The comparability of the JEPI, JEPQ and EPQ among 15- to 16-yr olds

One hundred and ninety-one 15- to 16-yr olds completed the Junior Eysenck Personality Inventory (JEPI), the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (JEPQ) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). In terms of the internal consistency of the test items, and the statistical independence of the scales, the EPQ emerges as the most satisfactory measure of personality dimensions in this age group.     

Effect of an interference task on a ball-hitting skill by 6- to 10-yr-old children

We explored the functionality of interference on a forehand tennis shot among 145 6- to 10-yr.-old children using the retroactive interference procedure. First, the children were asked to execute 10 forehand drives with a small tennis racquet (prime test). They were then asked to execute 10 frontal returns (interference test). The final probe test was similar to the first test, but children executed only 3 forehand drives. Children were assessed using a developmental category for the forehand drive skill. Each developmental step reflected a common sequence of body configurations exhibited by all individuals and was evaluated point-by-point. Multivariate analysis showed that boys had higher ratings of developmental steps of coordination than girls and that the rated developmental step initially increased with age before stabilizing. The developmental steps of coordination decreased after the interference task. We also showed that interference mechanisms are operative for this gross motor skill in childhood, but no interaction was found with age and sex. Post hoc analysis showed that developmental steps were not significantly different after the interference task for the oldest children, suggesting the onset of the inhibitory process.     

A comparison of methods to combine speed and accuracy measures of performance: A rejoinder on the binning procedure

In cognitive research, speed and accuracy are two important aspects of performance. When analyzed separately, these performance variables sometimes lead to contradictory conclusions about the effect of a manipulation. To avoid such conflicts, several measures that integrate speed and accuracy have been proposed, but the added value of using such measures remains unclear. The present paper compares the relative utility of seven integrated performance measures, namely four variations on a binning procedure that weights response times of correct and incorrect trials differently, and three measures that combine averaged speed and accuracy scores. The properties of these integrated measures were explored in three simulation studies. The first study compared three binning measures and showed that one measure failed to grasp the performance difference between two conditions. The second study showed that the sampling distributions of the measures were symmetric, except for a strong skewness on the rate correct score. The third study varied the trade-off and the effect sizes of speed and accuracy in four different combinations of size and direction of speed and accuracy effects. These studies highlighted some further shortcomings of the binning measures. The combination measures performed well, but linear integration of speed and accuracy and rate correct score were most efficient in detecting effects and accounting for a larger proportion of the variance. The paper concludes that these combination measures are useful provided that the speed and accuracy data are also inspected.     

Affective and cognitive characteristics of depression in 10- and 11-year-old children

Indices of emotion experiences, attribution style, and intellectual performance were regressed on an index of childhood depression. The results indicated that the depressed children were like depressed adults in that they reported experiencing a pattern of emotions including sadness, anger, self-directed hostility, and shame, and they tended to explain negative events in terms of internal, stable, and global causes. The similarity between depressed children and depressed adults on these measures was greater for girls than for boys. Depression was not related to performance on a verbal task, but depressed girls performed worse than nondepressed girls on a block design task. The measures of emotion experiences accounted for 78.1% and 46.1% of the variance in girls' and boys' depression scores, respectively, after the variance accounted for by attribution style was partialed out.     

Discriminating patterns of emotions in 10- and 11-year-old children's anxiety and depression

In a study of the emotions involved in children's anxiety and depression, children and teachers completed inventories assessing the children's emotions, anxiety level, and depression level. The results of the study indicated that distinct patterns of emotion variables are involved in these two syndromes, and these patterns confirm the hypotheses based on differential emotions theory. An attempt to predict future depression was successful when based on the children's self-reported emotions but not when based on the teachers' ratings of the children's emotions. In part, the failure of the latter may have been due to the high stability (Time 1-Time 2 correlation) of the depression measure over the 4-month interval.     

11-15岁学生性格发展模式的研究

本研究以776名11-15岁汉族与白族中小学生为被试,研究了学生性格发展的年龄模式.结果表明,年龄因素对学生性格发展的影响显著,在被测量的24种性格特质中,有18种特质在性质上表现为随年龄的增长而逐步提高的趋势,但是在13岁组发现特质发展的低谷.     

Workload history effects: A comparison of sudden increases and decreases on performance

The present study examined workload history effects by manipulating sudden changes in workload level, and was designed to enable a direct comparison between sudden increasing and decreasing in workload conditions. A sample of 149 undergraduates was randomly assigned to either a sudden decrease or a sudden increase in workload condition. Participants performed a Sternberg memory task while percent correct was recorded. Mixed-model ANOVA results indicated that performance was significantly impaired for both conditions. Findings supported previous research suggesting that either a sudden decrease (High to Medium) or increase (Low to Medium) workload could result in impaired performance (Cox-Fuenzalida, in press; Cox-Fuenzalida & Angie, in press; Cox-Fuenzalida, Swickert & Hittner, 2004). Furthermore, this study suggests that a sudden decrease may result in greater detrimental effects. The authors express their gratitude to the research team from the Personality and Human Performance Research Laboratory at the University of Oklahoma for their invaluable assistance in data planning and collection. Laura Sohl is currently employed with the Oklahoma Office of Personnel Management.     

Workload history effects: A comparison of sudden increases and decreases on performance

The present study examined workload history effects by manipulating sudden changes in workload level, and was designed to enable a direct comparison between sudden increasing and decreasing in workload conditions. A sample of 149 undergraduates was randomly assigned to either a sudden decrease or a sudden increase in workload condition. Participants performed a Sternberg memory task while percent correct was recorded. Mixed-model ANOVA results indicated that performance was significantly impaired for both conditions. Findings supported previous research suggesting that either a sudden decrease (High to Medium) or increase (Low to Medium) workload could result in impaired performance (Cox-Fuenzalida, in press; Cox-Fuenzalida & Angie, in press; Cox-Fuenzalida, Swickert & Hittner, 2004). Furthermore, this study suggests that a sudden decrease may result in greater detrimental effects. The authors express their gratitude to the research team from the Personality and Human Performance Research Laboratory at the University of Oklahoma for their invaluable assistance in data planning and collection. Laura Sohl is currently employed with the Oklahoma Office of Personnel Management.     

A psychological laboratory based on a PDP-11/10 with graphics

This article describes a laboratory computer system that uses a PDP-11/10 CPU and a graphics processor to simulate a multifield tachistoscope and to run a great number of psychological experiments. The potential of the hardware is discussed, and two useful programs are presented.     

Inspection time and intelligence in 7-yr-old children: A follow-up

Remeasures of inspection time (IT) were obtained from 30 of the 47 children reported in Nettelbeck and Young (Personality and Individual Differences, 10, 605–614, 1989). Ages ranged from 7 yr–0 months to 7–11 and Full Scale IQ (WISC-R) ranged from 93 to 142 (mean = 116.5 SD = 12.2). Correlations between IT and the WISC-R subtests, scales and factors used in the earlier study were generally statistically significant: and similar to those found earlier. The correlation between IT and Full Scale IQ was — 0.49, with those children whose IQs were below the median score of 116 again contributing more to this outcome. Similarly, the IT-IQ correlation was higher among children showing less well-directed attention in the IT task. Once again IT correlated better with Verbal IQ, supporting the hypothesis that IT is better associated with more general intellectual functioning than with specific cognitive abilities. Cross-lagged panel correlations between IT and IQ were —0.40, whether predicting IQ from IT or the reverse. Thus, there was no evidence for a causal relationship between these variables, although both may reflect a common cognitive ability factor.     

A cross-sectional comparison of routinized and compulsive-like behaviours in typical children aged from 2 to 11 years

Routinized and compulsive like behaviours (RCBs) have been described as important aspects of development seen universally in children, yet investigation is relatively scarce. One exception was the development of the Childhood Routines Inventory (CRI), which has prompted recent studies. The present study was a replication of the standardization for the CRI on a British sample and with an extended age range. It also explored possible associations with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The parents of 1,369 children (aged 2–11 years) completed the CRI, and an 8-item OCD scale for those 7 years and over. Socioeconomic status (SES) was measured by proxy post codes; 111 parents completed the questionnaire twice. The CRI had good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. There was a significant linear decline in RCBs with age; a minority of children continued to have high levels up to 11 years of age. Children designated at risk for OCD had higher CRI scores. Anxious behaviours reported by parents of children aged 7 years or over were associated with higher levels of RCBs. Factor analysis of the CRI identified three factors: “Repetitive”, “Just Right” and “Sensitivity”.     

A comparison of job performance and disciplinary records of smokers and nonsmokers

The authors compared job performance and receipt of disciplinary action among smoking and nonsmoking hotel employees using organizational records and observation. Although smokers and nonsmokers did not differ on 3 measures of discipline, there were significant differences on a guest relations performance dimension and a summated overall job performance measure. Smokers received higher ratings than did nonsmokers. Implications of these findings for the management of smoking behavior in the workplace are discussed.     

Interrater reliability and agreement of performance ratings: A methodological comparison

This paper demonstrates and compares methods for estimating the interrater reliability and interrater agreement of performance ratings. These methods can be used by applied researchers to investigate the quality of ratings gathered, for example, as criteria for a validity study, or as performance measures for selection or promotional purposes. While estimates of interrater reliability are frequently used for these purposes, indices of interrater agreement appear to be rarely reported for performance ratings. A recommended index of interrater agreement, theT index (Tinsley & Weiss, 1975), is compared to four methods of estimating interrater reliability (Pearsonr, coefficient alpha, mean correlation between raters, and intraclass correlation). Subordinate and superior ratings of the performance of 100 managers were used in these analyses. The results indicated that, in general, interrater agreement and reliability among subordinates were fairly high. Interrater agreement between subordinates and superiors was moderately high; however, interrater reliability between these two rating sources was very low. The results demonstrate that interrater agreement and reliability are distinct indices and that both should be reported. Reasons are discussed as to why interrater reliability should not be reported alone.This paper is based, in part, on a thesis submitted to East Carolina University by the second author. Portions of this study were presented at the American Psychological Association meeting in New Orleans, LA, August, 1989. The authors would like to thank Michael Campion and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper.     

A multivariate comparison of the intellectual performance of black and white children matched on four demographic variables

This study investigated the performance of 285 matched pairs of Black and White children from the standardization sample on the 12 subtests and 3 IQ scales of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised (WISC-R). The children were matched on four demographic variables found in a previous (Reynolds and Gutkin, 1979) study to be significantly related to WISC-R performance: sex, socioeconomic status as determined by the occupation of the head of household, region of residence in the U.S. and urban vs rural residence. Multivariate analysis of variance comparing performance across race on the 15 dependent variables revealed that Whites exceeded Blacks on all tasks except Digit Span—a test of rote memory. Results were also related to the evaluation of the Spearman hypothesis.     

A comparison of attentional and control shift models of the performance of concurrent tasks

A concurrent verbal task was superimposed upon the performance of a practiced bimanual motor skill by right-handed Ss. Addition of the verbal task did not increase the total number of errors; however, a significant interaction between hands and conditions was observed. The right hand made significantly more errors under the verbal condition, while the left hand made non-significantly fewer errors under that condition. These findings were interpreted as supporting an attentional model rather than a model which proposes that addition of the verbal task causes control of the right hand to shift to the non-verbal right hemisphere.     

An estimate of the Flynn Effect: changes in IQ and subtest gains of 10-yr-old French children between 1965 and 1988

The significant increase in IQ in the industrialised countries during recent decades, known as the eponymous Flynn Effect, tends to be given numerous explanations (progress in schooling, television, nutrition, etc.). One way of studying this effect consists of assessing in which subtests the change in IQ takes place. Using the comparison among 120,000 French children on an intelligence test in 1965 and the results of 8640 children on the same test in 1988, Greenfield's hypothesis is discussed: that television and other media using graphical representations have induced an improvement in spatial and visual capacities to the detriment of capacities relating to vocabulary. The results are compatible with Greenfield's hypothesis, although other explanations are still possible.     

A comparison of disconfirmatory, confirmatory and control strategies on Wason's 2-4-6 task

Attempts to instruct subjects to falsify on inference tasks designed to model scientific problem-solving have indicated that, in most cases, falsification does not lead to improved performance. The only study in which instructions to falsify did improve performance was done with groups, using a novel inference task. The present study is an attempt to replicate the success of falsification in the group study with subjects run individually on an inference task that has been used extensively in the literature: Wason's 2-4-6 problem. Each subject was run in one of three strategy conditions: confirmatory, disconfirmatory or control (no-strategy).

Results indicated that subjects in the disconfirmatory condition solved the 2-4-6 problem significantly more often than subjects in other conditions. The superior performance of disconfirmatory subjects was explained by the fact that they deliberately sought and obtained significantly more falsificatory information than subjects in other conditions.

The critical difference between this study and previous attempts to instruct individual subjects to falsify on the 2-4-6 task is that subjects in the present study were given no feedback as to whether their guesses were right or wrong until the experiment was over. The implications of this result for scientific problem-solving are discussed.