Exploring the Construct Validity of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale in a Clinical Sample

The resistance of the Personal Orientation Dimensions (POD) to deliberate attempts at creating a favorable impression was investigated. Two groups of college students were used: (a) 21 students completed the POD under standard instructions, then received information about actualization, and completed the POD again under instructions to Create a very good impression; (b) 21 students completed the POD under standard instructions, then received information not related to actualization, and completed the POD again under instructions to create a very good impression. An analyses indicated that providing students with information about actualization did not facilitate their ability to create a favorable impression on the POD. The POD profiles produced by both groups changed significantly, and in a similar direction from pretest to posttest. Evidence is presented suggesting the existence of a "lie profile" which distinguishes deliberate attempts to create a favorable impression on the POD. These findings provide support for the resistance of the POD to deliberate attempts at creating a favorable impression.     

The Susceptibility of the EPPS to Faking in Simulated and Actual Employment Situations

To investigate the fakability of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) 60 Ss were given the scale under standard (anonymous) instructions; a month later, a third of them were given the scale under ‘simulated’ instructions, a third under instructions to make a ‘good impression’ and a third under ‘actual employment’ conditions. Since the pattern of scores differed significantly between the standard instructions and each of the latter instructions it was concluded that the EPPS is very easily faked and hence should be used with caution outside the research setting.     

Effects of information about validity scales on underreporting of symptoms on the personality assessment inventory

We investigated the effects of information about validity scales on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) on underreporting of symptoms in a college student population. A group of participants completing the PAI under the standard instructions was compared to two groups of participants who had been instructed and given incentives to underreport symptoms. One of the underreporting groups was given a brief warning about the presence of scales designed to detect respondents attempting to present an unrealistically favorable impression. Results suggested that underreporting scales on the PAI are effective in discriminating standard profiles from those completed by uncoached underreporting participants but are less effective in discriminating standard profiles from those produced by participants who have been warned about the underreporting scales. The findings suggest that coaching may enable some respondents to underreport symptoms without detection.     

The impact of modified instructions on ego-level scores: a psychometric hazard or indication of optimal ego level?

Various modified instructions have different effects on the Washington University Sentence Completion Test for Ego Development (Loevinger, 1985). These effects were reviewed and 2 alternative explanations were explored: The "measurement unreliability explanation" versus the "optimal level explanation." Both explanations were systematically studied in 2 test-retest experiments with the Sentence Completion Test for Children and Youths (Westenberg, Treffers, & Drewes, 1998). The modified instructions were to make a favorable impression on the tester ("fake good" condition) or to complete the sentences in as adult and mature a manner as one can ("be mature" condition). Both experiments were conducted with 9- to 15-year-old children and adolescents (N = 127, 128). As was anticipated, neither the fake good nor the be mature condition yielded higher (or lower) reliability indexes as compared to the standard instructions, hence discounting the measurement unreliability explanation. Also as expected, the fake good condition did not yield significantly higher ego-level scores, whereas the be mature condition did yield significantly higher ego-level scores. The former instructions did not convey information relevant to the construct or measure of ego development, whereas the latter instructions did convey information relevant for raising ego-level scores. It is argued that the higher scores under the be mature instructions might reflect the respondents' "optimal" ego level (best functioning), whereas the ego-level score under the standard instructions might reflect their "functional" level (normal functioning).     

Effect of symptom information and intelligence in dissimulation: an examination of faking response styles by inmates on the Basic Personality Inventory

This study employed the Basic Personality Inventory (BPI) to differentiate various types of dis-simulation, including malingered psychopathology and faking good, by inmates. In particular, the role of intelligence in utilizing symptom information to successfully malinger was examined. On admission to a correctional facility, 161 inmates completed the BPI under standard instructions and then again under instructions to fake good (n = 55) or to malinger psychotic (n = 35), posttraumatic stress disorder (n = 36), or somatoform (n = 35) psychopathology. Unlike symptom information, intelligence evidenced some support for increasing inmates' effectiveness in malingering, although there was no relationship between higher intelligence and using symptom information to successfully evade detection. Overall, the BPI was more effective in detecting malingered psychopathology than faking good. Implications for the detection of dissimulation in correctional and forensic settings are discussed.     

Positive impression management and its influence on the Revised NEO Personality Inventory: a comparison of analog and differential prevalence group designs

Participants (n = 22) completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) as part of an authentic job application. Protocols produced by this group were compared with "analog" participants (n = 23) who completed the NEO PI-R under standard instructions and again under instructions designed to mimic the test-taking scenario of the job applicants (the "fake-good" condition). Participants completing the NEO PI-R under fake-good instructions and the job applicants scored lower on the Neuroticism and higher on the Extraversion scales than did the participants responding under standard instructions. Analog participants in the fake-good condition scored higher on the Extraversion and lower on the Agreeableness scales than did the job applicants. These results suggest that outcomes from analog designs are generalizable to real-world samples where response dissimulation is probable.     

Effects of incubation and imagery training on creativity

One hundred five business school students were given anagram and open‐ended ideational tasks under one of several conditions. One group of students received an incubation interval prior to problem solving. A second group received no such interval. A third group received imagery training to aid problem solving in addition to an incubation interval. A fourth group received imagery training but no incubation interval. The fifth and sixth groups received imagery training, incubation or no incubation, respectively, and deliberate instructions to use imagery in problem solving. Results showed significant effects for incubation on originality of ideas and imagery training on anagram solving, but the latter were inhibitory. Results are discussed in terms of incubation and imagery theories.     

Pair-relational encoding of performed nouns and verbs

Summary Subjects had to learn lists of noun pairs and verb pairs. They were informed in advance about the test types and were tested for free recall (FR) and cued recall (CR). Three classes of encoding instructions were used: standard learning instructions, item-specific enactment instructions (to perform the denoted action of the verb or a typical action for the noun, and to do the same plus finding separate goals for the two elements of each pair), and enactment instructions that were completed by explicit instructions to integrate the word pairs (find a common goal, and find a common goal plus rating your success). There was no effect of encoding instructions on FR of nouns. There was a better FR under all enactment instructions than under standard instructions for verbs. CR decreased after item-specific enactment instructions, in contrast with standard learning instructions, but more for nouns than for verbs. CR increased after the instructions to integrate the pairs, in contrast with item-specific enactment instructions, but more for nouns than for verbs. It was concluded that enactment provides excellent item-specific information that can hardly be enhanced further, and that the item-specific information provided by concrete nouns is fundamentally good and is difficult to enhance by enactment. It is further assumed that enactment not only provides excellent item-specific information, but also hinders pair integration. Therefore, CR decreases after enactment. This decrease can only be overcome when subjects actively try to integrate the word pairs.     

Effect of instructions on elementary cognitive tasks sensitive to individual differences

The effect of instructions on basic cognitive tasks was investigated. In the first study, 60 college students completed both a choice reaction time and a modified match-to-sample task. Students were given either written, non-verbal, or no instructions. Mean level of performance changed across type of instruction for each task. The correlations between the task parameters and a measure of general intelligence also appeared to change across instructional conditions. A second study was conducted with 464 Air Force and National Guard recruits who completed choice reaction time, match-to-sample, tachistoscopic threshold, and probed recall tasks. Approximately half of these subjects received standard written instructions while the others received no instructions. Mean group differences were substantial but decreased with practice. Patterns of individual differences between the instruction and no-instruction conditions varied more with increased task complexity, with greater change occurring in more complex tasks such as probed recall. In sum, instructions have a significant impact on mean performance on basic cognitive tasks and a lesser effect on individual differences.     

Assessing underreporting response bias on the MMPI-2

The authors assess the replicability of the two-factor model of underreporting response style. They then examine the relative performance of scales measuring these styles in analog (ARD) and differential prevalence group (DPG) designs. Principal components analysis produced a two-factor structure corresponding to self-deceptive (SD) and impression management (IM) response styles. The IM factor scale and related individual validity scales were elevated among research participants instructed to fake good on the MMPI-2 as compared with participants who completed the MMPI-2 under standard instructions (ARD) and among individuals evaluated in real-life assessment contexts where underreporting is expected (DPG). Participants in DPG samples produced significantly higher SD factor and related individual scale scores than did the ARD participants instructed to fake good. These findings confirm that the MMPI-2 validity scales measure two types of underreporting styles and that these styles may operate differently in ARD versus DPG designs.     

Detecting and Discriminating Between Random Responding and Overreporting on the MMPI-A

The utility of traditional validity scales in detecting random responding and overreporting on the MMPI-A and in discriminating between these two response sets was investigated in a sample of 89 clinical and nonclinical adolescents aged 14 to 17 years. The overreporting group consisted of 24 nonclinical adolescents instructed to complete the MMPI-A as if they were trying to create an impression of psychological disturbance. The random group included 20 nonclinical adolescents instructed to complete the MMPI-A answer sheet without access to the test booklet. Clinical (n = 20) and nonclinical (n = 25) standard groups completed the MMPI-A under the standard instructions. Results showed that validity scales designed to detect random responding and overreporting on the MMPI-A were quite effective in doing so. Significant differences between groups and high classification rates were noted. In addition, the VRIN scale was found to be sensitive only to random responding, whereas Scale F was sensitive to both random responding and overreporting. Scale L also was found to be sensitive to random responding, and support for the utility of the F - K index in identifying overreported adolescent profiles was obtained.     

The difference isn't black and white: stereotype threat and the race gap on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices

This study addresses recent criticisms aimed at the interpretation of stereotype threat research and methodological weaknesses of previous studies that have examined race differences on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM). African American and White undergraduates completed the APM under three conditions. In two threat conditions, participants received either standard APM instructions (standard threat) or were told that the APM was an IQ test (high threat). In a low threat condition, participants were told that the APM was a set of puzzles and that the researchers wanted their opinions of them. Results supported the stereotype threat interpretation of race differences in cognitive ability test scores. Although African American participants underperformed Whites under both standard and high threat instructions, they performed just as well as Whites did under low threat instructions.     

The influence of impression-management set on measures of self-consciousness

The susceptibility of the Self-Consciousness Questionnaire (Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975) to social desirability influences was investigated by experimental manipulation of impression-set. Subjects completed the SCQ under one of three instructional conditions: responding honestly, responding to create a good impression, and responding to create a bad impression. Impression-set had no significant effect on private self-consciousness scores but had significant effects on public self-consciousness scores for males and on social anxiety scores for both males and females. However, the size of these effects was not large given that experimental manipulations of impression-set maximize social desirability effects. Comparisons of effect-sizes with previous findings that used different personality measures indicated that the present effects on SCQ scores were among the smallest.     

Processing head fakes in basketball: Are there ironic effects of instructions on the head-fake effect in basketball?

Instructions in sports are used to improve athletes’ performance. However, instructions can also impair performance if they direct athletes’ attention to a to-be-avoided behavior which paradoxically provokes exactly that behavior (ironic effect). The present study investigates the impact of different instructions on the head-fake effect in basketball. Specifically, we asked here if deliberate attempts to ignore the deceptive cues gaze direction and head orientation increase the impact of that information and thus, paradoxically increase the head-fake effect. We found that the detrimental impact of spatially incongruent gaze direction and head orientation was essentially independent of whether participants were, or were not, instructed to deliberately ignore the task-irrelevant information. Hence, deceptive actions exert their impact independent of the perceivers’ attempts to ignore deceptive cues. We thus conclude that the deceptive cues gaze direction and head orientation are per se hyper-accessible or over-salient and its processing cannot be controlled with any amount of mental capacity (and even not with the non-ironic instruction). However, as both ignore instructions produce general processing costs (i.e., slower reactions) coaches should solely instruct athletes’ to focus attention on the processing of the pass direction.     

MMPI response-set characteristics among adolescents

This study examined the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MPPI) profile characteristics for five different response sets in adolescent populations employing adolescent MMPI norms. In general, findings for "all-true" and "all-false" adolescent profiles were highly similar in shape and elevation to those reported in the adult literature (Graham, 1977; Lachar, 1974), whereas random profiles on adolescent norms differed substantially from adult-norm random profiles in shape but not elevation. The characteristics of "fake good" or "fake bad" response sets were investigated by the use of adolescent subjects in two settings. Ninety-four public high-school students were administered the MMPI with standard and "fake bad" instructions, and 24 adolescents in inpatient psychiatric treatment were administered the MMPI under standard and "fake good" instructions. The MMPI profiles generated by special instructional sets were analyzed in relation to the subject's age, sex, race, and actual MMPI profile features. Findings indicated that although sex and race effects were evident in normal adolescents' attempts to simulate psychopathology on the MMPI, teenagers generally produce profiles containing grossly exaggerated symptom patterns that are relatively easy to detect as invalid. In contrast, it was found that a substantial number of psychiatrically disturbed adolescents may effectively simulate normal profiles and that effectiveness in these attempts was related to greater age and lower actual MMPI T-score values on the Hs and Hy scales.     

MMPI Response-Set Characteristics Among Adolescents

This study examined the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MPPI) profile characteristics for five different response sets in adolescent populations employing adolescent MMPI norms. In general, findings for "all-true" and "all-false" adolescent profiles were highly similar in shape and elevation to those reported in the adult literature (Graham, 1977; Lachar, 1974), whereas random profiles on adolescent norms differed substantially from adult-norm random profiles in shape but not elevation. The characteristics of "fake good" or "fake bad" response sets were investigated by the use of adolescent subjects in two settings. Ninety-four public high-school students were administered the MMPI with standard and "fake bad" instructions, and 24 adolescents in inpatient psychiatric treatment were administered the MMPI under standard and "fake good" instructions. The MMPI profiles generated by special instructional sets were analyzed in relation to the subject's age, sex, race, and actual MMPI profile features. Findings indicated that although sex and race effects were evident in normal adolescents' attempts to simulate psychopathology on the MMPI, teenagers generally produce profiles containing grossly exaggerated symptom patterns that are relatively easy to detect as invalid. In contrast, it was found that a substantial number of psychiatrically disturbed adolescents may effectively simulate normal profiles and that effectiveness in these attempts was related to greater age and lower actual MMPI T-score values on the Hs and Hy scales.     

Effects of suppressing neutral and obsession-like thoughts in normal subjects: beyond frequency

Recent cognitive-behavioral theories on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) show that deliberate attempts to suppress intrusive and undesirable thoughts lie at the genesis of clinical obsessions. In this paper the results of an experimental study on the suppression of neutral and obsession-like thoughts in normal subjects are presented. Eighty-seven university students performed in three experimental periods: (1) base-line monitoring, (2) experimental instruction, and (3) monitoring. For each of these periods, the frequency of the occurrence of a "white bear" thought or a personally relevant intrusive thought was registered. Half of the subjects received instructions to suppress the target-thought in period 2, and the other half were instructed to only monitor the target-thought in each of the experimental periods. Several measures were also obtained before and after the experiment: annoyance caused by the intrusion, suppression effort, subjective success, and evaluative appraisals of the target-thought. The results showed neither immediate nor delayed frequency increases of the target thought. However, evidence was found that deliberate thought suppression efforts, regardless of their content, had greater negative consequences than did non suppression. These results are discussed in relation to the recent cognitive proposals about OCD.     

Comparing self‐directed methods for training staff to create graphs using Graphpad Prism

An important skill for behavior analysts is creating graphs that clearly convey outcomes and conform to publication conventions. GraphPad Prism is software designed for creating scientific graphs, but no prior research has empirically evaluated training graphing skills using Prism. Two effective training methods are enhanced written instructions (EWI) and video modeling with voiceover instructions (VMVO), but no single‐subject studies have compared the effects of these methods. In this study, we compared the efficacy and social validity of EWI and VMVO for training staff to create graphs using Prism. A single‐subject design was employed to compare the effects of the methods on the individual performance of 11 graduate students. EWI and VMVO were both found to be effective, and more participants chose to use EWI.