Assessing children's social skills: Validation of the Behavioral Assertiveness Test for Children (BAT-C)

The present study assessed the relationship between specific child responses on the Behavioral Assertiveness Test for Children (BAT-C) and sociometric indices obtained from peers. Fourth and fifth graders completed peer nominations of their best friends and the children they most admired, peer ratings of likeability, and the BAT-C. Sociometric status was determined by classifying each child as either high or low on peer nominations and peer ratings. Examination of the effects of sociometric status as moderated by race and sex revealed several significant differences in BAT-C responses. Children who were more highly liked or were often named as best friends were significantly less compliant. Differential responding on several additional verbal categories was observed as a function of the interaction between sociometric status and race and/or sex. These findings not only demonstrate the validity of several response categories observed on the BAT-C, but also suggest that in social skills training, different component responses may be targeted across child populations.The authors wish to express their appreciation to Jean Birbilis, Candace Conley, Tony Genoff, Marieta Knopf, and Donna Wadley for their assistance in data collection and analysis.     

Reliability estimation for a test with parts of unknown lengths

The separate questions on an essay test or the individual judges on a rater panel may constitute congeneric parts rather than tau-equivalent parts. Also, it may be necessary to infer the lengths of the congeneric parts from their variances and covariances, rather than from some obvious feature of each part, such as the range of possible scores. Cronbach's alpha coefficient applied to such part-tests data will underestimate total score reliability. Several reliability coefficients are developed for such instruments. They may be regarded as extensions of the coefficient developed by Kristof for a three-part test.     

Asymptotic clarifications,generalizations, and concerns regarding an extended class of matched pairs tests based on powers of ranks

Recent studies pertaining to an extended class of matched pairs tests based on powers of ranks are discussed. Previous questions regarding the asymptotic properties for this class of tests are clarified and a generalization of this class is described. This generalization raises a previously unanticipated concern about whether or not the analytic comparisons resulting from these tests correspond with an intuitive notion of what is being compared.     

Randomization tests in single-subject designs: Illustrative examples

Randomization tests have recently been adapted for use in the analysis of single-subject data. The advantages of these tests lie in their ease of implementation and interpretation as well as their freedom from underlying distributions. Even though numerous articles and books have explicated randomization test procedures, due to the lack of appropriate examples, very little use of these procedures has been made by applied behavior analysts. Data sets reported in a prominent applied behavior journal are used to demonstrate the application of randomization tests to the following three single-subject design models: (a) two-phase random intervention point, (b) multiple phase, and (c) multiple phase with a predicted order of effect size.     

THE EFFECTS OF TARGETING IMPROVEMENTS IN URINE GLUCOSE ON METABOLIC CONTROL IN CHILDREN WITH INSULIN DEPENDENT DIABETES

A treatment program designed to increase the percentage of negative urine tests was implemented using a multiple-baseline across groups design in a sample of 19 families of children with insulin dependent diabetes. The treatment involved instructions in insulin adjustment, decrease in intake of simple sugars and saturated fats, and increase in exercise, along with teaching the parents to support improvements in children's self-regulatory behaviors using a point economy and praise. New proocedures designed to measure and reinforce adherence to the urine testing regimen were developed. Results showed significant increases in percentage of negative urines consistent with implementation of treatment across the three treatment groups, which were maintained over the follow-up period. Metabolic measures of control, including glycosylated hemoglobin and serum glucose did not show improvements even though the relationship between the percentage of negative urine tests and glycosylated hemoglobin was very high during treatment.     

In defence of the criticism of the Defence Mechanism Test (DMT): A reply to Kragh (1998)

Kragh ( Scandinavian Journal of Psychology , 1998, 39, 123–124) criticises a recent empirical study of the Defence Mechanism Test (DMT) conducted by the present authors (Zuber & Ekehammar, 1997) concerning methodological and other shortcomings. The present paper reviews and responds to Kragh's critical points. As to the most serious criticism, the methodological, the main conclusion is that Kragh's own published empirical studies of the DMT, and also those of other researchers, can be criticised along similar lines. Furthermore, and surprisingly, in contrast to our study, Kragh's main DMT studies do not employ the DMT picture(s) at all.     

Matching models in the analysis of cross-classifications

Inference models motivated by the combinatorial chance literature and the concept of object matching may be used in the analysis of a contingency table if the conditional assumption of fixed row and column totals is imposed. More specifically, by developing a matching reinterpretation for several problems of interest in the prediction analysis of cross-classifications—as defined by Hildebrand, Laing and Rosenthal, appropriate significance tests can be given that may differ from those justified by the more common multinomial models. In the course of the paper the distinction between a degree-1 statistic (based on the relationship between single objects) and a degree-2 statistic (based on the relationship between object pairs) is reviewed in some detail. Also, several specializations are presented to topics of current methodological importance in psychology; for instance, a number of references are made to the measurement of nominal scale response agreement between two raters.Partial support for this research was provided by the National Science Foundation through GSOC-77-28227.     

Likelihood methods for testing group problem solving models with censored data

Problem solving models relating individual and group solution times under time limit censoring are presented. Maximum likelihood estimates of parameters of the resulting censored distributions are derived and goodness of fit tests for the individual-group models are constructed. The methods are illustrated on data previously analyzed by Restle and Davis.This research was supported by grants from the Graduate School, University of Minnesota. Also, work of the second author was aided by a Single Quarter Leave granted by the Regents of the University of Minnesota.     

Exact tests for the rasch model via sequential importance sampling

Rasch proposed an exact conditional inference approach to testing his model but never implemented it because it involves the calculation of a complicated probability. This paper furthers Rasch’s approach by (1) providing an efficient Monte Carlo methodology for accurately approximating the required probability and (2) illustrating the usefulness of Rasch’s approach for several important testing problems through simulation studies. Our Monte Carlo methodology is shown to compare favorably to other Monte Carlo methods proposed for this problem in two respects: it is considerably faster and it provides more reliable estimates of the Monte Carlo standard error.This Research was supported in part by National Science Foundation grant DMS-0203762 and a University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation grant.The authors are grateful to Don Burdick for helpful comments. In addition, the authors wish to thank the editor, the associate editor, and the referees for their helpful suggestions.This revised article was published online in August 2005 with the PDF paginated correctly.     

Neuropsychological Differences Between Frontotemporal Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease: A Review

This paper surveys the similarities and differences between frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The review covers findings primarily from neuropsychological studies on memory, language, attention/executive function, and visuospatial abilities. However, neuropsychiatric and neuroimaging data are also briefly discussed. Distinguishing features of both FTD and AD are described in order to present a comprehensive clinical picture of these dementing diseases, which is essential for the process of differential diagnosis. The cause of specific cognitive deficits is also considered. Our comprehensive review of the empirical literature reveals that AD is characterized by early memory loss and visuospatial problems, while among the main features of FTD are behavioral abnormalities and executive dysfunctions.