Psychometric Analysis and Tentative Shortening of Survey of Personal Beliefs

The Survey of Personal Beliefs (SPB) is a frequently used measure of irrational beliefs, but can display less than ideal psychometric properties. In the first study of the present project, the five subscales of the SPB correlated as expected with higher levels of perfectionism, shame, and guilt. A confirmatory factor analysis, nevertheless, revealed that these subscales did not adequately describe responding on the SPB, and internal reliability for some subscales was poor. An abbreviated 12-item version of the SPB was more reliable than the subscales and generally as valid as the full 50-item instrument. With a second data set, the shortened version of the SPB was more consistent than the full 50-item scale in correlating positively with at least some measures of maladjustment that included depression, anxiety, neuroticism, and alexithymia. Future researchers may want to utilize the shorter 12-item version of the SPB as a more convenient and psychometrically acceptable measure of irrational beliefs.     

The social costs of extrinsic relative to intrinsic goal pursuits: their relation with social dominance and racial and ethnic prejudice

Self-determination theory's distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic goal pursuits offers a possible explanation for ethnic and racial prejudice. Because extrinsic relative to intrinsic goal pursuits (E/I) stimulate interpersonal competition, they were expected to predict social dominance orientation (SDO), which, in turn, would predict racial and ethnic prejudice. Results of a first cross-sectional study showed that E/I goal pursuits are positively associated with prejudice and that SDO partially mediates this association. In a second longitudinal study, we replicated these results. In addition, however, we found evidence for a reciprocal relationship between E/I goal pursuit and SDO. Moreover, both E/I goal pursuit and SDO had an independent effect on increases in prejudice. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

The role of Funktionswandel in metamorphopsia

Patients with metamorphopsia perceive objects or faces as being distorted and/or different in size. In most cases, recognition is not impaired. The stimulus specificity, particularly in the case of face perception, has led to the suggestion that metamorphopsia is a deficit at the entry level of category‐specific recognition systems; in this case, the face processing system. An explanation in terms of a visuosensory deficit (i.e. Funktionswandel) that affects the perception of specific stimulus categories has not been systematically evaluated. In this study, we report two patients (MZ and CM) who experienced hemi‐metamorphopsia for faces after a stroke in the posterior part of the brain. Despite the distortions, they could still match and recognize faces. We carried out a detailed evaluation of their visual‐sensory status and found that both MZ and CM had specific problems with discriminating and estimating sizes and shapes, especially in the contralesional visual field. It was concluded that these cases, metamorphopsia was not due to a higher‐order perception impairment specific for faces, but rather of a specific impairment in shape perception in the contralesional visual field that proportionally affects the perception of faces.     

Reconsidering the relationship between parenting and religiosity

This study examined the relation between religiosity and parenting. 311 parents from the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium completed the Post-critical Belief Scale and reported on their style of parenting. Scores for religiosity (as measured by the Exclusion vs Inclusion of Transcendence dimension) were not significantly correlated with parenting styles. In contrast, the way in which religious contents are processed (as measured by the Literal vs Symbolic dimension) was significantly correlated with dimensions of parenting style.     

Evil intent and design responsibility

Mass casualty attacks in recent years have demonstrated the need to include “evil intent” as a design consideration. Three recent actual or potential weapons of mass destruction (WMD) attacks did not involve nuclear bombs or other devices designed as weapons, but rather benign objects used with evil intent. Just as unplanned events such as hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, and user misuse have been codified into design requirements based on the likelihood and potential impact of the event, “evil intent” has to become part of the design process for buildings, vehicles, equipment, and other items. The endstate should be reasonable additions to existing codes and standards such that it is clear what is and is not designed for. In the absence of specific design guidance, professionals with appropriate expertise can assess potential for “evil intent” and provide recommendations to design out or warn against this potential harm to public safety, particularly when codified requirements are not present. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the “Ethics and Social Responsibility in Engineering and Technology” meeting, New Orleans, 2003. Author Note: Bart Kemper, PE, is the principal engineer for Kemper Imageering, Inc. A significant portion of his work has been involved in industrial equipment design, product design, and the design and analysis of different security devices as well as performing simulations, computer modelling, reliability studies, blast analyses, and FMEA analyses on commercial equipment, including marine, offshore, and industrial facilities. He is also a US Army Reserve captain in the Corps of Engineers and was mobilized and deployed overseas in February 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as a member of the 412^th Engineer Command, headquartered in Vicksburg, Mississippi. A significant portion of his duties involved reviewing intelligence, analyzing potential courses of action, and evaluating risks with regard to Iraqi and Coalition activities in the northern Iraqi oilfields as well as base camp design and infrastructure engineering. This paper is unclassified and has been cleared for publication.     

Use of the high-probability instructional sequence and escape extinction in a child with food refusal

We used the high-probability (high-p) instructional sequence with and without escape extinction in the treatment of food refusal. Acceptance increased and refusal decreased only with the introduction of escape extinction. These results raise important questions about the high-p sequence in the treatment of food refusal.     

Autonomy and Relatedness among Chinese Sojourners and Applicants: Conflictual or Independent Predictors of Well-Being and Adjustment?

Self-Determination Theory argues that relatedness and autonomy represent innate and universally critical needs and that, when satisfied, both needs should yield an independent positive effect on well-being and adjustment for all individuals. In contrast, some cross-cultural perspectives suggest that the pursuit of autonomy hampers the development of satisfying relationships, and such conflicts might be especially problematic for the well-being of individuals in collectivistic societies that value social bonds over the pursuit of uniqueness and independence. The present study sampled Chinese students who had temporarily moved to Belgium to study (i.e., sojourners) and Chinese students involved in the application procedure to study in Belgium (i.e., applicants). Consistent with SDT, the present research shows that the basic psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence are positively interrelated, that the satisfaction of these three needs predicts unique variance in Chinese students’ psychological well-being, vitality, and depression (i.e., main effects), and that autonomy satisfaction yields a more beneficial effect on vitality and better protects against depressive feelings when relatedness satisfaction is low (i.e., an interaction effect). Finally, mean-level differences in well-being between Chinese sojourners and applicants could be fully accounted by differential need satisfaction.

Developing a coding scheme for detecting usability and fun problems in computer games for young children

This article describes the development and assessment of a coding scheme for finding both usability and fun problems through observations of young children playing computer games during user tests. The proposed coding scheme is based on an existing list of breakdown indication types of the detailed video analysis method (DEVAN). This method was developed to detect usability problems in task-based products for adults. However, the new coding scheme for children's computer games takes into account that in games, fun, in addition to usability, is an important factor and that children behave differently from adults. Therefore, the proposed coding scheme uses 8 of the 14 original breakdown indications and has 7 new indications. The article first discusses the development of the new coding scheme. Subsequently, the article describes the reliability assessment of the coding scheme. The any-two agreement measure of 38.5% shows that thresholds for when certain user behavior is worth coding will be different for different evaluators. However, the any-two agreement of .92 for a fixed list of observation points shows that the distinction between the available codes is clear to most evaluators. Finally, a pilot study shows that training can increase any-two agreement considerably by decreasing the number of unique observations, in comparison with the number of agreed upon observations.     

Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Assessment Instruments Used in Psychological Research With Children and Families

With the increased globalization of psychology and related fields, having reliable and valid measures that can be used in a number of languages and cultures is critical. Few guidelines or standards have been established in psychology for the translation and cultural adaptation of instruments. Usually little is reported in research publications about the translation and adaptation process thus making it difficult for journal readers and reviewers to adequately evaluate the equivalency and quality of an instrument. In this study, issues related to the translation and adaptation of assessment instruments for use in other cultures and/or languages are addressed. Existing literature on translation is reviewed and examples from the clinical child and family psychology field are given to illustrate relevant issues. Suggestions are made for avoiding common translation errors.