Assessing implicit motives with an online version of the picture story exercise

An online version of a Picture Story Exercise (PSE) was administered to 180 participants to assess implicit motives for achievement, affiliation, and power. First, data were analyzed with respect to different aspects of participant behavior (dropout, writing time, story length, setting). Second, online data were compared with data collected in the laboratory (n = 93). Results regarding motive density, internal consistency, picture profiles, and position effects were comparable among samples and consistent with previous research (Pang and Schultheiss in J Person Assess 85:280–294, 2005; Schultheiss and Brunstein in J Person Assess 77: 71–86, 2001). In addition, online participants completed self-report measures assessing explicit motives and the Big Five personality factors. Explicit motives showed no substantial overlap with PSE motive scores, replicating previous research. Personality factors revealed gender differences in correlates: men with a high implicit power motive reported less agreeableness and conscientiousness. Results suggest that administering the PSE online yields reliable and valid data.     

A meta-analysis of the reliability and validity of the Rorschach

The results of a meta-analysis of Rorschach studies indicate that reliabilities in the order of .83 and higher and validity coefficients of .45 or .50 and higher can be expected for the Rorschach--when hypotheses supported by empirical or theoretical rationales are tested using reasonably powerful statistics. Three important determinants of variance accounted for in a variety of Rorschach scores were identified in 530 statistics from 39 papers published in the Journal of Personality Assessment from 1971 to 1980. The a priori theoretical or empirical evidence determining the likelihood of obtaining significant results, and the power of the statistic used to measure the results, as well as the interaction between the likelihood of results and the power of the statistic used, were all significant determinants of the proportion of variance accounted for in the Rorschach measures reported.     

A consideration of the validity and reliability of suicide mortality data

The question of the validity and reliability of suicide statistics may be considered at three levels: (1) Are suicide deaths misidentified or differentially identified across jurisdictions or over time? (2) To what degree are suicide deaths misidentified? and (3) Is the degree to which suicides are misidentified sufficient to threaten the validity of research based on suicide statistics? There is general agreement that suicides are likely to be undercounted, both for structural reasons (the burden-of-proof issue, the requirement that the coroner or medical examiner suspect the possibility of suicide) and for sociocultural reasons. There is also substantial anecdotal and empirical evidence suggesting that the mode of death for some true suicides is in fact certified as other than suicide. Overall, it does not seem that very many true nonsuicides are incorrectly certified as suicides. There is not, however, much agreement as to the degree to which true suicides are undercounted. At least some of the inconsistencies in the findings of different investigators arise because the validity of suicide certification seems to vary from place to place. But the source of apparent conflicts in many of the findings is undoubtedly the lack of a "gold standard" against which the verdicts of any given death certification process can be measured. At best, we can estimate that the sensitivity with which coroners and medical examiners certify true suicides varies from approximately 55% to 99%. A central question in estimating the sensitivity of suicide certification is this: What proportion of true suicides are either equivocal or likely to go unsuspected by the coroner or medical examiner? Very little has been done to investigate this issue. Yet the sensitivity of suicide certification clearly varies for equivocal versus unequivocal suicides. As shown in Table 1.2, specificity is also at issue when it comes to certifying equivocal cases. The final question--whether the degree of undercounting of suicide deaths is so great that it threatens the validity of research based on official statistics--is at the crux of the general concern about suicide certification. There are examples of studies in which conclusions based on crude comparisons of reported suicide statistics appear to be invalid. For the most part, these are comparisons among nations with substantially differing death certification procedures. When official statistics are interpreted with a degree of caution and an understanding of the source and direction of biases likely to affect the published rates, however, it seems unlikely that major conclusions based on these statistics will be in error.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

A comprehensive assessment of human strivings: test-retest reliability and validity of the Reiss Profile

Sensitivity theory provides an analysis of personality based on what people say motivates their behavior. After Reiss and Havercamp (1998) confirmed a 15-factor solution to self-reported human strivings, the Reiss Profile of Fundamental Goals and Motivation Sensitivities (Reiss & Havercamp, 1998) psychometric instrument was standardized. In 3 studies, the Reiss Profile was shown to possess good test-retest and internal reliability and concurrent and criterion validity. Ten independent samples of adults (n = 764) and a comparison group (n = 737) participated in these studies. Pearson product-moment correlations between the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) and the Reiss Profile ranged in absolute value from .01 to.39 (M =.16). How people self-reported their trait motives correlated with how they behaved in the "real world." The Reiss Profile can be used to study motivational traits.     

Checking the reliability and validity of HSPQ profiles

Developed a scale designed to detect invalid response patterns on the High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ). Using a large sample of protocols drawn from the HSPQ standardization group, ten items were found to satisfy the necessary criterion for inclusion in the resulting "random" or "validity" (RV) scale. When applied to separate cross-validation groups of nearly 2,000 valid and randomly generated response protocols, RV was found to correctly classify 79% of the profiles. As a further test of the scale's utility, 100 profiles classified as valid and 100 classified as invalid were selected for comparison. In the invalid group, KR-20 reliabilities of the 14 trait scales were almost uniformly lowered, Also, for the invalid group the correlations among the trait scales were attenuated and altered to the extent that the underlying factor structure of the test was upset.     

Velocity discrimination: reliability and construct validity in older adults

The aim of this study was to determine whether a test of velocity discrimination is a reliable and valid measure of proprioception in healthy older adults. Results revealed excellent test-retest reliability over a 2-week period. Velocity discrimination also indicated good construct validity with modest correlations with center of pressure sway outcomes in eyes open and closed conditions as well as stair climbing time. Good construct validity was identified by velocity discrimination sensitivity to age with a higher mean value for the older participants than for the younger participants. These findings suggest velocity discrimination is a valid and reliable measure of velocity sense, which may be included with measures of position and movement sense to enhance the proprioceptive testing repertoire among researchers. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of evaluation of proprioceptive training programs aimed to enhance postural control.     

Measuring tolerance of ambiguity: Item polarity,dimensionality, and criterion validity

Research involving tolerance of ambiguity (TA) has produced inconsistent findings for half a century. Some of this inconsistency may be due to the psychometric shortcomings of the TA measures. In this investigation, the Budner (1962) and McLain (1993) TA scales were examined using confirmatory factor analyses. Both scales were tested against a single-factor model, a two-factor model, a two-factor correlated model, and a two-method/single-trait model with method defined by item polarity (positive and negative). Results demonstrated that the two-method/single trait model was the best fit for both scales. However, whereas the McLain scale demonstrated adequate psychometric integrity, the Budner items failed to load sufficiently on the trait factor suggesting a weakness in validity. Correlations with verbal ability and inconsistent regression results with respect to the Budner scale support the choice of the McLain scale in future work.     

A system for assessing personal responsibility: validity, reliability and rater trainability

Summary: Sixty-two subjects completed the California Psjrchological Inventory, the Rotter External-Internal locus of control scale and an audio-taped discussion of their personal problems. The audio-taped problems were rated on a five-point level of personal responsibility scale and were compared wi.th the scores on the California Personality Inventory and the Internal-External locus of control scale in a correlation matrix which was subjected to a factor analysis. The results from these analyses suppovted the hypothesis that the Personal Responsibility Rating System has construct validity as a measure of psychological health. Study I1 assessed the trainability of the Personal Responsibility System. With a four-hour training program it was found that graduate students could be taught to rate personal responsibility in a reliable manner.     

PC anxiety: reliability and validity of a brief scale

A brief six-item scale to measure confidence in the use of personal computers showed Cronbach alpha of .76 for internal reliability and construct validity (r(pb)s of -.16, -.18, -.22 for items of behavioral use).     

Goldberg's bipolar measure of the Big-Five personality dimensions: reliability and validity

A study was conducted to examine the relations between a recently developed measure of the Big-Five personality dimensions (Goldberg, 1992) and several other instruments: the Eysenck Personality Inventory (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1968), the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence and Helmreich, 1978), and the Masculine Behavior Scale (Snell, 1989). The results indicated that Goldberg's Big Five questionnaire was correlated in predictable ways with these personality instruments. In addition, other results revealed that the Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability scales on Goldberg's questionnaire were associated with a measure of psychological symptoms. The discussion focuses on how these findings provide corroborative evidence for the reliability and validity of Goldberg's bipolar adjective measure of personality traits, thereby supporting this instrument as a reliable and valid measure of the Big-Five personality dimensions.     

Rorschach aggression variables: a study of reliability and validity

This study investigated the extent to which 6 Rorschach variables of aggression (A1, A2, AG, MOR, AgC, AgPast) are related to one another, to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. [DSM-IV]; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) Cluster B personality disorder criteria, and to self-report measures of anger, aggression, and antisocial behavior. Seventy-eight patients were found to meet DSM-IV criteria for an Axis II disorder, Cluster A personality disorder (paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal) = 9, Cluster B (antisocial personality disorder [ANPD] = 16, borderline personality disorder [BPD] = 23, histrionic personality disorder = 5, narcissistic personality disorder = 12) = 56, and Cluster C personality disorder (avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive) = 13. The results of this study indicated that (a) these 6 Rorschach aggression variables can be scored reliably; (b) 2 factors, revealed by factor analysis, accounted for 77% of the total variance; (c) selected variables were found to be empirically related to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for ANPD and BPD; and (d) selected variables were found to be empirically related to a self-report measure of anger and antisocial practices. The conceptual nature and clinical utility of these Rorschach aggression variables as well as implications for future research are discussed.     

International physical activity questionnaire: reliability and validity of the Turkish version

Physical inactivity is a global problem which is related to many chronic health disorders. Physical activity scales which allow cross-cultural comparisons have been developed. The goal was to assess the reliability and validity of a Turkish version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). 1,097 university students (721 women, 376 men; ages 18-32) volunteered. Short and long forms of the IPAQ gave good agreement and comparable 1-wk. test-retest reliabilities. Caltrac accelerometer data were compared with IPAQ scores in 80 participants with good agreement for short and long forms. Turkish versions of the IPAQ short and long forms are reliable and valid in assessment of physical activity.     

The reliability and validity of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised

The reliability and validity of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised was examined in a sample of 6-month-old infants and their parents. One hundred and fifteen mothers and 79 fathers completed the IBQ-R and a measure of depression and 98 infants participated in a laboratory assessment of temperament. Internal consistency reliability was adequate for all 14 IBQ-R subscales for both mothers and fathers and inter-rater reliability of mother and father reports was demonstrated for 11 of 14 subscales. Convergent validity was established between observed fear and mother reported fear and father reported approach. Parent depression and infant gender were examined as moderators of the concordance between parent reported and observed temperament. As predicted, concordance was higher when parents reported low versus high symptoms of depression. Infant gender did not alter concordance.     

A team format for the Global Assessment Scale: reliability and validity on an inpatient unit

The Global Assessment Scale (GAS) is a 100-point rating instrument which purports to measure psychological adjustment on a continuum from self-actualization to severe regression. Its reliability and validity were examined on the admitting ward of a state hospital where GAS ratings are assigned to patients by computing a mean of the individual ratings assigned by a team of clinicians. Results showed such team GAS ratings to have good reliability. As for validity, team GAS predicted the outcomes of court hearings at two stages of the civil commitment process and showed construct validity in its relevant correlations with the Psychotic Inpatient Profile. A predicted association between team GAS and a ward atmosphere measure was not obtained. Taken as a whole, the results support the use of team GAS ratings in inpatient settings.