Convergence of multiple sources of information on infant individuality: neonatal behavior,infant behavior,and temperament reports

To shed light on the notion of enduring individual infant characteristics, convergence of three presumably interrelated measures of infant individuality was examined. Data collected included standardized behavioral assessments of the newborn (NBAS), maternal reports of infant temperament (at 3 and 9 months), and naturalistic observations of infant behavior at 1, 3, and 9 months. Infant temperament reports were significantly stable from 3 to 9 months; observed infant fussiness was significantly stable from 1 to 3 and 3 to 9 months; observed altertness/social responsiveness was not stable over time. Analyses of convergence of neonatal and infant behavior revealed that 9-month infant alertness/social responsiveness was significantly correlated with neonatal habituation. Similar analyses of neonatal behavior and reported temperament revealed that 3-month reported dullness was significantly correlated with neonatal habituation and range of state. At 9 months, temperament ratings of infant fussiness and unpredictability were significantly correlated with autonomic stability; fussiness was also significantly correlated with regulation of state. Finally, no significant relationships were observed between reported temperament and observed infant behavior. These results fail to support a simple notion of enduring individuality in infants over their first year of life.     

The psychometric properties of several measures of body image

Despite the recent upsurge of interest in the construct of body image, there is relatively little information on the psychometric properties of the instruments used to measure it. This study investigated the reliability and validity of several measures of body image and compared bulimics and normals on these measures. One hundred ten normal weight females, half of whom were diagnosed as bulimic, were administered two measures of affect toward one's body, two measures of perceptions of one's entire body, and three measures of perceptions of the size of specific body sites (face, shoulders, waist, and hips). In themain, the measures provided reliable indices of body image. Examination of the correlation matrix for the measures disclosed convergence for the affective measures of body image and for all but one of the perceptual measures of body image. There was also significant covariation between the affective and the perceptual measures. The multitrait-multimethod technique was used to investigate the construct validity of the measures concerned with perceptions of the size of body sites. The multitrait-multimethod matrices disclosed substantial convergence between perceptions of face, shoulder, waist, and hip size across the three measures. However, the measure which used kinesthetic estimates of body-site size produced low reliabilities and all three of the measures showed substantial method variance. Bulimics and normals differed significantly on both the affective and the perceptual components of body image.This study is based on the first author's masters thesis. Portions of this study were represented at the 1986 meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association. A grant to the third author from the Anclote Psychiatric Center provided support for this research project.     

Reliability and validity of a cost-efficient sociometric measure

Sociometric measures have been used frequently to measure social status; however, reliable sociograms for young children usually involve time-consuming administrations. A group-administered, peer-rating sociogram, the Sociometric Peer-Rating Scale (SPRS), was devised and given to 217 first and second graders. Concomitantly, teacher nominations of children most liked, aggressive, or withdrawn and behavioral observations of the high- and low-SPRS children were obtained. After 7 months, the SPRS was readministered. On a separate population of eight kindergarten children, this sociogram and a similar, individually administered sociogram were given. Normative data, test-retest reliability, and split-half reliability were reported. The test-retest reliability was comparable to the reported reliability of other peer-rating sociograms, and the SPRS correlated significantly with teacher ratings of aggressiveness and likability and with the individually administered sociogram. The number of positive interactions was significantly different for high-versus low-SPRS children. The usefulness of the SPRS as a measure of social competence was discussed.This research was submitted by the author in partial fulfillment of the requirements of a master's degree at the Florida State University.I would like to thank the Master's committee, Wallace Kennedy, William Pelham, and Joseph Torgesen, and the participating schools, Developmental Research School of Florida State University and Woodville Elementary School of the Leon County School District, for their assistance in this study.     

A COMPARISON OF TWO APPROACHES FOR IDENTIFYING REINFORCERS FOR PERSONS WITH SEVERE AND PROFOUND DISABILITIES

The development of effective training programs for persons with profound mental retardation remains one of the greatest challenges for behavior analysts working in the field of developmental disabilities. One significant advancement for this population has been the reinforcer assessment procedure developed by Pace, Ivancic, Edwards, Iwata, and Page (1985), which involves repeatedly presenting a variety of stimuli to the client and then measuring approach behaviors to differentiate preferred from nonpreferred stimuli. One potential limitation of this procedure is that some clients consistently approach most or all of the stimuli on each presentation, making it difficult to differentiate among these stimuli. In this study, we used a concurrent operants paradigm to compare the Pace et al. (1985) procedure with a modified procedure wherein clients were presented with two stimuli simultaneously and were given access only to the first stimulus approached. The results revealed that this forced-choice stimulus preference assessment resulted in greater differentiation among stimuli and better predicted which stimuli would result in higher levels of responding when presented contingently in a concurrent operants paradigm.     

区分度和难度分布在测验效度上的效应比较的模拟试验研究

运用计算机模拟试验方法,研究了４种不同的区分度分布和４种不同的难度分布在测验效度上的效应变化规律。结果表明：（１）在难度分布一定的条件下,测验效度随测验中较高区分度的项目数的递增而单调地提高;（２）在区分度分布一定的条件下,测验中的项目难度分布与考生的能力分布相一致时测验放度较高;（３）区分度分布对效度的影响比难度分布的影响更直接。     

“大五”个性因素模型在工作情景中的效度分析

“大五”个性因素模型是目前一种个性分类理论模型 ,它以外向、情绪稳定性、责任意识、随和、开明性等五个因素来描述正常人群的个性特征。本文探讨了在工作情境中运用“大五”模型预测工作绩效 (个体 /团队 )的效度问题。大量的研究表明 ,责任意识能在不同的职业中用来预测个体工作绩效 ;“大五”因素能有效地预测周边绩效 ,但并不是所有的个性因素都能预测任务绩效 ;团队成员的个性组成对团队绩效有显著影响 ;个性与绩效间的关系受到缓冲变量的影响。     

Differential validity of the Gottschalk-Gleser Anxiety Scales: is gender a moderator variable?

It can be hypothesized that affects like anxiety can be measured by content analysis of speech due to the phenomenon of mood congruent memory, which is found predominantly in females. To assess the effect of gender on the validity of the Gottschalk-Gleser Anxiety Scales, the standard procedure for obtaining verbal samples was followed and self-report measurements of comparable emotional constructs were applied concurrently. Measures of state and trait emotions were administered to 25 female and 25 male university students. In the female group 18 significant convergent validity coefficients were found. For males, content analytic anxiety scores showed four significant correlations with concurrent self-report scales. These results suggest that content analytic anxiety scores from female subjects may allow a more accurate prediction of state and trait emotions than anxiety scores from male subjects. Thus, gender might have a differential effect on the validity of the Gottschalk-Gleser Anxiety Scales.     

Reliability and validity of two widely-used worry questionnaires: self-report and self-peer convergence

The reliability and validity of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) and the Worry Domains Questionnaire (WDQ) were examined with self-ratings from a non-clinical sample of 148 students in a test-retest design across four weeks. Ratings from three well-acquainted peers were also obtained. With internal consistencies and test-retest correlations of at least 0.85, the present study confirmed the high reliability of the questionnaires. Moreover, both measures demonstrated substantial convergent validity: Average agreement among peers was 0.42 (PSWQ) and 0.47 (WDQ) and aggregated self-peer agreement was 0.55 (PSWQ) and 0.49 (WDQ). Self-peer agreement was not biased by social desirability. These findings challenge views that worry is an unreliable and unobservable phenomenon.     

Referees, editors, and publication practices: Improving the reliability and usefulness of the peer review system

The documented low levels of reliability of the peer review process present a serious challenge to editors who must often base their publication decisions on conflicting referee recommendations. The purpose of this article is to discuss this process and examine ways to produce a more reliable and useful peer review system. The author is a Senior Research Scientist & Biostatistician, Child Study Center and Department of Psychiatry in the Yale University School of Medicine. Note: The main points of this report were presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Baltimore, Maryland, on February 9, 1996.     

Inclusion: Considerations from social validity and Functional Outcome Analysis

Inclusion and particularly full inclusion has become a hotly debated topic. While proponents of inclusion believe that social, behavioral, academic, and developmental benefits occur for children with disabilities as well as for other, nondisabled, children in the classroom, research into inclusion provides equivocal results. This paper (a) describes inclusion, highlighting the inconsistencies in definitions and research; (b) discusses the importance of social validity in making inclusion decisions; and (c) presents an approach to inclusion using Functional Outcome Analysis (Noell & Gresham, 1993). While inclusion may be philosophically desirable, the research does not support its application as an all-inclusive approach. Inclusion decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis after a functional analysis of the student's behavior has been conducted.