Error production in children's reproductions of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (R-OCF) was examined in this study. Subjects were a control group of normal children and two clinical groups--a language-based learning disorder group (LD) and a group of children with learning disorders secondary to tumors in the posterior fossa (infra-tentorial) region of the brain. The children were between the ages of 9 and 12 years. The LD groups consisted of 7 subjects with learning disorders primarily referenced to left frontal systems (LD-LF) and 18 subjects with learning disorders primarily referenced to left hemisphere systems in general (LD-LH). The tumor group consisted of 13 subjects. Subjects in the clinical groups were matched for age, sex, and handedness with the control subjects. A scoring system was devised to evaluate the production of ten error types across copy, immediate recall, and delayed recall administrations of the R-OCF. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine whether there were significant differences in error production between the control group and the two clinical groups across the copy and immediate recall conditions and between the two clinical groups across the copy, immediate recall, and delayed recall conditions. Problems of statistical power and sample size resulted in the elimination of the LD-LF group from the analyses. Consequently, the question of differences in error production between the LD-LF and LD-LH groups could not be answered and awaits research with a larger sample. Overall, results indicate that error analysis can reliably differentiate normal children from children in clinical groups. Children in the LD-LH and tumor groups produced significantly higher frequencies of errors in reproductions of the figure than children in the control group under copy and immediate recall conditions. Data on specific error types differentiating the control and the clinical groups is presented. The results also indicate that error analysis can reliably differentiate children in the LD-LH group from children in the tumor group. Data on specific error types differentiating the two clinical groups across the copy and immediate recall conditions is presented. No significant differences emerged between these two groups in error production for the delayed recall condition. Suggestions for conducting further research on error production in children's reproductions of the R-OCf are discussed.

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Emerging research has suggested that the nature of cognitive deficits in Amnestic-MCI (a-MCI) may extend beyond memory impairments and can include deficits in attention (Gualtieri & Johnson, 2005; 2007). Recent studies have found significant differences between subjects with a-MCI and cognitively healthy individuals on measures of processing speed (Gorus, De Raedt, Lambert, Lemper, & Mets, 2008; Gualtieri & Johnson, 2005; Levinoff, Saumier, & Chertkow, 2005; Silveri et al., 2007). The current study sought to add to the limited research currently available on processing speed in a-MCI by comparing cognitively healthy individuals (M age = 64.57; SD = 6.61) and an age-matched a-MCI group (M age = 64.19; SD = 5.79) on a measure of processing speed, an index of attention. Second, the study evaluated the utility of the “25 Numbers Test” in differentiating individuals with a-MCI from a cognitively healthy group of participants. As expected, the participants with a-MCI performed more poorly (t(72) = -5.96, p < .01) on the 25 Numbers Test and demonstrated greater intra-individual variability in comparison to the cognitively healthy group (t(72) = -3.009, p < .01). The 25 Numbers Test effectively discriminated cognitively healthy individuals from those with a-MCI (AUC = 0.85, p < .01). Results will add to the limited research on processing speed in a-MCI and provide a basis for the importance of evaluating processing speed as part of routine screening for a-MCI.

The advantages that computer adaptive testing offers over linear tests have been well documented. The Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) design is more efficient than the Linear test design as fewer items are needed to estimate an examinee's proficiency to a desired level of precision. In the ideal situation, a CAT will result in examinees answering different number of items according to the stopping rule employed. Unfortunately, the realities of testing conditions have necessitated the imposition of time and minimum test length limits on CATs. Such constraints might place a burden on the CAT test taker resulting in aberrant response behaviors by some examinees. Occurrence of such response patterns results in inaccurate estimation of examinee proficiency levels. This study examined the effects of test lengths, time limits and the interaction of these factors with the examinee proficiency levels on the occurrence of aberrant response patterns. The focus of the study was on the aberrant behaviors caused by rushed guessing due to restrictive time limits. Four different testing scenarios were examined; fixed length performance tests with and without content constraints, fixed length mastery tests and variable length mastery tests without content constraints. For each of these testing scenarios, the effect of two test lengths, five different timing conditions and the interaction between these factors with three ability levels on ability estimation were examined. For fixed and variable length mastery tests, decision accuracy was also looked at in addition to the estimation accuracy. Several indices were used to evaluate the estimation and decision accuracy for different testing conditions. The results showed that changing time limits had a significant impact on the occurrence of aberrant response patterns conditional on ability. Increasing test length had negligible if not negative effect on ability estimation when rushed guessing occured. In case of performance testing high ability examinees while in classification testing middle ability examinees suffered the most. The decision accuracy was considerably affected in case of variable length classification tests.

Pica is a potentially life-threatening behavior problem displayed by many individuals with developmental disabilities that can result in serious medical complications. The purpose of this study was to compare findings from a functional analysis (FA), which is the state of the art method of behavioral assessment, with two indirect assessment measures: the Motivational Assessment Scale (MAS) and the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF). For three participants, results from the indirect measures paralleled those of the FA in identifying the function of pica. The indirect measures were more cost and time efficient. Use of these indirect methods of assessment not only identified the functional relations that served to maintain pica, but also served as a simpler, less time consuming and accurate alternative to an FA. When an FA is time or cost prohibitive, use of the MAS and QABF may be helpful in suggesting the function of pica.

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Latham, Saari, and Fay (1980) asserted that their behavioral observation scales (BOS) produce stably high scale reliabilities across rating occasions. Kane Bernardin (in press) argued that this was due to methodological flaws. They faulted Latham et al. first for scale optimization and secondly, for utilizing the same sample of raters when evaluating the stability of their scale reliabilities. Kane and Bernardin hypothesized that rater-specific illusory halo contributed to producing the stably high reliabilities that Latham et al. reported. This study was a test of that hypothesis. Additionally, the temporal stability of halo, leniency/severity, restriction of range, differential accuracy, and internal consistency, and the intercorrelations among four of these rating behaviors were investigated. Particular interest was directed toward the relationship between differential accuracy and the first three measures, as well as to the relationship between two different definitions of halo. Subjects were 274 undergraduate students. Performance ratings of videotaped managers were collected on two separate occasions. Replication samples were manipulated to be either independent of the original sample with respect to both raters and ratees, raters only, ratees only, or not independent at all. Findings were not consistent with the hypotheses. The stability of scale reliabilities does not appear to be affected by idiosyncratic rater biases such as illusory halo. Furthermore, a strong ratee effect was observed in nearly every assessment of the stability of and correlations among the rating behavior measures. A weak positive correlation between halo and accuracy was found, substantiating previous findings, and the two halo measures were found to correlate strongly with one another. / Master of Science

Thèse--Neuchâtel. / Bibliography: p. 105-108.