Cognitive Ability Tests and the Situational Interview: A Test of Incremental Validity

This study investigated the validity and incremental validity of a situational interview beyond that of a composite measure of cognitive ability. Forty-seven factory service technicians underwent an interview and took four cognitive ability tests. Supervisors rated the performance of these subjects in a concurrent validation study. The interview was found to be a valid predictor of a supervisor rating of performance (r = 0.32, p < 0.05 uncorrected), however, was unable to show incremental validity over ability tests (Incremental R²= 0.05, n.s.). Limitations of the present study and directions for future research are discussed.     

Temperamental consequences of infant difficultness

Two central issues pertaining to the construct of infant temperamental “difficultness” were investigated in this longitudinal project. First, the cross-time convergent validity of two parent-report measures of temperament was examined. Second, the temperamental consequences of difficultness during infancy were studied by prospectively following children from infancy to adolescence. Additionally, using MANOVA and structural equation modeling, gender comparisons were conducted to determine whether or not the construct of difficultness was similar for males and females. Analyses were based on parent reports (Ns=96−110) of infant difficultness on the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ) when children were 18 months of age. The nine temperament dimensions of the New York Longitudinal Study model were also assessed by parent report inventories when children were 2, 3, 3.5, 5, 8, 10, and 12 years old. Results showed no pervasive evidence of gender differences in infant difficultness. Convergent validity between the ICQ and subsequent temperament measures was evidenced by significant cross-time canonical correlations reaching to moderate magnitude and significant bivariate correlations between infant difficultness and specific temperament dimensions. Temperamental difficultness during infancy predicted subsequent adverse temperamental qualities such as unadaptability and negative mood at every age from 2 through 12 years.     

Home, School, and Community Partnerships: Integrating Issues of Race, Culture, and Social Class

The current review is an examination of home–school–community partnerships utilizing an ecological approach to understand the influences of race, culture, and social class. The ecological approach recognizes that families and schools are embedded in communities, and that these settings influence each other and the development of children. The roles of race, culture, and social class in the development of partnerships between the home, school, and community settings are explored. Race, culture, and social class may interact with parent and family attributes, teacher and school qualities, and community context. These factors are often misunderstood either through underinvestigation or lack of integration. The implications for future research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

The Development and Validation of the Multicomponent AIDS Phobia Scale

The development, reliability, and validity of a new instrument, the Multicomponent AIDS Phobia Scale (MAPS), is described. Based on a sample of 181 university students, the results indicate that the MAPS has strong internal consistency and moderate test-retest reliability. In addition, an assessment of concurrent and discriminant validity indicates statistically significant correlations with other self-report measures of anxiety, hypochondriasis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and fear of AIDS. The results of a factor analysis indicate that the scale consists of two factors: Fear of Infection and Fear of Others/Avoidance. Although further research with the MAPS in a clinical population is warranted to investigate the generalizability of this study's results, the instrument appears to be a reliable and valid measure of AIDS Phobia and may prove useful for improving clinical assessment and documenting treatment outcome.     

Evolution of Nonassociative Learning: Behavioral Analysis of a Phylogenetic Lesion

A recent phylogenetic analysis of two learning-related neuromodulatory traits in mechanosensory neurons of species related to the marine molluskAplysia californicaidentified one species,Dolabrifera dolabrifera,which lacked both neuromodulatory traits. Since these traits are thought to contribute importantly to certain forms of learning and memory in the defensive withdrawal reflexes ofAplysia,in the present study, I tested the prediction that facilitatory nonassociative learning would be reduced or absent inDolabrifera.I tested the tail-mantle withdrawal reflex inDolabriferaand size-matchedAplysiafor three forms of nonassociative learning and memory: dishabituation and short- and long-term sensitization. I found that the same protocols that produced significant dishabituation, short-term sensitization, and long-term sensitization inAplysiafailed in all three cases to produce significant learning inDolabrifera.Thus, the prediction from the prior mechanistic analysis is confirmed: Dishabituation and short- and long-term sensitization are significantly reduced and perhaps abolished inDolabrifera.Although not conclusive, this phylogenetic correlation between the absence of behavioral changes and the absence of neural mechanisms thought to underlie the behavioral changes gives support to the contemporary neuromodulatory model of dishabituation and sensitization inAplysia.Furthermore, these results raise the possibility that evolutionary alteration of two specific neuromodulatory mechanisms may have directly contributed to evolutionary change in behavioral plasticity.     

Soutien social et abandon de la consultation médicale en clinique de fertilité

L'objectif de la présente recherche est d'étudier le rôle de divers facteurs sociaux et psychologiques qui influencent le processus décisionnel de couples qui abandonnent une démarche médicale en clinique de fertilité. Plus spécifiquement, il s'agit de vérifier si les couples qui abandonnent la démarche médicale se distinguent de ceux qui poursuivent sur le plan de certains facteurs sociaux, relationnels et individuels. L'échantillon se compose de 300 couples qui fréquentent la clinique de fertilité de l'Hôpital St-Luc de Montréal. Les résultats font principalement ressortir l'importance de la taille du réseau de soutien social comme facteur de différenciation des sujets qui abandonnent et de ceux qui poursuivent le traitement. Les deux groupes de sujets différent aussi quant à leur degré de stress, leur désir de procréer, leur perception du désir de procréer du conjoint et leur perception des chances de réussite du traitement. Nos résultats font aussi état de différences sexuelles dans les facteurs prévisionnels de l'abandon de la démarche médicale.     

Developmental changes in memorial comparisons: the effects of stimulus presentation mode.

First graders, fifth graders, and college students made comparative size judgments of either pictures (line drawings) or names (spoken words) of common objects by designating the "bigger" item in real life. Care was taken to equate the picture and word conditions on a number of critical parameters including method of item-pair presentation and activation of response-time intervals. All groups exhibited a symbolic distance effect. While judgments were faster with pictures than words, the magnitude of the difference did not change with age. Previous research suggesting a marked developmental decline in the magnitude of the "pictorial superiority effect" may have confounded reduced memory demands with stimulus presentation mode for young children. Finally, slopes of the symbolic distance functions were found to decrease with increasing grade level, at least from first to fifth grade. This is the first demonstration of an age-related decline in slopes for magnitude comparisons of concrete objects.     

Concept learning by monkeys with video picture images and a touch screen.

Two rhesus monkeys were trained in a same/different task to discriminate digitized computer-stored picture stimuli. The pictures were digitized from 35-mm slides and presented in pairs on a computer monitor. The monkeys were required to touch the pictures and then make a choice response to indicate whether the pictures were identical or nonidentical. The response areas and stimuli were located to the sides of the picture stimuli. Responses were defined and monitored by an infrared matrix touch screen. After learning the same/different task, both monkeys showed performance accuracy with novel picture stimuli similar to that with training picture stimuli. This accurate novel-picture transfer indicates that a same/different concept had been learned, a concept similar to the one they had previously demonstrated in a different apparatus with rear-projected slide stimuli and a response lever.     

Retroactive enhancement of a skin sensation by a delayed cortical stimulus in man: Evidence for delay of a conscious sensory experience

Sensation elicited by a skin stimulus (S) was subjectively reported to feel stronger when followed by a stimulus to somatosensory cerebral cortex (C), even when C was delayed by up to 400 ms or more. This expands the potentiality for retroactive effects beyond that previously known as backward masking. It also demonstrates that the content of a sensory experience can be altered by another cerebral input introduced after the sensory signal arrives at the cortex. The long effective S-C intervals support the thesis that a duration of cortical activity of up to 0.5 s is required before awareness of a sensory stimulus is developed.