Psychometric properties of the Dominic interactive assessment: a computerized self-report for children

The reliability and validity of the Dominic Interactive (DI) assessment were evaluated. The DI is a computerized self-report measure for children, which assesses symptom presence for seven DSM-IV diagnoses. The participants were 322 children (169 cocaine exposed, 153 non-cocaine exposed) who were recruited at birth for a prospective longitudinal study. At 6 years of age, measures of self-report, parent report, and observational data were collected. Moderate to excellent internal consistencies on the DI were found for the total sample as well as for subsamples based on cocaine status and gender. Concurrent validity correlations between DI scales and the Child Behavior Checklist, Affect in Play Scale, a modified Conners's Teachers Rating Scale, and the Parenting Stress Index were examined. Significant relationships among scales were more apt to be among comparisons that assessed externalizing behaviors. Overall, low correlations were obtained, which are comparable to other studies that evaluate agreement between child and parent report of behaviors.     

Global challenges as inspiration: A classroom strategy to foster social responsibility

Social responsibility is at the heart of the Engineer’s Creed embodied in the pledge that we will “dedicate [our] professional knowledge and skill to the advancement and betterment of human welfare...[placing] public welfare above all other considerations.” However, half century after the original creed was written, we find ourselves in a world with great technological advances and great global-scale technologically-enabled peril. These issues can be naturally integrated into the engineering curriculum in a way that enhances the development of the technological skill set. We have found that these global challenges create a natural opportunity to foster social responsibility within the engineering students whom we educate. In freshman through senior-level materials engineering courses, we used five guiding principles to shape several different classroom activities and assignments. Upon testing an initial cohort of 28 students had classroom experiences based on these five principles, we saw a shift in attitude: before the experience, 18% of the cohort viewed engineers as playing an active role in solving global problems; after the experiences, 79% recognized the engineer’s role in solving global-scale problems. In this paper, we present how global issues can be used to stimulate thinking for socially-responsible engineering solutions. We set forth five guiding principles that can foster the mindset for socially responsible actions along with examples of how these principles translate into classroom activities. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2005 conference, Ethics and Social Responsibility in Engineering and Technology, Linking Workplace Ethics and Education, co-hosted by Gonzaga University and Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 9–10 June 2005.     

Implicit memory, age, and time of day: paradoxical priming effects

Memory retrieval can occur by at least two routes: a deliberate one, as when one attempts to retrieve an event or fact, and an unintentional one, as when one's behavior is triggered by the past without one's knowledge or awareness. We assessed the efficacy of these retrieval systems as a function of circadian arousal and time of day. Evening-type younger adults and morning-type older adults were tested at either peak (morning for old; evening for young) or off-peak times on implicit and explicit stem completion (Experiment 1) or on implicit category generation (Experiment 2). Results for explicit stem-cued recall replicated better performance for each age group at its peak time. In stark contrast, implicit performance was better at off-peak than at peak times of day, raising the possibility that the processes that serve explicit and implicit retrieval are on different circadian schedules, and highlighting the need to consider individual differences in circadian arousal when assessing either memory system.     

Possible selves of individuals with Alzheimer's disease

This study is one of the first to examine self-goals and their relationship to affect among individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Using the construct of possible selves, the authors collected data from 50 participants with mild to moderate AD and 50 demographically similar cognitively intact older adults. Findings suggest a resourcefulness and flexibility of the self-system in response to the presence of dementia-related concerns. Positive affect was associated with family-related self-goals of AD participants, indicating particular importance of this domain. Some of these responses may represent goal modifications that result in a more satisfactory adjustment to the illness; further inquiry may lead to a better understanding of resiliency and quality of life in persons with AD.     

Field study investigation of applicant use of influence tactics in a selection interview

Employees often evaluate leadership potential when selecting applicants for jobs that require leadership ability (e.g., supervisors, firefighter captains). Research has shown that influencing others is an important part of being an effective leader, yet employers rarely explicitly consider applicants' use of influence tactics when evaluating applicants' leadership potential. The purpose of this study was to explore applicant use of influence tactics in an employment interview and to determine how such use relates to interview ratings. The authors observed firefighter applicants' behavior during a selection role-play interview and recorded their use of influence tactics. Results indicated that firefighter applicants used soft tactics (e.g., ingratiation, rational persuasion) significantly more frequently than they used hard tactics (e.g., pressure, coalition). Soft tactic use was positively correlated with interview ratings.     

Item placement on a personality measure: effects on faking behavior and test measurement properties

Although personality tests are widely used to select applicants for a variety of jobs, there is concern that such measures are fakable. One procedure used to minimize faking has been to disguise the true intent of personality tests by randomizing items such that items measuring similar constructs are dispersed throughout the test. In this study, we examined if item placement does influence the fakability and psychometric properties of a personality measure. Study participants responded to 1 of 2 formats (random vs. grouped items) of a personality test honestly and also under instructions to fake or to behave like an applicant. Results indicate that the grouped item placement format was more fakable for the Neuroticism and Conscientiousness scales. The test with items randomly placed fit the data better within the honest and applicant conditions. These findings demonstrate that the issue of item placement should be seriously considered before administering personality measures because different item presentations may affect the incidence of faking and the psychometric properties of the measure.     

Cognitive theories of early gender development

The contribution of cognitive perspectives (cognitive-developmental theory and gender schema theory) to a contemporary understanding of gender development is evaluated. Recent critiques of cognitive approaches are discussed and empirical evidence is presented to counter these critiques. Because of the centrality of early gender development to the cognitive perspective, the latest research is reviewed on how infants and toddlers discriminate the sexes and learn the attributes correlated with sex. The essence of cognitive approaches--emphasis on motivational consequences of gender concepts; the active, self-initiated view of development; and focus on developmental patterns-is highlighted and contrasted with social-cognitive views. The value of cognitive theories to the field is illustrated, and recommendations are made concerning how to construct comprehensive, integrative perspectives of gender development.     

A study of IQ in Lithuania

Data for the Colored Progressive Matrices were collected for a sample of 259 8- to 12-yr.-old children in Lithuania in 1999. In relation to the British 1979 standardization sample the mean IQ of the Lithuanian children was 92.2. Adjusted for the estimated secular increase of intelligence in Britain, the Lithuanian mean IQ is estimated at 90.     

Interference between verbal concept formation and spatial mental rotation in female subjects

In this study the relation between spatial cognition and verbal intelligence abilities was examined in case of 52 women. Interference between mental rotation performance and verbal intelligence scores was found. Women with good verbal abilities have lower scores in mental rotation tasks than subjects with poorer verbal abilities. This finding is in accordance with some basic models of a dual-coding system. The spatial functions represented in mental rotation interfered with verbal-based concept formation and lexical knowledge in college women.