Psychology Commons^™

Good Risk Or Bad Risk: Development Of A Holistic Assessment Of Risk Perception, Joan C. Craig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of the current project was to create a measurement tool that could be used to assess all aspects of risk perception with one measure. There is a wide variety of risk-perception measures currently available; however, the vast majority of these measures assess a very specific risky activity, and many only assess a person’s perception of the possible negative consequences from the risk.

There are notable exceptions, such as measures that assess risk in various domains (e.g., DOSPERT scale; Weber et al., 2002) and assess perception of possible benefits (e.g., Fromme et al., 1997). There has also been research …

Improving The Methodology For Identifying Mild Cognitive Impairment In Intellectually High-Functioning Adults Using The Nih Toolbox Cognition Battery, Grant L. Iverson, Justin E. Karr

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: Low scores on neuropsychological tests are considered objective evidence of mild cognitive impairment. In clinical practice and research, it can be challenging to identify a cognitive deficit or mild cognitive impairment in high-functioning people because they are much less likely to obtain low test scores. This study was designed to improve the methodology for identifying mild cognitive impairment in adults who have above average or superior intellectual abilities.

Method: Participants completed the National Institutes of Health Toolbox for the Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB). The sample included 384 adults between the ages of 20 and …

Presumed Illegal Microaggressive Experience (Prime): A Microaggression Targeting Latinx Individuals, Aldo M. Barrita

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the US, people of color (PoC) are consistently the targets of microaggressions, a form of everyday racism (Pierce et al., 1977; Chavez, 2013) manifested in brief, commonplace, daily slights and indignities (Sue et al., 2007). After the 2016 elections, Americans immediately reported an increase in social tensions across racial groups (Pew Research, 2017). Latinxs, in particular, reported a steep rise in experiences with racial and ethnic discrimination (Gomez & Perez Huber, 2019; Jones et al., 2019), particularly around the context of immigration status (Santos et al., 2021). No previous research, however, has explored the experience of assumed illegality based …

The Study On Stress, Spirituality, And Health (Sssh): Psychometric Evaluation And Initial Validation Of The Sssh Baseline Spirituality Survey, Erica T. Warner, Blake Victor Kent, Ying Zhang, M. Austin Argentieri, Wade C. Rowatt, Kenneth Pargament, Harold G. Koenig, Lynn Underwood, Shelley A. Cole, Martha L. Daviglus, Alka M. Kanaya, Julie R. Palmer, Tianyi Huang, Mark A. Blais, Alexandra E. Shields

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper describes the development and initial psychometric testing of the baseline Spirituality Survey (SS-1) from the Study on Stress, Spirituality, and Health (SSSH) which contained a mixture of items selected from validated existing scales and new items generated to measure important constructs not captured by existing instruments. The purpose was to establish the validity of new and existing measures in our racially/ethnically diverse sample. Psychometric properties of the SS-1 were evaluated using standard psychometric analyses in 4,634 SSSH participants. Predictive validity of SS-1 scales was assessed in relation to the physical and mental health component scores from the Short-Form …

Psychometric Evaluation Of The Transgender Congruence Scale, T. Zachary Huit, Allura L. Ralston, J, Kyle Haws, Natalie Holt, Debra A. Hope, Jae Puckett, Richard Mocarski, Nathan Woodruff

Trans Collaborations Academic Papers

Introduction Despite increased attention to transgender and gender diverse (TGD) issues in psychological literature during the past decade, gaps remain for psychometric validation of TGD-specific measures. Kozee et al. (Psychology of Women Quarterly 36(2):179–196, 2012) addressed such gaps by creating the Transgender Congruence Scale (TCS), measuring gender acceptance and feelings of gender congruence between internal and external attributes across a broad range of gender identities. The current study extended Kozee and colleagues’ work by further examining the psychometric properties of the TCS.

Methods Between October and November of 2017, 210 transmasculine, transfeminine, and gender diverse adults between ages 19 …

Psychometric Development Of The Autism Trait Survey, Gwendolyn S. Barnhart

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

There are limited tools for professionals who work with individuals with autism to ascertain individuals’ strengths and challenges within the various facets of symptomology after diagnosis. Professionals can currently use personal interviews and psychological reports to determine individuals’ strengths and challenges to determine the types of services that would benefit them following initial diagnosis. The limitations of this practice are that the levels of understanding, accuracy, and use of these measures vary in the field. Furthermore, the norms of diagnostic measures are the entire population rather than solely individuals on the autistic spectrum/autistics (IOS/A). A new measure is necessary: one …

A Psychometric Evaluation Of The Best In Class Adherence And Competence Scale, Katrina A. Markowicz

Theses and Dissertations

It is critical to utilize treatment integrity instruments to support the evaluation of evidence-based programs in early classroom contexts. However, in the early childhood field, guidelines for collecting treatment integrity data are underdeveloped. Consequently, most treatment integrity instruments employed in the field solely assess adherence, vary in design features and have little psychometric evidence supporting their use. As such, this represents a gap in the field that might slow efforts to implement evidence-based programs. The current study examines the score reliability and validity of an observational treatment integrity instrument (The BEST in CLASS Adherence and Competence Scale [BiCACS]; Sutherland et …

Does The Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire Measure More Than Frequency Of Negative Thoughts?, Jennifer Krafft, Michael E. Levin

Psychology Student Research

Cognitive fusion is a psychopathological process that appears to be relevant to a wide range of disorders. This process is frequently measured with the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire (CFQ). However, the construct validity of similar measures has been criticized for substantial overlap with distress. It is possible the CFQ may excessively measure the presence of unwanted thoughts, rather than fusion per se. Therefore, this study examined the discriminant validity of the CFQ relative to a measure of automatic negative thoughts (the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire) in a college student sample (n = 389). While the two measures were highly correlated (ρ …

Psychometric Evaluation Of Genetic Literacy Instruments In A National Sample, Jamey T. Brumbaugh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The concept of genetic literacy continues to grow in clinical and social significance. Whether transforming current healthcare practices or raising questions about genetically-modified foods, genetic information and technologies are primed to further influence people’s lives. There is a growing need to understand how genetic literacy is currently assessed in order to inform and improve future test development. This study aimed to investigate the assessment of genetic literacy by psychometrically examining three contemporary genetic literacy instruments (i.e., Genetic Knowledge Survey, International Genetic Literacy and Attitudes Survey (iGLAS-GK), and University of North Carolina Genomic Knowledge Scale (UNC-GKS). Psychometric properties, including internal consistency …

The Development And Validation Of The Supportive Other Experiences Questionnaire: Integrating The Perspectives Of The Social Support Provider After Traumatic Injury, Katherine Ann Van Stolk-Cooke

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Social support is considered to be a protective factor against the development of PTSD after trauma. However, examinations of the social support-PTSD relationship have relied primarily on the self-reports of trauma-exposed individuals to the exclusion of their support providers. A new measure, the Supportive Other Experiences Questionnaire (SOEQ) was developed based on social support theory, prior research and psychometrics in order to capture important components of social support from the perspective of the support provider. Concerned Significant Others (CSOs) recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) platform who served as support providers to a traumatically injured romantic partner were recruited to …

Validity And Diagnostic Accuracy Of An Adhd Symptom Rating Scale For Identifying Adults With Adhd, Stacy Jean Graves

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Specific rating scales of ADHD symptomatology are often included in neuropsychological assessments evaluating adults diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The Barkley Adult ADHD Rating Scale-IV (BAARS-IV) is a widely used symptom rating scale that includes four questionnaires: self-report current, self-report childhood, other-report current, and other-report childhood. In addition to ADHD symptoms, each of the forms include items that assess functional impact and developmental history of symptomatology. While similar symptom rating scales have been found to have high validity and diagnostic utility in children, it is unclear the extent to which the BAARS-IV shares substantial common variance with other …

An Item Response Theory Analysis Of The Scoff Questionnaire In A Seventh Grade Population, Gerald J. Bean

International Journal of School Social Work

Eating disorders continue to be of concern to school social workers and health and counseling services staff in schools. There is a substantive need for scales that can help to measure both the extent to which eating disorders exist in a school population and to measure risk for specific students. Given that an eating disorder can be chronic and life-altering, early detection of risk is critically important. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a popular eating order screening scale—the SCOFF Questionnaire—in a seventh-grade population using Item Response Theory methods. Epidemiological studies have suggested that …

Assessment Instruments And Basic Personality Underpinnings Of Hypersexuality, Stephanie L. Montgomery-Graham

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Despite rejection of the Hypersexual Disorder (HD) diagnosis from DSM-5, individuals continue to present clinically with feelings of out-of-control sexual behaviour, clinicians continue to treat “sexual addiction,” and researchers continue to study HD-type symptomology. To further investigation of the HD construct, Levaque and colleagues (2016) used common HD assessment measures and found that between 16.7% and 37.8% of young adult males met clinically significant scores for HD. Phase one of this dissertation replicated the surprising finding in a North American community sample and furthered the research by testing the assessment tool used in DSM-5 HD field trials, and the first …

Measuring Outcome Expectations In Academic Persistence, Michael Kozlowski

Theses and Dissertations

Academic persistence, or a student’s decision to leave an institution of higher education, has remained an inveterate puzzle to researchers, theoreticians, institutions, and counselors. Despite a large body of theoretical and empirical literature, the rate at which students leave institutions of higher education has remained stable over the past 50 years. The discipline of counseling psychology has a long tradition of investigating academic persistence from a psychological perspective. Earlier investigations in counseling psychology focused on identifying psychopathological traits, cognitive abilities, and contextual factors associated with a student’s decision to leave. These investigations were met with a sociological reaction that has …

A Psychometric Evaluation Of Computerized Attention Measures In Young Children With Neurofibromatosis Type 1, Sara Katharine Pardej

Theses and Dissertations

Children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) often demonstrate difficulties with attention and executive functioning that can be evident even starting at a young age. Despite this consistent finding in the literature, there has been no research to determine which measures of attention are most suitable for use with children with NF1. Recently, there have been several computerized measures of attention and executive abilities that have become available to researchers and clinicians. This study explored the National Institute of Health Toolbox Flanker, Dimensional Change Card Sort, and List Sort Working Memory; Cogstate Identification; and Conners Kiddie Continuous Performance Test, second edition …

Neural Mechanisms Of Cognitive Individual Difference: An Investigation Of The Human Connectome Project, Shelly Renee Cooper

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Considering individual differences in task activation functional magnetic resonance imaging (t-fMRI) can be challenging because they may arise from variability in activity in brain regions, in the tasks themselves, or some combination thereof. Delineating sources of between-subjects variance is particularly important for cognitive control where task goals are at the forefront. Here we applied structural equation modeling (SEM) to the Human Connectome Project to examine if activity could be partitioned into separable brain and task individual difference dimensions. A series of SEMs were defined with varying numbers of latent factors, where the inputs were parcels of two cognitive control-related brain …

Does Extrinsic Motivation Affect Creativity Within Diverse Teams?, Gitanjali K. Viswanathan

Honors Theses

This study analyzes the relationship between extrinsic motivation and creativity in teams. The moderation effect of functionality, openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and diversity within a team is also considered. A survey was constructed and distributed to students within Sections 1 and 6 of the course Principles of Management at The University of Mississippi. Survey data were collected from 77 respondents and used for hierarchical regression and moderation analysis. The results of this study do not support extrinsic motivation as a significant predictor of creativity. Functionality, agreeableness, and conscientiousness each demonstrate a separate, significant interaction effect with extrinsic motivation. However, …

Can Ratings Of Item Location Enhance Statistical Item Parameter Estimation? Extending The Feasibility Of Unfolding Irt Models, Michael Mckenna

Dissertations

Research and development of modern psychometric methods such as item response theory have drastically changed the way we understand and carry out the measurement of psychological constructs. Despite this, there has been relatively little adoption by psychological researchers to incorporate these methods into their research. While multiple explanations are surely valid, one oft stated reason is the large sample size requirements of these methods. The sample size requirements of item response theory are needed so that effective estimation of item parameters can be carried out. In an attempt to make these modern measurement methods more accessible and feasible to psychological …

Development And Psychometrics Of The English Version Of The Itch Cognitions Questionnaire, Carolyn J. Heckman, Christina Schut, Mary Riley, Anke Ehlers, Rodrigo Valdes-Rodriguez, Jörg Kupfer, Uwe Gieler, Jerod L. Stapleton

Health, Behavior & Society Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to validate the English version of the Itch Cognition Questionnaire in a sample of patients with chronic itch due to psoriasis or atopic dermatitis. An English-language version of an instrument assessing itch-related cognitions is needed since cognitions can contribute to a worsening of itch, and chronic itch is prevalent in English-speaking counties and internationally.

METHODS: The German Itch Cognitions Questionnaire was translated into English, and cognitive interviewing was conducted to finalize item wording. Internal and test-retest reliability, item discrimination, responsiveness to change, and construct, convergent, and discriminant validity were assessed in a national …

Psychometric Analyses Of A Comprehensive Neuropsychological Battery For Retired Nfl Players, Kimberly Ethridge Fitzgibbon

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined psychometric properties of the NFL Concussion Battery used to examine neuropsychological functioning in retired NFL players who were part of the NFL’s concussion settlement. This battery assesses multiple areas of cognitive functioning; executive functioning, language, processing speed, attention and memory. The study included 117 participants who were male with at least 16 years of education. The sample was 75.9% African-American and average age was 47. All participants completed the entire battery and passed the majority of effort measures. Those that did not pass the majority of effort measures or complete the entire battery were excluded.

T-test analyses …

Creation Of Two Valid Scales: Willingness To Fly In An Aircraft And Willingness To Pilot An Aircraft, Stephen Rice, Scott R. Winter, John Capps, Justin Trombley, John Robbins, Mattie Milner, Tracy L. Lamb

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The purpose of the current study was to develop two scales that could be used concurrently or independently to measure passenger willingness to fly (WTF), and aviator willingness to pilot (WTP), respectively. This is especially useful to determine challenges involving acceptance of new aviation technology for both pilots and passengers. There were five stages in developing the WTF scale for passengers, following Hinkin’s scale development process. Cronbach’s Alpha and Guttmann’s Split Half tests were used to confirm high internal consistency and reliability, while factor analysis was used to confirm construct validity. The scale was tested in order to confirm sensitivity …

The Reliability Of Single-Item Assessments, Sijun Zhang

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Single-item assessments have become more popular recently in distinct areas, even though there is no consensus about whether they are sufficiently reliable. Researchers have developed methods to estimate the reliability of single-item assessments, some are based on factor analysis (method FA), correction for attenuation (method CA), and others employ Molenaar and Sijtsma’s theory (method MS), coefficient λ6 (method λ6), or latent class model (method LCRC). However, no empirical study has investigated which method estimates the reliability of single-item assessment most precisely. This study investigated this question via a simulation study. To represent assessments as found in practice, the simulation study …

Measurement Of Defusion: Further Validation Of The Drexel Defusion Scale, Christopher A. Briggs

Dissertations

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) seeks to develop psychological flexibility through the engagement of the six interrelated processes. Four processes employ mindfulness and acceptance strategies and consist of acceptance, defusion, present moment awareness, and the contextualized self. Two other processes, values and committed action, are grouped with present moment awareness and the contextualized self and are termed behavior change strategies. One issue encountered by contemporary behavioral approaches in general, and ACT in particular, is the measurement of the proposed processes. Measurement is complicated by the functional nature of some of the repertoires described making the development of instruments for assessment …

Factoring The Personal Profile System For Construct Validity: Three Analyses Under Different Standardization Assumptions, Thomas G. Henkel, James Noel Wilmoth

Tom G. Henkel

Three types of data were factor analyzed using principal components extractions with orthogonal and oblique rotations to test publisher claims for construct validity of the Personal Profile System (PPS). Behavioral descriptor data from 1,045 senior non-commissioned Air Force officers were factored as raw data, mean corrected data, and standardized z-scores (correlations). The most efficacious solution was produced with standardized z-scores generating four factors accounting for 86% of the total variance. The measure of sampling adequacy for every descriptor exceeded 0.922. The first factor was general with approximately equal loadings on each of the dominance, influencing, steadiness, and compliance dimensions. The …

Improving The Sensitivity Of The Vrin-R Scale On The Mmpi-A-Rf, Stefan E. Latulip

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

When respondents to self-report measures fail to answer in accordance with item content it distorts the accuracy of obtained test scores, degrading the ability of clinicians to use results to make accurate diagnoses and recommendations. The Variable Response Inconsistency (VRIN) scale was created for the MMPI-2 and was later revised as the VRIN-r scale for the MMPI-2-RF and MMPI-A-RF in order to detect and invalidate protocols over saturated with random responding. Analyses conducted by Pitta (2016) revealed that the VRIN-r scale for the MMPI-A-RF was not ideally sensitive to the detection of random responding in protocols. This study explored adding …

Effects Of Personality Retesting On Validity Coefficients As Moderated By Situational Strength, Daniel R. Abben

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The use of valid selection tests enables organizations to better select employees who have the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that are necessary for success. While cognitive ability tests are one of the best predictors of performance, they have well-known limitations. Specifically, they can result in adverse impact, and there is clear evidence of retest effects. The use of personality tests, when included in a selection battery, can ameliorate adverse impact and can provide incremental validity. Personality tests, however, also have limitations. Namely, they can be faked, the construct can be measured in various ways (i.e., there are myriad …

Assessing Meaningful Within-Person Variability In Likert-Scale Rated Personality Descriptions: An Irt Tree Approach, Jonas W. B. Lang, Filip Lievens, Filip De Fruyt, Ingo Zettler, Jennifer L. Tackett

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Personality researchers and clinical psychologists have long been interested in withinperson variability in a given personality trait. Two critical methodological challenges that stymie current research on within-person variability are separating meaningful within-person variability from 1) true differences in trait level and 2) careless responding (or person unreliability). To partly avoid these issues, personality researchers commonly only study within-person variability in personality states over time using the standard deviation (SD) across repeated measurements of the same items (typically across days)—a relatively resource-intensive approach. In this article, we detail an approach that allows researchers to measure another type of within-person variability. The …

Toward A Comprehensive Worldview Measure, Shailee R. Woodard

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Worldview is an individual difference construct that has been linked to various behavioral and health outcomes. However, very little is known about how worldviews develop and how worldview beliefs, values, and attitudes coalesce into different worldview factors. One obstacle that has impeded research on worldviews is the lack of a robust worldview measure. The creation of a new, more valid worldview measure will aid in answering these important questions. This research project is the first step in the creation of a more comprehensive worldview measure. The primary aims of Study 1 were to compile existing published worldview measures and reduce …

Shwartz, Morris, And Penna, 2019. Psychometric Properties Of The Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination.Pdf, Susan Shwartz

Susan Shwartz

Assessing Sexual Orientation Symptoms In Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Development And Validation Of The Sexual Orientation Obsessions And Reactions Test (Sort), M. T. Williams, T. H. W. Ching, G. Tellawi, Jedidiah Siev, J. Dowell, V. Schauldt, J. C. Slimowicz, C. T. Wetterneck

Psychology Faculty Works

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) includes many symptom presentations, which creates unique diagnostic challenges. Fears surrounding one’s sexual orientation are common within OCD (also called SO-OCD), but SO-OCD is consistently misdiagnosed by physicians and psychologists. To address this issue, we describe the development of a self-report measure for assessing SO-OCD to help distinguish OCD from distress caused by a sexual orientation identity crisis. The current paper details two studies that established the psychometric properties and clinical utility of this measure. In Study 1, the factor structure, validity, and reliability were examined for the measure’s 12 items in a sample of 1,673 university …