MULTIPLE-CHOICE AND CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE TESTS OF ABILITY: RACE-BASED SUBGROUP PERFORMANCE DIFFERENCES ON ALTERNATIVE PAPER-AND-PENCIL TEST FORMATS

We present an example of an innovative constructed response test format–a write-in/mark-in paper-and-pencil test–as an alternative to the traditional multiple-choice paper-and-pencil test, with the potential for reducing subgroup differences. We present subgroup differences data on these 2 paper-and-pencil test formats on an operational promotional exam in a sample of African American and White firefighters. The tests were designed to measure the same content domain. Using within-subjects data that compared the performance of 13 African American and 14 White fire captains, and between-subjects data that compared the performance of 21 African American and 49 White fire captains, several results were in the predicted direction such that subgroup differences were reduced on the constructed response test. However, these results did not reach statistical significance. Therefore, the study points to the need for additional research to further evaluate the promise of the constructed response test format.     

Evaluation of Siddha Samadhi Yoga for anxiety and depression symptoms: a preliminary study

Siddha Samadhi Yoga is a program in which meditation is associated with pranayama (breathing exercises). 22 volunteers with anxiety complaints (M age = 42.8 yr., SD = 10.3) were assigned to two groups: 14 attended the yoga group, and 8 attended a waiting-list or control group. They were evaluated before the intervention and 1 month after it on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, Tension Feelings Self-evaluation Scales, and the Well-being Self-evaluation Scales. A significant reduction in scores on anxiety, depression, and tension was found in yoga group, as well as an increase in well-being in comparison with the control group.     

Affiliation with new peer acquaintances during two initial social support interactions

Abstract This investigation examined the influence of a prior social support interaction on a subsequent interaction between new peer acquaintances. Pairs of adolescent peers (recruited in a large metropolitan area in the United States) were videotaped as they met and discussed current life concerns in 2 separate interactions. Results indicated that (a) the behaviors of new interaction partners are coordinated within an interaction (social coordination hypothesis), (b) behaviors exhibited during an initial interaction predict behaviors exhibited during a subsequent interaction (influential interaction hypothesis), (c) individuals affiliate in similar ways across interactions (cross‐situational consistency hypothesis), and (d) behaviors reflecting greater comfort with interaction increase across interactions (uncertainty reduction hypothesis). The discussion focuses on implications of results and contributions to existing literatures.     

Individual differences on speeded cognitive tasks: Comment on Chen,Hale, and Myerson (2007)

Chen, Hale, and Myerson (2007) recently reported a test of the difference engine model (Myerson, Hale, Zheng, Jenkins, & Widaman, 2003). This test evaluated whether the standard deviation (SD) is proportional to the amount of processing—that is, mean reaction time (RT)—in a speeded cognitive task. We show that this evaluation is not a test of the model because its finding is a consequence of relationships in the data. We argue any model structure that produces increasing values of RT as a function of difficulty, with different slopes for different individuals, necessarily produces a correlation between SD and mean RT. We illustrate this with a different model structure—that is, the diffusion model proposed by Ratcliff (1978)—showing that it produces a fan out between fast- and slow-group means and produces the correlation between SD and mean RT that matches the empirical result.     

Early sport involvement in young Portuguese basketball players

The purpose of this study was to examine the quantity and type of sporting activities undertaken by young Portuguese basketball players in early stages of athletic development. 750 basketball players aged between 12 and 16 years served as participants, grouped by sex and competitive level. The Skilled group comprised players representing the 9 highly ranked regional teams (n=378) while the Less-skilled group comprised the players representing the remaining 9 regional teams (n=372). All the participants filled out a previously validated questionnaire based on retrospective information linked to the training activities experienced throughout their involvement in sport. Results suggest that the majority of the players started practicing sports preferentially between 6 and 10 years. However, a significant number of players reported a later start, between 11 and 14 years of age. The pattern of sport involvement confirmed important divergences in the path reported by the players by the team's competitive level. The major findings of this study confirmed that players representing the highly ranked teams demonstrated a tendency to extend their training activities during longer periods during the week and throughout each season.     

The supermom trap: Do involved dads erode moms' self‐competence?

Increasingly, husbands have been expected to share equally in the task of childrearing, especially when their wives are employed. This study examined reactions to these changes in a sample of 78 dual-earner couples with 8-month-old infants. When wives felt that their husbands were skillful caregivers, greater husbands' contribution to caregiving was associated with lower self-competence among wives. In contrast, wives' caregiving behavior was unrelated to their husbands' self-competence. None of these effects emerged for the self-liking component of self-esteem. Thus, despite increasingly egalitarian sex roles, employed mothers (but not their husbands) seem to be trapped between their desire for help with childrearing and the threat to their personal competence posed by failure to meet socially constructed ideals of motherhood.