Prevalence of ADHD and comorbid disorders among elementary school children screened for disruptive behavior

In the context of a school-based prevention of conduct disorder program, 7,231 first- through fourth-grade children were screened for cross-setting disruptive behavior. Frequencies of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders and patterns of comorbidity were assessed. We also examined the association of psychiatric diagnosis with child and parent characteristics to determine differential risk based on diagnostic subgroups. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) were the most frequent diagnoses. Mood and anxiety disorders were infrequent as single diagnoses. Patterns of comorbidity demonstrated that both externalizing and internalizing disorders commonly cooccurred with ADHD. More severe degrees of psychopathology and psychosocial risk accrued to the subgroup of youths with ADHD plus a comorbid externalizing disorder.This study was supported by grant MN-46584 from the National Institute of Mental Health.     

Calibration of probability assessments by professional blackjack dealers, statistical experts, and lay people

The question addressed in this study is whether experts are better calibrated than lay people. We investigated how well people are calibrated when they assess the probabilities of card combinations in the game of blackjack. Three groups of subjects were used: professional dealers, statistical experts, and control subjects. The results showed that experience and statistical expertise do not make people better calibrated in this task. It is argued that the concept of calibration is not wholly appropriate to describe the obtained deviations from the normatively correct responses. This is illustrated by a discriminant analysis performed on the signed deviation scores, which resulted in an almost perfect separation of the three groups, although they were overlapping with respect to calibration.     

On the reciprocity of proximity relations

The degree of reciprocity of a proximity order is the proportion, P(1), of elements for which the closest neighbor relation is symmetric, and the R value of each element is its rank in the proximity order from its closest neighbor. Assuming a random sampling of points, we show that Euclidean n-spaces produce a very high degree of reciprocity, $\text{P(1) ≥}\text{1}\text{2}$, and correspondingly low R values, E(R) ≤ 2, for all n. The same bounds also apply to homogeneous graphs, in which the same number of edges meet at every node. Much less reciprocity and higher R values, however, can be attained in finite tree models and in the contrast model in which the “distance” between objects is a linear function of the numbers of their common and distinctive features.     

PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF SELF-APPRAISALS OF JOB PERFORMANCE

This paper reviews literature of psychometric properties of self-appraisals of work performance. It summarizes evidence of leniency, variability, halo, bias, and construct validity. Comparisons with appraisals by supervisors, peers, and subordinates suggest that self-appraisals tend to show more leniency, less variability, and less discriminant validity. Different factor structures have been found among self, supervisor and peer-ratings. On the other hand, self-appraisals showed less halo. Self-appraisals were significantly correlated with other sources in some studies and failed to correlate in many others. Existing data do not allow any conclusion whether the quality of self-appraisals is a function of scale format, amount or rater training, type of judgment, or purpose of appraisal. The effects of the observed psychometric qualities of self-appraisals on various applications are discussed. Problems may exist when they are used for administrative decision making, diagnosis of training needs, applied criterion measurement, measurement of constructs in basic research, or for selection purposes.     

The linear utility model for optimal selection

A linear utility model is introduced for optimal selection when several subpopulations of applicants are to be distinguished. Using this model, procedures are described for obtaining optimal cutting scores in subpopulations in quota-free as well as quota-restricted selection situations. The cutting scores are optimal in the sense that they maximize the overall expected utility of the selection process. The procedures are demonstrated with empirical data.     

REACTIONS TO RESUMES AS A FUNCTION OF RESUME DETERMINATENESS, APPLICANT CHARACTERISTICS, AND SEX OF RATERS

Six male and six female personnel professionals were presented with resumes in which sex, age, marital status, and academic achievement were systematically varied. The study examined the hypothesis that resume determinateness is positively related to the evaluation given to the resume by prospective employers. The provision of ambiguous information was found to distort the evaluation process but not in a consistent manner. Married males and females were evaluated more positively than were those who were single. Also married females with high academic status were evaluated more positively than were married males with high academic status, although there were no differences for single males and females. Female raters showed a tendency to be more stringent than males in their evaluations, and this effect was pronounced for older, married applicants. The study examines the implications of these results and makes suggestions for future research.     

If the boy loves the girl and the girl loves the dog,does the boy love the dog?: The overgeneralization of verbal transitive inference skills

Two studies investigated 4- to 10-year-old children's capacity to make verbal transitive inferences. The results of the two studies suggest that the development of transitive inference skills follows a specific to general developmental path, and that children overgeneralize their verbal transitive inference skills to inappropriate relational terms prior to determining the general principle that underlies the use of relational terms in transitive sentences.     

Influences on responsiveness: Interactions between mothers and their premature infants

The responsiveness of mothers to their infants has been found to make an important contribution to children's development. Mothers' cognitive ability, emotional state, and life stresses may influence their responsiveness, as may the medical condition of their infants. The patterns of influence may vary between groups of children with different biological risk conditions and should be examined carefully to determine intervention points for different groups. Forty mothers and their 3-month-old (corrected age) infants with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) were observed in free play. Mothers' depressive symptoms, cognitive skills, and the degree of infants' IVH were assessed and expected to be influences on mothers' responsiveness. Results indicated that mothers' depressive symptoms and cognitive skills were associated with their responsiveness, but that depressive symptoms were the stronger predictor. Post hoc analyses suggested that socioeconomic status and depressive symptoms may have related effects on mothers' behavior.     

Ordering autobiographical experiences

This study examined individuals' memory for the temporal order of autobiographical events and for the components that constitute autobiographical events. Study 1 measured performance on an across-event ordering task that involved the chronological arrangement of cards that displayed event labels. Results indicated poor ordering ability across events, but a reasonable ability to order clusters of events. Study 2 compared within-event and across-event ordering using computer-presented digital photographs. Participants were better at ordering the photographs in their own across-event trials than in their within-event trials. The results are discussed in terms of the retrieval of temporal information under within- and across-event conditions.