ABSTRACT
Test revisions are increasingly common in psychology and neuropsychology in particular. However, such revisions may alter in complex ways the kind of information obtained, and they may assess traits, abilities, and conditions in ways different from earlier versions. This article outlines some of the problems associated with the revision of tests facing clinicians and researchers. Three broad classes of revision are considered. Part 1 considers the aging of tests, part 2 concerns the aging of participants, and part 3 considers changes in test format. Although the article focuses largely on measures of intelligence and personality, the issues addressed in the article apply to other tests and assessment domains as well.
Subject(s)
Psychological Tests , Aging/physiology , Humans , Intelligence , Personality/physiologyABSTRACT
Recidivism of delinquency in juveniles with learning disabilities (LD), the focus of the present study, has been virtually unexplored in previous research. Data from a longitudinal study initiated in 1978 are examined. Sixty-five subjects with LD (47 males and 18 females) who had been diagnosed and assessed between the ages of 8 and 12 years were located and, during a personal structured interview at the median age of 18 years, reported police contact. This population was subdivided into two groups on the basis of whether police contact had continued or discontinued, as reported in a second personal interview at the age of 25 years. Discriminant analysis on parent and subject variables correctly classified 75% of the subjects and revealed that certain personality characteristics, such as impulsivity and poor judgment, discriminate between persisting and nonpersisting delinquency in youth with learning disabilities.
Subject(s)
Juvenile Delinquency/statistics & numerical data , Learning Disabilities/epidemiology , Adolescent , Child , Comorbidity , Education, Special , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Juvenile Delinquency/psychology , Learning Disabilities/diagnosis , Learning Disabilities/psychology , Male , Personality Assessment , Personality Development , Recurrence , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
A replication of a study by Spreen (1977) was conducted to assess whether a positive shift in attitudes towards persons with mental retardation has occurred. Undergraduate students (N = 191) were tested. Results compared to those of Spreen (1977) showed a positive shift over the 13-year period. We also tested the hypothesis that exposure to a course on developmental disabilities and contact with individuals with mental retardation would improve students' attitudes. Findings support this hypothesis, although results suggest the influence of a third variable, namely, public awareness.
Subject(s)
Deinstitutionalization/trends , Intellectual Disability/psychology , Public Opinion , Social Change , Social Environment , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Social Desirability , StereotypingABSTRACT
Forty healthy young adults were given the Rey-Osterrieth or Taylor Complex Figures in order to evaluate the comparability of these two measures. Copy trials of the Rey and Taylor Figures proved to be of equivalent difficulty. By contrast, 30-minute delayed recall of the Rey Figure was considerably more difficult than that of the Taylor Figure.
ABSTRACT
Emotional disorders may precede learning disabilities, follow learning disabilities, or occur at the same time. This paper discusses evidence supporting each of these hypotheses, focussing on the possibility that both learning disabilities and emotional disorders, or at least some subforms of them, may have a common origin in neurological dysfunction. A model of interaction of the many factors involved in both the development and the persistence across age for both learning disabilities and emotional disorders is presented and avenues of research are discussed. Data from a 15-year follow-up study which illustrate some of these complex relationships are presented.
Subject(s)
Affective Symptoms/psychology , Learning Disabilities/psychology , Neurocognitive Disorders/psychology , Neuropsychological Tests , Adaptation, Psychological , Adolescent , Adult , Affective Symptoms/therapy , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Child , Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Learning Disabilities/therapy , Longitudinal Studies , Neurocognitive Disorders/therapy , Risk FactorsSubject(s)
Achievement , Learning Disabilities/psychology , Parents , Social Class , Adult , Child , Educational Status , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , OccupationsABSTRACT
The stability of the WISC/WAIS-R and seven other commonly used neuropsychological tests over a period of 15 years was investigated in 133 learning-disabled subjects, and for subgroups with hard neurological signs, soft neurological signs, and without neurological findings. Results showed high and significant correlation coefficients between time 1 (mean age 10 years) and time 2 (mean age 25 years), even though for some tests a change from the children's to the adult version occurred. Using a repeated-measures multivariate design, the three subgroups did not differ on this limited test battery. The correlation coefficients for the three subgroups provide an estimate of the range of stability in three different samples.
Subject(s)
Brain Damage, Chronic/diagnosis , Learning Disabilities/diagnosis , Neuropsychological Tests , Achievement , Adolescent , Adult , Brain Damage, Chronic/psychology , Child , Dominance, Cerebral , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Intelligence , Learning Disabilities/psychology , Male , Wechsler ScalesSubject(s)
Learning Disabilities/psychology , Adult , Age Factors , Child , Female , Humans , Longitudinal Studies , Male , Mathematics , Reading , Statistics as Topic , Visual PerceptionABSTRACT
The current study examined the reliability of a measure of ear advantage and the total scores derived from the dichotic listening task. The scores for both measures were found: (1) not to differ from the normal distribution, and (2) to be reliable over items, tests, and time. However, the total scores were dependent upon stimulus materials and experience. In addition, a psychometric classification model was proposed and it was found that the majority, at least 51.6% of the subjects, did not exhibit a truly measureable ear advantage. Finally, it was argued that total scores as well as ear advantage should be considered in the analysis of dichotic listening studies.
Subject(s)
Dichotic Listening Tests/standards , Functional Laterality , Hearing Tests/standards , Adult , Dichotic Listening Tests/methods , Ear/physiology , Humans , PsychometricsABSTRACT
In a follow-up study of 203 adolescents and young adults who between the age of 8 and 12 had been referred to a neuropsychology clinic because of learning problems and of 52 control subjects, encounters with the police, offenses, and penalties were explored through a structured interview with the former clients and with their parents. Subgrouping of learning-disabled (LD) subjects into brain damage, suggested brain damage, and no evidence of brain damage in a neurological examination showed that no association between brain damage and delinquency can be demonstrated. The presence of learning disability (LD) generally did not confirm an increased likelihood of encounters with the police or a greater number of offenses although the LD group without neurological handicap did receive a slightly higher number of somewhat more severe penalties than then neurologically handicapped groups or the control group. The results of the study are at variance with the results of retrospective studies demonstrating a close association between LD and delinquency and with the association between LD and neurological disorder frequently assumed on the basis of psychological test indicators of neurological dysfunction. These discrepancies with previous studies are discussed in relation to the prospective/retrospective research design and to test vs. clinical indicators of neurological impairment.
Subject(s)
Brain Damage, Chronic/psychology , Juvenile Delinquency/psychology , Learning Disabilities/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Crime , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Intelligence , Male , Neurocognitive Disorders/psychology , Psychological Tests , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
This study examined empirical means of clustering aphasic patients into relatively homogenous and identifiable groups. The method included: (1) examining the intercorrelations of the subtests of the Neurosensory Comprehensive Examination for Aphasia by the means of factor analysis; (2) allowing the subjects to group themselves in homogenous subgroups by means of hierarchical cluster analysis; and (3) comparing the profiles of these groups on the derived dimensions. Four factors accounting for 79.3% of their total test variance were derived which reflected attention/memory; reading ability; verbal-naming ability; and elementary writing skills. With five groups the hierarchical grouping analysis indicated that only 21.5% of the total variability could be ascribed to within group variability. An analysis of variance of the four factor scores found that 66%, 93%, 81% and 79% of the between group variance of each of the respective factors was associated with group membership and the accuracy of membership prediction was 94.1%. Four groups appeared to be distributed on the basis of a severity model of impairment. One group representing 6.3% of the total sample demonstrated a pattern of specific impairment involving a mild level of impairment on attention/memory tasks, a moderate level of impairment on verbal naming tasks and writing skills, and a profound level of impairment on measures of reading skills. The high inter-factor correlations indicated the general nature of language functioning. The results were discussed in terms of the concept of aphasia as a general cognitive deficit.
