Oral Examination Anxiety in Physicians, Narcissism, and Object Relations

By applying object relations theory, both examiners and candidates can increase understanding of examination anxiety in oral certification in order to enhance the fairness and validity of the examinations. Unconscious images of self and others which examiners and candidates may project onto each other can affect the examination. The examiner must observe himself, the candidate, and the other examiner, lest a transference affecting the examination's progress occur, and to avoid an enactment, which may interfere with the examination. This observing should appropriately support the candidate in functioning at an optimal level of competence. Unconscious processes may prejudice the examiner's attitude towards a candidate, thus jeopardizing the examination's fairness and validity. The candidate's anxiety, based on projections onto the examiners, may interfere with his/her optimal functioning and affect the outcome. If a candidate's anticipatory anxiety is excessive, he/she needs to decide if it needs to be managed on a symptomatic or psychotherapeutic basis. Candidate and examiner both need to monitor their feelings during the examination in order to optimise the examination's fairness and validity. All these issues may also be considered in the relationship between psychiatric educators and trainees.     

Smoking and academic performance

Smokers and nonsmokers were compared on three aspects of academic achievement. Although exactly the same percentage of smokers and nonsmokers passed the first-year university examination, smokers obtained significantly higher marks. Similarly, smokers achieved significantly higher marks in their final year examinations in comparison with nonsmokers. Finally, a comparison of the tutorial essay marks of the smokers and nonsmokers again showed that smokers obtained significantly higher marks than nonsmokers. These data are consistent with the idea that ambitious students adopt smoking in the belief that it will help them study and sustain concentration.     

Interrater reliability in clinical psychology oral examinations: a preliminary study

High interrater reliability was noted among academics evaluating students on a Master's level clinical psychology oral examination. There was greater concordance among more experienced academics, examiners from the same university department, and those in the same professional specialty.     

The nature of expertise in fingerprint examiners

Latent print examinations involve a complex set of psychological and cognitive processes. This article summarizes existing work that has addressed how training and experience creates changes in latent print examiners. Experience appears to improve overall accuracy, increase visual working memory, and lead to configural processing of upright fingerprints. Experts also demonstrate a narrower visual filter and, as a group, tend to show greater consistency when viewing ink prints. These findings address recent criticisms of latent print evidence, but many open questions still exist. Cognitive scientists are well positioned to conduct studies that will improve the training and practices of latent print examiners, and suggestions for becoming involved in fingerprint research are provided.     

Driving examiners’ views on data-driven assessment of test candidates: An interview study

Vehicles are increasingly equipped with sensors that capture the state of the driver, the vehicle, and the environment. These developments are relevant to formal driver testing, but little is known about the extent to which driving examiners would support the use of sensor data in their job. This semi-structured interview study examined the opinions of 37 driving examiners about data-driven assessment of test candidates. The results showed that the examiners were supportive of using data to explain their pass/fail verdict to the candidate. According to the examiners, data in an easily accessible form such as graphs of eye movements, headway, speed, or braking behavior, and color-coded scores, supplemented with camera images, would allow them to eliminate doubt or help them convince disagreeing test-takers. The examiners were skeptical about higher levels of decision support, noting that forming an overall picture of the candidate’s abilities requires integrating multiple context-dependent sources of information. The interviews yielded other possible applications of data collection and sharing, such as selecting optimal routes, improving standardization, and training and pre-selecting candidates before they are allowed to take the driving test. Finally, the interviews focused on an increasingly viable form of data collection: simulator-based driver testing. This yielded a divided picture, with about half of the examiners being positive and half negative about using simulators in driver testing. In conclusion, this study has provided important insights regarding the use of data as an explanation aid for examiners. Future research should consider the views of test candidates and experimentally evaluate different forms of data-driven support in the driving test.     

Gender and mathematics anxiety: The role of math-related experiences and opinions

Abstract

Research has indicated that women may be particularly prone to experiencing mathematics anxiety and, to account for this, the sex-role socialization hypothesis posits that women are more math anxious because they have had less experience with mathematics and have more negative opinions regarding mathematics. In contrast, the math experiences hypothesis suggests that math anxiety is not truly a gender-related phenomenon, but rather is due to poor mathematical preparation, regardless of gender. The present study pitted the “sex-role” hypothesis against the “math experience” hypothesis in an examination of the relation between gender and math anxiety. One hundred and seventy-one university students completed a measure of math anxiety and a series of questions regarding their math marks, opinions, and experiences throughout their educational history. The findings clearly supported the math experience hypothesis of math anxiety, for differences in math marks, opinions, and experiences were found between non-math-anxious, moderately math-anxious, and highly math-anxious students. The few gender differences that were found indicated that the female students frequently reported higher math marks than those reported by male students. We suggest that the relation between gender and mathematics anxiety may be accounted for by gender-linked reporting biases. The limitations of the study are addressed and suggestions for future research are made.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 357 Portuguese children at five ages

Eighteen examiners, well trained in the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003), administered the Rorschach to 357 Portuguese children, in the first through fifth grades, attending schools located in Lisbon and the surrounding neighborhood. Coding was done by 5 of the examiners, each one having more than 5 years of experience with the CS. For this study, coding was reviewed by the authors. Five records were randomly selected from each age group to assess intercoder reliability. Janson and Olsson's (2004) iota was used to assess reliability of the main variable categories. Results are high, with iota ranging from 0.87 to 0.98 across the coding categories. CS variables are presented and key data were chosen and reviewed. A discussion of some data and their comparison with corresponding American data are made, permitting some interesting developmental and cross-cultural questions to be addressed.     

Some multi-attribute models in examination assessment

Examination assessment can be likened to multi-attribute models in value theory by treating candidates as alternatives that have to be compared and examination components as the different attributes on which they are assessed. Then the mark combination process is equivalent to a value function, the main difference being that in this context the examiners' judgement is modelled rather than their preferences. This paper consists of five parts. In the first, a formal representation of the problem is given. In the next three sections, three additive representations are studied, each involving a different set of properties for the marks and the combination process. Finally, there is a short discussion and comparison of the three representations.     

Personality,expectations, and response strategies in multiple‐choice question examinations in university students: a test of Gray's hypotheses

The relation between personality and type of error made in multiple‐choice examinations when correction for guessing is applied was investigated across two studies. Our general hypothesis was that disinhibited subjects (those scoring high on the Sensitivity to Reward (SR) scale and/or low on the Sensitivity to Punishment (SP) scale) would make more incorrect responses and fewer omission errors (blanks) than inhibited subjects (those with high SP and/or low SR scores). The meta‐analyses of 19 examinations in study 1 confirmed our hypotheses for SP, SR, and extraversion. Regression analyses on effect sizes revealed that SP differences were obtained in examinations with low marks, whereas SR differences were obtained in examinations with more responses and fewer questions. Study 2 showed that a low‐mark expectation increased omissions in high‐SP subjects, whereas a high‐mark expectation increased incorrect responses in high‐SR subjects. These results suggest two different mechanisms mediating inhibition/disinhibition: one associated with aversive motivation, and the other with appetitive motivation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determinants of fraud examination performance: An empirical study of internal investigation reports

Fraud examiners from global auditing firms and local law firms are in the business of private policing by conducting internal investigations in private and public organisations when there is suspicion of financial crime. The business is often characterised by secrecy, and reports of investigations are often difficult or impossible to disclose. Since 2012, we have successfully retrieved 63 fraud examination reports in Scandinavia. Based on these reports, this article presents a statistical analysis of fraud examination performance. Performance was measured in terms of the extent of successful reconstruction of past events and the extent of justification of conclusions from the examinations. We identified three statistically significant determinants of fraud examination performance: the seriousness of the consequences, the relative seriousness of the consequences and the conclusions, and the seriousness of the conclusions.     

What memory strategy is best for examinations in psychology?

This study examines the memory strategies used by psychology students during their finals examinations. The strategies used, as evidenced by exam plans at the front of their answers, were related to actual examination performance. The results of the present study showed that, when students' worst marks were considered, those not showing evidence of having used any strategy performed significantly worse than those using a strategy. The strategy which involved listing researchers names proved to be better than a no‐strategy approach. However, when students' best marks were considered, no differences were apparent in examination marks as a result of the strategies which students employed. This suggests that the type of strategy used is more important when students' knowledge of a topic is weak in comparison to when students have a good knowledge of a topic area. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reflections on the Accreditation System of tenured University Professors in Spain

The article analyses the way that Spanish university professors are selected. It emphasises the need to improve this system, as the examination processes in the last few years have been arbitrary. Since the University Organic Law was reformed, the current National Qualification process has been turned into an Accreditation System of tenured University Professors. As a result, guidelines are needed to guarantee the validity and reliability of the evaluation system. The guidelines focus on: (a) the criteria and the standards of evaluation ;( b) the evaluation process; (c) the candidates; (d) the commission members; and (e) the scientific productivity standards. Additionally, some of the aspects of the scientific policy related to the Accreditation System of tenured Professors are analysed and commented upon. These aspects are accreditation according to the offer and demand of the universities and the process of consideration for eventual access to the university.     

两水平研究中单维测验信度的估计

在心理、教育和管理等研究领域中,经常会碰到两水平（两层）的数据结构,如学生嵌套在班级中,员工嵌套在企业中。在两水平研究中,被试通常不是独立的,如果直接用单水平信度公式进行估计,会高估测验信度。文献上已有研究讨论如何更准确地估计两水平研究中单维测验的信度。本研究指出了现有的估计公式的不足之处,用两水平验证性因子分析推导出一个新的信度公式,举例演示如何计算,并给出简单的计算程序。     

Optimal sample sizes for the design of reliability studies: Power consideration

Intraclass correlation coefficients are used extensively to measure the reliability or degree of resemblance among group members in multilevel research. This study concerns the problem of the necessary sample size to ensure adequate statistical power for hypothesis tests concerning the intraclass correlation coefficient in the one-way random-effects model. In view of the incomplete and problematic numerical results in the literature, the approximate sample size formula constructed from Fisher’s transformation is reevaluated and compared with an exact approach across a wide range of model configurations. These comprehensive examinations showed that the Fisher transformation method is appropriate only under limited circumstances, and therefore it is not recommended as a general method in practice. For advance design planning of reliability studies, the exact sample size procedures are fully described and illustrated for various allocation and cost schemes. Corresponding computer programs are also developed to implement the suggested algorithms.     

Voice stress analysis: Use of telephone recordings

Voice stress analyses were performed on tape recorded pre-employment interviews in both their original form and after they had been transmitted via telephone and re-recorded. Expert voice stress examiners, blind to the telephone condition, reported less stress in the telephone charts than in the original charts. There was little relationship between the stress rating for the same charts in their original and telephone forms. Reliability estimates were low for both the original and telephone stress ratings. Summing over the stress ratings from individual questions and advanced training on the part of the examiners both appeared to improve the reliability estimates. The continued use of telephone recorded tapes as substitutes for the original tapes is highly questionable. In addition, these results suggest that voice analysis ratings, as they are currently used, do not show sufficient reliability to warrant their continued use as a selection procedure for employment.An earlier version of this article was presented at the Ninety Third annual convention of the American Psychological Association. We thank Patrick A. Knight for his helpful comments and thoughts on the article.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 409 adult nonpatients from Brazil

This is a normative study with 409 adult nonpatients living in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Rorschach was administered by a team of nine psychologists; eight had had further training in the Rorschach method by the Brazilian Rorschach Society and one intensively was prepared by the project coordinator. Of the study participants, 200 lived in the state capital (Sao Paulo) and the other 209 were in other large and small cities in the state, including a coastal city and one in the mountains. Previous psychological or psychiatric treatments were criteria for exclusion. Each protocol was coded independently by two examiners, and then agreement of the two codings was checked. Differences between the two codings were discussed in a meeting of the whole team, which was supervised by the project coordinator to guarantee codification quality control. Upon completion of the codings, an analysis of examiner differences was undertaken, the results of which are in the text. Interrater reliability statistics among examiners were calculated, including percentage of agreement and kappa. Reliability statistics among examiners at the response level are presented as are Comprehensive System (CS; 1999, 2003) findings.     

How are high school studies related to performance in a psychology degree?

The relationship between performance in final high school studies, on which the university entrance system is based, and performance in a psychology major at university is examined. A total of 241 students were identified who completed first year psychology at a regional university, and had started university within two years of completing high school. Their marks in psychology subjects over the 3‐year major program, their University Admission Index (UAI) and Higher School Certificate subject profile were extracted from the university student records system and subjected to a series of analyses. Psychology marks were averaged to produce a score for each of the three year‐levels. UAI correlated with performance at all three levels (.42 – .49) and was the strongest predictor of performance. Having studied mathematics or a creative arts subject, but not a science subject, had a significant impact on performance in the psychology course over and above the influence of UAI score.     

The impact of evidence lineups on fingerprint expert decisions

Forensic examiners routinely compare a crime-relevant mark of unknown origin against a single suspect's sample, which may create an expectation that the two will match. We tested how embedding the suspect's sample among known-innocent fillers (i.e., an evidence lineup) affects expert decision-making. Experienced fingerprint examiners (N = 43) compared crime-relevant marks against either individual suspect fingerprints (i.e., the standard procedure) or arrays of fingerprints (i.e., evidence lineups), with a matching fingerprint either present or absent. Evidence lineups promoted conservative decision-making, as evidenced by fewer correct IDs and a higher rate of inconclusive judgments. Though errors were rare, evidence lineups also occasionally revealed errors that would have otherwise gone undetected. Our findings thus support arguments that evidence lineups can expose fraud, identify flawed methodologies, and curb overconfidence. The potential benefits and challenges of implementing evidence lineups in forensic laboratories are discussed.     

Stability of scores for the Slosson Full-Range Intelligence Test

The test-retest stability of the Slosson Full-Range Intelligence Test by Algozzine, Eaves, Mann, and Vance was investigated with test scores from a sample of 103 students. With a mean interval of 13.7 mo. and different examiners for each of the two test administrations, the test-retest reliability coefficients for the Full-Range IQ, Verbal Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Memory were .93, .85, .80, .80, and .83, respectively. Mean differences from the test-retest scores were not statistically significantly different for any of the scales. Results suggest that Slosson scores are stable over time even when different examiners administer the test.