Preliminary validation study of the 3-min wrist-worn psychomotor vigilance test

The 10-min psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) is a widely used tool to assess behavioral alertness. In operational environments, however, the 3-min version of the PVT is more practicable. Under controlled laboratory conditions, we compared performance on the 3-min PVT on a wrist-worn device with the 3-min PVT on a laptop computer. We conducted two repeated measures experiments (72 participants) to assess the effects of PVT device type (laptop or wrist-worn), backlight on the wrist-worn device (on or off), ambient light (low or normal levels), and interstimulus interval (ISI). First, we compared the wrist-worn PVT (ISI of 2–10 s) with the laptop-based PVT (ISI of 1–4 s). Participants performed six PVT trials counterbalanced for order of ambient light and device type. In both ambient-lighting conditions, the median differences in PVT metrics (reaction time, response speed, and percentage of 355-ms or 500-ms lapses combined with false starts) between the laptop and the wrist-worn PVT with the backlight on were less than 4.5 %. Specifically, the median difference in reaction times was less than 10 ms. However, the standard deviation in most metrics using the wrist-worn PVT was twice that of the laptop. In a second experiment, we compared the wrist-worn and laptop PVTs with the same ISIs (1–4 s) in normal light conditions. The results suggest that PVT data can be collected reliably in the field using the wrist-worn device with the backlight on and an ISI of 2–10 s.     

The test validation summary

Common rates employed in classificatory testing are the true positive rate (TPR), false positive rate (FPR), positive predictive power (PPP), and negative predictive power (NPP). FPR and TPR are estimated from research samples representing populations to be distinguished by classificatory testing. PPP and NPP are used by clinicians to classify test takers into populations. PPP and NPP depend on the base rate (BR) of population members in the clinician's sample. The authors introduce the test validation summary (TVS) as a means to report within a single graph the FPR and TPR and the ranges of PPP and NPP across all potential sample BRs for any chosen cut score. The authors investigate how the TVS has other applications, including the estimation of local BR for the condition of interest and the estimation of standard errors for FPR and TPR when estimated across multiple independent validation studies of the classificatory test.     

Development and validation of a Rasch-derived CES-D short form

The current study presents a Rasch-derived short form of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) for use as a depression screening tool in the general population. In contrast to short forms developed with reliance on classical measurement techniques, those developed using techniques based on item response theory produce a measure that offers true interval scaling, provide enhanced information about responders with extreme scores, and expand understanding of the underlying latent structure. Cross-validation of the Rasch-derived CES-D short form supported its utility and structural validity across samples. Tests of structural validity using latent variable modeling methodology indicated that a hierarchical, single-factor model of depression had the best fit for the original full form and the Rasch-derived short form of the CES-D. This finding challenges depression researchers and theorists to reconsider the interfactor relationships in the study and assessment of depression.     

A validation study of a transferred group intelligence test(1)

The purpose of the research was to conduct a validation study of a transferred group intelligence test. The Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Test, Level A, Form 1 was translated to Hebrew and administered to an Israeli sample comparable to the original norming group. The results obtained were concerned with variability, reliability, validity, item analysis, intercorrelations among subtests, and factor analysis. While few comparisons of the Israeli sample with the original data were made, the validation of the transferred test was examined in the light of other criteria for evaluating a new test. The suitability of the transferred test for Israeli high achievers from high-status families was supported by the results. The major conclusions were: (1) the total mean IQ scores of Israeli students were approximately the same as the American mean; (2) mean raw scores increased with age; (3) relative difficulty of individual items remained stable through translation and administration in Israeli culture, in three out of five subtests; (4) it appears reasonable to suggest that the factor structure of the translated test is consistent with the intent of the original.     

A validation and short form of the Basic Character Inventory

The Basic Character Inventory (BCI) contains 136 items, 17 lower-order personality factors and three higher-order personality factors derived from psychoanalytic theory: Oral, Obsessive Compulsion, and Hysteria. Previous research that investigated the BCI's psychometric properties examined small, special populations and did not use modern statistical methods to validate the BCI. The present study validates the BCI via confirmatory factor analyses using a large sample of 6,285 Norwegian nursing and teaching students. Reliability, convergent validity, and divergent validity of the BCI were also assessed. Results indicated general support for the original BCI factor structure in a reduced form of the BCI that possesses strong reliability and validity, and is suitable for use in time-limited measurement settings.     

Development and validation of a HEXACO situational judgment test

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a construct-based situational judgment test of the HEXACO personality dimensions. In four studies, among applicants, employees, and Amazon Mechanical Turk participants (Ns = 72–305), we showed that it is possible to assess the six personality dimensions with a situational judgment test and that the criterion-related validity of the situational judgment test is comparable to the criterion-related validity of traditional self-reports but lower than the criterion-related validity of other-reports of personality. Test–retest coefficients (with a time interval of 2 weeks) varied between .55 and .74. Considering personality is the most commonly assessed construct in employee selection contexts (Ryan et al., 2015), this situational judgment test may provide human resources professionals with an alternative assessment tool.     

Development and validation of a short form aggressive beliefs and attitudes scale

This research outlines six studies (total N = 3867) that develop and validate an Aggressive Beliefs and Attitudes — Short Form scale for use within the normal nonclinical adult population (e.g., organizational psychology). In the first two samples, exploratory factor analysis reduced the original 30 item scale to a shorter, more parsimonious, eight item measure. In the third sample, confirmatory factor analysis found that the proposed model and items fit the data extremely well. Examination of the nomological network underlying the new measure in Samples 3–4 displayed relationships with positive affect, negative affect, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism ranging from r = .23 to − .23, while relationships with anger, hostility, physical aggression, and verbal aggression ranged from r = .49 to .30. Finally, in two criterion-related validity studies the relationships between the aggressive beliefs and attitudes scales, both original and short forms, and workplace deviance were examined with independent samples of employed adults. The short form scale was significantly related to workplace deviance in both samples (r = .37 and .43). Furthermore, these relationships were of identical magnitude to the full 30 item measure, suggesting that the short form scale comparably captures aggression-related behaviors with a greatly reduced number of items.     

The study of locomotor pointing in virtual reality: The validation of a test set-up

The goal of this experiment was to validate an experimental set-up for studying locomotor pointing. The specific and also original element of this set-up was the interactive nature of virtual reality and movement production. This interaction was achieved through the coupling of a treadmill and a Silicon Graphics system. This latter system generated on a screen (3 × 2.3 m) an environmental array that moved according to the action produced by subjects on a treadmill. The task was to place either foot on a spatial target that appeared on the floor in front of the subject’s displacement trajectory. We analyzed the step length patterns of subjects approaching these targets, along with the current target-subject relationship. The results are in agreement with aperception-action coupling type of control mechanism that operates continuously as the subject approaches the desired target. Apparently, these findings mirror observations of real-life locomotion, indicating that the present set-up provides a valid and useful tool for examining human locomotion.     

Development and validation of a brief form of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire

The Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; A. Tellegen, 1982, in press) provides for a comprehensive analysis of personality at both the lower order trait and broader structural levels. Its higher order dimensions of Positive Emotionality, Negative Emotionality, and Constraint embody affect and temperament constructs, which have been conceptualized in psychobiological terms. The MPQ thus holds considerable potential as a structural framework for investigating personality across varying levels of analysis, and this potential would be enhanced by the availability of an abbreviated version. This article describes efforts to develop and validate a brief (155-item) form, the MPQ-BF. Success was evidenced by uniformly high correlations between the brief- and full-form trait scales and consistency of higher order structures. The MPQ-BF is recommended as a tool for investigating the genetic, neurobiological, and psychological substrates of personality.     

The behavioral activation for depression scale-short form: development and validation

Following a landmark component analysis of cognitive therapy by Jacobson and colleagues (1996), there has been renewed interest in behavioral activation (BA) treatments for depression. The Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS) was developed to measure when and how clients become activated over the course of BA treatment. Multiple studies have provided initial support for the BADS but have also identified several potential problems. Four studies were conducted in order to develop and provide initial evaluation of a short form of the BADS that addresses these concerns. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted on existing data using the original BADS in order to identify items to retain for the short form. In Study 2, these items were administered to a new sample of college students with elevated depressive symptoms and were analyzed with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Study 3 examined the predictive validity of the BADS-SF by examining the BADS-SF and depression scores in relation to activity tracking and reward-value ratings over the course of 1 week. Study 4 examined BADS-SF data over the course of BA treatment for two clients using cross-lagged panel correlations. With one client, changes in BADS-SF scores led changes in depression scores by 1 week, whereas with the other client changes in BADS-SF and depression scores occurred concurrently. These studies resulted in a nine-item scale that demonstrated good item characteristics as well as acceptable internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and predictive validity.