A comparison of two computer-administered versions of the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule.

This study compared three versions of the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS): "traditional" interviewer-administered DIS; computer-administered DIS (subject interacting alone with computer); computer-prompted DIS (interviewer using computer program as a guide). Kappas for 20 diagnoses ranged from .15 to .94, and averages for the three method pairs ranged from .57 to .64, which are comparable to other DIS reliability studies. Agreement between pairs of methods were comparable. Subjects' attitudes toward the computer interview were positive. While they felt they could better describe their feelings and ideas to a human, they found the computer contact less embarrassing. Overall, subjects had no preference for one method over another. Measures of social desirability and deviant response biases were correlated with diagnostic results. Reading ability did not affect subject's ability to respond to the DIS, although subjects with lower reading levels preferred the computer interview more.

Psychology of computer use: XX. Sexual abuse recalled: evaluation of a computerized questionnaire in a population of young adult males.

Development of a computerized questionnaire for investigating prevalence of child sexual abuse as "unwanted sexual contact" prior to Age 17 and associated long-term mental health sequelae is described. The computerized technique has technical advantages, and in a study of 200 university men elicited significantly more recall of prior abuse (in 14% of subjects) than a paper questionnaire.

[Acceptance of tests presented on a personal computer by inpatients]. / Akzeptanz der Darbietung eines Tests auf dem Personalcomputer von stationären Patienten/-innen.

The focus of the study was on equivalent and difference test-results obtained by presenting a test to clients by way of both, a personal computer version (PC) and a paper pencil (PP) version. No significance differences could be observed between the test-results based on PP and those resulting from PC. That means, test-results don't change because of different test presentation. The presentation on a personal-computer has been judged as being comfortable. The clinical subjects (N = 70) evaluated the PC presentation as well as its application.

The use of a real-time computer diary for data acquisition and processing.

Behavioural researchers have long relied on the use of diaries for the collection of self-report data. We discuss the characteristics of a programmable hand-held computer used to collect hourly and event generated data for 7 days on 20 subjects with panic disorder. In the application described, subjects answered a series of 19 or more questions on the hour from 0700 to 2300 or when they were having a panic attack. Subjects completed 88% of all the hourly ratings (range 64-98%). The system was well accepted by the subjects and provided relatively inexpensive data collection and management.

Computerized adaptive personality assessment: an illustration with the Absorption scale.

This article introduces the theory behind and applications of adaptive personality assessment based on the item response theory. Two adaptive testing strategies were compared: (a) fixed test length and (b) clinical decision. Real-data simulations, based on the item responses from 1,000 subjects who had previously taken the 34-item Absorption scale (Tellegen, 1982) by means of paper-and-pencil format, were used to illustrate these strategies. Results suggest that computerized adaptive personality assessment works impressively well. With the fixed-test-length strategy, a 50% savings in administered items was achieved with little loss of measurement precision. In the clinical-decision testing strategy, individuals who were extreme on the Absorption trait were identified with perfect accuracy using, on average, 25% of the available items. The implications of these results for personality research and assessment are discussed.

The multidimensional nature of schizotypal traits: a factor analytic study with normal subjects.

Fourteen published scales of psychotic traits or symptoms (measuring various delusional states, magical ideation, perceptual aberration, disposition towards hallucination, hypomanic personality, schizotypal personality, borderline personality and anhedonia) were combined with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire to form a Combined Schizotypal Traits Questionnaire (CSTQ) which was administered to 180 normal subjects. Two factor analyses were carried out on the scale scores. The first analysis excluded symptom scores derived from the Delusions Symptoms States Inventory of Foulds and Bedford and yielded a three-factor solution which appeared to measure traits relating to (i) positive psychotic symptomatology; (ii) negative psychotic symptomatology; and (iii) aspects of schizotypy involving social anxiety and cognitive disorganization. The Foulds scales were included in the second analysis which yielded a four-factor solution. The first three factors were similar to those obtained from the first analysis; the fourth factor seemed to measure an asocial component of schizotypy. This last factor was mainly accounted for by the P scale from the EPQ. These results support previous findings suggesting that different schizotypy scales relate to different underlying aspects of schizophrenia. The findings also indicate that psychotic traits are distributed along at least three dimensions.

PROQSY: a computerised technique for psychiatric case identification in general practice.

Two-stage screening for minor psychiatric morbidity was carried out with a consecutive sample of 256 patients aged 15-69 consulting an experienced GP in a semirural setting over a seven-week period. Patients completed a short GHQ, and the GP made a standardised assessment of the reason for consultation and the degree of psychological disorder. A 40% random subsample were evaluated using PROQSY, a newly developed computerised psychiatric assessment based on the CIS. PROQSY is acceptable to patients in general practice, and yields an estimate of the prevalence of minor psychiatric morbidity (33%), and validity indices for the 12-item, 28-item, and 30-item GHQs, comparable with those found in similar studies, when the CIS has been administered by an interviewer. PROQSY may be recommended as a research tool, providing a criterion measure of minor psychiatric morbidity in general practice, where it may reduce time and manpower, and eliminate interviewer bias.

Computerized versus standard administration of the Jenkins Activity Survey (Form T).

Using 60 male university students as subjects, this investigation compared the psychometric properties of computerized and paper-and-pencil versions of the student version (Form T) of the Jenkins Activity Survey. Data indicated that these different versions of the JAS demonstrated similar norms, reliabilities, and validities. The comparability of the JAS across administration modes suggested that computerizing the test does not significantly alter its characteristics. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The Cognitive World Structure Game.

The Cognitive World Structure Game is a social psychological measure of individual differences, originally developed within the framework of an occupational research model. The purpose was to develop a non-diagnostic tool to distinguish among individuals and sets of individuals within various organizations. The game is briefly described and can be distinguished from traditional personality measures by its underlying assumption as well as its methodological components. Although primarily a research tool, an example of its use in a counseling situation is included to illustrate its use in analysis of the multidimensional complexity of personality.

A comparison of two measures of ego identity in high school adolescents.

A sample of 279 male and female high school seniors participated in a study on ego identity and personality structure. The adolescents completed the Constantinople Inventory of Psychosocial Development (IPD) and, on the basis of the principal components method of factor analysis, were found to group on three factors: Adolescent Identified, Industry Crisis, and Unresolved Crisis. A further subsample of 86 adolescents also completed the Rasmussen Ego Identity Scale (EIS). Comparisons of the two instruments yielded significant positive relationships on subscales, but indicated differential sources of identity scores and resultant possible misclassification of subjects through the use of a single identity score measure.