Shared processes in spatial rotation and musical permutation

An experiment was conducted in which subjects performed a three-dimensional spatial rotation test (24 trials) and a new test involving judgments of musical permutations (64 trials). Two types of musical permutations were used, including retrograde and inverse. In a retrograde permutation, the criterion melody was played backward in the test melody, and in an inverse permutation, an ascending or descending interval in the criterion melody became an opposite in the test melody. Subjects included 32 male and 64 female undergraduates at the University of Toronto. Regression analysis clearly showed that it was easiest to compare short retrograde permutations and that accuracy at discerning retrograde permutations predicted accuracy at judging spatial rotations. The implication is that a higher order ability to discriminate contour underlies both kinds of judgments.     

Cross-national applicability of a game-based cognitive assessment

New technology has had a discernable impact on how organizations recruit and select potential employees. Game-based assessment has emerged as a potential technology that can be used to enhance the assessment of individual differences and applicants' views of the selection process. However, studies investigating the psychometric properties and predictive validity of game-based assessments are still lacking. This study investigated the structural equivalence of a game-based assessment of cognitive ability across 228 Australians and 239 South Africans. A smaller sample of 115 South Africans also received work performance ratings to investigate the predictive validity of the cognitive assessment. Results of factor analysis supported a strong general factor of cognitive ability across the entire sample but only partial metric and scalar invariance across the two nations. The general factor of the game-based assessment further revealed promising results in terms of its predictive validity for five broad dimensions of individual work performance.     

Spouses' Perceptions of Each Other's Coping Ability with Possible Stressful Life Events and Marital Quality

This study examines the effect ob marital quality of spouses' appreciation of partner's coping ability with possible stressful life events. Results show that while higher appreciation of partner's coping ability contributes to marital quality in wives, only the extent of being threatened by stressful life events and sense of being needed by partner for support when confronting with stressful life events contribute to marital quality in husbands.     

Assessing the Truthfulness of Witness Statements Made by Children (Aged 7--8, 10--11, and 13--14) Employing Scales Derived from Johnson and Raye's Model of Reality Monitoring

The goal of this study was to determine whether children's true and false witness statements could be differentiated using the model of reality monitoring. The effects of age and verbal ability on scales based on the model were also investigated. Children (N = 68) from three different age-groups (7--8, 10--11, and 13--14 years) made both a true and a false statement concerning a mildly traumatic event. The statements were analysed using the Revised Memory Characteristics Questionnaire. The vocabulary sub-scale of the WISC-R was also administered. True statements were found to contain more sensory information and expressions of time, and less affective information. Overall, 64% of the statements were correctly classified on the basis of the scales. Older children received higher scores on most of the reality monitoring scales compared to the youngest children regardless of the truthfulness of their statements. Furthermore, the verbal ability of the children was positively associated with scores on several of the scales. The classification accuracy suggests that the model should not be applied to individual cases of child testimony. Although the final decision concerning the usefulness of the scales should be based on ecologically valid field studies.     

中小学生语文阅读能力结构的发展特点

本研究对小学六年级、初中三年级、高中三年级三个年龄切面的学生的阅读能力结构构成进行分析,揭示该能力结构的发统特点。结果表明,语文阅读能力结构随年龄的增长而发生变化。一方面表现为因素的数量逐步增加,另一方面表现为比较复杂、层次较高的因素在整个结构中的相对地位不断增强。研究结果进一步指出,该能力结构因素增加的实现方式不同于西方心理学界所认为的分解模式,而是表现为“接替”模式,亦即通过“基础能力因素”对活动的影响作用为新的因素所接替而实现。     

Deficits in set-shifting ability in nonclinical compulsive checkers

Recent studies suggest deficits in set-shifting ability in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) as measured by tasks such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST; Berg, 1948). The present study examined the extent to which these deficits were demonstrated by nonclinical subjects selected on the basis of their checking scores on the Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory. A multivariate analysis revealed that frequent checkers performed significantly worse on the WCST than noncheckers, making more total errors and more perseverative errors and requiring more time to complete the test. A follow-up analysis on a subset of the original sample found similar performance deficits in checkers. While the poorer performance of checkers could be statistically accounted for by anxiety during the first administration of the WCST, anxiety could not explain the relationship between checking status and WCST performance at follow-up. Therefore, there does appear to be some relationship between checking status and WCST performance beyond what can be explained by affective variables.     

Observational training improves adult womens'' performance on Piaget''s water-level task

Among women university students who lacked conceptual understanding of the principle that the surface of still water is always horizontal, a specific task procedure designed to optimize self-discovery of the principle proved effective. Successful learning was reflected in more accurate responses on an adjustment task and by a significant increase (p less than .01) in the number of subjects able to verbalize a correct strategy. In contrast to previous research the results show that adult womens' performance on the water-level task can be improved by observational training, suggesting that the female lag in spatial skills may depend on experiential factors.     

Multicategorical spline model for item response theory

Additional information contained in incorrect responses calls for a multicategorical rather than a binary analysis of multiple choice data. A nonparametric divided-by-total model for joint maximum likelihood estimation of probability-of-choice functions (for particular responses) and of latent ability is proposed. The model approximates probability functions by rational splines. Some illustrative examples of real test data analysis and the results of a Monte Carlo study are presented.The research in this paper was supported by the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Grants OGP0105521 and APA 320 awarded to the first and the second author, respectively. The authors are indebted to R. Melzack and A. Baker for making available the data analyzed in this paper. We would also like to thank J. McKenna and B. Cont for their assistance in editing this paper.     

聋童与听力正常儿童分类能力的比较研究

本研究通过不同性质的分类实验,比较了聋童和听力正常儿童在年龄和教育程度相同或相近的前提下表现出的分类能力的差异,研究结果表明:(1)听力正常儿童的分类水平高于聋童。(2)教育程度的提高对二者的分类水平均有明显的促进作用。(3)就本实验结果看,约在13、14岁间,二者的分类水平均趋于平稳。(4)具体语词的掌握对二者的分类水平均有明显的促进作用。(5)二者对具体材料的分类均优于对抽象材料的分类。