The stability of structural measures derived from repertory grids

Although the use of repertory grids in psychological research has proliferated, studies of their psychometric properties are relatively rare. For this reason, we studied the reliability and convergence of several measures of cognitive structure derived from grids, including intensity, percentage of variance accounted for by the first component, cognitive complexity, ordination, extremity of ratings, self-ideal discrepancy, and self-other discrepancy, as well two measures of rating stability, construct consistency and factor loading consistency. Eighty-two Spanish (Catalan) and American participants completed small and large grids on each of four occasions, which enabled exploratory analyses of the impact of grid size and subject characteristics on the structural scores obtained. Results indicated that the majority of scores showed impressive test-relest reliability (modal r = .85 for periods up to 1 month), but also suggested a gradual tightening effect across subsequent administrations. In general, scores intercorrelated in theoretically anticipated ways, converging on the assessment of cognitive differentiation and discrimination of elements within construct dimensions. The results have implications for the reactivity of structural scores to variations in grid format, as well as for use of grids in the study of sex differences and cross-cultural comparisons.     

A global factor in the Hermann grid illusion or an artifact?

In the first of the present experiments, subjects were required to estimate the strength of the Hermann grid illusion in grids containing various numbers of intersectionseven though those grids were not actually presented. The positive relationship found by Wolfe (1984) for real grids was, nevertheless, replicated. It is argued that this suggests that a response bias might have been the source of his effect (although other possibilities are also noted). In addition, in a second experiment, subjects who were not aware of the fact that grid size was being manipulated (i.e., between subjects) showed no consistent effect of that factor, thus supporting the same suggestion.     

Semantic differential techniques in the identification of individuals assessment of health state: A case study of a patient within a homoeopathic regime

A retrospective study of patients (n = 166) on a wheat free diet showed improvements in patients diagnosed as wheat sensitive over patients not so diagnosed (p = 0.05). Clinical history indicated marked differences between these groups in perceptions of health. Individual follow up studies indicated that a Semantic Differential grid, derived from a patient group (n = 20) through semantic and repertory techniques, was a good indicator of these clinical perceptions. The results of one patient in this group are presented and show the typical results obtained by principal component analysis of the semantic grid administered over two visits to the hospital. Patient perception of well being shown by the grid analysis was confirmed by clinical history. The implications of this semantic approach for patient self reporting and clinical counselling are discussed. Larger scale studies are currently being planned on wheat sensitivity and associated psychological effects, using a variety of psychological measures, in a large range of patient groups (including Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis).     

Associative blocking of the mccollough effect

After exposure to two simultaneously presented achromatic grids (A and B) on a coloured field, subjects reported colour aftereffects on each of the separately presented grids. These aftereffects were shown to be examples of the McCollough effect, since they were contingent upon the subjects having experienced the grid in combination with the coloured field. Exposure to the coloured field in advance of combining the colour field with the grids attenuated the strengths of the aftereffects on the A and B grids. Moreover, exposure to the A grid on the coloured field in advance of combining the B grid with the A grid on the coloured field abolished the aftereffect on the B grid. The failure of the B grid to arouse the aftereffect was due to the presence of the already trained A grid, since exposure to the A grid on the coloured field followed by exposure to the B grid on that field yielded the aftereffect on the B grid. The conditions under which the McCollough effect was attenuated are those under which learning fails to occur in Pavlovian conditioning procedures. The results, therefore, supported the view that the pairing between the grids and the colour resulted in a learned association between the grids and some aspect of the response by the visual system to the colour.     

Out with .05, in with Replication and Measurement: Isolating and Working with the Particular Effect Sizes that are Troublesome for Inferential Statistics

It is difficult to obtain adequate power to test a small effect size with a set criterion alpha of 0.05. Probably an inferential test will indicate non-statistical significance and not be published. Rarely, statistical significance will be obtained, and an exaggerated effect size calculated and reported. Accepting all inferential probabilities and associated effect sizes could solve exaggeration problems. Graphs, generated through Monte Carlo methods, are presented to illustrate this. The first graph presents effect sizes (Cohen's d) as lines from 1 to 0 with probabilities on the Y axis and the number of measures on the X axis. This graph shows effect sizes of .5 or less should yield non-significance with sample sizes below 120 measures. The other graphs show results with as many as 10 small sample size replications. There is a convergence of means with the effect size as sample size increases and measurement accuracy emerges.     

Self, Other, Positive, and Negative Affect Scales of the Self-Confrontation Method: factorial structure and unidimensionality

In the self-confrontation method, the rows of a grid consist of valuations (i.e. summaries of important personal narratives), while the columns contain affects grouped into four scales (see title). These affects (varying from 16 to 30) are rated on a 0–5 scale of intensity, resulting in an affect profile for each valuation. Principal components analysis on the affect profiles of a client sample, using a list of 30 affects, yielded a 3-factor solution, with 2 unipolar and 1 bipolar factor, in accordance with the four scales. On the basis of this analysis, a list of 24 affects was derived with six affects per scale. This list was then applied to a student sample to cross-validate the results. Unidimensionality of the four scales was found at the level of single grids, and across both client and student samples. It was concluded that the four scales of the 24-affect list appeared to be psychometrically sound and optimally suited for use in research and practice.     

Straightness as the main factor of the hErmann grid illusion

The generally accepted explanation of the Hermann grid illusion is Baumgartner's hypothesis that the illusory effect is generated by the response of retinal ganglion cells with concentric ON-OFF or OFF-ON receptive fields. To challenge this explanation, we have introduced some simple distortions to the grid lines which make the illusion disappear totally, while all preconditions of Baumgartner's hypothesis remain unchanged. To analyse the behaviour of the new versions of the grid, we carried out psychophysical experiments, in which we measured the distortion tolerance: the level of distortion at which the illusion disappears at a given type of distortion for a given subject. Statistical analysis has shown that the distortion tolerance is independent of grid-line width within a wide range, and of the type of distortion, except when one side of each line remains straight. We conclude that the main cause of the Hermann grid illusion is the straightness of the edges of the grid lines, and we propose a theory which explains why the illusory spots occur in the original Hermann grid and why they disappear in curved grids.     

Validation of self-ideal body size discrepancy as a measure of body dissatisfaction

Recently, body dissatisfaction has been conceptualized as the discrepancy between self and ideal body size estimates. This study evaluated the validity of this conceptualization using three methods for estimating actual and ideal body size: (a) the Body Image Assessment, (b) the Body Image Testing System, and (c) the Body Image Detection Device. The three body image assessment procedures were concurrently administered to a sample of 110 women diagnosed: bulimia nervosa (n=18),obese (n=34),and non-eating disorder (n=58).The Eating Disorder Inventory Body Dissatisfaction scale was also used to measure body dissatisfaction. Measures of self-ideal body size discrepancy were found to correlate more highly with measures of body dissatisfaction than were measures of current body size perception, ideal body size, body size estimation accuracy, or indices based on actual body size. Estimation of both current and ideal body size were found to significantly predict overall body dissatisfaction; thus, both self and ideal body size measures were found to be significant components in determining body size dissatisfaction. These data were interpreted as supportive of the conceptualization of body dissatisfaction as the discrepancy between self and ideal body size estimates.     

Comparison of Beck Depression Inventories-IA and-II in Psychiatric Outpatients

The study of mental representations on projective tests such as the Rorschach has made substantial contributions to our understanding of psychopathology. It is not clear, however, whether the representations of paranoid schizophrenics can be differentiated from those of normals and whether the Rorschach is the best test for such comparison. Object representations on the Rorschach and a role-playing (Johnson & Quinlan, 1980, 1985) test were studied in groups of normal (n = 31) and schizophrenic subjects (divided into paranoid [n = 16], intermediate [n = 11], and nonparanoid groups [n = 16]). Developmental levels of representation on both tests were measured with the widely used system of Blatt, Brenneis, Schimek, and Glick (1976), derived from Werner's concepts of differentiation, articulation, and integration. Generally the groups were not differentiated on these measures on the Rorschach. The role-playing test showed greater discriminatory power than the Rorschach, possibly due to its explicit demand to produce representations of humans in interaction. Results of the role-playing test showed differentiation and integration scores were negatively correlated with measures of psychotic symptoms. Nonparanoids differed from the other three groups on differentiation measures, and paranoid and normal groups scored higher on integration measures than did the intermediate and nonparanoid groups. Paranoid subjects scored higher than nonparanoids on functional articulation and higher than intermediates on perceptual articulation; however, paranoid subjects were not differentiated from normals on any developmental measure. Differences between the schizophrenic sample and normals were explained entirely by the nonparanoid subgroup, supporting the paranoid-nonparanoid distinction and raising questions regarding the nature of the deficit in paranoid schizophrenia.     

Eye movements during REM sleep: the influence of personality and presleep conditions.

Male subjects scoring high (n=17) or low (n=14) on the Maudsley Neuroticism scale were randomly assigned to a positive (n=17) or negative (ego threat) (n=14) presleep condition and then slept a single night in the laboratory. The negative condition elicited significantly more rapid eye movement activity (REM density) than did the positive condition (pless than.03). There was a significant interaction for Groups X Conditions (pless than.007) indicating that low neuroticism subjects had greater REM density in the negative condition, and less REM density in the positive condition, compared to high neuroticism subjects under either condition. The low neuroticism subjects in the negative condition showed a discrepancy between greater REM density but less admission of stress on a presleep mood questionnaire compared to high neuroticism subjects. These results support the hypothesis that REM density is a correlate of stress-induced arousal that is subject to the modifying effects of individual differences.     

Socially desirable responding on the web: investigating the candor hypothesis

The investigation presented here explores the hypothesis that participants are less likely to respond in a socially desirable fashion on self-report questionnaires completed on the Web relative to those completed in the laboratory--the candor hypothesis. A battery of social desirability questionnaires (i.e., Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding [Paulhaus, 1984], Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale [Crowne & Marlowe, 1964], Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Lie Scale [Eysenck & Eysenck, 1994]) was administered to 3 groups: 2 groups consisted of undergraduate participants who were randomly assigned to complete the measures either in the laboratory (n = 60) or on the Web (n = 60), and 1 group consisted of self-selected participants who visited our experimental Web page and completed the measures online (n = 284). This design allowed us to assess the role of Web administration while controlling for differences in sample type, an oft-neglected issue in the Web literature. Results do not support the claim that administering self-report measures over the Web results in a decrease in socially desirable responding. Furthermore, these findings highlight the problems associated with confounding sample and medium. Implications for the use of Web as a research tool are discussed.     

The direct measurement of hypothesis-sampling strategies

The concept-identification (CI) literature supports a hypothesis-sampling theory. Hypotheses based on attributes, sample sizes greater than one, and nonreplacement of eliminated hypotheses all occur. An experimental procedure was developed to measure hypothesis-sampling directly where the subject is allowed to select attributes that he wishes to see, then randomly selected values on the selected attributes are presented.Generally, the average sample size before the trial of the last error (TLE) does not change but does change after TLE. The probabilities of eliminating inconsistent hypotheses and keeping consistent hypotheses increase over problems. The proportion of eliminated attributes which are resampled decreases over problems. Individual subjects are extremely varied in sample size, efficiency measures, and resampling tendencies. The rate of solution, TLE, is related to the efficiency and resampling measures but not to the sample size.     

Mood-related changes in construing self and others

Two repertory grids were administered to 31 Canadian undergraduates (20 women and 11 men) in which they rated themselves and 10 personal acquaintances on 11 supplied constructs. For the initial (baseline) grid they followed neutral instructions. For the second grid, they rated the same figures while listening to happy music and attempting to recall pleasant memories. The results from both grids closely approximated a set of theoretical predictions derived from a model of interpersonal judgment by Lefebvre, Lefebvre, and Adams-Webber (1986) within the framework of personal construct theory.     

A Repertory Grid analysis of perceptions of vocational counseling roles

A Repertory Grid was constructed to determine the perceptions held by 143 secondary school students of people who gave them vocational counseling. Responses on the 22 × 22 grid were averaged over the whole group and for subgroupings of the sample, using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical clustering analysis to examine the pattern of relationships and the composition of clusters of elements and constructs. As predicted, it was found that the subjects made their discriminations between people on two major construct dimensions, an intimacy and a potency factor, and that people filling vocational counseling roles appeared in two of the generalized figure clusters, each having different characteristics attributed to them. Eighteen subjects were unable to complete their grids. When school achievement was assessed there was no evidence that a relationship existed between academic achievement and the capacity of subjects to complete grid protocols.     

Relations among religiosity, health, happiness, and anxiety for Kuwaiti adolescents

The present study investigated correlations among religiosity, health, happiness, and anxiety for 941 Kuwaiti adolescents. A convenience sample of male (n=408) and female (n=533) students (M age = 16.5, SD = 1.2 yr.) was randomly selected from secondary school students of different districts of the State of Kuwait. The Intrinsic Religious Motivation scale, the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale, and six self-rating scales assessing religiosity, strength of religious belief, physical health, mental health, happiness, and life satisfaction were applied to assess correlations among Kuwaiti adolescents. Analysis showed boys had significantly higher mean scores than girls on all measures except anxiety, on which girls scored significantly higher than boys. There also were significant and positive correlations among the variables, except for anxiety, which was significant and negative.     

Dissociative effects of flooding on a multivariate assessment of fear reduction and on jump-up avoidance extinction

Two experiments examined the effectiveness of three different amounts of flooding on hastening extinction of a jump-up avoidance response and on reducing fear as assessed by the multivariate fear assessment techniques of D. P. Corriveau and N. F. Smith (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 1978, 107, 145–158). In Experiment 1, a 40-min flooding treatment significantly hastened jump-up avoidance extinction, 10 min of flooding had a marginal effect, and 5 min had no effect. In Experiment 2, flooding treatments of 5, 10, and 40 min duration were all effective in reducing fear of the grid floor as indexed by seven of our nine dependent measures, including approach latency, safety test latency, and amount of time spent on the grids. Flooded subjects that were dumped onto the grid floor once at the start of the fear observation phase were found to show somewhat more fear reduction than were flooded subjects that were simply placed on the ledge at the outset of the fear observation phase and never dumped. These results, i.e., less flooding is required to reduce fear than to hasten avoidance extinction, are contrasted with those of previous experiments indicating that more flooding may be required to reduce fear than to hasten shuttlebox avoidance extinction. Such differences are discussed in the context of SSDR theory.     

Depression and self-enhancement among Japanese and American students

This study examined the cultural generalizibility of the negative relationship between depression and self-enhancement. Japanese (n = 116) and American (n = 125) students completed the Zung (1965) Self-Rating Depression Scale and three measures of self-enhancement (i.e., the tendency to see oneself in a positive light). As expected, Japanese subjects were found to be more depressed and less self-serving than Americans. Negative correlations between depression and self-enhancement measures were obtained for both samples. Regression analyses of the relationships between measures indicated that sample differences in self-enhancement were explained largely by sample differences in depression. It is proposed that, relative to the Americans, Japanese students had a negative self-schema that led to higher depression and lower self-enhancement.     

Covariances between regression coefficient estimates in a single mediator model

This study presents formulae for the covariances between parameter estimates in a single mediator model. These covariances are necessary to build confidence intervals (CI) for effect size measures in mediation studies. We first analytically derived the covariances between the parameter estimates in a single mediator model. Using the derived covariances, we computed the multivariate‐delta standard errors, and built the 95% CIs for the effect size measures. A simulation study evaluated the accuracy of the standard errors as well as the Type I error, power, and coverage of the CIs using various parameter values and sample sizes. Finally, we presented a numerical example and a SAS MACRO that calculates the CIs for the effect size measures.     

Identification,Reflection, And Correlation: Problems In The Bases Of Repertory Grid Measures

Repertory grids, deriving from George Kelly's personal construct theory, have been used to provide measures of a number of personality and cognitive variables. Several of these grid measures, such as the identification index, some measures of cognitive complexity, and other indices extracted from factor analyses of grids, are based on correlations between the columns (elements) of the grid data matrix. These measures are problematic and unstable because the intercolumn correlations depend on the direction of scoring across each of the matrix rows (constructs). This direction is not guided by explicit or theoretically justified rules and appears to be arbitrary and inconsistent between researchers. Also, correlation is a poor measure of element similarity, the basis of the identification measure. The importance of the valuating aspect of construing may provide a basis for the standardization of scoring. And scoring from the valued pole of a construct may help bring stability and meaning to the correlation-based measures.