Convergence in Career Development Theory: A Book Review

Book reviewed in this article: Convergence in Career Development Theory: Implications for Science and Practice by Mark L. Savickas and Robert W. Lent (Eds.)     

Different WAIS-R short forms and their relation to ethnicity

Potential racial bias on commonly used WAIS-R short forms was examined in a group of 201 African-Americans matched with Caucasians in terms of age, education, gender, and occupational status. Within racial groups, all short form IQs correlated highly with the WAIS-R IQs (all rs 0.87). Although relatively large racial differences emerged on the Block Design, Vocabulary, and Arithmetic subtests, only mild racial discrepancies emerged for three out of the seven short forms investigated. While the magnitude of the results for the short forms was mild, based on these findings it was suggested that certain short forms not be used with African-Americans in order to minimize the potential influence of racial basis.     

Perception of object unity in chicks: A comparison with the human infant

Newly hatched chicks (Gallus gallus) were imprinted on a display consisting of two rod pieces that moved above and below a central occluder. On test trials, the chicks approached a complete rod in preference to two rod pieces. This finding, supported by those from control coditions, suggests that chicks, soon after hatching, perceive object unity. The results are compared with those from human infants.     

On the analysis of studies of choice

In a review of 103 sets of data from 23 different studies of choice, Baum (1979) concluded that whereas undermatching was most commonly observed for responses, the time measure generally conformed to the matching relation. A reexamination of the evidence presented by Baum concludes that undermatching is the most commonly observed finding for both measures. Use of the coefficient of determination by both Baum (1979) and de Villiers (1977) for assessing when matching occurs is criticized on statistical grounds. An alternative to the loss-in-predictability criterion used by Baum (1979) is proposed. This alternative statistic has a simple operational meaning and is related to the usual F-ratio test. It can therefore be used as a formal test of the hypothesis that matching occurs. Baum (1979) also suggests that slope values of between .90 and 1.11 can be considered good approximations to matching. It is argued that the establishment of a fixed interval as a criterion for determining when matching occurs, is inappropriate. A confidence interval based on the data from any given experiment is suggested as a more useful method of assessment.     

Motivated remembering efforts during tip-of-the-tongue states

Hart (1965) argues that the feeling of knowing in tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states monitors memory content and motivates retreival efforts. Although a number of studies have examined the memory-monitoring accuracy of feelings of knowing and not-knowing, no studies have focused directly on the hypothesized motivational function of these feeling states. This second function of memory feeling states is investigated in this study by assessing the degree to which TOT and Don't Know (DK) states interfere with a subject's ability to perform well on a concurrent task. Subjects studied a list of arbitrary word pairs for 3, 5, or 7 seconds and then provided Recall, TOT, or DK reports in an immediate recall test. Performance on the simple number-probe task that followed each memory report was poorer on TOT trials than on DK trials. This effect did not vary as a function of encoding time. Since covert memory searches were possible on both TOT and DK trials, it is concluded that the performance decrement observed on TOT trials is due to the fact that covert TOT target searches command processing capacity that might otherwise go to the concurrent number-probe task. The absence of an encoding time effect suggests that TOT states do not monitor the associative strength of target traces as Hart (1967) has proposed. The findings in this study are interpreted as providing support for the proposition that the feeling of knowing in the TOT state influences the setting of capacity-allocation priorities in the memory system.     

Reliability of the WAIS-III subtests, indexes, and IQs in individuals with substance abuse disorders

Reliability of the WAIS-III for 100 male patients with substance abuse disorders was determined. Means for age and education were 46.06 were (SD = 8.81 years) and 12.70 years (SD = 1.51 years). There were 63 Caucasians and 37 African Americans. Split-half coefficients for the 11 subtests (Digit Symbol-Coding, Symbol Search, and Object Assembly were omitted) ranged from .92 for Vocabulary and Digit Span to .77 for Picture Arrangement. The median subtest reliability coefficient was .86. Composite reliabilities were excellent for the Indexes (.94 to .95) and IQs (.94 to .97), with all coefficients > or = .94. Using the Fisher z test to compare correlation coefficients from independent samples, none of the reliability estimates differed significantly from those reported for the WAIS-III standardization sample. Similar findings emerged when reliabilities were determined separately for Caucasian and African American participants.     

Confirmatory factor analyses of the WAIS-III standardization data

Confirmatory factor analyses with the standardization data of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (Wechsler, 1997a) compared 6 models with 1 to 4 factors for 11- and 13-subtest versions of the test. Three factors usually fit the data better than 2 factors, but 2-factor models were more parsimonious. A 2-factor model with a Verbal Comprehension factor (Vocabulary, Similarities, Information, and Comprehension) was as good as and sometimes better than the 2-factor model defined by the traditional separation of Verbal and Performance subtests. For 3-factor models, alternative specifications of processing speed subtests on either the Perceptual Organization or Freedom From Distractibility factor were comparable, and specifying a 4th factor for Digit Symbol and Symbol Search had little advantage in comparison with 3-factor models with correlated errors for the 2 subtests.     

Variance in faking across noncognitive measures

There are discrepant findings in the literature regarding the effects of applicant faking on the validity of noncognitive measures. One explanation for these mixed results may be the failure of some studies to consider individual differences in faking. This study demonstrates that there is considerable variance across individuals in the extent of faking 3 types of noncognitive measures (i.e., personality test, biodata inventory, and integrity test). Participants completed measures honestly and with instructions to fake. Results indicated some measures were more difficult to fake than others. The authors found that integrity, conscientiousness, and neuroticism were related to faking. In addition, individuals faked fairly consistently across the measures. Implications of these results and a model of faking that includes factors that may influence faking behavior are provided.