Further evidence for the validity of assessment center dimensions: a meta-analysis of the incremental criterion-related validity of dimension ratings

This study investigates the incremental variance in job performance explained by assessment center (AC) dimensions over and above personality and cognitive ability. The authors extend previous research by using meta-analysis to examine the relationships between AC dimensions, personality, cognitive ability, and job performance. The results indicate that the 7 summary AC dimensions postulated by W. Arthur, Jr., E. A. Day, T. L. McNelly, & P. S. Edens (2003) are distinguishable from popular individual difference constructs and explain a sizeable proportion of variance in job performance beyond cognitive ability and personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).     

Further comments on the evidence for post-retinal storage

A critical re-examination of the perceptual reports given in the experiments described by Haber and Nathanson reveals confirma-tion of the essential elements of the phenomena previously reported by Parks. Specifically, it is argued that a moving stimulus viewed through a narrow stationary opening gives rise to percepts containing more stimulus information than is, in fact, available to the eye at any instant.     

Sequences of staff-child interactions on a psychiatric inpatient unit

Six psychiatry inpatients were observed during mealtimes to determine and evaluate staff intervention techniques. To extend and further elaborate the findings of a previous work (Pines, Kupst, Natta, & Schulman, 1985), staff behaviors (positive, punitive, isolating, and neutral) were investigated for their potential relationship to subsequent child behaviors (positive, negative, and inactive) via a lag sequential analytic approach. Staff punitive and isolating behaviors tended to be associated with significant increases in the likelihood of subsequent child negative behaviors and with significant decreases in child positive behaviors. Staff positive behaviors tended not to be related to a subsequent increase or decrease in any of the coded child behaviors. Findings demonstrate the utility of assessing conditional probabilities of sequences of staff-child behaviors in psychiatric inpatients.     

Group-as-a-whole concepts and the therapeutic milieu on the inpatient psychiatric unit

This paper focuses on large group process on the inpatient psychiatric unit. General systems theory and group-as-a-whole concepts are used to understand the dynamics of the therapeutic milieu. Using this information as a tool, the therapist can make various interventions on an individual and group level that will help patients understand and deal with their own psychopathology. Another benefit of this process is that it will develop a community on the psychiatric unit where patients help each other to get well. Three clinical examples are used to illustrate the relevance of this concept. With the advent of short-term psychiatric hospitalization, the therapeutic milieu has shown a drastic decline. Emphasis has been placed on the individual as opposed to the group and a valuable therapeutic tool has been lost. Using a group-as-a-whole concept can help reverse this trend and make the milieu on the inpatient psychiatric unit instrumental in the recovery of the patient.     

Use of the Survey of Personal Beliefs Scale: Further validation of a measure of irrational beliefs with psychiatric inpatients

Development of valid instruments for measuring underlying irrational beliefs is necessary for ongoing research of Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET). This study was designed to further evaluate the validity of one such measure, the Survey of Personal Beliefs (SPB). Adult psychiatric inpatients completed the SPB and measures of depression, hopelessness, and anxiety, as well as a conceptually similar measure of irrational thinking, the Belief Scale. It was predicted that if construct validity exists for the SPB then a significant correlation would exist between irrational beliefs as measured by the SPB and depression, hopelessness, and anxiety. It was also predicted that if the scale has construct validity, then patients being treated with RET would demonstrate a greater reduction in irrational thinking based on SPB scores than would inpatients receiving treatment not based on RET. To evaluate for discriminate validity, it was predicted that the SPB would correlate more highly with a conceptually similar measure of irrational thinking than with measures of depression, hopelessness, and anxiety. The findings of this study offer support for the validity of the SPB. Additional and unexpected findings as well as recommendations are discussed.Dr. Nottingham is an Associate Fellow and Approved Supervisor of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy. He is in independent practice with Germantown Psychological Associates, P.C. and is Director of Psychology and Clinical Director of Adult Mental Health Services at Parkwood Hospital, Olive Branch, MS.I would like to thank Ivey Bright, Brad Barris, and Dee Conrad for their assistance in data collection. Additionally, without the assistance and support of the Parkwood Hospital administration and staff, this research could not have been completed.     

Comparison of the WISC and WISC-R on a psychiatric adolescent inpatient sample

The present study compared the WISC and WISC-R on a group of psychiatric adolescent inpatients. The results indicated high intercorrelations between the two test versions but with the correlations linearly related to the changes in content and administration rules of the WISC-R. Analyses of variance indicated that, on the basis of the Full Scale IQ, the WISC is an easier test than the WISC-R.The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Ms. Kathleen Lennox for her aid in data analysis and computer programming.     

Mental health policy and the psychiatric inpatient care of children

Recent changes in psychiatric inpatient treatment of children and youth are placed in the more general context of, first, the inpatient treatment of adults and, second, multiple public policies affecting children. For adults, the experimental evidence shows that the majority of psychiatric inpatients could be treated in programs outside the hospital more effectively and less expensively. For children, no such data base exists. Contrary to policy intent, between 1980 and 1985 inpatient care of children and youth increased substantially in residential treatment centers, private psychiatric hospitals, and scatter hospitals (general hospitals without any formal specialized units). Thus, psychiatric inpatient care of children and youth is increasing, dramatically so at largely uninvestigated and more expensive sites. The failure of children's mental health policy is placed in the context of the multiple policy failures for children regarding health, welfare, education, and housing. Recent positive efforts by federal agencies are described, but the need is great for data on efficacy and cost-effectiveness of inpatient treatment of children.     

Overreport on the MCMI-III: concurrent validation with the MMPI-2 using a psychiatric inpatient sample

The MCMI-III (Millon, Davis, & Millon, 1997) is a widely used measure of personality often used in inpatient psychiatric settings. Although patients in such settings often overreport or exaggerate their symptoms, relatively little is known about how such a response set presents on the validity indexes of the MCMI-II. In this study, we used a sample of 191 psychiatric inpatients and compared MCMI-III modifier indices (Disclosure, Desirability, and Debasement) with the validity measures (L, F, Fb, F(p), K, and F - K) of the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989). In addition, the MCMI-III Disclosure Index (Scale X, which imposes a set cutoff score for invalidity due to overreport) was compared to several cutoff scores on the validity scales of the MMPI-2. Although the MCMI-III indexes generally performed as expected, the MCMI-III had a very high tolerance for overreport. When contrasted with MMPI-2 F scale, the MCMI-II Disclosure Index (which gauges overreport) remained valid until scores on MMPI-2 F scale approached a T score of 120. In addition, the Disclosure Index was at the upper end or slightly exceeded the highest recommended cutoff scores on all other MMPI-2 validity scales except F - K. Clinicians using the MCMI-III alone are cautioned to consider the high tolerance the MCMI-III has for overreport.     

Assessing the measurement invariance of latent job satisfaction ratings across survey administration modes for respondent subgroups: A MIMIC modeling approach

To date, many studies have assessed the measurement invariance of a wide variety of measures across Internet and paper-and-pencil conditions; however a relative dearth exists in the literature investigating measurement invariance across administration modes for differing subgroups of respondents. Using MIMIC modeling, this study assessed whether gender and age of the respondent systematically influenced responding according to administration mode above and beyond measurement invariance. Consistent with past research, this study demonstrated that job satisfaction ratings were indeed measurement invariant across Internet and paper-and-pencil conditions, however, older respondents tend to differentially rate job satisfaction according to administration mode. Implications are discussed.     

Further evidence for the validity of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP) as a measure of direct physical aggression. Hypotheses were generated from recent theory pertinent to the categorization and measurement of aggressive behavior as well as widely supported effects of alcohol intoxication and gender on aggression. Participants were 328 (163 men and 165 women) healthy social drinkers between 21 and 35 years of age who completed self-report personality inventories designed to assess one's propensity toward direct physical aggression, verbal aggression, trait anger, and hostility. Following the consumption of either an alcohol or a placebo beverage, participants were tested on the TAP, in which mild electric shocks were received from, and administered to, a fictitious opponent during a competitive task. Direct physical aggression was operationalized as the shock intensities (i.e., first trial shock intensity, mean shock intensity, proportion of highest shock) administered to the fictitious opponent. Although all self-report measures were significantly associated with the three TAP indices, the associations involving physical aggression were strongest. In addition, self-report measures of physical aggression consistently predicted higher levels of aggression on the TAP indices in men, compared with women, and in intoxicated, relative to sober, participants. Taken as a whole, this pattern of findings provides further evidence for the validity of the TAP as a measure of direct physical aggression for men and women.     

Fear and the amygdala: manipulation of awareness generates differential cerebral responses to phobic and fear-relevant (but nonfeared) stimuli

Rapid response to danger holds an evolutionary advantage. In this positron emission tomography study, phobics were exposed to masked visual stimuli with timings that either allowed awareness or not of either phobic, fear-relevant (e.g., spiders to snake phobics), or neutral images. When the timing did not permit awareness, the amygdala responded to both phobic and fear-relevant stimuli. With time for more elaborate processing, phobic stimuli resulted in an addition of an affective processing network to the amygdala activity, whereas no activity was found in response to fear-relevant stimuli. Also, right prefrontal areas appeared deactivated, comparing aware phobic and fear-relevant conditions. Thus, a shift from top-down control to an affectively driven system optimized for speed was observed in phobic relative to fear-relevant aware processing.