Display vs. memory search for digits and faces among mentally handicapped and MA-matched non-handicapped youngsters

This experiment was designed to explore possible explanations for handicapped individuals' characteristically poor performance on memory scanning tasks. Independent variables included group (mentally handicapped vs. non-handicapped), type of search (display vs. memory), type of stimuli (digits vs. pictures of unfamiliar boys' faces), and load (2, 3, or 4 items to be searched). Results indicated that handicapped and non-handicapped groups did not differ when searching displays but did when searching memory, which suggested that the handicapped group's most significant impairment was specific to some aspect of memory search. Handicapped youngsters were also hindered by increasing loads more than control youngsters were. This result as well as impairment in memory search may have been due to handicapped youngsters' relatively short visual spans. The groups did not differ in their response to the two types of stimuli, faces and digits. Facial search was a considerably more demanding task than digit search for handicapped and normal children.     

Discriminant analysis of gross and fine motor proficiency data

Two classes of non-handicapped and two classes of handicapped children (n = 67), aged 5 to 12 years, took part in a study designed to determine whether a regular or specially designed physical education program suited their individual needs best. Initially receiving instruction with class peers each child was administered the 14-item short-form Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. Discriminant analysis of the data indicated that two of the three functions were significant, together accounting for 93% of the variance. For each significant function fewer than half the test items contributed substantial discriminatory power. Over-all, 75% of the subjects were correctly classified but misclassifications occurred in each class; different placements seem appropriate for non-handicapped and handicapped children.     

Acquisition and performance difference between normal and mentally handicapped adults on a complex assembly task

Several single studies concerned with work training with the mentally handicapped have been reported in the literature (Bitter & Bolanovich, 1966; Huddle, 1967; Gold, 1969; Screven, Straka & Lafond, 1971). Most have been concerned with issues of acquisition and motivation to perform. No studies have been reported which focus on the evaluation of different techniques of training or which assess rate of acquisition against that of non-handicapped controls. The aim of this experiment is twofold. It uses a complex task, analysed by MTM-2, to enable comparison between the performances of mentally handicapped adults and adults from a 'normal' population, in the acquisition of new work skills. Various strategies of training were compared and the increase in the rate and quality of performance following acquisition was measured for both, in terms of speed and accuracy of production. Results add further support for the notion that the potential of mentally handicapped individuals is commonly underestimated. It is hoped that the findings provide a basis from which further experiments can be developed and evaluated.     

Taking visual disability into account: Explaining failure to experts and non-experts

The present study was designed to investigate visually handicapped students' explanations for failure when the motive to maintain or enhance self-esteem was in conflict with the motive to present a favorable social image. Subjects experienced manipulated failure in a text comprehension task and were subsequently asked to give causal and responsibility attributions in the presence of either a visually handicapped or a non-handicapped experimenter. It was expected that visually disabled participants would claim a handicap-bonus from the non-handicapped experimenter by explicitly presenting non-defensive attributions and accounts as well as handicap-related responses, while defensive explanations should be more pronounced when faced with a blind experimenter. The data provide support for the existence of presumed social expectations as determinants of individuals' verbal self-presentations.     

Training severely and profoundly mentally handicapped nocturnal enuretics

The problem of nocturnal enuresis in the institutionalized mentally handicapped is a major one which reduces independence in many handicapped adults and has major implications for hospital resources. Much work, which has looked at initial success rates, relapse rates, and factors involved in these, has been carried out with non-handicapped populations. However, there have been remarkably few such studies with the mentally handicapped. A study is reported in which five severely and profoundly mentally handicapped adolescents or young adults were successfully trained over periods ranging from 18 to 92 weeks. Several interesting features of the data are discussed.     

Stimulus overselectivity in autistic,trainable mentally retarded,and non-handicapped children: Comparative research controlling chronological (rather than mental) age

Much of the comparative research on stimulus overselectivity has been flawed by either failure to control for chronological age and language ability of the subjects or reliance on the controversial technique of matching on mental age. The present study investigated the prevalence of overselectivity in autistic, trainable mentally retarded, and non-handicapped children demonstrating some expressive speech. The ages of the children were between 6 years-6 months and 9 years-3 months. Thus, chronological age and language ability were controlled, rather than allowed to vary unsystematically. Results indicated no significant differences between the autistic and TMR samples, but significant differences between the handicapped samples and the non-handicapped group. Some, but not all, of the handicapped children displayed overselectivity.     

Mental age and cognitive stage in young handicapped and at-risk children

This research addressed the question of whether stage-related patterns of early cognitive development, reported for normally developing children in the first two and a half years of life, may also characterize the development of at-risk and handicapped children when mental age rather than chronological age is used to organize the data. Performance on a psychometric infant test and two neo-Piagetian-based stage measures was assessed for 95 at-risk and handicapped children. Mental age predicted cognitive level of performance for levels 1 to 3, representing the first year and a half of development, but did not predict the highest level, symbolic functioning. In addition, transition points between levels were observed at mental ages similar to the chronological ages when these transitions have been reported for normally developing infants, for all but the last level. The significance of the correspondence between the psychometric measure and the stage measures is discussed and several alternatives for the breakdown at the highest level are considered.     

Reconsidering vocational interests for personnel selection: the validity of an interest-based selection test in relation to job knowledge, job performance, and continuance intentions

Although vocational interests have a long history in vocational psychology, they have received extremely limited attention within the recent personnel selection literature. We reconsider some widely held beliefs concerning the (low) validity of interests for predicting criteria important to selection researchers, and we review theory and empirical evidence that challenge such beliefs. We then describe the development and validation of an interests-based selection measure. Results of a large validation study (N = 418) reveal that interests predicted a diverse set of criteria—including measures of job knowledge, job performance, and continuance intentions—with corrected, cross-validated Rs that ranged from .25 to .46 across the criteria (mean R = .31). Interests also provided incremental validity beyond measures of general cognitive aptitude and facets of the Big Five personality dimensions in relation to each criterion. Furthermore, with a couple exceptions, the interest scales were associated with small to medium subgroup differences, which in most cases favored women and racial minorities. Taken as a whole, these results appear to call into question the prevailing thought that vocational interests have limited usefulness for selection.     

Specific Aptitude Theory Revisited: Is There Incremental Validity for Training Performance?

There has been controversy over the years about whether specific mental abilities increment validity for predicting performance above and beyond the validity for general mental ability (GMA). Despite its appeal, specific aptitude theory has received only sporadic empirical support. Using more exact statistical and measurement methods and a larger data set than previous studies, this study provides further evidence that specific aptitude theory is not tenable with regard to training performance. Across 10 jobs, differential weighting of specific aptitudes and specific aptitude tests were found not to improve the prediction of training performance over the validity of GMA. Implications of this finding for training research and practice are discussed.     

Waking and dreaming: related but structurally independent. Dream reports of congenitally paraplegic and deaf-mute persons

Models of dream analysis either assume a continuum of waking and dreaming or the existence of two dissociated realities. Both approaches rely on different methodology. Whereas continuity models are based on content analysis, discontinuity models use a structural approach. In our study, we applied both methods to test specific hypotheses about continuity or discontinuity. We contrasted dream reports of congenitally deaf-mute and congenitally paraplegic individuals with those of non-handicapped controls. Continuity theory would predict that either the deficit itself or compensatory experiences would surface in the dream narrative. We found that dream form and content of sensorially limited persons was indifferent from those of non-handicapped controls. Surprisingly, perceptual representations, even of modalities not experienced during waking, were quite common in the dream reports of our handicapped subjects. Results are discussed with respect to feedforward mechanisms and protoconsciousness theory of dreaming.     

Cognitive style and moral judgement in mentally handicapped and non-handicapped children of equal mental age*

Forty-seven mentally handicapped and 47 non-handicapped children matched on mental age were assessed with Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) and a Piagetian measure designed to elicit moral judgements. No significant differences were observed in the error and latency scores between the two groups nor in the proportion of reflective, impulsive, fast/accurate or slow/inaccurate individuals. The results also indicated that the subjects did not differ in their level of moral judgement; although reflectives made moral judgements on the basis of intention rather than consequence. Moral judgement was not significantly correlated with performance on the MFFT. The findings were interpreted as being consistent with Zigler's developmental concept of cultural-familial retardation and suggesting that the ability to solve moral dilemmas appears to involve cognitive capacities.     

Meta‐Analysis of Clerical Performance Predictors: Still stable after all these years

Pearlman, Schmidt, and Hunter (1980) published a seminal paper on the validity of various measures for predicting performance in clerical jobs. They concluded that for both job and training performance criteria, 10 types of tests (e.g., perceptual speed, clerical aptitude, verbal ability) predicted performance across 5 clerical job families. This paper describes a psychometric meta‐analysis of validity studies using similar measures for clerical jobs conducted since 1980 to examine the stability of Pearlman and colleagues' validity estimates. This paper contributes to the literature by investigating the long‐term stability of validity generalization estimates over a period of several decades. Clerical jobs provide a compelling case study because these jobs have changed considerably due to the increased use of computers and technology in the office environment. Results showed that the mean population estimates in the present study were consistent with, or higher than, those obtained by Pearlman and colleagues, thus demonstrating the long‐term stability of meta‐analytic estimates of validity. The relative stability of the validity estimates also supports the robustness of g as a predictor, even as jobs change over time.     

Improving the measurement of spatial aptitude by dynamic testing

Can spatial aptitude scores be increased by test-related training? Is construct validity influenced? The traditional psychometric view of test-related training as coaching, which threatens test validity, contrasts sharply with the view that performance modifiability measures a theoretically important construct that increases test validity (e.g., Vygotsky, 1978). This article reports on three studies of the dynamic testing of spatial ability in which training on the physical analogue of the mental folding task intervenes between a pretest and a posttest. Experiment 1 found that spatial ability can be significantly and substantially increased. Experiment 2 examined the impact of the dynamic testing procedure on the relationship of ability scores to other measures. Although sex differences in spatial ability were unchanged, the dynamic testing procedure increased predictive validity for training in text editing. Experiment 3 examined the impact on construct representation. The mathematical models of task difficulty indicated that the posttest more clearly represented rotational processing while the psychometric models supported the measurement of two abilities (i.e., initial status and gain). The implications for measuring learning ability by dynamic testing are discussed.     

The future of IQ testing in education

Will IQ tests as we currently know them be used in schools in the year 2000? Will they be used as they are now or will they serve different functions? What new kinds of tests of aptitude and intelligence are likely to be developed in the next twenty years? In this article, the author attempts to answer the first two questions by considering the functions that IQ and aptitude tests now serve in schools and the trends that may modify the present pattern of test use. To answer the third question, she examines current research on intelligence and aptitude and discusses the kind of intelligence tests that might prove more useful in instructional planning.     

The Development and Validation of a Personological Measure of Work Drive

Using six studies based on 23,823 individuals in diverse settings, we developed and validated a personality measure of Work Drive—a disposition to work long hours and extend oneself for one's job. The factor structure was confirmed in four settings. Work Drive was related to job performance showing incremental validity beyond cognitive aptitude and Big Five personality traits in five validation studies. It predicted academic performance at six different grade levels, even beyond Big Five traits. Construct validity was examined via work values, job involvement, normal personality scales, satisfaction measures, and cognitive ability. Little adverse impact was found. Occupational groups differed on Work Drive. Overall validity and areas of application were discussed.     

Assessing gender-related differences in achievement orientation using two different achievement scales

The consistent finding that the achievement scales of the Adjective Check List (ACL) and Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) are not correlated has led researchers to question the validity of both of these measures. This article presents evidence indicating that although these measures are independent, they can predict the same performance criteria. Of interest is that the EPPS predicts outcomes for men, whereas the ACL predicts performance for women. A topical examination of each measure's relationships to other scales provides a tentative rationale for these scales' orthogonality that does not call into question the validity of either measure.     

ON THE NEED FOR QUALITY CONTROL IN VALIDATION RESEARCH

The aptitude tests used to help make personnel decisions about military recruits were validated against hands-on tests of job performance in two Marine Corps occupational specialties, radio repairers and automotive mechanics. The tests were administered by Marine Corps noncommissioned officers. Marine Corps units provided the test administrators, testing facilities, and examinees. Data collected under such conditions are filled with errors that reduce the accuracy of validity coefficients. This paper shows how validity coefficients can be made more accurate by exercising quality control during the statistical analysis.     

PREDICTION OF TRADES APPRENTICES'PERFORMANCE ON JOB SAMPLE CRITERIA

A criterion-related validation was conducted to assess the validity of four aptitude tests and five tests of content taken directly from job tasks in predicting job sample performance of apprentices in eight skilled trades. Observed validities were above .40 (corrected for range restriction, validities averaged .52). Though there were large subgroup mean differences on both predictor and criterion measures, there was no evidence of significant differential prediction.     

A successive approximation method of maximizing test validity

The ratio of item validity to item-total correlation can be used to select items which will tend to yield the maximum correlation with a criterion. Items to be retained are identified by comparing the ratio for each item with the validity of the original test. Further improvement of the validity in the experimental sample can be obtained by adding items to or removing items from the selected nucleus, according to recomputed ratios involving the correlations of the items with the nucleus and evaluated by means of a revised cut-off point. With slight variations, the method may be used for interest and personality tests as well as for aptitude material. The principal advantage over previous methods is that for any cycle of the analysis an exact cut-off point is provided.     

The Importance of Construct Validity in Consumer Research

Vosgerau, Scopelliti, and Huh (2020) question the construct validity of the most commonly used measures of self‐control and argue that many studies that claim to be examining self‐control may in fact be examining something else. In this comment, we generalize this argument and propose that this criticism could be leveraged against many other areas of consumer research. Indeed, many studies fail to properly establish the construct validity of their measures. Consequently, they may not be examining the construct they purport to be studying, which can lead to unreliable and conflicting findings.