Is it prudent to administer all items for each Child Behavior Checklist cross-informant syndrome? Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Youth Self-Report dimensions with confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory

Through surveying of children in 10 nations with parent, teacher, and Youth Self-Report (YSR) forms of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), cross-informant syndromes (CISs) were derived and cross-validated by sample-dependent methodology. Generalizing CBCL syndromes and norms to nations excluded from its normative sample is problematic. This study used confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) to test factor model fit for CISs on the YSR responses of 625 Jamaican children ages 11 to 18 years. Item response theory (IRT), a sample-independent methodology, was used to estimate the psychometric properties of individual items on each dimension. CFAs indicated poor to moderate model-to-data fit. Across all syndromes, IRT analyses revealed that more than 3/4 of the cross-informant items yielded little information. Eliminating such items could be cost effective in terms of administration time yet improve the measures discrimination across syndrome severity levels.     

In Search of the Self: A Positron Emission Tomography Study

Abstract—Previous work using positron emission tomography (PET) has shown that memory encoding processes are associated with preferential activation of left frontal regions of the brain, whereas retrieval processes are associated predominantly with right frontal activations. One possible reason for the asymmetry is that episodic retrieval necessarily involves reference to the self, and the self-concept may be represented (at least partially) in right frontal regions. Accordingly, the present study investigated the possibility that encoding of self-related material might also activate right frontal areas. Eight right-handed volunteers judged trait adjectives under four separate PET scan conditions: (a) relevance to self, (b) relevance to a well-known public figure, (c) social desirability, and (d) number of syllables. The results showed that self-related encoding yielded left frontal activations similar to those associated with other types of semantic encoding, but also specific activations in the right frontal lobe. It is concluded that the concept of self involves both general schematic structures and further specific components involved in episodic memory retrieval.     

Gender Advertisements in Magazines Aimed at African Americans: A Comparison to Their Occurrence in Magazines Aimed at Caucasians

Advertisements from magazines aimed at AfricanAmericans were compared to ads from magazines aimedpredominantly at Whites. Over 200 magazineadvertisements were analyzed according to Goffman's(1976) rubrics of licensed withdrawal, function ranking,relative size, ritualization of subordination, femininetouch, and the family. Results indicated that the adsfrom White-oriented magazines were characterized by relatively frequent displays of licensedwithdrawal and ritualization of subordination. Thoseaimed at African Americans, however, were characterizedby more frequent portrayals of the family. Almost half of each sample were classified into another category which followed none ofGoffman's rubrics. Results are discussed in terms of thedemand characteristics implicit in gender advertisements and in terms of cultural differences in genderrole expectations.     

An MS-DOS-compatible data logger for recording subjects’ self-ratings

Some research designs require subjects to make ratings of their own internal cognitive or affective states or the behavior of other subjects. An ideal device for this purpose should allow for electronic data storage and be easy to use for research subjects. The communication box (Markman & Poltrock, 1982) has been popular for this purpose but consists of dated technology. Other data-logging devices are too complicated for subjects’ use. This paper describes an electronic data logger which uses readily available hardware. A dual-tone multiple-frequency (DTMF) telephone keypad encoder is used to generate unique tones that are stored on the audio track of a videotape or on an audio tape. A DTMF receiver decoder IC is used to decode the audio signals. The decoded signals can be read on a light-emitting diode display or entered directly into a personal computer file via an RS-232 serial interface.     

Collaborating careers: The differential effects of race

Male and female black undergraduates enrolled in Introductory Psychology and Human Development courses at a predominantly black university responded to five stories about married black physicians whose total income was greatest, respectively, when the husband cared for the children (Story 1), the wife cared for the children (Story 2), either spouse cared for them (Story 3), the wife earned more than the husband (Story 4), or the husband earned more than the wife (Story 5). In contrast to the results of a study completed at a predominantly white university, black females favored maternal child care even when, as a result, the family income was reduced and had significantly less of a preference for higher relative salary for the wife than did females in the study at a predominantly white university; although black males preferred maternal child care in Story 2 and Story 3, the preference was significantly less than that of males in the study at a predominantly white university. The results were discussed in terms of their relevance to collaborating career patterns among middle-class black families.     

Individual differences and segment interactions in throwing

Arm segment velocities of 12 athletes throwing three differently weighted balls were analyzed by three-mode principal component analysis. Individual differences were characterized in terms of the combined influences of the phases of the throwing motion and the arm segment velocity relationships established in those phases. Using three individual differences components, three velocity measures components and four time phase components, 75% of the variance was described. The arm segment velocity relationships were described by two main components identified as directional velocity and proximal versus distal velocity. The time periods components distinguished between relationships among the arm segment velocities that occur in the windup versus those of the release phase. Three individual differences components are identified and appeared to be related to a general throwing style, the influence of skill level on technique, and the differential effect of the varying ball weights, respectively. Each athlete's throws are weighted combinations of these three components. The timing of segment involvement is investigated and the results indicate sequential patterns from proximal to distal as the throw unfolds. However, the results also suggest that different principles may apply to different throwers and that the summation of speed principle should not be applied universally to explain segment motion and interaction.     

Experience and backswing movement time variability : A short note concerning a serendipitous observation

Decreased variability of both response outcome and movement kinematics is generally thought to be a characteristic of skilled performance. This note reports an apparently paradoxical case in which expertise is associated with greater variability of an aspect of movement kinematics. The relative variability of backswing and downswing duration (standard deviation as a percent of movement time) was assessed for experienced and novice field hockey players performing a drive of an approaching ball. The experienced group exhibited higher relative variability of backswing duration than the novice group. It is argued that this variability is functional (in the sense that greater backswing duration variability is associated with superior task performance) and may result from the joint effects of players visually controlling movement during its execution (Bootsma 1988) and the experienced subjects' earlier pick-up of relevant information for visual control (cf. Abernethy and Russell 1987).     

Food-related stimuli increase desire to eat in hungry and satiated human subjects

In the present study, the effect of food-related cues on the desire to eat chocolate in hungry and satiated subjects was investigated. Subjects (n=46) were randomly assigned to either a hungry or satiated group and then assigned to a group receiving one of the following stimuli: taste (2 M&Ms), sight (a photograph of M&Ms), cognition (a passage describin M&Ms), or control (no stimulus). In each testing session, subjects rated their desire to eat chocolate before and after the 90-s presentation of the particular stimulus. Each subject was then given a half pound of M&Ms so that actual consumption could also be measured. Results indicated that, following the presentation of the sight and taste stimuli, the subjects’ desire to eat chocolate was significantly increased. Furthermore, no differences in chocolate consumption due to state of hunger or type of food-related stimulus presented were found.     

Science Anxiety as a Function of Gender and Experience

This study examined the influence of gender and various background factors on science anxiety. Students (50 women, 37 men) took the Science Anxiety Scale (Mallow, 1994), provided information about high school and college academic accomplishments, described gender-role stereotyping in the home, and evaluated their science teachers and science experiences. Most participants were Caucasian and from an upper-middle class background. Women were not uniformly more science anxious and had a relatively similar science background to men, although they had higher science grades in high school and did report less stringent sex-role socialization in the home. However, students with high science anxiety took fewer science courses in college, had lower SAT-Q scores, and reported that their high school science teachers were not helpful. The findings regarding gender- and anxiety-linked differences are discussed in terms of women's and men's differential interpretations of their abilities, the influence of parental gender typing on pursuit of science, and the gender-appropriateness of studying science.