The Speech Anxiety Thoughts Inventory: scale development and preliminary psychometric data

Cognitions have been known to play a central role in the development, maintenance, and treatment of speech anxiety. However, few instruments are currently available to assess cognitive contents associated with speech anxiety. This report describes three studies examining the psychometric characteristics of a revised English version of the Speech Anxiety Thoughts Inventory (SATI)-an instrument measuring maladaptive cognitions associated with speech anxiety. In Study 1, factor analyses of the SATI revealed a two-factor solution-"prediction of poor performance" and "fear of negative evaluation by audience", respectively. In Study 2, the two-factor structure was replicated. In addition, results revealed stability over a four-week period, high internal consistency, and good convergent and discriminant validity. In Study 3, the scale demonstrated sensitivity to change following brief exposure-based treatments. These findings suggest that the SATI is a highly reliable, valid measure to assess cognitive features of speech anxiety.     

Polarity correspondence: A general principle for performance of speeded binary classification tasks

Differences in performance with various stimulus-response mappings are among the most prevalent findings for binary choice reaction tasks. The authors show that perceptual or conceptual similarity is not necessary to obtain mapping effects; a type of structural similarity is sufficient. Specifically, stimulus and response alternatives are coded as positive and negative polarity along several dimensions, and polarity correspondence is sufficient to produce mapping effects. The authors make the case for this polarity correspondence principle using the literature on word-picture verification and then provide evidence that polarity correspondence is a determinant of mapping effects in orthogonal stimulus-response compatibility, numerical judgment, and implicit association tasks. The authors conclude by discussing implications of this principle for interpretation of results from binary choice tasks and future model development.     

Stroop dilution depends on the nature of the color carrier but not on its location

Stroop dilution is the reduction of the Stroop effect in the presence of a neutral word. It has been attributed to competition for attention between the color word and neutral word, to competition between all stimuli in the visual field, and to perceptual interference. Five experiments tested these accounts. The critical manipulation was whether the color to be named was carried by the color word or the neutral word. Neutral words diluted the Stroop effect when they were the color carrier, but not when the color word was the color carrier. We argue that Stroop dilution is due to attentional competition between the color word and neutral word, with priority given to the color carrier.     

Competent Adolescent Readers’ Use of Internet Reading Strategies: A Think-Aloud Study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the type, pattern, and complexity of Internet reading strategies used by seven accomplished high school readers. Individual participants performed an academic Internet reading task with the goal of developing critical questions about their chosen controversial topic. Strategies for Internet reading were analyzed from the perspective of constructively responsive reading, both qualitatively and quantitatively, using participant-generated verbal reports complemented by recordings of their computer screens. The data described the nature and sequence of reading strategies that participants used to construct meaning, and the interplay of those multiple strategies in Internet settings. The results demonstrated that the participants’ Internet reading involved the iteration and modification of traditional print-based reading strategies (e.g., meaning-making, self-monitoring, information evaluation) and also the use of strategies characteristic of Internet settings (e.g., text location). Implications of the study's findings on Internet reading strategy use for theory and research are discussed.     

Detecting Intervention Effects Using a Multilevel Latent Transition Analysis with a Mixture IRT Model

A multilevel latent transition analysis (LTA) with a mixture IRT measurement model (MixIRTM) is described for investigating the effectiveness of an intervention. The addition of a MixIRTM to the multilevel LTA permits consideration of both potential heterogeneity in students’ response to instructional intervention as well as a methodology for assessing stage sequential change over time at both student and teacher levels. Results from an LTA–MixIRTM and multilevel LTA–MixIRTM were compared in the context of an educational intervention study. Both models were able to describe homogeneities in problem solving and transition patterns. However, ignoring a multilevel structure in LTA–MixIRTM led to different results in group membership assignment in empirical results. Results for the multilevel LTA–MixIRTM indicated that there were distinct individual differences in the different transition patterns. The students receiving the intervention treatment outscored their business as usual (i.e., control group) counterparts on the curriculum-based Fractions Computation test. In addition, 27.4 % of the students in the sample moved from the low ability student-level latent class to the high ability student-level latent class. Students were characterized differently depending on the teacher-level latent class.     

Training of self-regulated learning skills on a social network system

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether self-regulated learning (SRL) skills trained using a social network system (SNS) may be generalized outside the training session. A total of 29 undergraduate students participated in the study. During the training session, students in the experimental group were trained to practice self-regulative thinking skills while using Twitter, an SNS. Students in the control group did not receive a training of SRL skills and simply used Twitter as it was. After the training session, students in both groups worked on their class projects and used Twitter where students interacted with each other. Using a content analysis, student posts or “tweets” on Twitter were analyzed. Students in the experimental group used significantly more SRL skills such as planning and reflecting than those in the control group. Also, students’ metacognitive awareness in the experimental group improved significantly after the training of SRL skills. The implications of the study are herein discussed.     

Obesity-Related Quality of Life and Distorted Self-Body Image in Adults

Quality of life (QOL) is associated with body mass index (BMI). Self-awareness of false body image may influence the behavior of weight control and QOL. This study was conducted to identify the relationships between BMI and QOL, and distortion of self-estimated body image and its impact on QOL and the general health of Korean adults. A total of 229 adults who visited two university hospitals in Seoul and Chungju cities for regular health check-up responded to a questionnaire. To assess QOL, a Korean version of the obesity-related Quality of Life Scale (KOQOL) was used. The results showed that obesity-related quality of life decreased as BMI increased and as alcohol consumption became heavier. In the low weight and normal body weight groups, a portion of the groups had a more obese self-estimated body image than their actual BMI. In the overweight and obese groups, some had a leaner self-estimated body image than their actual BMI. Persons who had a self-body image of being fat had a low QOL. For Korean adults over 20 and under 65, a higher BMI is associated with a lower obesity-related quality of life. Persons who thought themselves fat had a lower QOL, regardless of their real body type.     

Language and false belief in Korean-speaking and English-speaking children

The link between language and false belief (FB) understanding has been the focus of considerable debate regarding which language component (semantics, general language, or complementation) is necessary for FB development. We examined the relative roles of complementation and receptive vocabulary in FB development in Korean-speaking and English-speaking children. FB understanding, memory for complements involving the verbs think, say and want, and receptive vocabulary were measured at three time points in 59 Korean-speaking children and 72 English-speaking children. A multi-level growth model indicated that the development of receptive vocabulary and separately the development of think understanding uniquely predicted the development of FB understanding. Neither say nor want was associated with FB understanding. The same pattern was found for Korean- and English-speaking children. The results provide evidence for the role of general language in FB understanding and against the unique role of sentential complementation.