Cathectic orientation, goal setting and mood

Investigated the reliability and validity of a new verbal cathexis test, based on objectively scored achievement data. Criteria were based on interviews about goal orientations and mood ratings, performed three times a day for a week. Goals were scored analogously with the cathexis test, viz. in the three dimensions hetero-homo, active-passive, and positive-negative. Average mood scores and mood variabilities were estimated. The Oedipal and combined cathexis adjustment indices correlated with goal ratings. Moods correlated with cathectic balance indices. Strong correlations were found to exist between average moods and goal ratings in both active-passive and positive-negative dimensions, as well as sex differences in mood variability and Oedipal orientation as measured by the cathexis test.     

The effects of intelligence test preparation

The first goal of this study was to investigate the effects of reading a book concerning intelligence tests and the effects of a specific test-training programme on numerical and verbal intelligence tests. The second goal was to investigate to what extent the acquisition of test-specific problem-solving strategies affects the ability to solve items on different, but comparable tests (transfer). In the experimental design two factors were included: practice (pretest or no pretest) and (level of) preparation (none, book, or training), so there were six conditions. Each condition consisted of about 26 subjects, who had been randomly assigned to one of the conditions. The results showed a strong effect of preparation, especially for the numerical intelligence test and to a lesser degree for the verbal intelligence test. No practice or pretest effects were found. Positive transfer was demonstrated for the numerical test. The results for the verbal test were less clear. The implications for the predictive and construct validity are discussed.     

Self-Esteem and Body Satisfaction in Male and Female Elementary School, High School, and University Students

A total of 227 male and female elementary school, high school, and university students completed questionnaires concerning self-esteem, body satisfaction, and body build. Self-esteem was lower for female students than for male students overall, and for high school than for elementary school or university students. It was positively correlated with body satisfaction (cathexis, body image, weight satisfaction), but the regression analysis only predicted self-esteem by cathexis. The gender difference in self-esteem, and the relationship between self-esteem and cathexis, may develop as early as elementary school. Suggestions for future research are given.     

Is Age Just a Number? Cognitive Reserve as a Predictor of Divergent Thinking in Late Adulthood

The purpose of the study was to test a model of causal relationships among cognitive reserve (CR), personality variables such as Neuroticism and Openness to experience, and divergent thinking (DT), independently evaluating performance in different domains (verbal and graphic). It was hypothesized that CR, Openness, and Neuroticism would each directly influence verbal and graphic DT. A total of 135 subjects between 55 and 84 years old participated in the study and were interviewed in individual sessions. For a correct fit Neuroticism was eliminated from the measurement model. The goodness-of-fit indexes of the measurement model, the adequate composite reliability index and the discriminant validity supported the viability of the structural equation model (SEM). The goodness-of-fit indexes confirmed the existence of a significant effect of CR and Openness to experience in predicting both verbal and graphic DT. The three CR indicators had high loadings in their theoretical factor, with the observed variables study-work and WAIS vocabulary showing the highest loads. In summary, subjects with CR and Openness to experience were more flexible and original when solving verbal problems, and to a lesser degree, graphic problems.     

A psychometric analysis of chess expertise

This study introduces the Amsterdam Chess Test (ACT). The ACT measures chess playing proficiency through 5 tasks: a choose-a-move task (comprising two parallel tests), a motivation questionnaire, a predict-a-move task, a verbal knowledge questionnaire, and a recall task. The validity of these tasks was established using external criteria based on the Elo chess rating system. Results from a representative sample of active chess players showed that the ACT is a very reliable test for chess expertise and that ACT has high predictive validity. Several hypotheses about the relationships between chess expertise, chess knowledge, motivation, and memory were tested. Incorporating response latencies in test scores is shown to lead to an increase in criterion validity, particularly for easy items.     

THE VALIDITY OF A MEASURE OF JOB COMPATIBILITY IN THE PREDICTION OF JOB PERFORMANCE AND TURNOVER OF MOTION PICTURE THEATER PERSONNEL

The predictive validity of a measure of job compatibility was studied for theater personnel. Scores on a forced-choice instrument, developed from the Job Compatibility Questionnaire (JCQ), predicted employee performance (r = .22, p< .05), turnover (r = -.35, p< .01), and scores on a "value composite" (reflecting a combination of job performance and employee retention criteria) as defined by the research sponsor (P = .41, p< .01). Furthermore, job compatibility scores explained a statistically significant increment in turnover and value composite score variance when analyzed concomitantly with verbal and numerical ability test scores. Finally, job compatibility scores were shown to be nonredundant with hiring decisions based on an application review, reference check, and interview, whereas the cognitive ability test scores shared considerable redundancy with hiring decisions based on the current selection system.     

The Honi phenomenon revisited: factors underlying the resistance to perceptual distortion of one's partner.

An individual being viewed in an Ames room usually appears considerably altered in physical size to an observer. However, some married persons perceive less size distortion of their spouses than a stranger. This instance of selective perceptual distortion, known as the Honi phenomenon, could perhaps reflect differential familiarity and/or emotional involvement toward these stimulus persons. Using heterosexual couples as subjects, we investigated familiarity (i.e., length of the relationship), type of relationship (i.e., dating, engaged, or married), and positive cathexis (i.e., love, liking, and trust of one's partner) as possible mediators of this effect and also explored the impact of some judgemental variations. Neither familiarity nor type of relationship influenced relative perceptual distortion of partner versus stranger. Rather, selective perceptual distortion was directly related to the strength of positive cathexis, principally among females. Only women high in positive cathexis exhibited the Honi phenomenon and perceived a stranger as being more distorted than their partners. In contrast, size judgements by men were affected only by the sequence in which stimulus persons were observed. Implications and interpretations of these findings are discussed.     

Relation of dance skills to body cathexis and locus of control orientation

33 subjects provided measures on extent of dance training, dance performance, locus of control orientation, and three measures of body cathexis. Pearson product-moment correlations yielded significant, though modest, positive relations between three measures of body cathexis and performance, and between time dancing and the Levenson Internal scale; and a negative relation between body cathexis and the Levenson Chance scale.     

Validity and reliability of self-assessed physical fitness using visual analogue scales

To test the validity and reliability of self-assessed physical fitness samples included healthcare assistants working at a hospital (women=170, men=17), persons working with physically and mentally handicapped patients (women=530, men= 123), and two separate groups of healthcare students (a) women=91 and men=5 and (b) women=159 and men=10. Five components of physical fitness were self-assessed by Visual Analogue Scales with illustrations and verbal anchors for the extremes: aerobic fitness, muscle strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. Convergent and divergent validity were evaluated by age-adjusted correlations stratified by sex with performance-based measures of physical fitness. Self-assessed aerobic fitness (r = .36 - .64) (women/men), muscle strength (r = .30 - .51), and flexibility (r = .36 - .31) showed moderate convergent validity. The divergent validity was satisfactory except for flexibility among men. The reliability was moderate to good (ICC = .62 - .80). Self-assessed aerobic fitness, muscle strength, and flexibility showed moderate construct validity and moderate to good reliability using visual analogues.     

The Analysis of Verbal Explanations for Marital Separation: Implications for Attribution Theory1

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the structure and content of real-life attributions, using these data to examine some important theoretical and empirical issues in attribution theory. The causal attributions examined came from free-response verbal protocols of explanations for marital separation of 29 males and 33 females living in New Zealand. Respondents gave causal importance weghts to the attributions from their verbal protocols, utilizing the technique of subjective magnitude estimation. Ipsative data, representing perceived causal responsibility for different attribution targets (self, ex-spouse, external factors, etc.), were derived from these weights, and the impact a range of independent variables exerted on these derived free-response attribution percentages was examined. Evidence is presented which supports the validity and reliability of this technique. The normative data gathered was found to be both consistent and inconsistent with different aspects of attribution theory. The implications for attribution theory are discussed.     

Wegner on hallucinations,inconsistency, and the illusion of free will. Some critical remarks

Wegner’s argument on the illusory nature of conscious will, as developed in The Illusion of Conscious Will (2002) and other publications, has had major impact. Based on empirical data, he develops a theory of apparent mental causation in order to explain the occurrence of the illusion of conscious will. Part of the evidence for his argument is derived from a specific interpretation of the phenomenon of auditory verbal hallucinations as they may occur in schizophrenia. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the validity of the evidence on auditory verbal hallucinations as employed by Wegner. I conclude that auditory hallucinations do not provide solid evidence for Wegner’s theory. Moreover, the phenomena in schizophrenia provide, in fact, an argument against part of Wegner’s theory of apparent mental causation.     

Measurement of individual differences: lessons from memory assessment in research and clinical practice

An examination of test manuals and published research indicates that widely used memory tests (e.g., Verbal Paired Associates and Word List tests of the Wechsler Memory Scale, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, and California Verbal Learning Test) are afflicted by severe ceiling effects. In the present study, the true extent of memory ability in healthy young adults was tested by giving 208 college undergraduates verbal paired-associate and verbal learning tests of various lengths; the findings demonstrate that healthy adults can remember much more than is suggested by the normative data for the memory tests just mentioned. The findings highlight the adverse effects of low ceilings in memory assessment and underscore the severe consequences of ceiling effects on score distributions, means, standard deviations, and all variability-dependent indices, such as reliability, validity, and correlations with other tests. The article discusses the optimal test lengths for verbal paired-associate and verbal list-learning tests, shows how to identify ceiling-afflicted data in published research, and explains how proper attention to this phenomenon can improve future research and clinical practice.     

The Effect of Size of Pupil on the Form and Color Fields

The construct validity of the Wallach-Kogan (W-K) creativity test was investigated through an hierarchical factor analysis of intercorrelations among intelligence, creativity, control, and criterion variables for 73 Ss enrolled in grades 3 and 4 of an inner-city parochial school. The results provided considerable support for W-K's theoretical formulations. Creativity and intelligence assessors defined separate domains and remained totally resilient to merger into a superordinate factor. The creativity domain, which was defined by W-K subtests and criterion ratings, included the following factors: general, visual, and verbal creativity plus a weak methods factor for crayon drawings. The intelligence domain, which was defined by WISC subtests, included a relatively strong g factor and the following four primary factors: verbal precision, freedom from distractibility, perceptual organization, and quasi-specific.     

Empathy in preschool children: the development of the Southampton Test of Empathy for Preschoolers (STEP)

In this study, we investigated a new instrument: the Southampton Test of Empathy for Preschoolers (STEP). The test incorporated 8 video vignettes of children in emotional scenarios, assessing a child's ability to understand (STEP-UND) and share (STEP-SHA) in the emotional experience of a story protagonist. Each vignette included 4 emotions (angry, happy, fearful, sad) that reflected emotion judgments based on the protagonist's facial expression, situation, verbal cues, and desire. The STEP was administered to 39 preschool children, and internal reliability, concurrent validity, and construct validity were addressed. The results showed good internal consistency. They also highlighted moderate concurrent validity with parent-rated empathy, a measure of facial indices, and construct validity with teacher-rated prosocial behavior.     

Associative symmetry of the memory for object-location associations as revealed by the testing effect

The nature of episodic associations has been subject to a long standing debate, where the two opposing positions postulate associations as either a holistic representation of the constituent elements or as independently modifiable pointers between them. In spite of a history of inconsistent findings, evidence in favour of the theory of symmetric associations has accumulated, yet only for verbal memory [Caplan, J. B., Glaholt, M. G., & McIntosh, A. R. (2006). Linking associative and serial list memory: Pairs versus triples. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32(6), 1244-1265; Kahana, M. J. (2002). Associative symmetry and memory theory. Memory and Cognition, 30(6), 823-840]. Although object-location associations differ in several fundamental characteristics from verbal paired-associates, we recently found associative symmetry in the memory for this class of associations as well [Sommer, T., Rose, M., & Büchel, C. (2007). Associative symmetry vs. independent associations in the memory for object-location associations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33(1), 90-106]. Due to the inconsistencies in the verbal literature, we felt it to be pertinent to confirm this finding using another experimental approach. Based on recent advances in understanding the effects of successive testing, we were able to make use of this knowledge and introduce this effect as an experimental manipulation in the study of associative symmetry. In particular, we investigated whether the influence of a prior memory test on a subsequent memory test differs when the same or opposite constituent element of an object-location paired-associate cues the retrieval on each test. We observed an identical testing effect for both conditions, which was exclusively driven by reminiscence, the recovery of previously inaccessible information. This finding lends strong support in favour of holistically or symmetrically represented object-location associations and suggests, given the verbal memory literature, a general principle of associative symmetry [Asch, S. E., & Ebenholtz, S. M. (1962). The principle of associative symmetry. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 106, 135-163].     

The concept of energy in psychoanalytic theory

Freud's early attempts to account for repression and for the occurrence of neurotic symptoms in terms of detachable and displaceable quantities of affect‐charge (cathexis) has continued to be a basic aspect of psychoanalytic theory. This is unfortunate since the account is inadequate and its central concept, that of a quantity of energy, is unsuited to the task at hand. We see that, despite the appropriateness of describing neurotic behavior in dynamic/economic terms, the use of energy concepts on the theoretical level is an explanatory dead‐end.