Psychometric evaluation of the situation test of heterosocial skill

This study examined various psychometric properties of Forms A and B of the Situation Test, developed by Rehm and Marston (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1968, 37, 565–574) for the assessment of heterosocial skill and anxiety. A third test form composed of heterosocially irrelevant items was also examined for comparison purposes. Split-half, alternate-form, and interresponse consistency was determined for measures of skill, anxiety, response latency, and response duration. Differences across test forms on these measures were also investigated. Subsequently, criterion-related validity was examined relative to three criteria of heterosocial skill. Results indicated that two measures, anxiety and response duration, displayed adequate internal consistency, while that of skill and response latency was marginal. Interresponse consistency was moderately low for all three test forms. Comparisons of mean performances across forms revealed significant differences, with heterosocially irrelevant items appearing easier, in general, than the heterosocial items of Forms A and B. Lastly, significant predictions of peer-reported heterosocial behavior were obtained for all three test forms, but two self-report criteria were not found to be related to test behavior. Various implications of these findings are discussed.Portions of this research were completed while the authors were affiliated with the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. The advice and consultation provided by the late William K. Boardman is gratefully acknowledged. Appreciation is also extended to Michael Breakwell, Linda Maertzweller, Steven Ray, and Jan Rockley for their assistance with data collection.Copies of assessment material and specific instructions to subjects are available upon request.     

Power of the likelihood ratio test in covariance structure analysis

A procedure for computing the power of the likelihood ratio test used in the context of covariance structure analysis is derived. The procedure uses statistics associated with the standard output of the computer programs commonly used and assumes that a specific alternative value of the parameter vector is specified. Using the noncentral Chi-square distribution, the power of the test is approximated by the asymptotic one for a sequence of local alternatives. The procedure is illustrated by an example. A Monte Carlo experiment also shows how good the approximation is for a specific case.This research was made possible by a grant from the Dutch Organization for Advancement of Pure Research (ZWO). The authors also like to acknowledge the helpful comments and suggestions from the editor and anonymous reviewers.     

Evidence of a Flynn Effect in Children's Human Figure Drawings (1902–1968)

The Flynn effect is the long-term trend for scores on tests of cognitive ability to increase across cohorts. Several samples of children's human figure drawings, published in 1902, 1926, 1963, and 1968, are examined for evidence of a Flynn effect. Results show that larger percentages of children draw more complete human figures over the course of the 20th century.     

学习困难青少年认知控制特点研究

本研究基于双重认知控制理论,通过比较学困组和对照组在持续性操作任务上的表现来探究学习困难青少年的认知控制特点。结果发现：（1）在反应性控制的指标上,学困组和对照组的反应时和正确率不存在显著差异,但学困组对探测刺激的辨别力指数更低,显示学困组的反应性控制能力存在一定不足;（2）在主动性控制的指标上,学困组的反应时更长、正确率更低,且对线索刺激的辨别力指数更低,显示学困组在对线索刺激保持的各项指标上都比对照组更差,说明学困组在主动性控制上的缺陷更为明显。     

Image du corps chez l’enfant sourd. Perception et vécu à travers le dessin et le TSEA

The body is as a living entity with three interrelated aspects: the physical motor skills, development processes, social and emotional interaction. The young child, regardless of his mental or physical condition, appropriates this entity when he is in contact with the surrounding world. Thus, the self-image will depend, in large part, on the person he is, the situation in which he lives (society, family), the nature and frequency of surrounding stimuli. A child carrying a handicap is likely to have a poor representation of his own self-image (disproportionate or deformed body) and an altered self-image, as far as he lives in a rejecting environment. In this paper, we have focused our research on how deaf children sees their self-image, based on our nineteen years of experience as a psychologist with hearing impaired children, in special schools. The various observations and assessments in this research, in addition to groups support offered to parents during all these years, give us today enough elements to show what kind of self-image the deaf child has of himself. Our assessment material was essentially thematic projective test of socialization –TSEA– and the drawing of the person.     

X线碘对比剂过敏试验的价值

讨论当前X线碘对比剂过敏试验存在的争议和问题,并提出修改意见,以明确指导临床正确使用,规避医疗风险,保障患者安全。针对碘对比剂有关过敏试验的相关文件规定及部分产品说明书的相关内容进行深入解读,对碘过敏试验是否应进行及其试验方法进行讨论并提出修改建议。根据我国现行卫生行政法规要求,目前碘对比剂应进行碘过敏试验。建议相关政...     

Extreme elemental processing in a high schizotypy population: Relation to cognitive deficits

The cognitive deficits observed in schizophrenia have been characterized as a failure to utilize task-setting information to guide behaviour, especially in situations in which there is response conflict. Recently, we have provided support for this account; high schizotypy individuals demonstrated inferior biconditional discrimination performance compared to low scorers, but were not impaired on a simple discrimination that did not require the use of task-setting cues. These results may, however, also be explained by the way in which individuals with high schizotypy process stimulus compounds. Here, we examine the initial approaches to solving biconditional and control discrimination tasks of participants with high and low schizotypy scores. In particular, we focus on performance during the first block of training trials to capture processing style before the acquisition of the discrimination tasks. Participants scoring highly on the introvertive anhedonia subscale (which has been allied to the negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia) demonstrated better biconditional performance during the first block of training trials than did low-schizotypy individuals, consistent with a highly elemental approach to stimulus processing. Subsequent recognition tests confirmed this analysis demonstrating that the pattern of performance observed in participants with high schizotypy was associated with a failure to discriminate conjunctions of items that had been seen before from those that had not. These results suggest that the negative/cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia may reflect an extreme bias towards elemental, as opposed to configural, processing of stimulus conjunctions.     

False memories in patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS)

We assessed the propensity for false memories among patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). Twenty-one patients with OSAS and 21 controls matched for sex, age and education were recruited. At encoding, an adaptation of the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm was used to induce false memories. At retrieval, participants completed a forced-choice recognition task to distinguish memories based on verbatim traces from those based on gist traces. When the task encouraged retrieval based on either gist or verbatim traces, the groups performed similarly. However, when the task required retrieval based solely on verbatim traces, OSAS patients exhibited poor discrimination and produced more false memories. Our finding that OSAS leads to an increased propensity to produce false memories is discussed within the framework of both fuzzy-trace theory and activation-monitoring theory.     

Does the Conners' Continuous Performance Test Aid in ADHD Diagnosis?

The performance of clinic-referred children aged 6–11 (N = 100) was examined using the Conners' Continuous Performance Test (CPT) and measures of auditory attention (Auditory Continuous Performance Test; ACPT), phonological awareness, visual processing speed, and visual-motor competence. The Conners' CPT overall index was unrelated to measures of visual processing speed or visual-motor competence. Although the Conners' CPT converged with the ACPT, the latter demonstrated age and order effects. Significant variance in Conners' CPT parameters was predicted by phonological awareness measures, suggesting that Reading Disordered (RD) children could be false positives on the Conners' CPT. The Conners' CPT overall index, phonological awareness, and visual-motor measures were submitted to a 2×2 MANCOVA (ADHD vs. RD, covarying for age and socieoeconomic status): a main effect for RD status was found. Children with ADHD did not have higher Conners' CPT scores than did clinical controls; however, children with Reading Disorders did. Phonological measures distinguished RD children from ADHD children and other clinical controls. ADHD children who failed the Conners' CPT were rated by teachers as more hyperactive. Despite the strengths of the Conners' CPT, its utility for differential diagnosis of ADHD is questioned.