Aftereffect of high-speed motion.

A visual illusion known as the motion aftereffect is considered to be the perceptual manifestation of motion sensors that are recovering from adaptation. This aftereffect can be obtained for a specific range of adaptation speeds with its magnitude generally peaking for speeds around 3 deg s-1. The classic motion aftereffect is usually measured with a static test pattern. Here, we measured the magnitude of the motion aftereffect for a large range of velocities covering also higher speeds, using both static and dynamic test patterns. The results suggest that at least two (sub)populations of motion-sensitive neurons underlie these motion aftereffects. One population shows itself under static test conditions and is dominant for low adaptation speeds, and the other is prevalent under dynamic test conditions after adaptation to high speeds. The dynamic motion aftereffect can be perceived for adaptation speeds up to three times as fast as the static motion aftereffect. We tested predictions that follow from the hypothesised division in neuronal substrates. We found that for exactly the same adaptation conditions (oppositely directed transparent motion with different speeds), the aftereffect direction differs by 180 degrees depending on the test pattern. The motion aftereffect is opposite to the pattern moving at low speed when the test pattern is static, and opposite to the high-speed pattern for a dynamic test pattern. The determining factor is the combination of adaptation speed and type of test pattern.     

斯腾伯格(R.J.Sternberg)三重智力理论述评

本文分三部分。一、论述斯氏对传统ＩＱ测验的主要批评。二、介绍三重智力理论,尤以情境亚理论和经验亚理论为重点。三、对三重智力理论的基本评价：它拓宽了智力本质的内涵,为编制较理想的测验提供了较适当的基础,在三重理论的框架内能较好解决测验有效性和测验公平性问题;三重结构本质上是一种层级结构而非平行结构;经验亚理论与或分亚理论之间的关系值得进一步探讨。     

Implications of empirical Bayes meta-analysis for test validation.

Empirical Bayes meta-analysis provides a useful framework for examining test validation. The fixed-effects case in which rho has a single value corresponds to the inference that the situational specificity hypothesis can be rejected in a validity generalization study. A Bayesian analysis of such a case provides a simple and powerful test of rho = 0; such a test has practical implications for significance testing in test validation. The random-effects case in which sigma2rho > 0 provides an explicit method with which to assess the relative importance of local validity studies and previous meta-analyses. Simulated data are used to illustrate both cases. Results of published meta-analyses are used to show that local validation becomes increasingly important as sigma2rho increases. The meaning of the term validity generalization is explored, and the problem of what can be inferred about test transportability in the random-effects case is described.     

Attempts to predict intelligent behavior: 1. The Categorizing Test

The possibility of predicting future intelligent behavior by means of a test calling for flexible categorizing of a present situation is discussed. The test, called The Categorizing Test, consisting initially of 22 items, was tried out on 94 S s. The results showed high, positive correlations between the items, suggesting that they to a strong degree tap the same cognitive function, which is interpreted as an ability to categorize flexibly. A shorter 10-item version of the test was compared with a test of verbal intelligence and a flexibility test of a traditional kind. On the whole, high, positive correlations were obtained, with the Categorizing Test apparently occupying a central position. These results constitute validating evidence for The Categorizing Test.     

Clinical significance of test refusal among young children.

The present study describes the incidence of test refusal at neuropsychological assessment, investigates its correlates, and its stability. The participants were 124 children aged 3.5 years whose development has been followed from birth in the Jyv?skyl? Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia (JLD). The frequency of test refusal on the Finnish version of the NEPSY was analyzed with respect to the children's concurrent and earlier cognitive and language skills, assessed using tests and parental ratings. Refusal during test-taking was found to be relatively common at this age, and high frequency of refusal at an earlier age was associated with similar tendency at a later age. High test refusal was associated with compromised neuropsychological and linguistic test scores. Missing data due to refusal were more common in neuropsychological tasks requiring verbal production. It is concluded that test refusals reflect a child's poor underlying skills and an attempt to avoid failure, rather than noncompliant or oppositional behavior.     

Anxiety: The cognitive perspective,by Michael W. Eysenck Hove,UK: Lawrence erlbaum; 1992; 195 pp.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was twofold: To investigate the structure of the test anxiety construct. and to compare the psychometric properties of rating scales versus questionnaire scales of test anxiety.

The intercorrelations among fourteen test anxiety measures, representing the one-, two-and four-dimensional models were examined as well as the correlations between those scales and eight measures of test-related perceptions.

The sample consisted of 172 undergraduate and graduate students of education. The results indicated that the underlying structure of the test anxiety construct consists of four primary factors. It was noted that the pattern of the relationships among the test anxiety measures remained intact when the broader context, which included also test-related perceptions, was studied. Based on the intra- and intercorrelations among the test anxiety and the test-related perceptions, a speculative causal model for explaining the effect of test anxiety on performance was suggested.

The findings regarding the format issue seemed to support the contention that rating scales are at least as valid measures of a simple single trait as questionnaire scales. However, it was stressed that further research is needed in order to find out whether or not rating scales are robust enough to be considered valid measures in situations that elicit social desirability distortion.     

Naming and categorization in young children: II. Listener behavior training

Following pretraining with everyday objects, 1- to 4-year-old children received listener training with three pairs of arbitrary stimuli of differing shapes. For each pair, 9 children were trained to select one stimulus in response to the spoken word /zog/ and the other to the spoken word /vek/. Next, in the look-at-sample category match-to-sample test, none categorized the six stimuli correctly when asked to look at the sample before selecting from five comparisons. Seven of these children failed a subsequent test of corresponding speaker behavior (tact test); following tact training, 5 of them passed either a repeat of the look-at-sample category test (2 subjects) or an alternative category test (3 subjects) in which they were required to tact the sample before selecting comparisons. The remaining 2 failed both category tests. Of the 2 who passed the tact test, 1 passed the tact-sample category test; the other failed to complete category testing. Two children were next given a second stimulus set. One passed the look-at-sample category test and the tact test; the other failed both tests but passed the tact-sample category test after tact training. The results show that 1- to 4-year-old children may learn listener behavior without corresponding speaker behavior. The results also show that common listener behavior is not sufficient to establish arbitrary stimulus classes, and they are consistent with the proposition that naming may be necessary for categorization of such stimuli.     

How teachers use the group I.Q. test scores

Ninety elementary school teachers, grades 2–6, in two school districts in Ohio were interviewed to obtain information on how they used the results of group IQ tests. Twenty-seven of 90 teachers (30%) reported making “little or no use” of the test scores. Most of these teachers presumably had more faith in their own tools and observations than in the IQ test scores. However, 76 of 90 teachers (84%, including the ones who made little use of the test scores) stated that they used the test scores for one or more purposes. The four most frequently mentioned uses were: (a) “for discussion in parent conferences” (51%); (b) “to know a student's potential and/or determine ability-motivation discrepancy” (42%); (c) “to plan instruction” (39.5%) and (d) “for referral purposes” (29%). The instructional strategies mentioned by the teachers varied and were categorized into 21 categories.     

Similarity between parents' and adolescents' levels of individuation.

Intergenerational theories of family functioning and therapy have sparked interest in empirical investigations that test intergenerational relationships. Of particular interest is whether one generation's level of functioning is similar to that of the next generation. This paper presents a test of difference scores that enables researchers to compare related and unrelated dyads, thus creating a comparison group when using only two generations. This procedure is contrasted with correlational findings in testing the hypothesis that adolescents will have a level of individuation similar to that of their parents.     

The Rev.: An IBM BASIC program for Bayesian test interpretation

The Rev. is a BASIC computer program for IBM-PC-compatible systems that provides Bayesian estimates of “true” scores from multiple scores measuring the same construct. Psychological reports often include test scores from earlier evaluations without objectively incorporating them into current findings. Using Thorndike’s formulas for objectively combining test scores while providing estimates with reduced standard errors, the Rev. is an interactive program that facilitates test interpretation by combining information from many test administrations. The user provides four easily obtainable pieces of information for each test administration. The output includes an estimated “true” score and the standard error of the estimate.     

The I.T.P.A.: Ballast or bonanza for the school psychologist

The author discusses rationale, reliability, factorial validity, and educational usefulness of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities. The I.T.P.A. is a serious attempt to identify specific sensory processing abilities. It is assumed that deficits can be remediated and that instruction can be matched to student's strengths and weaknesses. The I.T.P.A. is not a test of psycholinguistics since it does not yield information about the units of natural language. The subtests have good internal consistency and the composite score is reliable over time periods most applicable for instructional planning. Reliability of individual subtests are too low to guide remediation. Factor analytic studies indicate the I.T.P.A. is primarily a measure of verbal intelligence. Remediation directed toward strengths and weaknesses in sensory or perceptual processing has not been effective.     

Strategies of text retrieval: a criterion shift account.

This study scrutinized people's ability to apply different strategies to randomly intermixed immediate and delayed test items. In three experiments, participants first read one set of stories. Later, they read more stories, and after each one, answered intermixed questions about that story and one of the earlier ones. The experiments cumulatively manipulated amount of delay, test probe plausibility, probe relation (explicit, paraphrase, inference), and testing procedure (mixed versus uniform delay). Using signal detection response criterion as the index of strategy, we contrasted the single criterion hypothesis, according to which one text retrieval criterion is applied to all test items, and a multiple-criterion hypothesis. The results consistently favoured the multiple-criterion hypothesis. The results also indicated that the presence of immediate and delayed probes mutually influence one another: Less extreme signal detection criteria were adopted under mixed than uniform testing. It was concluded that text retrieval strategy is continually calibrated with reference to the quality of the test probes.     

Visuo-spatial working memory span: a sensitive measure of cognitive deficits in children with ADHD.

Working memory (WM) has been hypothesised to be impaired in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, there are few studies reported on tests measuring visuo-spatial WM (VSWM) in ADHD. Some of these studies used paradigms including episodic memory, others only used low memory loads. In the present study we used a VSWM test that has not been used previously in ADHD research. The sensitivity of the VSWM test and a choice reaction time (CRT) test was evaluated in a pilot study by comparing them to two commonly used tests in ADHD-research; the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) and a Go/no-go test, in children with and without ADHD. The groups differed significantly in performance on the VSWM test (P < .01) and CRT (P < .05) but not on the CPT (P > .1) or on the Go/no-go test (P > .1). The results from the VSWM and CRT tests were replicated in a larger sample of participants (80 boys; 27 boys with ADHD and 53 controls, mean age 11.4 years). The difference between the groups was significant for both the VSWM test (P < .01) and the CRT test (P < .01). The effect size (ES) of the VSWM test was 1.34. There was a significant age-by-group interaction on the VSWM test, with larger group differences for the older children (P < .01). Our results show that the VSWM test is a sensitive measure of cognitive deficits in ADHD and it supports the hypothesis that deficits in VSWM is a major component of ADHD.     

Skimming the surface. Verbal overshadowing of analogical retrieval

It has become almost a maxim that "talking through" a problem is advantageous. Contrary to this wisdom, studies from numerous domains have demonstrated that describing one's thought processes or analyzing a judgment may, in some circumstances, actually impair performance. The two experiments reported here built upon prior work by examining the effect of verbalization on the retrieval of analogies. Participants read a series of 16 short stories. Later, they were presented with 8 test stories and indicated whether these stories were analogies of the stories they had read previously. Each test story shared the same deep structure with one prior story and only surface characteristics with another prior story. Half of the participants completed the test while thinking aloud, and half did not think aloud. In both experiments, participants who thought aloud were more likely to retrieve surface matches and less likely to retrieve true analogies than participants who did not verbalize their thoughts during the test.     

Handedness as a function of test complexity.

Handedness as a function of test complexity was investigated with two tests, Dotting and Tapping-on-squares. For each one three levels of complexity were established by varying radius (Dotting) and square sides (Tapping-on-squares). Administration of the different complexity levels to a total of 310 third and fourth grade boys and girls showed that the rate of left-handedness increased from 6% to 16% with decreasing level of test complexity. It is concluded that optimal classification of handedness is only made possible by maximal levels of test complexity, which have to be established empirically for different populations.     

Contrast effect in evaluating palatability of beverages.

This study aimed to clarify the contextual effect in evaluation of the pleasantness of beverages. Participants were presented a test stimulus and were then asked to rate how much they liked it before and after presentation of a contextual stimulus. Specifically, after participants were exposed to a less palatable beverage, they evaluated the test beverage as being more palatable than when their judgment of a test drink occurred after presentation of a neutral or palatable beverage (a positive contrast effect). This contextual effect can be explained by the reasoning that participants were affectively adapted to the palatability (less palatable) of a less palatable stimulus after repeated exposure; thus, they evaluated the test stimulus as more palatable. This study suggests that the evaluated value of the contextual stimuli affects evaluation of the test stimulus. The authors also suggest that these context effects are probably found in everyday life.     

Induced motion: isolation and dissociation of egocentric and vection-entrained components.

Induced motion (IM) is illusory motion of a stationary test target opposite to the direction of the real motion of the inducing stimulus. We define egocentric IM as an apparent motion of the test target relative to the observer, and vection-entrained IM as an apparent motion of a stationary object along with an apparent motion of the self (vection) induced by the same stimulus. These two forms of IM are often confounded, and tests for distinguishing between them have not been devised. We have devised such tests. Our test for egocentric IM relies on evidence that this form of IM is due mainly to a misregistration of eye movements when optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) is inhibited, and on evidence that OKN is evoked only by stimuli in the plane of convergence. Our test for vection-entrained IM relies on evidence that vection is evoked only by the more distant of two superimposed inducing stimuli. Thus we found egocentric IM to be induced without vection or vection-entrained IM when subjects converged on a foreground moving display with a stationary display in the background, and vection-entrained IM to be induced without egocentric IM when subjects converged on a stationary-foreground display with a moving display in the background. The two types of IM were evoked in opposite directions at the same time when subjects converged on a foreground moving display while a background display moved in the opposite direction. The two forms of IM showed no signs of interaction, and we conclude that they rely on independent motion mechanisms that operate within distinct frames of reference. A control experiment suggested that the depth adjacency effect in IM is determined by the depth adjacency of the inducing stimulus to convergence, not just to the test target.     

Face validity of test and acceptance of generalized personality interpretations.

After students in different groups took one of four "personality tests" that varied in face validity, they received a generalized personality interpretation. Even though the test lowest in face validity merely required the subject to circle digits, judged accuracy of the interpretation (a) was high for all tests (76-87% of the ratings in the various test groups were good or excellent) and (b) was independent of type of test upon which the interpretation was purportedly derived. From 46-60% of the subjects in the various groups "definitely liked" or "liked" the interpretation; likability was independent of face validity of the test. Judged accuracy and likability of the interpretation correlated positively and significantly. The willingness of individuals to accept generalized statements about themselves is a researchable problem area suggested by the present research.     

Psychological testing and psychological assessment. A review of evidence and issues

This article summarizes evidence and issues associated with psychological assessment. Data from more than 125 meta-analyses on test validity and 800 samples examining multimethod assessment suggest 4 general conclusions: (a) Psychological test validity is strong and compelling, (b) psychological test validity is comparable to medical test validity, (c) distinct assessment methods provide unique sources of information, and (d) clinicians who rely exclusively on interviews are prone to incomplete understandings. Following principles for optimal nomothetic research, the authors suggest that a multimethod assessment battery provides a structured means for skilled clinicians to maximize the validity of individualized assessments. Future investigations should move beyond an examination of test scales to focus more on the role of psychologists who use tests as helpful tools to furnish patients and referral sources with professional consultation.     

Identification of letterlike distortions by preschool children.

In two experiments preschool children chose one of two test forms that looked like previously exposed distortions of a letterlike-form. In Exp. I a distance metric was defined to measure the physical discrepancy between forms. It was found that the distance relationship between distortions and particular test forms did not designate the children's choice behavior. In Exp. II the children were able to choose previously exposed distortions when particular test forms contained novel features. The results are related to distinctive feature and prototype hypotheses to account for children's performance in recognizing forms.