Individuals responding in a socially desirable (SD) fashion, rather than in a manner that reflects their true behavior, has been a problem for self-report questionnaires since their inception. The purpose of this study was to examine the hypothesis that the probability an item is endorsed on a self-report measure of anger is directly proportional to the rated SD of that item. Eighty-two subjects completed the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI), the Profile of Moods State (POMS), and the State- Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI). A probability of endorsement was computed for each of the measures' items. Twenty additional subjects rated the measures' items for SD. Each item's SD rating was paired with the probability the item was endorsed to produce a correlation coefficient for each measure. Results strongly support the stated hypothesis. Directions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of the present archival study was to investigate the relationship between parental substance abuse and the risk for maladjustment and psychopathology in children in a clinic sample. Children of alcoholic parents and children of drug-dependent parents were compared to children of non-substance abusing parents. The subjects were 83 boys age 6 to 12. Children of substance abuse parents had lower levels of adaptive functioning and higher levels of school behavioral problems. Although previous studies have reported a strong association between an adverse family environment and the risk of child maladjustment, the present study did not find that the addition of an adverse family environment increased the risk for maladjustment or school behavioral problems in children of substance abusers.

The degree of transfer of technical training to workplace behavior was evaluated using a Solomon Four-Group experimental design. Additionally, all groups received retrospective pretests. Subjects were 103 technicians in an electronics company. Supervisors rated technicians on behaviorally anchored rating scales which were developed and labeled as behavior description scales for simplicity. Analysis of variance revealed no effect for training nor pretest. A training-pretest interaction effect was revealed for one dimension (Communication with Support Groups). Analysis of covariance revealed main effects for pretesting for two dimensions (Problem Solving and Communication with Supervisor) and a pretest-training interaction-for one dimension (Problem Solving). Except for one dimension, t tests revealed no significant differences between traditional pretests and retrospective pretests, thus negating a hypothesized response shift bias.

The purpose of the present study was to discern a symptom pattern for environmentally ill patients and provide evidence of the uniqueness of the resultant pattern to this population. Patients' environmental exposure was confirmed by the presence of toxins in the blood serum. All patients were administered psychological and physical symptom checklists, the Clinical Analysis Questionnaire, and a standardized intermediate neuropsychological examination. Results indicate a response pattern of symptoms including fatigue, low energy, weakness, poor concentration, poor memory, poor comprehension, headaches, aches and pains, clumsiness, sinus discomfort, mucus, eye problems, restlessness, and present performance inferior to prior level of functioning. Presence of these symptoms, as well as the uniqueness of this symptom pattern was supported by comparisons of the patient and standardization groups on the two standardized tests.

Basic criteria for determination of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) include hyperactivity, impulsivity, and distractibility. Four scales of the Personality Inventory for Children have been found to be useful in the diagnosis of ADHD. Impulsivity and distractibility can affect scores on the Hand Movements, Number Recall, Word Order, Spatial Memory, Arithmetic, Riddles, and Matrix Analogies subtests of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. Subjects were 100 children, aged six through 13 who were referred for psychological assessment. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a correlation between scores on the four scales of the PIC and the designated subtest scores on the KABC. Four correlations were significant, but of low magnitude.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the factor structure of items pertaining to health on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI2) for chronic back pain patients in comparison to a control group. The results may be used as groundwork for developing an MMPI2 subscale to describe this population. The groups differed in the sequence of the resulting factors and the percentage of variance accounted for by each factor. The factors extracted when evaluating the control group were titled in order: Poor Physical Health, Digestive Difficulties, Equilibrium, Depression/Malaise, and Multiple Somatic Complaints. Resulting factors for the pain group were: Depression/Malaise, Digestive Difficulties, Multiple Somatic Complaints, Headaches/Dizziness, and Neurological Reaction/Poor Physical Health.

Thirty-three children from a community sample, ages 5 to 13, were administered the Rorschach Inkblot Test, along with projective Draw-an-Animal and Draw-a-Person tasks and other psychological measures. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three test order conditions: Draw-an-Animal followed by the Rorschach, Draw-a-Person followed by the Rorschach, and Rorschach before any other projective test. The number of Human and Animal contents in the test records was examined. Analysis showed no significant differences among the three groups for production of the content variables, suggesting that the Rorschach Inkblot Test is relatively robust with respect to test order effects.

Participating in this study were 251 decorator consultants. The decorator consultant position is a direct sales position. The primary objective of this study was to demonstrate that a relationship existed between decorators' selection test scores and their job performance. The SRA Verbal Form, the EAS Numerical Ability Test, the EAS Space Visualization Test, and the Sales Attitude Checklist were evaluated as potential selection tests. Behavioral criteria and managerial ratings were used to assess job performance. Correlational analyses revealed that all the tests but the SRA Verbal Form were significantly correlated with two or more criteria.

The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of children on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (WPPSI-R) with their performance on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (SB:FE). One hundred and four children between 3 and 7 years of age were administered both tests. A moderate correlation was found between the WPPSI-R Full Scale IQ and the SB:FE Composite Score with a Pearson product-moment correlation of .46. This correlation suggests that the two tests are not interchangeable measures of children's intelligence. They may measure different, equally important aspects of intelligence. As both tests used are relatively new, the current findings should be considered one step in the accumulation of knowledge about the usefulness of the WPPSI-R.

A Magical Contagion and AIDS Scale was developed to address problems with existing Contagion and AIDS measures. Magical Contagion is an influence that exists after contact is terminated. It is comprised of Permanence, Holographic Effects, Moral Germ Conflation and Backward Action. Data from 280 undergraduates revealed low mean levels of Magical Contagion and AIDS. Contagion effects did not differ on demographic variables. Content validity, criterion-related validity, discriminate validity, and internal consistency were evaluated. Significant correlations were found between the Contagion Scale and Merging/Separation and Homophobia Scales. Negative correlations were found between the Contagion scale and the AIDS knowledge and social desirability scales. Alpha reliabilities were high (a > .93) for the Contagion scale and subscales. Factor analysis suggested the existence of a single factor and mixed support for three factors.

The present investigation assessed Health Belief Model (HBM) variables and a measure of physical activity for both younger and older adults. Results of discriminant analyses suggest HBM variables and physical activity can predict age-group membership with 89% accuracy. The younger sample (n = 88; M= 21.5 years) was significantly more anxious about aging, perceived more barriers to exercise, less control from powerful others, and more social support than the older sample (n = 56; M = 71.8 years). For the younger sample, those who perceived more benefits of exercise, had social support, were male, and were less anxious about aging were more active. For the older sample, those who perceived more benefits of exercise were more likely to be active.

At times called a philosophy and other times called a process, cutting score methodology is an issue routinely encountered by Industrial/Organizational (I/0) psychologists. Published literature on cutting score methodology appears much more frequently in academic settings than it does in personnel settings where the potential for lawsuits typically occurs more often. With the passage of the 1991 Civil Rights Act, it is no longer legal to use within-group scoring. It has now become necessary for personnel psychologists to develop more acceptable selection methods that fall within established guidelines. Designating cutoff scores with the Angoff method appears to suit many requirements of personnel departments. Several procedures have evolved that suggest enhancing the accuracy and reliability of the Angoff method is possible. The current experiment investigated several such procedures, and found that rater accuracy methods significantly enhance cutoff score reliability and accuracy.

Sexual abuse of children has profound negative effects on psychological development. This study examined the effects of sexual abuse on object relations functioning by using the Mutuality of Autonomy Scale (MAS, Urist, 1977) to score Rorschach protocols of 63 abused children and 60 non-abused clinical controls. The hypothesis that abused children would have less developed object relations than their non-abused counterparts was not supported. Neither was the hypothesis that children who experienced greater severity of sexual abuse would exhibit more malevolent object relations. The hypothesis that mean and modal MAS scores would be highly intercorrelated and interchangeable as research variables was supported. Comparisons of this sample to a normative sample are discussed.

The history and use of tests of intellectual ability, personality, and vocational interest is briefly discussed as background for an exploratory study in the use of these instruments in predicting successful restaurant manager performance. Most previous research regarding managerial potential has focused on perceptions of managerial ability rather than on performance issues. Sixty-eight restaurant managers were tested in order to assess general intellectual ability, personality traits, and vocational interests as predictors of performance criteria. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that general intellectual ability, vocational match, masculinity, ascendance, and sociability would be positively correlated with effective job performance ratings. Results of the study did not confirm these predictions.

Two continuous performance tests were administered to normal adult subjects. The mode of presentation (visual or auditory) and the type of task (vigilance or distractibility) were varied, and their effects on performance measured. Data were collected on eighty-two subjects, and results indicated that auditory presentation of stimuli increased the difficulty of both tasks. Results also suggest that the distractibility task administered in either mode was more difficult than the vigilance task. Intercorrelations among the four continuous performance tasks are provided. Normative data are presented on all four tasks administered. A measure of symptoms of attention-deficit disorder in adults, the Adult Behavior Checklist, was found to correlate significantly with another measure of pathology, the SCL-90-R.

This study assessed how Constructivist theory accounts for verbal dominance. Conversations of rotating dyads were tape recorded, then coded for measures of dominance. Subjects completed a trait dominance scale and a constructivist personality test. Interpersonal rankings of dominance were found to be more consistent with observed behavior than trait dominance scores. Extreme trait dominance scores were associated with a constructivist measure indicating maladjustment. Dyads identified as more resistant to change were found to use fewer verbal control strategies; male/male dyads were characterized by direct, functional interactions. Dyads that were highly comfortable with one another utilized fewer verbal control methods. Lastly, interactions in which participants reported unfamiliar self-experiencing utilized higher levels of verbal control. Implications for group processing, assessment of dominance and sex differences are discussed.

This study provides information regarding the validity and reliability of the Wood Prospective Meory Test (WPMT), a newly developed test consisting of three main subscales intended to measure prospective memory. Subjects were 69 college students (50 female, 19 male, age range 18-24), who were administered several memory tasks including the WPMT.The results of this study suggest that the subscales of the WPMT do not have sufficient internal reliability (.50, .60, and .44), and therefore, would be unlikely to correlate highly with any other measures. The usefulness of the WPMT as a clinical instrument is discussed.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of sexually aggressive behavior through the examination of humor appreciation among male undergraduates. As compared to nonaggressive males, sexually aggressive males showed a significantly greater appreciation for humor which negatively stereotyped females, portrayed prejudicial views of rape-and rape victims, and contained content related to male sex drive and virility. Differences in humor appreciation were also found for males with high sex drive. Additional findings included correlations between aggressive drive and sexually aggressive status, as well as between sex drive and likelihood to rape.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the job satisfaction and motivating potential of nursing jobs would be higher for nurses using Patient Focused Care (PFC) compared with nurses not using PFC. Nurses from a large metropolitan hospital served as subjects. Data were collected using three instruments designed to measure job satisfaction and motivating potential. Those instruments were the Job Diagnostic Survey, the Job Descriptive Inventory, and the McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale. It was hypothesized that nurses working on PFC nursing units would demonstrate greater job satisfaction and motivating potential than nurses working on non-PFC nursing units. The hypotheses were not supported. Results were explained by, among other things, accounting for the nature of the instruments used. The two instruments which gave data counter to the hypothesized direction were not nursing-oriented.

The purpose of the present study was to test a specific path model. It was hypothesized that the relationship between the impact (amount and valence) of stress and an outcome (expressing violence toward a partner) would be mediated by an individual's cognitive appraisal of stressful events. Multiple regression procedures were used to test the model. Standardized beta coefficients indicated the strength of the relationships among the variables. Significant findings indicated that the strength of specific relationships among the ten variables (impact of events, three types of primary appraisal, four types of secondary appraisal and the expression of threats and acts of physical violence toward a partner) differed depending upon subject sex and whether the impact of the events was perceived as positive or negative.

The use of scales on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) to detect defensiveness in criminal and nonclinical samples was evaluated. Forty-five male inmates of a county jail and 38 male undergraduate psychology students were provided with incentives to complete the PAI under two conditions: standard instructions and experimental instructions to feign a specific, positive role. The sequence of instructions was counterbalanced in both samples for the purpose of examining ordering effects. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed, yielding significant main effects of condition, group and order. Additionally, a step-wise discriminant function analysis significantly predicted group membership (i.e., subjects under honest and faking conditions) with a hit rate = 84.4%. Finally, a more effective cutting score for the Positive Impression scale was recommended.

The Aronson Cognitive Residual Evaluation Scale (ACRES), designed to assess residual cognitive functioning with potential loss due to age or CNS disorder, was examined with a male subject group. The five ACRES subtests were administered to 45 elderly males. Results were compared with a previously reported subject group of 48 elderly females. Measures of the subjects' levels of independent functioning and their performances on selected Wechsler Memory Scale Revised (WMS-R) subtests were related to ACRES scores. Intercorrelations among ACRES subtests suggest that more than one cognitive factor is assessed. WMS-R subtests showed moderately significant correlations with ACRES for verbal tasks and for nonverbal tasks. Findings were discussed within a framework of lateralization of CNS functions.

Differences in college student's psychological well-being, extrapunitiveness, and intropunitiveness were related to the presence or absence of maltreatment during childhood years, and its acknowledgement by the student. Subjects were 56 male and 85 female undergraduate students at the University of North Texas. Subjects were given structural scale v.3 of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), the Extrapunitive (E), and Intropunitive (I) indices of the Hostility-Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ), and the Physical Punishment scale (PP-scale) of the Assessing Environments Questionnaire (AEIII). Results indicate no significant differences in psychological well-being, extrapunitiveness, or intropunitiveness, which would be explained by the presence of maltreatment or its acknowledgement.

The TAT protocols of 30 sexually abused female children and 30 female children with no documented history of abuse were analyzed using the Scoring Scheme for the TAT and Other Verbal Projective Techniques (Fine, 1955). No significant differences were found between groups on mean number of negative feelings portraited in the TAT stories. Similarly, no significant differences were found between groups on mean number of unfavorable outcomes to TAT stories. However, when specific feelings were considered, subjects in the sexual abuse group showed a significantly higher incidence of reference to guilt and sexuality. These results were independent of age, race, and intelligence.