The use of configural analysis for the evaluation of test scoring methods

A method based on configural analysis has been given whereby test scoring techniques can be evaluated to see if they have optimal validity. Configural analysis has also been used to show how three well known item scoring techniques, multiple regression, total score, and multiple cut-off, imply (for optimal validity) certain conditions on the answer pattern means. The method is illustrated by a worked example.We are indebted to Professor James G. Taylor for his helpful suggestions.     

Mood as in index of psychiatric inpatients' progress in group therapy.

In a study of the use of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List--Revised and a set of scaled questions at the end of each group therapy session, the following results were found: (1) This checklist is sufficiently reliable and valid for use in psychiatric inpatient settings. (2) For patients who attended all 10 group therapy sessions there was a significant decrease in negative mood and a significant increase in positive mood from Sessions 1 to 10. (3) For patients who attended 10 consecutive sessions, there were significant increases from Sessions 1 to 10 in the perception that the therapist was trying to help them, they felt close to other members of the group, they felt hopeful of getting well, they openly tried to help another group member, and they openly expressed their feelings during the sessions.     

Functional magnetic resonance imaging study of Piaget's conservation-of-number task in preschool and school-age children: a neo-Piagetian approach

Jean Piaget’s theory is a central reference point in the study of logico-mathematical development in children. One of the most famous Piagetian tasks is number conservation. Failures and successes in this task reveal two fundamental stages in children’s thinking and judgment, shifting at approximately 7 years of age from visuospatial intuition to number conservation. In the current study, preschool children (nonconservers, 5-6 years of age) and school-age children (conservers, 9-10 years of age) were presented with Piaget’s conservation-of-number task and monitored by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The cognitive change allowing children to access conservation was shown to be related to the neural contribution of a bilateral parietofrontal network involved in numerical and executive functions. These fMRI results highlight how the behavioral and cognitive stages Piaget formulated during the 20th century manifest in the brain with age.     

Reliability and validity of the Korean Youth Depression Adjective Check List (Y-DACL).

To develop a Korean version of the Youth Depression Adjective Check List (Y-DACL), bilingual Koreans achieved consensus in their translation of the 22 adjectives. Four hundred and seventeen male and 412 female adolescents from 8th through 12th grade of four Korean public schools (mean age ranged from 13.4 to 17.3) completed the state form of the Y-DACL, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). Internal consistency was high (alpha = .87), split-half reliability was moderately high (.72), and test-retest reliability was low (.26) as expected. Estimates of concurrent validity indicated a moderate level of correlation between the Y-DACL and the BDI and SDS. The findings suggest that the Korean Y-DACL is suitable for use in research.     

Depressive mood in adolescent,emotionally disturbed females: Reliability and validity of an adjective checklist (C-DACL)

The reliability (internal consistency, split-half, and alternate form) and concurrent validity of two equivalent forms of a revised version of the Depression Adjective Check Lists (C-DACL) were found to be at a relatively high level for a group of emotionally disturbed adolescent females.     

Discriminant validity of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List - revised

Four groups of patients (depressives, schizophrenics, substance dependents and abusers), a miscellaneous group of other patients, and a group of matched normals from a general population sample were compared on the scales of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List - Revised (MAACL-R). All scales showed highly significant differentiation among the groups. An index consisting of Depression minus Positive Affect scales was particularly effective in discriminating between depressive and other groups. A discriminant function analysis showed that the depressive could be distinguished from other patient groups and normals with an accuracy of 72% correct. The normals could be distinguished from all of the patient groups with a 60% accuracy, and 87% if the substance abuser group is ignored. The discriminant validity among the nondepressive patient groups was not nearly as good.