Block design as a measure of everyday spatial ability: a study of ecological validity

This study investigated the effectiveness of the WAIS-R Block Design subtest to predict everyday spatial ability for 65 university undergraduates (15 men, 50 women) who were administered Block Design, the Standardized Road Map Test of Direction Sense, and the Everyday Spatial Activities Test. In addition, the verbally loaded National Adult Reading Test was administered to assess whether the more visuospatial Block Design subtest was a better predictor of spatial ability. Moderate support was found. When age and sex were accounted for, Block Design accounted for 36% of the variance in performance (r = -.62) on the Road Map Test and 19% of the variance on the performance of the Everyday Spatial Activities Test (r = .42). In contrast, the scores on the National Adult Reading Test did not predict performance on the Road Map Test or Everyday Spatial Abilities Test. This suggests that, with appropriate caution, Block Design could be used as a measure of everyday spatial abilities.     

Responses of normal and learning disabled children as a function of the stopwatch in the matching familiar figures testing situation

To ascertain whether normal and hyperactive learning disabled children differ in their responses to Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFF) as a function of a temporal cue, the stopwatch used in the testing situation, 16 learning disabled and 15 normal 8- and 9-year-old boys were compared. A counterbalanced design, in which each child was administered one-half of the test with a stopwatch (standard administration procedure) and the other one-half of the test without a stopwatch (No-Stopwatch procedure), was used. For the normal children, the MFF latency scores in the two conditions were not correlated, indicating that the stopwatch influenced their performance. For the learning disabled children, however, the MFF latency scores in the two conditions were correlated. A significant difference between the two correlation coefficients indicated that the normal and learning disabled children responded in a different manner to the temporal cue. On the MFF error measure, the correlation between the scores obtained in the two conditions of test administration was significant for the normal children, but not for the learning disabled children. A significant difference between these correlation coefficients again indicated differential responding to the temporal cue by the two groups.     

Outcomes of hemisphericity questionnaires correlate with unilateral dichotic deafness

Using the Dichotic Deafness Test, 145 university workers were separated into dichotic deafness and hearing groups based on minor ear responses to dichotic consonant-vowel stimuli. They were also separated into putative right and left brain-oriented groups by Zenhausern's Preference Questionnaire. Interestingly, members of the dichotically hearing group chose mainly right brain-oriented answers and vice versa. A correlation coefficient twice that obtained for Zenhausern's Preference Questionnaire resulted when subject groups separated by the novel Polarity Questionnaire were compared to Dichotic Deafness Test groups. Only 30% of Preference Questionnaire items, versus 90% of Polarity Questionnaire items, were significantly correlated with Dichotic Deafness Test groups. This is the first report of hemisphericity-type questionnaires showing significant correlations with a biophysical measure of brain laterality.     

Discriminative effectiveness of the Senior Apperception Test with impaired and nonimpaired elderly persons.

A means was devised of assessing elderly individuals' responses to the Senior Apperception Test (SAT) that would discriminate emotionally-cognitively impaired from nonimpaired. With a matched sample of known impaired and nonimpaired nursing home residents, SAT protocols were scored on four dimensions, and the best discriminating cut-off scores established. Protocols from a second similar matched sample were tested for discriminative effectiveness of previously established criterion scores. Significant discrimination at .01 or better was obtained for all four dimensions in the predicted direction. False positives and false negatives ranged from 7 to 33%. The best predictor score was Interpersonal-relationships, the poorest was mood. This procedure with the SAT appears to be an effective screening method for impairment, and it provides additional useful clinical information.     

Correlations among scores on measures of field dependence-independence cognitive style, cognitive ability, and sustained attention

The Children's Embedded Figures Test, the Rod and Frame Test to measure the field dependence-independence cognitive style, Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Tests to measure cognitive ability, and two cancellation tasks (Zazzo task and Bourdon task) to assess sustained attention were administered to 179 boys and 110 girls whose average age was 9.0 yr. Correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence and cognitive ability were moderated. Average correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence, cognitive ability, and measures of sustained attention was .23 for the Zazzo task and quite weak (.06) for the Bourdon task.     

Torque as a Predictor of Reading Achievement

The present study assessed the utility of the Torque Test (Blau, 1977b) as a predictor of reading performance. Children (N = 149) were administered the Torque Test, the Harris Test of Lateral Dominance (Harris, 1958), the Wide Range Achievement Test, (Jastak & Jastak, 1965), and the Bender Gestalt Test (Koppitz, 1975). Torque scores of disabled and nondisabled readers did not differ significantly, and the correlation between torque and WRAT grade level scores was substantively low. It was concluded that torque is not a useful measure of reading ability.     

An item-factor analysis of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (E.P.Q.): Will the real personality factors stand up

The study utilised responses to the E.P.Q. from 3 samples of subjects. An initial sample of 239 Independent Study Students, a second sample of 278 student and pupil nurses and an aggregate sample of 617 students of both types. The samples were subjected to principal components analyses followed by varimax and promax rotations. Scree Test, number of significant loadings, replicability across samples and sexes, factor reliability and factor replicability were used as criterion measures to determine the number of real factors present. Nearly all the N, E and L-items were recovered in the analyses of each of the samples. In the two smaller samples, insufficient items were retrieved to indicate the presence of a clear psychoticism factor, but in the aggregate sample one factor contained 19 of the 25 P-items. Scree Test, numbers of significant loadings, replicability over samples and factor reliability criteria indicated that either a 4- or 5-factor solution was a valid possibility. Application of the criterion of factor replicability, using factor comparability coefficients based on factor scores, revealed an exceptionally clear 4-factor structure which was also replicable across sexes. The effects of dissimulation were investigated by dichotomising the male and female samples by L-scores. In both cases the mean scores for P and N for the low L-score group were higher than the corresponding mean scores for the high L-score group, which supports a previous finding that dissimulation tends to artificially lower the P and N-scores. Examination of the effect of dissimulation on the factor structure showed that E and N came out equally clearly in the high and low L-score groups for both males and females. P came out more clearly in the low L-score group for males and in the high L-score group for females, the latter finding being contrary to that of other authors. The investigation confirmed the presence of 4 “real”, replicable factors of P, E, N and L at the first order, showed that P and N are sensitive to dissimulation and illustrated the effectiveness of using factor replicability, measured by factor comparability coefficients based on factor scores, to determine the number of “real” factors in an analysis.     

Stereotype Threat Effects on the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Scores of African Americans1

The present experiment examined stereotype threat effects on the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices (Raven) scores of African Americans. Support was found for Hypothesis 1, which stated that African Americans would experience significantly greater stereotype threat than Whites during an IQ testing situation. Hypothesis 2 proposed that a significant Race x Test Diagnosticity Condition interaction would occur in which the mean difference in intelligence test scores between African Americans and Whites (favoring the latter group) would be largest when the test was framed as a measure of intelligence, and smaller when framed as nonindicative of intelligence. Limited support for Hypothesis 2 was found in that a marginally significant Race x Test Diagnosticity Condition interaction was obtained. However, the interaction failed to reach conventional levels of statistical significance. Although preliminary, the present findings provide some support for the notion that stereotype threat compromises the intelligence test performance of African Americans.     

The assessment of emotional intelligence: a comparison of performance-based and self-report methodologies

We assessed the patterns of convergent validity for the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2002), a performance-based measure of emotional intelligence (EI) that entails presenting problems thought to have correct responses, and a self-report measure of EI (Schutte et al., 1998). The relations between EI and demographic characteristics of a diverse community sample (N = 223) concurred with previous research. However, the performance-based and self-report scales were not related to one another. Only self-reported EI scores showed a consistent pattern of relations with self-reported coping styles and depressive affect, whereas the performance-based measure demonstrated stronger relations with age, education, and receiving psychotherapy. We discuss implications for the validity of these measures and their utility.     

Longitudinal Predictive Validity of a Learning Potential Test

The aim of this article is to provide empirical psychometric evidence of the (longitudinal) predictive validity of a learning potential measure—the Learning Potential Computerised Adaptive Test (LPCAT)—in comparison with standard static tests with school aggregate results as the criterion measure. Participants were 79 boys (mean age 12.44, SD = 0.44) and 72 girls (mean age 11.18, SD = 0.42) attending two private schools. Correlation and regression analyses were used to evaluate the predictive validity of the learning potential and standard test scores for school aggregate academic results as criterion measure. Results indicate that learning potential scores were statistically significant predictors of aggregate academic results and provided results that were comparable to those of the standard test results—providing empirical support for the use of learning potential tests in mainstream educational settings.     

Effects of short-term counseling on Career Maturity of tenth-grade students

The effectiveness of short-term counseling on Career Maturity of tenth-grade students as measured by the Career Maturity Inventory was studied. The Career Maturity Attitude Scale and the Self Appraisal subscale of the Competence Test were administered to a random sample (87 subjects) of tenth-grade students. The subjects whose scores fell below the mean were assigned randomly to experimental and control groups. The experimental group (17 subjects) received special counseling during a short term of 6 wk. Using repeated measures of analysis of variance, a statistically significant interaction was found with both the Self Appraisal subscale scores and the Total scale scores. Results indicate that career maturity as a developmental process can be measured and facilitated through counseling.     

A sentence completion procedure as an alternative to the Autobiographical Memory Test for assessing overgeneral memory in non-clinical populations

Overgeneral memory (OGM) has been proposed as a vulnerability factor for depression (Williams et al., 2007) or depressive reactivity to stressful life-events (e.g., Gibbs & Rude, 2004). Traditionally, a cue word procedure known as the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT; Williams & Broadbent, 1986) is used to assess OGM. Although frequently and validly used in clinical populations, there is evidence suggesting that the AMT is insufficiently sensitive to measure OGM in non-clinical groups. Study 1 evaluated the usefulness of a sentence completion method to assess OGM in non-clinical groups, as an alternative to the AMT. Participants were 197 students who completed the AMT, the Sentence Completion for Events from the Past Test (SCEPT), a depression measure, and visual analogue scales assessing ruminative thinking. Results showed that the mean proportion of overgeneral responses was markedly higher for the SCEPT than for the standard AMT. Also, overgeneral responding on the SCEPT was positively associated to depression scores and depressive rumination scores, whereas overgeneral responding on the AMT was not. Results suggest that the SCEPT, relative to the AMT, is a more sensitive instrument to measure OGM, at least in non-clinical populations. Study 2 further showed that this enhanced sensitivity is most likely due to the omission of the instruction to be specific rather than to the SCEPT's sentence completion format (as opposed to free recall to cue words).     

The Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test (STAT) as a measure of academic achievement and general intelligence

The degree to which practical, creative, and analytical abilities, measured by the Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test (STAT) (Sternberg, 1993), significantly contribute to the prediction of academic achievement, independent of general intelligence, was investigated. Although Sternberg et al. (2000) claim that the STAT is not related to, nor a measure of, general intelligence, data obtained by Sternberg, Ferrari, Clinkenbeard, and Grigorenko (1996), found that STAT scores were significantly correlated with measures of general intelligence. In the present study, introductory psychology midterm examination grades, STAT scores, and Wonderlic Personnel Test scores (as a measure of general intelligence), were obtained from undergraduate students at the University of Western Ontario (N=150). Total STAT scores and each of the STAT subsection scores were significantly related to Wonderlic test scores, P<0.01, and the STAT subsections were significantly related to each other, P<0.01. The partial correlations between midterm grades and creative, practical, analytical, and total STAT scores, with the variance due to the Wonderlic test removed, were also found to be significant for practical and for total STAT scores, P<0.05, but nonsignificant for creative and analytical STAT scores. A factor analysis including midterm examination grades, the Wonderlic test, and each of the STAT subsections revealed a single general factor. Thus, some results supported Sternberg but others were contrary to his claims.     

Relationship of field dependence and color coding to female students' achievement.

This study examined the relationship of field dependence and differentially color coded instructional materials (black-and-white and colored) with 126 female students' achievement. Significant differences were found between field-independent and field-dependent students with the field-dependent students scoring higher on the Total Criterion measure. No significant interaction betWeen color coding and field dependence was found on the Total Criterion Test scores. Significant differences in achievement were found in favor of women who received the color-coded version of the Total Criterion Test. These results confirm previous findings relating to the importance of field dependence in visual information and points to the necessity for further systematic analysis of the unique contributions color-coded instructional strategies might have in facilitating the achievement of female students.     

On emotionally intelligent time travel: individual differences in affective forecasting ability

In two studies, the authors examined whether people who are high in emotional intelligence (EI) make more accurate forecasts about their own affective responses to future events. All participants completed a performance measure of EI (the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test) as well as a self-report measure of EI. Affective forecasting ability was assessed using a longitudinal design in which participants were asked to predict how they would feel and report their actual feelings following three events in three different domains: politics and academics (Study 1) and sports (Study 2). Across these events, individual differences in forecasting ability were predicted by participants' scores on the performance measure, but not the self-report measure, of EI; high-EI individuals exhibited greater affective forecasting accuracy. Emotion Management, a subcomponent of EI, emerged as the strongest predictor of forecasting ability.     

Are visual-perceptual and visual-motor skills separate abilities?

This study explored the independence of visual-perceptual and visual-motor abilities. Scores on the Motor-free Visual Perception Test were correlated by Pearson's method with scores on tests that weight the visual-perceptual, motor, and visual-motor components differently. Small but significant correlations were found between the Motor-free Visual Perception Test and tests of visual-motor integration, but there was no relationship between the motor-free test and tests of motor ability. These findings support the premise that tests of visual perception, visual-motor integration, and motor ability measure different skills.     

I. Validity of WISC-R factor scores in predicting achievement and attention for four sociocultural groups

The predictive validity of WISC-R factor scores was examined with samples from the four sociocultural groups of Anglo, Black, Chicano, and native American Papago. The Full Scale IQ and Verbal Comprehension (VC) factor scores were significantly better predictors of achievement as measured by teacher ratings and the Metropolitan Achievement Test. The Perceptual Organization and Freedom from Distractibility (FD) factor scores were also significantly related to achievement, but at a lower level than Full Scale and VC. The correlations of the WISC-R and achievement measures were nearly the same for three of the four groups (exception was native American Papago). The relationship of the FD factor score to ratings of attention was statistically significant, but relatively low. Cautions in interpreting FD as a measure of attention were recommended due to overlap of distributions and low proportion of variance in attention accounted for by FD.     

Self-Actualization of “Paranormals”

A sample of 56 Ss nominated by others as paranormals and self-stated as experiencing paranormal (occult) phenomena, were administered measures purportedly reflected dimensions of the self-actualization concept. Ss reported both their interest in, and experience of, 15 areas of paranormal phenomena. Ss were given the Marlowe-Crown Social Desirability Scale (measuring ego-defensiveness), Shostrom's Self-Actualization Test (POI), and an Aphorism test (designed to measure degree of “expanded awareness”). Ss scores were compared with various normative and experimental group scores for the three tests. Although statistically significant differences were rare, there was usually a trend for paranormals to score in the direction of self-actualization on most measures.     

Effects of test order and modality on sustained attention in children with epilepsy.

Neurological conditions affect sustained attention, but the effects of modality and interactions with test order have not been examined. In a 2 x 2 (Order x Modality) design using 54 children with chronic epilepsy, performance was compared on an auditory measure (modified Seashore Rhythm Test) versus a visual measure of attention (modified Conners' Continuous Performance Test). Auditory scores were worse than visual, F(1, 52) = 98.93, p<.001, but there was no order effect or interaction (p>.05). Implications for assessment and intervention are discussed.     

The effect of humor on aggression catharsis in the classroom

Two studies were designed to measure the cathartic effects of humor on aggressive responses. In the first study, two versions (easy and difficult) of Raven's intelligence test were administered to two groups of high school students. Only the easy version could be solved in the alloted time. Rosenzweig's (1951) Picture Frustration test was then administered and the students' aggressive responses were scored. Results showed that those who did not solve the problems had significantly higher scores on aggressivity than did the others. The second study, using four different groups, was planned according to a modified Solomon design. Two of the four groups of students completed the difficult part of the Raven test, and then two video-tapes were presented: a humorous one to two groups and a neutral one to the others. Finally, the Rosenzweig Picture Frustration test was administered to all four groups. An analysis of variance computed on the aggressivity scores showed one significant difference: frustrated students who viewed the humorous videotape had lower scores than those viewing the neutral one.