Effects of diurnal variation and caffeine consumption on Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) performance in healthy young adults

The Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) is a continuous performance test (CPT) that assesses attention, impulsivity, and processing speed. CPTs are used in the assessment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, but more young adults are being assessed for ADHD as well. The TOVA norms are based on a standardization sample that was tested early in the day, and any TOVA administered after 1:00 p.m. will be flagged as potentially invalid. Whereas the testing time recommendations make sense for pediatric samples, it is unclear whether they are appropriate for young adults in college, who typically show significant phase delay in their diurnal rhythms. In addition, many college students consume large amounts of caffeine, and it is unclear how caffeine consumption affects TOVA performance. The current study examined the impact of time of day, self-reported diurnal preference, and caffeine consumption on TOVA performance in a double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment with healthy college students. There was evidence of diurnal variation on average response time and impulsivity but not on overall ADHD score, with participants tested in the afternoon responding faster but making more commission errors than did participants tested in the morning. Caffeine consumption led to significantly faster response times, but only for participants who typically consumed relatively little caffeine. We conclude that the TOVA can be administered to young adults outside the recommended time constraints without compromising the validity of test score interpretation but that the caffeine consumption of participants should be closely monitored.     

Effects of diurnal variation on the Test of Variables of Attention performance in young adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

The Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) is a continuous performance test that assesses attention, impulsivity, and processing speed. Continuous performance tests are used in the assessment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adults. TOVA norms are based on a morning administration, and any TOVA administered after 1:00 p.m. is flagged as potentially invalid. Whereas the testing time recommendations make sense for pediatric samples, it is unclear whether they are appropriate for young adults, who typically show significant phase delay in their diurnal rhythms. The current study explores the impact of time of day on TOVA performance in young adults with ADHD. Participants were randomly assigned to either morning or afternoon administration. We found no significant diurnal variation in TOVA performance. We also found no interaction between diurnal preference and time of day of administration. Night owls endorsed more inattention symptoms on a self-report measure than more intermediate individuals but actually made significantly fewer omission (inattention) errors on the TOVA. Self-reported symptoms of inattention showed moderate, significant correlations with various TOVA performance indices. Self-reported symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity, however, showed no relationship to TOVA performance. These results suggest that the TOVA can be administered to adults with ADHD outside of the hours recommended in the manual without significantly compromising the interpretative validity of test score interpretation. Thus, a TOVA report that is consistent with ADHD should not be dismissed simply because it was administered in the late afternoon.     

Feature analyzers for the phonetic dimensionstop vs. continuant

Perception of sounds along the phonetic dimensionstop vs. continuant was studied by means of a selective adaptation procedure. Subjects first identified a series of synthetic consonant-vowel syllables whose formant transitions varied in duration, slope, and amplitude characteristics. They were perceived as either [ba] or [wa]. After the initial identification test, an adapting stimulus was presented repeatedly, and then the subjects again identified the original test series. Adapting with a stop (either [ba] or [da]) led to a decrease in the number of test stimuli identified as [ba], whereas adapting with the continuant sound [wa] led to an increase in the number of [ba] identification responses. Removing the vowel portion of an adapting stimulus greatly reduced the identification shift only when the resulting stimulus was no longer perceived as speech-like. A reduction in the number of [ba] identifications occurred even when a nonspeech “stop” (the sound of a plucked string) was used as the adapting stimulus, suggesting that phonetic processing is not a necessary condition for an adaptation effect.     

Stimulus control over sex-typed play in cross-gender identified boys.

Discriminative stimulus control over masculine and feminine sex-typed play behaviors was investigated in five boys, aged 5–8 yr, with “childhood crossgender identification.” Reliable observational measures of play were obtained with two sets of toys: (a) “dress-up toys” (girls' apparel vs boys' apparel), and (b) “affect toys” (maternal-nurturance play vs masculine-aggression play). With an ABA reversal intrasubject design, certain stimulus conditions (e.g., presence of father, mother, male, or female stranger) were found to be discriminative for reliable changes in sex-typed play. Sex-typed play was found to vary as a function of the social stimulus situation and as a function of the type of play response required. All children played predominantly feminine while alone in the playroom. While no single environmental stimulus was consistently discriminative for masculine play across children, at least one stimulus condition was found for each subject under which he played predominantly masculine.     

Attention deficit hyperactivty disorder in Korean juvenile delinquents

This study was conducted to identify attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Korean juvenile delinquents. Intelligence tests (KEDI-WISC, K-WAIS), the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA), the Teacher Report Form (TRF), the Youth Self-Report (YSR), and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were administered to 98 incarcerated Korean adolescents (the delinquent group) and 84 adolescent nondelinquents (the control group). The groups were compared, and significant differences were found for ADHD; 42.4% of the adolescents in the delinquent group were identified as having ADHD, in comparison to 11.9% of the adolescents in the control group. Delinquent adolescents and adolescents with ADHD were found to have lower IQ scores, poorer TOVA performance, more severe problem behaviors, and lower self-esteem than nondelinquent adolescents and adolescents without ADHD. Delinquent adolescents with ADHD consistently fared the worst on assessments of intelligence, TOVA performance, problem behaviors, and self-esteem.     

Evidence for Age-related Changes to Temporal Attention and Memory from the Choice Time Production Task

ABSTRACT

The effect of aging on interval timing was examined using a choice time production task, which required participants to choose a key response based on the location of the stimulus, but to delay responding until after a learned time interval. Experiment 1 varied attentional demands of the response choice portion of the task by varying difficulty of stimulus–response mapping. Choice difficulty affected temporal accuracy equally in both age groups, but older participants' response latencies were more variable under more difficult response choice conditions. Experiment 2 tested the contribution of long-term memory to differences in choice time production between age groups over 3 days of testing. Direction of errors in time production between the two age groups diverged over the 3 sessions, but variability did not differ. Results from each experiment separately show age-related changes to attention and memory in temporal processing using different measures and manipulations in the same task.     

The Perceived Leadership Communication Questionnaire (PLCQ): Development and Validation

The Perceived Leadership Communication Questionnaire (PLCQ) is a short, reliable, and valid instrument for measuring leadership communication from both perspectives of the leader and the follower. Drawing on a communication-based approach to leadership and following a theoretical framework of interpersonal communication processes in organizations, this article describes the development and validation of a one-dimensional 6-item scale in four studies (total N = 604). Results from Study 1 and 2 provide evidence for the internal consistency and factorial validity of the PLCQ's self-rating version (PLCQ-SR)—a version for measuring how leaders perceive their own communication with their followers. Results from Study 3 and 4 show internal consistency, construct validity, and criterion validity of the PLCQ's other-rating version (PLCQ-OR)—a version for measuring how followers perceive the communication of their leaders. Cronbach's α had an average of.80 over the four studies. All confirmatory factor analyses yielded good to excellent model fit indices. Convergent validity was established by average positive correlations of.69 with subdimensions of transformational leadership and leader–member exchange scales. Furthermore, nonsignificant correlations with socially desirable responding indicated discriminant validity. Last, criterion validity was supported by a moderately positive correlation with job satisfaction (r =.31).     

Attention in athletes of high and low experience engaged in different open skill sports

In this study were examined differences in attentional style of athletes engaged in two open skill sports requiring high reactivity (karate and volleyball) in groups with high or low experience. 42 healthy men, 24 volleyball players, 12 of High Experience (first division Italian League players whose M age was 28 yr. (SD=5) and 12 of Low Experience (prejunior Italian team athletes whose M age was 19 yr. (SD= 2). and 18 karateka, 9 of High Experience (3rd and 4th dan black belt athletes whose M age was 31 yr., SD=5) and 9 of Low Experience (1st and 2nd dan black belt karateka whose M age was 32 yr., SD=5). Tests involved different types of attention: Alert, Go/No-Go, Divided Attention, and Working Memory. For each one, the reaction time (RT), variability, change in RT, and number of errors were analysed. Karateka of High Experience reacted faster than those of Low Experience on the simple RT test, Alert (M RT: 204 vs 237 msec., p< .01), while on the Divided Attention test, the High Experience subjects performed more poorly and committed more errors (M errors: 4.89 vs 1.44, p <.003). Young volleyball players of Low Experience reacted faster than colleagues of High Experience on the Alert (M RT: 187 vs 210 msec., p<.01) and Divided Attention tests (M RT: 590 vs 688 msec., p<.001) but committed more errors (Divided Attention test, M errors: 6.50 vs 3.08, p<.007). For the Divided Attention and Working Memory tests, correlations were positive among errors, RT, and RT variability but only for volleyball athletes of High Experience, suggesting they showed higher attention and stability in complex reactions than the group with Low Experience. No significant correlations were noted for either group of karateka on complex reactions. Results suggested that the attentional resources were engaged in different ways in the two groups of athletes and, in each group, there were differences between persons of High and Low Experience.     

Timing and reaction time.

Because reaction time (RT) tasks are generally repetitive and temporally regular, participants may use timing strategies that affect response speed and accuracy. This hypothesis was tested in 3 serial choice RT experiments in which participants were presented with stimuli that sometimes arrived earlier or later than normal. RTs increased and errors decreased when stimuli came earlier than normal, and RTs decreased and errors increased when stimuli came later than normal. The results were consistent with an elaboration of R. Ratcliff's diffusion model (R. Ratcliff, 1978; R. Ratcliff & J. N. Rouder, 1998; R. Ratcliff, T. Van Zandt, & G. McKoon, 1999), supplemented by a hypothesis developed by D. Laming (1979a, 1979b), according to which participants initiate stimulus sampling before the onset of the stimulus at a time governed by an internal timekeeper. The success of this model suggests that timing is used in the service of decision making.     

Other-race categorisation advantage in a binary- vs. ternary-response race categorisation task*

When categorising a face based on race, people respond faster to other-race faces than own-race faces [Other-Race Categorisation Advantage (ORCA)]. Five experiments were conducted to examine the ORCA in Chinese participants in race categorisation tasks. Participants classified a face either as Chinese vs. non-Chinese (binary response) or as Caucasian, Indian, or Chinese (ternary response). Experiments 1A and 1B replicated the ORCA with Chinese vs. Caucasian and Chinese vs. Indian faces, respectively, in a binary-response task. Experiments 2A/2B and 3 presented faces of all three races in the ternary- and binary-response tasks. Task type was manipulated between and within participants in Experiments 2A/2B and 3, respectively. The typical ORCA occurred in the binary-response task, but did not consistently so in the ternary-response task. These results indicate that neither the race-feature hypothesis [Levin, D. T. 1996. Classifying faces by race: The structure of face categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 22(6), 1364–1382] nor the differential processing hypothesis [Zhao, L., & Bentin, S. 2011. The role of features and configural processing in face-race classification. Vision Research, 51(23-24), 2462–2470] could fully account for the ORCA observed in the ternary-response task.     

The Mentalization Scale (MentS): A Self-Report Measure for the Assessment of Mentalizing Capacity

The psychometric properties of a new 28-item self-report measure of mentalization, the Mentalization Scale (MentS), were examined in 2 studies: with a sample of employed adults and university students (N₁ = 288 + 278) and with a sample of persons with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and matched controls (N₂ = 62 + 62). Besides the MentS, both studies employed measures of attachment and the Big Five; Study 1 also included assessments of empathy and emotional intelligence. MentS whole-scale internal consistency was good in the community and acceptable in the clinical sample (α = .84 and .75, respectively). A principal components analysis of Study 1 data yielded 3 interpretable factors, or subscales: Self-Related Mentalization (MentS-S), Other-Related Mentalization (MentS-O), and Motivation to Mentalize (MentS-M). These showed acceptable reliabilities (α = .74–.79), except for MentS-M in the clinical sample (α = .60). MentS scores further exhibited a coherent pattern of correlations with cognate constructs and the Big Five, relating positively to empathy, trait and ability emotional intelligence, openness, extraversion, and conscientiousness, and negatively to attachment avoidance and anxiety, and neuroticism. Persons with BPD scored significantly lower on MentS total and MentS-S. The proposed scale is thus deemed suitable for quick, yet meaningful, assessments of mentalization in both individual differences research and clinical contexts.     

Assessment of Time Management Skills (ATMS): A Practice-Based Outcome Questionnaire

This study assessed test–retest reliability and internal consistency of the Assessment of Time Management Skills (ATMS), a self-report questionnaire designed to assess awareness and use time management strategies to plan and manage daily life tasks. Participants included 18 to 65 year-old people (N = 241) from the general population. The questionnaire's content validity was established. The tool demonstrated good internal consistency (α = 0.86). Test–retest reliability for the score revealed a Pearson Coefficient of Correlation (PCC) r = 0.89. The ATMS may be a useful tool for evaluating the effectiveness of rehabilitation designed to improve time management skills.     

Japanese normative data for the Unhelpful Thoughts and Beliefs about Stuttering (UTBAS) Scales for adults who stutter

PurposeThis study reports Japanese normative data for the Unhelpful Thoughts and Beliefs about Stuttering (UTBAS) scales. We outline the translation process, and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the UTBAS scales.MethodsThe translation of the UTBAS scales into Japanese (UTBAS-J) was completed using the standard forward-backward translation process, and was administered to 130 Japanese adults who stutter. To validate the UTBAS-J scales, scores for the Japanese and Australian cohorts were compared. Spearman correlations were conducted between the UTBAS-J and the Modified Erickson Communication Attitude scale (S-24), the self-assessment scale of speech (SA scale), and age. The test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the UTBAS-J were assessed. Independent t-tests were conducted to evaluate the differences in the UTBAS-J scales according to gender, speech treatment experience, and stuttering self-help group participation experience.ResultsThe UTBAS-J showed good test-retest reliability, high internal consistency, and moderate to high significant correlations with S-24 and SA scale. A weak correlation was found between the UTBAS-J scales with age. No significant relationships were found between UTBAS-J scores, gender and speech treatment experience. However, those who participated in the stuttering self-help group demonstrated lower UTBAS-J scores than those who did not.ConclusionGiven the current scarcity of clinical assessment tools for adults who stutter in Japan, the UTBAS-J holds promise as an assessment tool and outcome measure for use in clinical and research environments.     

Efficacy of Attention Bias Modification Using Threat and Appetitive Stimuli: A Meta-Analytic Review

Attention bias modification (ABM) protocols aim to modify attentional biases underlying many forms of pathology. Our objective was to conduct an effect size analysis of ABM across a wide range of samples and psychological problems. We conducted a literature search using PubMed, PsycInfo, and author searches to identify randomized studies that examined the effects of ABM on attention and subjective experiences. We identified 37 studies (41 experiments) totaling 2,135 participants who were randomized to training toward neutral, positive, threat, or appetitive stimuli or to a control condition. The effect size estimate for changes in attentional bias was large for the neutral versus threat comparisons (g = 1.06), neutral versus appetitive (g = 1.41), and neutral versus control comparisons (g = 0.80), and small for positive versus control (g = 0.24). The effects of ABM on attention bias were moderated by stimulus type (words vs. pictures) and sample characteristics (healthy vs. high symptomatology). Effect sizes of ABM on subjective experiences ranged from 0.03 to 0.60 for postchallenge outcomes, –0.31 to 0.51 for posttreatment, and were moderated by number of training sessions, stimulus type, and stimulus orientation (top/bottom vs. left/right). Fail-safe N calculations suggested that the effect size estimates were robust for the training effects on attentional biases, but not for the effect on subjective experiences. ABM studies using threat stimuli produced significant effects on attention bias across comparison conditions, whereas appetitive stimuli produced changes in attention only when comparing appetitive versus neutral conditions. ABM has a moderate and robust effect on attention bias when using threat stimuli. Further studies are needed to determine whether these effects are also robust when using appetitive stimuli and for affecting subjective experiences.     

Benchmarking Treatment Response in Tourette’s Disorder: A Psychometric Evaluation and Signal Detection Analysis of the Parent Tic Questionnaire

This study assessed the psychometric properties of a parent-reported tic severity measure, the Parent Tic Questionnaire (PTQ), and used the scale to establish guidelines for delineating clinically significant tic treatment response. Participants were 126 children ages 9 to 17 who participated in a randomized controlled trial of Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT). Tic severity was assessed using the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS), Hopkins Motor/Vocal Tic Scale (HMVTS) and PTQ; positive treatment response was defined by a score of 1 (very much improved) or 2 (much improved) on the Clinical Global Impressions – Improvement (CGI-I) scale. Cronbach’s alpha and intraclass correlations (ICC) assessed internal consistency and test-retest reliability, with correlations evaluating validity. Receiver- and Quality-Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses assessed the efficiency of percent and raw-reduction cutoffs associated with positive treatment response. The PTQ demonstrated good internal consistency (α = 0.80 to 0.86), excellent test-retest reliability (ICC = .84 to .89), good convergent validity with the YGTSS and HM/VTS, and good discriminant validity from hyperactive, obsessive-compulsive, and externalizing (i.e., aggression and rule-breaking) symptoms. A 55% reduction and 10-point decrease in PTQ Total score were optimal for defining positive treatment response. Findings help standardize tic assessment and provide clinicians with greater clarity in determining clinically meaningful tic symptom change during treatment.     

Nicotine vs. ethanol discrimination: Extinction and spontaneous recovery of responding

Studies regarding extinction and spontaneous recovery of the discriminative stimulus effects of drugs are limited. Eight rats were initially trained to discriminate nicotine (0.4 mg/kg) vs. ethanol (800 mg/kg). For four rats, itraperitaneal (IP) administrations of nicotine fifteen minutes prior to fifteen-minute training sessions served as a discriminative stimulus (S^D) for predicting food-reinforced lever pressing (VI-1 min). On other sessions ethanol functioned in predicting nonreinforcement (S^Δ). The stimulus roles of the drugs were counterbalanced for the remaining four rats. S^Δ and S^D sessions alternated quasi-randomly with two daily sessions at 1000 and 1400 hours. Discriminative control was not disrupted following ten extinction sessions under a non-drug/saline condition, but was disrupted following extinction sessions under the original training drugs. Instances of spontaneous recovery (SR) occurred throughout extinction under the drug condtions. There was no evidence for SR two weeks following extinction, but partial recovery four weeks following the final extinction phase. Contextual status (context renewal) had neither a restorative or disruptive impact on extiguished or discriminated responding, respectively. Theser results support and extend the limited number of other studies by demonstrating extinction and spontaneous recovery of responding discriminated bytwo distinct drugs. Some theoretical interpretations regarding history effects and training in the context of drug discrimination are entertained.     

Stimulus and response prediction in choice reaction time: Free vs. forced reactions

Verbal predictions were combined in a 1:many mapping in order to analyze the contribution of response preparation to both stimulus and response prediction effects in choice reaction time (RT). Using a three-stimulus, two-response task in which two of the stimuli were mapped 1:1 to separate responses (forced-choice) and the third stimulus was mapped to both responses (free-choice), response frequencies and latencies were compared in two experiments. The results indicated that (1) free-choice response selections were not influenced by forced-choice stimulus predictions; (2) free-choice RTs were reduced only when the free-choice stimulus was correctly predicted; (3) free-choice responses were generally consistent with the response predicted, but RT did not depend on response prediction; (4) on forced-choice trials, the RT difference between correct and incorrect predictions was similar for stimulus and response predictions; and (5) under no-prediction conditions, no difference was found between free and forced RTs. A stimulus anticipation component was the only apparent contribution to the stimulus prediction effect, while the response prediction data suggest some prior response selection with no associated decrease in latency     

Intersensory effects in the psychological refractory period

Two experiments examined reaction time (RT) to each of two stimulus events separated by short interstimulus intervals (1SI). The essential contrast was RT to the second visual signal, RT₂, in auditory-visual (A-V) vs visual-visual (V-V) sequences. With response, certain pairings in Experiment 1, an effect apparently demonstrating a single-channel process (Welford, 1952), was noted. RT₂ was generally faster for A-V as opposed to V-V sequences especially when Ss were uncertain as to the sequence that would occur. At 0-msec ISI, the RT₂ difference between sequences approached the RT! difference. More rapid RT₂ to A-V sequences was also observed with go vs no-go pairings in Experiment 2 when the initial event was a go signal. However, the RT difference disappeared upon error correction, making the RT₂ sequence difference of questionable relevance to the hypothetical single-channel process. RT₂ was more rapid following a null no-go signal when the no-go signal was contrasted with a visual as opposed to auditory go signal. The latter effect was independent of error and is consistent with channel-switching theory (Kristofferson, 1967).     

The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support: Analyses of Internal Reliability,Measurement Invariance,and Correlates Across Gender

In this study, we examined estimates of internal consistency reliability, measurement invariance, and differential correlates of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS; Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988) in samples of undergraduate men (n = 270) and women (n = 340). The MSPSS is designed to assess 3 sources of perceived social support: family, friends, and significant others. The participants ranged in age from 18 to 24 years (M _age = 19.60, SD = 1.4 years). First, composite scale reliability and coefficient omega methods provided adequate estimates of internal consistency reliability for the original MSPSS total and subscale scores. Second, results of multiple-groups invariance confirmatory factor analysis provided support for configural and metric invariance. Partial measurement invariance was attained for scalar and strict measurement invariance across men and women. Additionally, given the high correlations among the first-order factors, we conducted multiple-groups bifactor item response theory (bifactor-IRT) analysis to evaluate further the performances of the individual MSPSS items across gender. Support for the bifactor model was strong. Third, we conducted a series of simultaneous regression analyses to identify potential correlates of the social support construct for women and men.     

Development of the Generic Multifaceted Automaticity Scale (GMAS) and preliminary validation for physical activity

ObjectivesThis article presents the validation of a Generic Multifaceted Automaticity Scale (GMAS) assessing the automatic properties of habitual behaviours.DesignA quantitative approach was adopted within various adult samples in order to confirm the internal and external validity of the GMAS pertaining to Physical Activity (PA).MethodStudy 1 investigated the content validity of a series of items among experts (N = 13) and respondents (N = 26). Study 2 examined the scale's construct validity for PA (N = 293). Study 3 tested the GMAS external validity (N = 161). Study 4 evaluated the internal consistency and predictive validity for the GMAS applied to transportation modes (N = 167). Study 5 used a 1-week prospective design and included Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB; Ajzen, 2012) variables in order to test the predictive validity of the GMAS for active transportation (N = 125).ResultsStudy 1 supported the fact that the 9 items primarily reflected one facet of automaticity. Study 2 validated the hierarchical structure of the scale. In Study 3, convergent validity was confirmed regarding PA through significant correlations with the Self-Report Behavioural Automaticity Index (SRBAI; Gardner et al., 2012) and predictive validity was supported by significant correlations with self-report PA behaviour. Study 4 confirmed its internal consistency and predictive validity. Study 5 demonstrated that the scores derived from the GMAS significantly predicted active transportation behaviour, above and beyond TPB constructs.DiscussionThe GMAS appears as a valid instrument for research on everyday PA behaviours.