Cognitive-academic correlates of finger localization in right-handed kindergarten girls.

The scores of 49 right-handed girls in early kindergarten on a battery of finger localization tests were compared with their end-of-year achievement scores on the Metropolitan Readiness Tests. Examination of the correlations between performance with each hand and test measures of achievement favored a substantive role for each cerebral hemisphere in early acquisition. Strength of prediction was comparable for tasks with and without a naming requirement (numerical coding of fingers) and was independent of children's verbal-receptive ability on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Apparently, differential hemispheric efficiency presumed to underlie left-right differences in finger localization is not closely related to level of academic skills in girls of kindergarten age.

Left-right comparison and children's performance on sensorimotor tests.

This study compared overall performance level for both hands combined (OPL) with several lateral deviation measures calculated from scores on a composite finger localization task (FLT) and a speeded pegboard task (SPT) administered to 92 kindergarten entrants. Laterality indices were interrelated moderately or highly on each task, consistently were unrelated to OPL with respect to FLT results, and in some instances were related modestly to OPL for the SPT procedure. Significant relationships, when observed, suggested a limited tendency to diminished motor asymmetry with slowed overall performance. Results, in general, support the view that OPL and lateral deviation as measured in this study are not mutually confounded and, in large degree, comprise relatively independent sources of information to be used in a complementary manner to arrive at accurate neuropsychological inferences.

Lateral asymmetry in finger localization for right-handed, kindergarten girls.

Laterality in finger localization (FL) was examined in 49 right-handed, kindergarten girls also administered tasks assessing verbal-receptive ability and manual dexterity. A right-hand advantage was evident overall and varied by FL task. The magnitude of asymmetry in FL was not unequivocally related to task requirement for verbal processing and was otherwise independent of children's verbal-receptive ability and motor laterality. The results were discussed in terms of cortical maturation and emergent cognitive-verbal processes as factors to be considered in the interpretation of asymmetry in FL.

Correlates of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) among DWI offenders.

Examined the relationship between scores on the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), Psychological Screening Inventory (PSI) and Locus of Control Scale (LOC) in a selected sample of 156 apprehended drunken drivers. About 90% were identified as problem drinkers on the MAST, and 15% were screened by the PSI as requiring more intensive psychological assessment. Scores on the MAST were independent of LOC, but positively related to results on PSI scales that assess antisocial acting-out and neurotic anxiety and also to general maladjustment (mean scale elevation). A weighted composite of three PSI scales was related significantly to MAST scores, but explained only a modest proportion of variance in them. The MAST and PSI can be used to supplement one another in screening DWI offenders.

Reliability and validity of the short mast among psychiatric inpatients.

Examined the reliability and empirical validity of the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (SMAST) orally administered as an embedded scale to a sample of 120 male and female psychiatric inpatients, who reported a broad spectrum of current and lifetime drinking problems. Test results showed substantial reliability within and across administrations that spanned 1 to 3 days, but they were related only moderately to the psychiatric diagnosis.

Brief assessment of drinking problems in male and female psychiatric inpatients.

Used discriminant function analysis to identify and cross-validate a subset of items on the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) that in combination maximally distinguish between male and female psychiatric inpatients (N = 120) diagnosed as having alcohol-related and non-alcohol-related disorders. Classification of Ss by use of the composite variate showed 88% overall accuracy with an 83% valid positive rate in the validation sample, but only 65% overall accuracy and a 10% valid positive rate in an independent cross-validation group. The reliability of the MAST interview did not decline at higher levels of alcohol involvement.

Modification of the brief Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test.

An abbreviated version of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test, modified with probes requesting dates for most recent occurrence of the stated problem, had encouraging retest and internal consistency reliability but was weak on concurrent validity, test scores being only moderately predictive of psychiatric diagnosis.

Evaluation of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) in assessing lifetime and recent problems.

Investigated the reliability, validity and dimensionality of scores obtained by acute psychiatric inpatients (N = 120) on the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test adapted to assess lifetime and current symptomatology. Under most conditions, test scores and classifications were reasonably consistent over brief intervals and the underlying structure of test content was unidimensional. The test showed high sensitivity (88%), insufficient specificity (50%), and modest classification accuracy overall (58%) and thus underscored the problem of excessive false positives and/or an inadequate diagnosis as criterion.

Factor structure of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) in a psychiatric outpatient population.

Investigated a factor analysis of the responses of psychiatric outpatients (N = 240) to the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test. An orthogonal four-factor solution resolved to a single broad factor that encompassed all test items when differences in item difficulty were controlled and the initial factors were rotated obliquely.

Factor structure of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) among acutely disturbed psychiatric patients.

Investigated a factor analysis of the responses of acutely disturbed psychiatric inpatients (N = 182) to the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test. Control for differential item difficulty and use of an oblique factor rotation after principal-axis extraction served to highlight the first of four factors as accounting for the preponderance of individual differences in test outcome.

Psychometric properties of the MAST and two briefer versions.

The discriminative value and internal consistency of items of the MAST, MAST-10 and MAST-13, as well as the predictive validity of the MAST-10 and MAST-13, are examined in the scores of 200 motorists arrested for driving while intoxicated.

Factor structure of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test.

A factor analysis of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test completed by motorists arrested for driving while intoxicated demonstrated four independent dimensions of alcoholic symptomatology--Help-Seeking, Discord, Alienation and Denial.

Item analysis of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test.

The Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test was administered to 200 persons arrested for driving while intoxicated. Most items adequately discriminated between problem and nonproblem drinkers, but several questions assessing severe alcoholism symptoms did not consistenly differentiate between the 2 groups.