking modifiability among regular,special education,disadvantaged, and mentally retarded children

The objectives of the current study were (a) to develop a measure of children's analogical thinking modifiability (CATM) based on the Feuerstein, Rand, and Hoffman (1979) theory of dynamic assessment of cognitive modifiability, (b) to compare the performance of groups assumed to be differentially modified by intervention, (c) to compare CATM performance with performance on a conventional test, and (d) to study qualitative changes after a learning process. Subjects were disdvantaged, regular, and special education kindergarten children (N=140), and mentally retarded children (N=20). The CATM was administered together with the Ravens Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM) in a balanced order. Disadvantaged and regular children achieved higher gain scores than other groups in both none-or-all and partial credit methods (p < 01). The MR and the special education groups showed small gains according to the none-or-all credit method; however, according to the partial credit method, the MR group showed high gains and the special education group a performance decrease. Performance scores on the CATM were higher than on the RCPM, especially in comparison to the B₈-B₁₂ items-differences reach a peak of 61% and 67% for the disadvantaged and regular groups, respectively. Qualitative analysis indicated that form mistakes were most resistant to change, whereas color mistakes were most easy to modify. Results were explained within Feuerstein's theoretical framework of cognitive modifiability. Impaired cognitive functions as well as analytic versus synthetic processes were suggested to explain group differences.This research was supported in part by the Internal Research Fund, Bar-Ilan University. We wish to express our appreciation to the children and their teachers for their participation, to Frida Spanier for teaching and data collection, and to Steve Greenwald for data analysis.     

Relationship of Connected and Separate Knowing to the Learning Styles of Kolb,Formal Reasoning,and Intelligence

The present investigation examined the relationship between the Connected and Separate Knowing dimensions of the Knowing Styles Inventory [K. H. Knight, M. H. Elfenbein, and J. A. Messina (1994) A Scale to Measure Connected and Separate Knowing: The Knowing Styles Inventory, paper presented at the meeting of the New England Educational Research Organization, Rockport, ME; (1995) A Preliminary Scale to Measure Connected and Separate Knowing: The Knowing Styles Inventory, Sex Roles, Vol. 33, pp. 499–513] and the Concrete Experience and Abstract Conceptualization learning modes of D. A. Kolb [(1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall], formal reasoning ability [B. Inhelder and J. Piaget (1958) The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence, New York: Basic Books; (1975) The Origin of the Idea of Chance in Children, New York: W. W. Norton; K. G. Tobin and W. Capie (1981) The Development and Validation of a Group Test of Logical Thinking, Educational and Psychological Measurement, Vol. 41, pp. 413–423], and vocabulary and abstract thinking ability [W. C. Shipley, (1940) A Self-Administering Scale for Measuring Intellectural Impairment and Deterioration, Journal of Psychology, Vol. 9, pp. 371–377], Study 1 (126 females, 117 males) found that males who were more connected were more likely to describe their learning style as emphasizing feeling rather than thinking (i.e., scored higher on Concrete Experience). Studies 2 (59 females, 39 males) and 3 (56 females, 58 males) found no relationship between Connected or Separate Knowing and formal reasoning and vocabulary or abstract thinking ability, respectively. Suggestions for future research were presented.     

The relationship of specific mental ability measures compared to a general mental ability measure to quality and quantity performance on a clerical job sample

Barrett (1993) presented evidence that mental ability measures designed specifically for the prediction of performance in tasks and jobs have validity at least equal to that of tests of general mental ability, while having advantages such as lower adverse impact. The current study demonstrates that the match in specificity of predictor and criterion can be attained through simple changes in the scoring of standard mental and clerical ability tests. A sample of 51 university students completed a battery of pre-employment tests and, a week or two later, worked on a clerical job sample. The results indicated that quality of performance (number of errors on the task) was best predicted using the number of errors made on the predictor tests while quantity of work was only predicted by the number correct. A test of general mental ability did not correlate with either criterion. These results contradicted the conclusions of Schmidt (1993) that specific ability tests have no incremental validity above a general ability test.Ralph Alexander died before this report was complete. Consequently, the conclusions are those of the first two authors.