Development and validation of the organisational cooperation questionnaire

IntroductionCooperation is an essential framework for the functioning of organisations and society. The limitations of current measures of organisational cooperation led us to construct the measure herein presented.ObjectiveThe paper aims to describe the development and psychometric validation of an organisational cooperation measure based on how the cooperating members view and experience the cooperation process.MethodBased on relevant literature, the items were built and submitted to a panel of experts and fine-tuning procedures. The instrument (31 items) was applied to 1354 employees in local authorities. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were performed (2 sub-samples), as well as validation procedures through Pearson correlation with the Knowledge Management Questionnaire.ResultsResults showed good statistical indicators of a 22-items three-factor structure: principles of cooperative relationship; formal regulation of cooperation; and cooperation focused on organisational mission. The factors are interpreted theoretically and present high internal consistency. The validation process suggests the suitability of the instrument for the population studied.ConclusionThis instrument can be used as a starting point for organisational intervention when cooperation-intensive processes are relevant. It can be useful to characterize the existing cooperation in organisations and to foster cooperation in organisations, especially in the intended dimensions. Future studies can apply the instrument to various sectors of activity. It will also be worth studying cooperation in its relationship with other organisational variables, namely those concerning cooperation-intensive processes.     

Psychological distance as a means of evaluation

The psychological distance of objects (e.g., things, places, other people) affects how we think about them. Research suggests that psychological proximity and distance might be also related to positive and negative evaluations, respectively. In this study, we examined whether we can infer how children aged 13–16 years evaluate objects based on their statements regarding the psychological distance between themselves and these objects. Using a mixed-methods design, we verified the relationship between evaluations of objects and whether they are perceived as psychologically close or distant, in a sample of secondary school students. School subjects were predominantly used as evaluation objects. Students used a worksheet that allowed them to visually demonstrate perceived psychological distance between themselves and objects, and then they were asked to explain their choice. Results suggested a strong association between psychological distance and positive or negative evaluation. Thus, the implications of our findings may be relevant for psychodiagnostics.     

Psychological evaluation by means of an on-line computer

The use of an on-line microcomputer-based testing system in a private clinical psychology practice is described. Advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Information about procedures and fees are presented.     

Investigating the functioning of a middle category by means of a mixed-measurement model

Researchers have studied whether there are classes of people who differ systematically in the way they respond to polytomous ordered scales with a middle category such as ?. The mixed-partial credit model was fitted to a number of scales of a personality questionnaire. Most of the scales fit better with the use of 2 latent subpopulations. The most consistent difference among the latent classes was related to the functioning of the middle response category. For most of the examinees, the probability of choosing the middle category was very close to zero, but a nonnegligible percentage of people selected this category with much higher probability. The total scores from the 2 subpopulations were incommensurate. Some personality factors contributed to explaining class membership.     

QUAID: A questionnaire evaluation aid for survey methodologists

QUAID (question-understanding aid) is a software tool that assists survey methodologists, social scientists, and designers of questionnaires in improving the wording, syntax, and semantics of questions. The tool identifies potential problems that respondents might have in comprehending the meaning of questions on questionnaires. These problems can be scrutinized by researchers when they revise questions to improve question comprehension and, thereby, enhance the reliability and validity of answers. QUAID was designed to identify nine classes of problems, but only five of these problems are addressed in this article: unfamiliar technical term, vague or imprecise relative term, vague or ambiguous noun phrase, complex syntax, and working memory overload. We compared the output of QUAID with ratings of language experts who evaluated a corpus of questions on the five classes of problems. The corpus consisted of 505 questions on 11 surveys developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Analyses of hit rates, false alarm rates,d′ scores, recall scores, and precision scores revealed that QUAID was able to identify these five problems with questions, although improvements in QUAID’s performance are anticipated in future research and development.     

Spatial reconstruction of human motion by means of a single camera and a biomechanical model

The value of the results of the inverse dynamic analysis procedures used in the study of human tasks is dependent on the quality of the kinematic and kinetic data supplied to the biomechanical model that supports it. The kinematic data, containing the position, velocity and acceleration of all anatomical segments of the biomechanical model, result from the reconstruction of human spatial motion by means of the evaluation of the anatomic points positions that enable to uniquely define the position of all anatomical segments. Furthermore, the motion data must be kinematically consistent with the structure of the biomechanical model used in the analysis. The traditional photogrammetric methodologies used for the spatial reconstruction of the human motion require images of two or more calibrated and synchronized cameras. This is due to the fact that the projection of each anatomical point is described by two linear equations relating its three spatial coordinates with the two coordinates of the projected point. The need for the image of another camera arises from the fact that a third equation is necessary to find the original spatial position of the anatomical point. The methodology proposed here substitutes the projection equations of the second camera with the kinematic constraint equations associated with a biomechanical model in the motion reconstruction process. In the formulation the system of equations arising from the point projections and biomechanical model kinematic constraints, representing the constant length of the anatomical segments, are solved simultaneously. Because the system of equations has multiple solutions for each image, a strategy based on the minimization of a cost function associated to the smoothness of the reconstructed motion is devised. It is shown how the process is implemented computationally avoiding any operator intervention during the motion reconstruction for a given time period. This leads to an automated computer procedure that ensures the uniqueness of the reconstructed motion. The result of the reconstruction process is a set of data that is kinematically consistent with the biomechanical model used. Through applications of the proposed methodology to several sports exercises its benefits and shortcomings are discussed.     

A Spanish-language prenatal family health evaluation questionnaire: Construction and pilot implementation

The Family Planning Council of America has constructed and implemented a genetic history questionnaire, the Family Health Evaluation, to elicit risk factors, to increase clients' knowledge about reproductive choices, and to improve access to genetic services. The objective of the present study was to develop and implement a Spanish-language version of the Family Health Evaluation for data collection and risk assessment. The content of the Family Health Evaluation was modified to more clearly reflect the risks, exposures, and medical needs of an Hispanic, largely Mexican-American, population. In the present study, the questionnaire was administered to women presenting for prenatal care. The data collected in this pilot study indicate that the questionnaire is effective in identifying individuals and families who would benefit from receiving additional information about a medical condition in their families, from genetic counseling or from a referral for high-resolution ultrasound or other diagnostic procedures.     

Construction of a conditional probability learning model and information theoretical evaluation of its efficiency

A learning model is introduced based on the simple idea that a learning subject has two hypotheses about the results (the outputs of the environment) caused by his actions and calculates the a posteriori probabilities of the hypotheses. Introducing a randomized decision rule of actions related to the probabilities, it is shown that the model is equivalent to Luce's beta model, while these models are derived from completely different considerations. Introducing an information theoretic measure and martingale theory, the asymptotic behavior of the model is examined. Using the information theoretic measure, the effect of memory function on the learning behavior is evaluated. Finally, the model is extended in such a way that the learning subject has more than two hypotheses or a continuum of hypotheses. The learning behaviors of the extended models are discussed.     

A one-way random effects model for trimmed means

The random effects ANOVA model plays an important role in many psychological studies, but the usual model suffers from at least two serious problems. The first is that even under normality, violating the assumption of equal variances can have serious consequences in terms of Type I errors or significance levels, and it can affect power as well. The second and perhaps more serious concern is that even slight departures from normality can result in a substantial loss of power when testing hypotheses. Jeyaratnam and Othman (1985) proposed a method for handling unequal variances, under the assumption of normality, but no results were given on how their procedure performs when distributions are nonnormal. A secondary goal in this paper is to address this issue via simulations. As will be seen, problems arise with both Type I errors and power. Another secondary goal is to provide new simulation results on the Rust-Fligner modification of the Kruskal-Wallis test. The primary goal is to propose a generalization of the usual random effects model based on trimmed means. The resulting test of no differences among J randomly sampled groups has certain advantages in terms of Type I errors, and it can yield substantial gains in power when distributions have heavy tails and outliers. This last feature is very important in applied work because recent investigations indicate that heavy-tailed distributions are common. Included is a suggestion for a heteroscedastic Winsorized analog of the usual intraclass correlation coefficient.     

Short-term homogeneous group therapy for schizophrenic inpatients: A questionnaire evaluation

Traditional, insightoriented group therapy with a heterogeneous patient population has not been effective in the short-term inpatient setting. We have experimented with a homogeneous group therapy format where all of the patients have been acutely psychotic schizophrenics. Clinically, this approach has been found to be useful. Questionnaires filled out by the patients at the time of discharge have supported this conclusion. The patients valued the group more as a place to express their feelings and learn ways of interacting with others than as a place to test reality or receive advice on practical issues.     

A system of program evaluation and the use of feedback as a means of improving service delivery

Agencies providing services to individuals with developmental disabilities must demonstrate quality programing as evidenced through a high level of staff compliance to organizational, licensing, and accreditation standards. In addition, economic and practical considerations impose the need for cost-effective procedures for evaluating and improving staff performance. This study utilized a combination of checklists, as an evaluative tool to measure staff performance, and private feedback to improve staff performance. A multiple baseline design was used to determine the effects of providing staff with (a) orientation training, (b) task-analyzed checklists of job skills, (c) private feedback from the agency trainer, and (d) private feedback from their immediate supervisor. Results indicate that training alone does not ensure competency; checklists alone do not ensure competency; private feedback from trainers improves competency; and private feedback from direct supervisors improves competency even further.     

等效性检验——结构方程模型评价和测量不变性分析的新视角

常用的结构方程模型拟合指数存在一定局限, 如χ ²以传统零假设为目标假设, 无法验证模型, 而RMSEA和CFI等描述性的拟合指数不具备推断统计性质, 等效性检验有效弥补了这些问题。首先说明等效性检验如何评价单个模型的拟合, 并解释其与零假设检验的不同, 然后介绍等效性检验如何分析测量不变性, 接着用实证数据展示了等效性检验在单个模型评价和测量不变性检验中的效果, 并与传统模型评价方法比较。     

A short version of a spatial activity questionnaire

Newcombe, Bandura, and Taylor developed a questionnaire measuring participation in space-related activities. The activities were classified as masculine, feminine, or neutral in gender stereotyping. A short version of this questionnaire was developed based on an item analysis of the responses by 485 introductory psychology students (236 women and 249 men). The 10 masculine, 10 feminine, and 10 neutral items chosen for the short form were given to 60 subjects (28 women and 32 men), along with a measure of spatial performance (Piaget's water-level task). Reliabilities (by coefficient alpha) were .79, .77, and .75, for the masculine, feminine, and neutral activity subscales, respectively. As with the original scale, women had a greater preference than men for feminine activities, men had a greater preference than women for masculine activities, and women and men had an equal preference for neutral activities. Masculine activity preference was associated with better water-level performance, with the relationship significantly stronger for women (r=.50) than for men (r=.10). Uses for the questionnaire in research on sex-related differences in spatial performance are suggested.     

An interactive preference ordering model and its monte carlo evaluation

A computer-interactive preference ordering procedure that is based on assumed transitivity of relations is described. The procedure includes features that are designed to make it robust in the presence of inconsistency. With errorless data, the method will find the underlying order in close to log₂ n! comparisons. Two simulation studies are described where the responses are assumed to follow the Thurstone Case V model. It was found that the method produces orders that are more valid than does a considerably larger preselected subset of pairs.This research was supported in part by Public Health Service Grant MH 16474. It was part of a larger project, and major contributions were made by Jerald F. Kehoe and Rex S. Green.     

A psychometric investigation of the eysenck personality questionnaire (revised) and its relationship to the I.7 impulsiveness questionnaire

The present study investigated the psychometric properties of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R) and the I.7 Impulsiveness Questionnaire. 307 Ss (215 female, 92 male) completed the EPQ-R and the I.7. Scale means and the standard deviations were calculated, scale reliability tested, scale scores intercorrelated and the resulting matrices were factor-analysed. The items from the EPQ-R and the I.7 were submitted to an item factor analysis. The results of the present study were quite similar to those reported by Eysenck, Eysenck and Barrett (1985) for the EPO-R and those reported by Eysenck, Pearson, Easting and Allsopp (1985) for the I.7. It was concluded that the EPQ-R represents an improvement on the 90-item EPQ and that the I.7 represents an adequate and reliable measure of Impulsiveness, Venturesomeness and Empathy. The relationships between the EPQ-R factors and the I.7 factors are also discussed.     

Predictive joint-action model: A hierarchical predictive approach to human cooperation

Research in a number of related fields has recently begun to focus on the perceptual, cognitive, and motor workings of cooperative behavior. There appears to be enough coherence in these efforts to refer to the study of the mechanisms underlying human cooperative behavior as the field of joint-action (Knoblich, Butterfill, & Sebanz, 2011; Sebanz, Bekkering, & Knoblich, 2006). Yet, the development of theory in this field has not kept pace with the proliferation of research findings. We propose a hierarchical predictive framework for the study of joint-action that we call the predictive joint-action model (PJAM). The presentation of this theoretical framework is organized into three sections. In the first section, we summarize hierarchical predictive principles and discuss their application to joint-action. In the second section, we juxtapose PJAM’s assumptions with empirical evidence from the current literature on joint-action. In the third section, we discuss the overall success of the hierarchical predictive approach to account for the burgeoning empirical literature on joint-action research. Finally, we consider the model’s capacity to generate novel and testable hypotheses about joint-action. This is done with the larger goal of uncovering the empirical and theoretical pieces that are still missing in a comprehensive understanding of joint action.