Review of Studies on Incremental Validity of Assessment Measures Used in Psychological Assessment of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Few studies have summarized the literature relevant to the incremental validity of tools and procedures for the assessment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The current project reviewed such studies published in the prior 18 years. Results from studies on the incremental validity of measures used in the assessment of ADHD were reviewed.

The missing piece in block design tasks: Resolving performance differences elicited by designs with identical stimulus parameters.

Block design stimulus variables (perceptual cohesiveness, response uncertainty, partial components) have been previously shown to impact test performance. However, relevant studies suggest designs that "look" different should elicit similar performance, where these stimulus parameters are identical. The current study sought to explore other, previously unidentified parameters.

A pilot study examining the severity and outcome of the post-cardiac arrest syndrome: a comparative analysis of two geographically distinct hospitals.

Background: Cardiac arrest occurs in >400 000 patients in the United States per year, and mortality rates vary across the country. Whether variations in cardiac arrest outcome are the result of differences in hospital or patient characteristics remains understudied. We tested whether hospital-independent factors would account for the difference in outcome between 2 geographically distinct hospitals.

Assessing the reliability of the Gambling Functional Assessment: Revised.

Dixon and Johnson (Anal Gambl Behav 1: 44-49, 2007) proposed the Gambling Functional Assessment as a tool to identify the consequences maintaining the respondent's gambling behavior, but subsequent studies on its psychometric properties suggested that it could use improvement. The present study investigated the internal consistency of the Gambling Functional Assessment--Revised using the responses of 1,060 undergraduate students. Temporal reliability was assessed by a second administration of the measure four (n = 87) or twelve (n = 98) weeks after the first administration.

Testing the construct validity of the gambling functional assessment-revised.

An attempt was made to modify the Gambling Functional Assessment (GFA), which was proposed to identify four possible contingencies maintaining the respondent's gambling behavior. However, previous research found that it only identified two contingencies (i.e.

Learning effects in the block design task: a stimulus parameter-based approach.

Learning effects were assessed for the block design (BD) task, on the basis of variation in 2 stimulus parameters: perceptual cohesiveness (PC) and set size uncertainty (U). Thirty-one nonclinical undergraduate students (19 female) each completed 3 designs for each of 4 varied sets of the stimulus parameters (high-PC/high-U, high-PC/low-U, low-PC/high-U, and low-PC/low-U), ordered randomly within a larger set of designs with mixed stimulus characteristics. Regression analyses revealed significant, although modest, learning effects in all conditions.

Retention of high tactile acuity throughout the life span in blindness.

Previous studies of tactile acuity on the fingertip, using passive touch, have demonstrated an age-related decline in spatial resolution for both sighted and blind subjects. We have reexamined this age dependence with two newly designed tactile-acuity charts that require active exploration of the test symbols. One chart used dot patterns similar to braille, and the other used embossed Landolt rings.

Assessing the reliability of the Gambling Functional Assessment.

Dixon and Johnson (Analysis of Gambling Behavior 2007, 1:44-49) introduced the Gambling Functional Assessment (GFA), which attempts to identify the consequences that may be maintaining a person's gambling behavior. The present study had 949 introductory psychology students complete the GFA, with 124 of them completing the measure a second time 12 weeks later. Measures of internal consistency were quite good regardless of whether "non-gamblers" were included or excluded.

Testing the construct validity of Dixon and Johnson's (2007) Gambling Functional Assessment.

The Gambling Functional Assessment (GFA; Dixon & Johnson, 2007) is a 20-item self-report inventory identifying four potential consequences maintaining gambling behavior. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses are performed for two large, nonclinical samples of university undergraduates. For the exploratory analysis, the optimal model yields two factors: Positive Reinforcement (correlated with GFA Sensory, Attention, and Tangible scores) and Negative Reinforcement (correlated with GFA Escape scores).

Relationship of stimulus and examinee variables to performance on analogous visual and tactile block construction tasks.

Nonverbal/spatial tests are unavailable for persons with visual impairments, despite decades of documented need and developmental effort. Because past tactile analogs of block design (BD) tests have not been widely accepted, known BD test parameters were compared across visual and tactile designs to assess the applicability of the test across modalities. Contrary to expectations, edge-cueing of designs with no perceptual cohesiveness (PC) improved tactile and visual performance.