PISA and the assessment triangle

PISA is a well-known and high profile Program for International Student Assessment with 4 editions since 2000. This study aims to examine the validity of PISA proficiency estimates, working with the framework provided by the assessment triangle. We pay explicit attention to how PISA proceeds as far as the three elements of the assessment triangle are concerned: cognition, observation, and interpretation. Results reveal not only the psychometrically sound proficiency estimates of PISA and the high standards reached, but also that there is room for improvement; for instance, cognitive diagnostic models could contribute both to test design and data analysis.     

Forensic psychiatric assessment in the USSR

Basing on the author's experiences during his study stay at the Serbsky All-Union Research Institute for General and Forensic Psychiatry in Moscow a report is given about the theoretical foundations and the carrying-out of forensic-psychiatric expert-opinions in the field of penal as well as civil law in the U.S.S.R. Some peculiarities in comparison with the practice in the G.D.R. are taken in special account.     

Psychobiographical assessment

Psychobiography, the analysis of public persons by competent clinicians, is discussed as a possible assessment technique. Its re-emergence has emanated from recent attempts to psychoanalyze President Nixon, Adolph Hitler, and Emily Dickinson. Its position in relation to traditional personality assessment is considered as well as major previous efforts. Psychobiography is now a part of the curriculum at several leading universities and suggestions are made for future work. Because clinically unsophisticated writers from other disciplines are currently pursuing the trend, clinical psychologists should become involved to provide society with a more accurate psychological perspective.     

A brief actuarial assessment for the prediction of wife assault recidivism: the Ontario domestic assault risk assessment

An actuarial assessment to predict male-to-female marital violence was constructed from a pool of potential predictors in a sample of 589 offenders identified in police records and followed up for an average of almost 5 years. Archival information in several domains (offender characteristics, domestic violence history, nondomestic criminal history, relationship characteristics, victim characteristics, index offense) and recidivism were subjected to setwise and stepwise logistic regression. The resulting 13-item scale, the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA), showed a large effect size in predicting new assaults against legal or common-law wives or ex-wives (Cohen's d = 1.1, relative operating characteristic area =.77) and was associated with number and severity of new assaults and time until recidivism. Cross-validation and comparisons with other instruments are also reported.     

Prechtl's assessment of general movements: a diagnostic tool for the functional assessment of the young nervous system

General movements (GMs) are part of the spontaneous movement repertoire and are present from early fetal life onwards until the end of the first half a year of life. GMs are complex, occur frequently, and last long enough to be observed properly. They involve the whole body in a variable sequence of arm, leg, neck, and trunk movements. They wax and wane in intensity, force and speed, and they have a gradual beginning and end. Rotations along the axis of the limbs and slight changes in the direction of movements make them fluent and elegant and create the impression of complexity and variability. If the nervous system is impaired, GMs loose their complex and variable character and become monotonous and poor. Two specific abnormal GM patterns reliably predict later cerebral palsy: 1) a persistent pattern of cramped-synchronized GMs. The movements appear rigid and lack the normal smooth and fluent character. Limb and trunk muscles contract and relax almost simultaneously. 2) The absence of GMs of fidgety character. So-called fidgety movements are small movements of moderate speed with variable acceleration of neck, trunk, and limbs in all directions. Normally, they are the predominant movement pattern in an awake infant at 3 to 5 months. Beside a sensitivity and specificity of 95% each, the assessment of GMs is quick, noninvasive, even nonintrusive, and cost-effective compared with other techniques, e.g., magnetic resonance imaging, brain ultrasound, and traditional neurological examination.     

A note on the assessment of idealization

In a series of studies using the Lerner Defense Scale (H. Lerner & P. Lerner, 1980) for assessing primitive defenses, inconsistent and at times perplexing findings have been reported regarding the defense of idealization. A major study examining personality variables, including defense, in a nonclinical population-ballet students-and comparing them to those of patients suffering eating disorders, yielded findings related to the defense of idealization and its assessment. Herein, the results of that study are reviewed and then discussed in light of recent psychoanalytic formulations regarding idealization.     

Microprocessor-assisted assessment in the clinical research laboratory

The application of microprocessor technology to assessment of alcoholism in a clinical research laboratory is described.     

Ego function assessment of the psychoanalytic process

Pressing needs for objective and rapid clinical assessment of the psychoanalytic process are emerging in the current climate of social and medical change. The Ego Function assessment (EFA) method is presented as an available, valid, and reliable quantitative technique which can be used by clinicians for such objective evaluations. EFA formulations are dynamically highly relevant. They are directly derived from psychoanalytic theory and practice.     

Problems in the assessment of analyzability.

As additional studies of assessment of analyzability have been reported, research has proven very difficult and provided little clarification. This paper reviews the literature, particularly of the last twenty-five years, from the viewpoint of identifying the nature of the problems in developing useful methods of study. Some approaches to these problems, which might provide increased understanding as well as a clearer definition of some inherent limitations, are discussed.     

Intuitive covariation assessment of the illusory correlation

Most of the research concerned with the illusory correlation is modeled after the seminal work of D. L. Hamilton and R. K. Gifford (1976). However, S. A. Haslam and C. McGarty (1994) have voiced concerns over the dependent measures used within this paradigm. Therefore, in this study, the authors tested a new dependent variable that has high face validity. This measure was modeled after the work of J. R. McGahan and R. Wight (1989) and consisted of a set of propositional statements representing either the illusory correlation, the contingency opposite the illusory correlation, or the noncontingency. A second purpose of this study was to validate other studies that have used dependent measures modeled after the work of J. R. McGahan and R. Wight (1989). Demonstrating that this measure can be used to detect a well-documented phenomenon (i.e., the illusory correlation) would strengthen the results and conclusions from other studies. To this end, results from 2 experiments indicate that this measure does provide a valid alternative to those measures that are commonly used in illusory correlation studies. The results thereby give credence to other studies that have used similar dependent measures.