Learning Related and Interpersonal Social Skills Constructs in Two Existing Social Skills Assessments

In the social skills literature it has been identified that both learning related social skills and interpersonal social skills may exist. This study ascertained the views of 16 experts regarding the existence of the two proposed constructs, learning related social skills and interpersonal social skills, within two pre-existing assessments: Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales–2nd edition and Child Behavior Rating Scale. Sixteen experts from Australia (n = 11) and Singapore (n = 5) with pediatric backgrounds in occupational therapy, speech pathology, psychology and early childhood education took part in the study. Experts were asked to sort cards with each of the items from the Child Behavior Rating Scale and Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales–2nd edition (66 items in total) into one of two piles (one for learning related social skills and one for interpersonal social skills) and then answered several open ended questions about the clinical utility of these constructs. Preliminary evidence demonstrated the existence of the learning related social skills and interpersonal social skills constructs within the items of the two assessments (Child Behavior Rating Scale and Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales–2nd edition). The experts' opinion also suggested the potential clinical benefits of assessing both learning related social skills and interpersonal social skills in preschool-age children. The study results and implications for further research and clinical practice are discussed.     

Assessment of acquired capability for suicide in clinical practice

The Interpersonal Psychological Theory of suicide proposes that the interaction between Thwarted Belongingness, Perceived Burdensomeness, and Acquired Capability for Suicide (ACS) predicts proximal risk of death by suicide. Instruments to assess all three constructs are available. However, research on the validity of one of them, the acquired capability for suicide scale (ACSS), has been limited, especially in terms of its clinical relevance. This study aimed to explore the utility of the different versions of the ACSS in clinical assessment. Three versions of the scale were investigated, the full 20-item version, a 7-item version and a single item version representing self-perceived capability for suicide. In a sample of patients recruited from a clinic specialising in the treatment of suicidality and in a community sample, all versions of the ACSS were found to show reasonable levels of reliability and to correlate as expected with reports of suicidal ideation, self-harm, and attempted suicide. The item assessing self-perceived acquired capacity for suicide showed highest correlations with all levels of suicidal behaviour. However, no version of the ACSS on its own showed a capacity to indicate suicide attempts in the combined sample. It is concluded that the versions of the scale have construct validity, but their clinical utility is limited. An assessment using a single item on self-perceived ACS outperforms the full and shortened versions of ACSS in clinical settings and can be recommended with caution for clinicians interested in assessing this characteristic.     

Forensic and correctional applications of the personality assessment inventory

The relative utility of psychological tests for addressing legal issues is an area of considerable debate in the field. Regardless of the merits of psychological testing, it is apparent that such instruments are used widely both to address specific psycholegal issues and to evaluate offender populations more generally. One instrument gaining prominence in terms of its use in both forensic and correctional settings is the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991), which was developed to assess various constructs relevant to clinical settings (e.g. psychopathology, response distortion, and personality traits). This paper reviews the psychometric properties of the PAI specifically in reference to its ability to assess factors relevant to forensic decision-making, as well as its utility to provide clinically relevant information about offender populations more generally.     

The Construct Validity of Acceptance: A Multitrait-Multimethod Investigation

Despite increasing clinical and empirical attention, the construct validity of acceptance has not been extensively investigated. The present study utilized a multitrait-multimethod design and a correlated trait-correlated method minus one [CT-C(M-1)] confirmatory factor analytic model to assess acceptance's convergent validity across methods and discriminant validity in comparison to cognitive reappraisal and perceived emotional control in a sample of 210 outpatients with anxiety and mood disorders. In addition, the study evaluated acceptance's concurrent validity by investigating the extent to which it was associated with variables of clinical interest over and above the two rival constructs. Results of confirmatory factor analyses supported acceptance's convergent and discriminant validity in comparison to the two neighboring constructs, and thereby provided partial support for its construct validity. However, contrary to prediction, acceptance was not significantly associated with concurrent validation measures. These results are discussed in the context of acceptance's potential therapeutic utility and functional relationships with associated constructs.     

A meta-analysis of self-regulated learning in work-related training and educational attainment: what we know and where we need to go

Researchers have been applying their knowledge of goal-oriented behavior to the self-regulated learning domain for more than 30 years. This review examines the current state of research on self-regulated learning and gaps in the field's understanding of how adults regulate their learning of work-related knowledge and skills. Self-regulation theory was used as a conceptual lens for deriving a heuristic framework of 16 fundamental constructs that constitute self-regulated learning. Meta-analytic findings (k=430, N=90,380) support theoretical propositions that self-regulation constructs are interrelated-30% of the corrected correlations among constructs were .50 or greater. Goal level, persistence, effort, and self-efficacy were the self-regulation constructs with the strongest effects on learning. Together these constructs accounted for 17% of the variance in learning, after controlling for cognitive ability and pretraining knowledge. However, 4 self-regulatory processes-planning, monitoring, help seeking, and emotion control-did not exhibit significant relationships with learning. Thus, a parsimonious framework of the self-regulated learning domain is presented that focuses on a subset of self-regulatory processes that have both limited overlap with other core processes and meaningful effects on learning. Research is needed to advance the field's understanding of how adults regulate their learning in an increasingly complex and knowledge-centric work environment. Such investigations should capture the dynamic nature of self-regulated learning, address the role of self-regulation in informal learning, and investigate how trainees regulate their transfer of training.     

Demonstrating the Effects of Presentation Rate on Aging Memory Using the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT)

Previous research has repeatedly found that the elderly demonstrate significant declines in direct measures of memory. This study examined verbal learning and memory in the young and old participants using the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). We hypothesized that slowing down the presentation rate of a list of words, therefore giving the participants more time to rehearse while learning new information, would decrease the normal differences found between the young and old adults on memory recall. However, at a faster presentation rate, the usual differences would be found. Participants took the CVLT, and correct recall responses were measured as a function of age and presentation rate. It was found, as expected, that at the faster presentation rate, the young did significantly better than the old on recall, but at the slower presentation rate, the differences between age groups diminished. It was concluded that by giving the elderly more time to rehearse information, age-related differences in memory recall could be greatly diminished.     

The situation

A formulation for the explanation of behavior is needed to guide the work of the applied psychologist whose first task is to explain behavior. It can also serve as a coordinating framework for the basic research that centers around each of psychology's many constructs. This paper puts forward the notion that the appropriate framework reflects the intersection of numerous person and environment systems; in other words, that it is found in the structure of a situation. Continuity within the science of psychology is promoted if an appropriate structure is found in the classic situations of the experimental laboratory. A prototypical situation that is based on the major paradigms of instrumental learning is described. It has already shown considerable utility in organizing the investigation of behavioral determinants in a real-world setting, and its ability to clarify interrelationships among psychology's constructs also looks promising.Thanks are due to C. Cofer, J. Keenan, E. Mannucci, and M. Nadien for their helpful comments on a draft of this paper.     

Patterns of continuity: a dynamic model for conceptualizing the stability of individual differences in psychological constructs across the life course

In contemporary psychology there is debate over whether individual differences in psychological constructs are stable over extended periods of time. The authors argue that it is impossible to resolve such debates unless researchers focus on patterns of stability and the developmental mechanisms that may give rise to them. To facilitate this shift in emphasis, they describe a formal model that integrates 3 developmental processes: stochastic-contextual processes, person-environment transactions, and developmental constancies. The theoretical and mathematical analyses indicate that this model makes novel predictions about the way in which test-retest correlations are structured across a wide range of ages and test-retest intervals. The authors illustrate the utility of the model by comparing its predictions against meta-analytic data on Neuroticism. The discussion emphasizes the value of focusing on patterns of continuity, not only as phenomena to be explained but as data capable of clarifying the developmental processes underlying stability and change for a variety of psychological constructs.     

MicroCog: Assessment of Cognitive Functioning

MicroCog: Assessment of Cognitive Functioning version 2.1 (Powell, D. H., Kaplan, E. F., Whitla, D., Catlin, R., and Funkenstein, H. H. (1993). The Psychological corporation, San Antonio, TX.) is one of the first computerized assessment batteries commercially developed to detect early signs of cognitive impairment. This paper reviews its psychometric characteristics and relates them to its clinical utility. It concludes that MicroCog provides an accurate, cost-effective screen for early dementia among elderly subjects living in the community and that it can distinguish dementia from depression. Its ability to detect cognitive decline at other ages or to discriminate dementia from other mental disorders has not been established. MicroCog measures different constructs than do traditional neuropsychological tests, making it difficult to relate test performance to current models of cognitive functioning. The review recommends further development of MicroCog and discusses its implications for the future of computer-based neuropsychological assessment.     

The Effects of Acute Aerobic Exercise on the Primary Motor Cortex

ABSTRACT. The effect of aerobic exercise on primary motor cortical excitability is a relevant area of interest for both motor learning and motor rehabilitation. Transient excitability changes that may follow an exercise session are a necessary precursor to more lasting neuroplastic changes. While the number of studies is limited, research suggests that a session of aerobic exercise can create an ideal environment for the early induction of plasticity. Potential mechanisms include the upregulation of neurotransmitter activity, altered cerebral metabolism and cortisol levels, and increases in brain-derived neurotrophic factor. While there is considerable evidence that chronic physical activity positively impacts brain health and function, studies examining cortical excitability changes and motor performance after a single session of exercise are lacking. Further research is required to determine the clinical utility and feasibility of aerobic exercise.     

Family measurement techniques

Abstract

This is the first issue in which the Family Measurement Techniques section appears in The American Journal of Family Therapy. I hope that you, the readers of the journal. will find it helpful in your clinical work with couples and families. In each issue, instruments, procedures and assessment techniques will be reviewed by clinicians who have expertise in the areas of marital/family measurement and evaluation. Reviewers have been asked to consider two issues: instrument construction and clinical utility. Instrument construction deals with the theoretical underpinnings of the technique or procedure, the adequacy with which major theoretical concepts and constructs have been operationalized, the sampling procedures used in instrument construction, and the reliability and validity of the measurement technique. Clinical utility deals with issues of importance for practicing therapists, for example, length of time required for administration and scoring, degree of expertise or training needed for administration and interpretation, and overall clinical utility of the measure.

I hope that the information provided in these reviews will make it easier for the busy practitioner to select instruments for use in assessment, diagnosis and outcome evaluation.     

California verbal learning test indicators of Malingered Neurocognitive Dysfunction: sensitivity and specificity in traumatic brain injury

The present study used well-defined traumatic brain injury (TBI) and mixed neurological (other than TBI) and psychiatric samples to examine the specificity and sensitivity to Malingered Neurocognitive Dysfunction (MND) of four individual California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) variables and eight composite CVLT malingering indicators. Participants were 275 traumatic brain injury and 352 general clinical patients seen for neuropsychological evaluation. The TBI patients were assigned to one of five groups using the Slick, Sherman, and Iverson (1999) criteria: no incentive, incentive only, suspect, and malingering (both Probable MND and Definite MND). Within TBI, persons with the strongest evidence for malingering (Probable and Definite) had the most extreme scores. Good sensitivity (approximately 50%) in the context of excellent specificity (> 95%) was found in the TBI samples. Issues related to the appropriate clinical application of these data are discussed.     

A systems analysis of a failure to test the effectiveness of waiting-list group therapy.

This nonexperimental effectiveness study attempted to evaluate the utility of a brief waiting-list group. The setting was a university clinic providing treatment for an inner-city population. Health delivery and staff dynamics made it difficult to conduct clinical research in this treatment-oriented setting. The nonrandom design allowed for patient choice, with few clients attending more than two group sessions, thus decreasing its impact. Managed-care pressures decreased staff cooperation with our research objectives, resulting in very low return rates in testing and follow-up data. A social systems analysis, highlighting staff and institutional ambivalence, is used to understand the failure to adequately test the effectiveness of waiting-list group therapy. Recommendations are offered to investigators who contemplate conducting clinical research with limited resources.     

Toward an action-theoretical model of personality

An action-theoretical model of personality is presented, in which missing links between action-theory and personality constructs are established. Background is the facts, (a) that current psychological theories of action are limited to situation- and action-specific person variables, and (b) that in personality theory systematic relations between such variables and personality constructs are missing. The action-theoretical model of personality is based on a differentiated expectancy-value theory, whose situation-specific constructs (various aspects of valences and expectancies) are logically connected with personality constructs of generalized self-referential cognitions. The following action-theoretical personality variables are proposed to be central for the study of person-situation interactions: (a) self-concept of own competence, (b) control orientations, (c) trust, (d) conceptualization level, and (e) value orientations. The model implies rules for the operationalization of its constructs and for prediction of behaviour. The structure of the action-theoretical personality variables and their relations to other theories of personality are described.     

Assessing personality in the DSM-5: the utility of bipolar constructs

All previous editions of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) have described and assessed personality solely in terms of pathological categories. Nonetheless, there is compelling evidence that normal-range personality traits also provide clinically useful information, emphasizing the importance of thoroughly assessing both adaptive and maladaptive aspects of personality within a clinical context. The proposed inclusion of a dimensional trait model in the upcoming DSM-5 represents an important shift in the understanding of personality pathology and provides an ideal opportunity to integrate the assessment of normal personality into clinical practice. Building on research conceptualizing personality disorders as maladaptive, extreme variants of general personality traits, it is proposed that both normal and abnormal personality can be assessed within the same dimensional model using bipolar constructs. The inclusion of bipolar traits, such as a continuum ranging from introversion to extraversion, would hold numerous advantages for a dimensional model. These benefits include a strong foundation of existing validity research, comprehensive coverage of personality pathology, and the ability to provide useful information about all individuals. Despite potential complexities, the adoption of bipolar constructs within DSM-5's dimensional model presents the greatest opportunity to maximize efficiency, validity, and clinical utility.     

Clarifying Construct Validity: Definitions,Processes, and Models

Despite definitions in standard sources, personnel managers, psychologists, and psychometricians persistently encounter problems that are best referred to as the ambiguous nature of validity. The purpose of this article is to pro- vide an overview of construct validity and personnel testing, to demonstrate its practical utility, and to clarify with concrete examples certain theories and models, as well as to illustrate the meaning of the terminology used by com- mentators on the topic. A brief historical overview of testing and validation is presented; the progress of construct validity and its acceptance by various sec- tors of society is discussed parsimoniously in the section The Seven Wonders of Personnel Psychology. In the past, personnel psychologists have not done a very good job of understanding the constructs that underlie test perform- ance. Some new approaches can help to correct this. A process should be rou- tinely used on all tests in order to develop an understanding of the constructs that underlie performance on an employment test; only by knowing the cor- rect criterion and method of measuring it can we ascertain the intrinsic valid- ity of our measures.     

The home observation for measurement of the environment (HOME) scale: A review of research

Caldwell's Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) scale is perhaps the most widely used instrument to assess the quality of a young child's home learning environment. In this paper, the HOME'S psychometric properties and methodological uses are explored, and its utility as a research and clinical instrument is examined. Strengths of the HOME scale include the relatively wide range of information available pertaining to its psychometric properties and its use in studies of a variety of populations for a variety of purposes. Weaknesses include the fact that most research relating HOME scores to later child development is correlational. Several suggestions for future research are offered.     

Neurobiological studies of risk assessment: A comparison of expected utility and mean-variance approaches

When modeling valuation under uncertainty, economists generally prefer expected utility because it has an axiomatic foundation, meaning that the resulting choices will satisfy a number of rationality requirements. In expected utility theory, values are computed by multiplying probabilities of each possible state of nature by the payoff in that state and summing the results. The drawback of this approach is that all state probabilities need to be dealt with separately, which becomes extremely cumbersome when it comes to learning. Finance academics and professionals, however, prefer to value risky prospects in terms of a trade-off between expected reward and risk, where the latter is usually measured in terms of reward variance. This mean-variance approach is fast and simple and greatly facilitates learning, but it impedes assigning values to new gambles on the basis of those of known ones. To date, it is unclear whether the human brain computes values in accordance with expected utility theory or with mean-variance analysis. In this article, we discuss the theoretical and empirical arguments that favor one or the other theory. We also propose a new experimental paradigm that could determine whether the human brain follows the expected utility or the mean-variance approach. Behavioral results of implementation of the paradigm are discussed.     

Psychobiology of boredom

The study of the psychobiological bases of boredom has been limited by the vagueness of its clinical constructs and the difficulties in applying adequate experimental models. The theoretical background of previous research mainly has been based upon cognitive and behavioral psychology by using neuropsychological constructs, such as arousal, attention, motivation, sensation-seeking, and the reward system. Recently acquired data depict a complex and fragmentary picture. In this article, the author presents a review of the literature as well as some personal considerations on this intriguing topic.