IMPROVING THE ACCURACY OF SELF-REPORTS OF ADHERENCE

Behavioral scientists who study socially important but difficult-to-measure behaviors often rely on self-reports. We evaluated the influence of three experimenter demands—demand for adherence, demand for accurate reports, and demand for accurate reports combined with a prompted recall strategy—on the accuracy of self-reports of adherence to a week-long prescribed regimen of twice-daily telephone calls. Self-reports of adherence were significantly more accurate in the accuracy demand/prompted recall group (p < .05). The analogue study should be replicated with other regimens and populations to determine the most effective strategies for enhancing the accuracy of self-reports.     

The Role of Students’ Attitudes and Test-Taking Motivation on the Validity of College Institutional Accountability Tests: A Path Analytic Model

Given worldwide prevalence of low-stakes testing for monitoring educational quality and students’ progress through school (e.g., Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, Program for International Student Assessment), interpretability of resulting test scores is of global concern. The nonconsequential nature of low-stakes tests can undermine students’ test-taking motivation, artificially deflating performance and thus jeopardizing validity of test-based inferences, whether they pertain to programs, institutions, or nations (Eklöf, 2007, 2010; Stanat & Lüdtke, 2013; Wise & DeMars, 2005). Moreover, students in countries such as the United States, where academic progress over the course of K–12 (kindergarten through Grade 12) is systematically assessed, are likely to develop antagonistic attitudes toward low-stakes testing by the time they enter college. The relationship between such attitudes, test-taking motivation, and performance on a low-stakes university accountability test was modeled via path analysis. Results indicated the effects of attitudes were indirect (via test-taking motivation) and minimal, suggesting the influence of attitudes on test performance is negligible, further supporting the validity of inferences made from such low-stakes tests. Implications for international assessment are discussed.     

Examining Specific Versus General Measures of Achievement Goals

The current research compared specific versus general measures of a 2 × 2 model of achievement goals. We found that specific achievement goals were better predictors of specific measures of interest in learning and perceived value of learning, whereas specific and general measures of achievement goals did not differ as predictors of general interest in learning, general perceived value of learning, or general and specific measures of performance. Furthermore, mastery achievement goals may be affected more across different measurement contexts than performance achievement goals.     

Six- and ten-item indexes of psychological distress based on the Symptom Checklist-90

Clinicians, provider organizations, and researchers need simple and valid measures to monitor mental health treatment outcomes. This article describes development of 6- and 10-item indexes of psychological distress based on the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). A review of eight factor-analytic studies identified SCL-90 items most indicative of overall distress. Convergent validity of two new indexes and the previously developed SCL-10 were compared in an archival sample of posttraumatic stress disorder patients (n = 323). One index, the SCL-6, was further validated with archival data on substance abuse patients (n = 3,014 and n = 316) and hospital staff (n = 542). The three brief indexes had similar convergent validity, correlating .87 to .97 with the SCL-90 and Brief Symptom Inventory, .49 to .76 with other symptom scales, and .46 to .73 with changes in other symptom measures over time. These results indicate the concise, easily administered indexes are valid indicators of psychological distress.     

Intervention Models for Mothers and Children at Risk for Injuries

We review risk factors commonly associated with childhood unintentional injuries and highlight adolescent mothers and their young children as a high risk group. Several intervention models of injury, including the epidemiological model, Peterson and Brown's working model, and the socioecological model have been proposed to explain the events that lead to injuries. Discussion of these models is provided and a synthesis of the adolescent parenting model and the socioecological model of injury is suggested as way to address the complex variables that lead to an injury causing event for adolescent mothers and their young children. Finally, we suggest areas of future investigation and their implications for prevention and treatment.     

Assessing the Unidimensionality of Trait Reactance Using a Multifaceted Model Assessment Approach

This study employed a multifaceted model assessment approach to investigate the dimensionality and nomological network of a popular measure of trait reactance, the Hong Psychological Reactance Scale (HPRS; Hong &; Page, 1989 Hong, S.-M., &; Page, S. (1989). A psychological reactance scale: Development, factor structure and reliability. Psychological Reports, 64, 1323–1326.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). To address confusion regarding the scoring and modeling of the HPRS as well as its limited external validity evidence, we tested competing factor models, diagnosed model–data misfit, examined relationships between competing factor models and key personality traits, and cross-validated the results. Confirmatory factor analytic results supported modeling the HPRS via a bifactor model and, when this model was applied, trait reactance was negatively related to agreeableness, conscientiousness, and conformity, and positively related to entitlement, as expected. However, we also demonstrated the consequences of championing a 1-factor model by highlighting differences in relationships with external variables. Specifically, although modeling the HPRS scores with the bifactor model resulted in greater model–data fit than the 1-factor model, relationships with external variables based on the 2 models differed negligibly. Moreover, bifactor statistical indexes indicted that scores were essentially unidimensional, providing some support that HPRS scores can be treated as unidimensional in structure. Implications for using and scoring the HPRS are discussed.     

FTAP: A Linux-based program for tapping and music experiments

This paper describes FTAP, a flexible data collection system for tapping and music experiments. FTAP runs on standard PC hardware with the Linux operating system and can process input keystrokes and auditory output with reliable millisecond resolution. It uses standard MIDI devices for input and output and is particularly flexible in the area of auditory feedback manipulation. FTAP can run a wide variety of experiments, including synchronization/continuation tasks (Wing & Kristofferson, 1973), synchronization tasks combined with delayed auditory feedback (Aschersleben & Prinz, 1997), continuation tasks with isolated feedback perturbations (Wing, 1977), and complex alterations of feedback in music performance (Finney, 1997). Such experiments have often been implemented with custom hardware and software systems, but with FTAP they can be specified by a simple ASCII text parameter file. FTAP is available at no cost in source-code form.