This thesis explored adolescent nonstutterers' preferences for the stuttering control patterns: bounce, prolongation, light contact, and conversational rate control. A videotape was produced of a black and white speaker imitating stuttering and portraying the four control patterns. Adolescents viewed the tape in small groups and rated the stuttering control patterns on a Likert seven point rating scale according to their degree of preference for each. The conversational rate control pattern was found to be the most preferred method of stuttering control for the adolescent viewer.Analyses of viewer race and socioeconomic status and the interactions between viewer race and speaker race were made also. The significant findings yielded a higher mean rating given to the black speaker by black and white viewers. This finding was interpreted in support of the hypothesis that adolescent peers expect and demand a return to increased fluency more so for a member of the black culture than of a white culture.

<p> The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has experienced decreased return on investment caused by hiring too many air traffic controller specialists (ATCSs) who performed poorly in field training, thus failing to become certified professional controllers (CPCs). Based on Schmidt and Hunter's theory of job performance and biodata theory, this quantitative, archival study examined whether factors of cognitive ability and biodata could predict job performance status of 2 generations of ATCSs, poststrike (PS) and next generation (NG) controllers. For each generation of controllers, binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine if any of the independent variables&mdash;transmuted composite (TMC) score for PS controllers, Air Traffic and Selection and Training (AT-SAT) test score for NG controllers, average of high school arithmetic/math letter grade, overall high school average letter grade, self-estimation of time to become fully effective in the ATCS role, self-estimation of percentile ranking in the FAA program relative to the class, size of neighborhood raised, or socioeconomic status&mdash;are significant predictors of job performance status for controllers as measured by whether they pass the field OJT (i.e., certified or still in training, or failed certification or left training). The regression results for the PS and NG controllers were found to be statistically significant (&chi;² (23) = 68.377, p &lt; .001) and (&chi;² (17) = 99.496, p &lt; .001), respectively. Findings that overall high school grade point average and socioeconomic status significantly predicted ATCS job performance for both PS and NG controllers could influence the FAA's use of revised biodata to better predict ATCS job performance. Further research should include studies of socioeconomic status, gender, and race to address new evidence that the AT-SAT has adverse impact.</p>

ABSTRACT This research is about identifying the characteristics or success profiles of professionals working in the turnaround industry. The turnaround industry possesses a number of dynamic capabilities in processes, positions, resources and paths that are unique to its industry. The firms that compete in the turnaround industry serve their clients, the dying organizations, by using a mix of these dynamic capabilities. While these dynamic capabilities are seen as the turnaround firms’ “secrets of success,” they have over time evolved into “best practices.” This commoditization of best practices in the turnaround industry has created a need for turnaround firms to search for a competitive advantage. Specifically, this advantage is identified in the literature as the skills, knowledge, and experience of the turnaround professional. These unique characteristics of the turnaround management professional (TMP), see appendix C for a complete definitions of terms, have been accounted for in the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) certification process called the Certified Turnaround Professional, or CTP. One of the TMA’s goals is to establish professional work standards and guidelines and to regulate the industry. While a noble effort, this focus takes the “competitive advantage” away from the turnaround organization and standardizes it into the “best practices” arena via “certified” professionals leaving these organizations to compete on size and location alone. Evidence from a focus group, case research interviews, and two different surveys, suggests that there is a profound difference in the effectiveness of TMPs beyond the knowledge, skill, and experience levels identified as one of the core components of dynamic capabilities theory. This evidence led to the investigation of psychometric profiling as a method to measure the distinct success profiles of these “highly successful” TMPs, or Most Valuable players (MVP). Measuring the thinking style (cognitive reasoning ability), work motivation, personality behaviors, and occupational interests of MVP s, has led to the discovery of a success composite. The findings of this research suggest that MVP s score higher on this composite than do other TMPs who were identified as “low performers”, or Least Valuable Players (LVP), as well as non-turnaround managers, executives, and business professionals in general. It is postulated that by using this composite score in hiring, training, and promoting turnaround professionals, a turnaround firm will obtain a competitive advantage in their industry and generate higher success for all stakeholders. Resultantly, the researchers have uncovered a critical gap in the dynamic capability theory surrounding the construct of human capital. Evidence suggests that psychometric profiling is an acceptable and, indeed, important measure of the value of human capital.

Objective. This thesis examines the invariance of a battery of neuropsychological tests to known education-associated differences in strategy implementation and neural resource allocation underlying cognitive task performance in older adults without cognitive impairment. Methods. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the fit of a three-factor measurement model (Verbal Ability, Visuospatial Ability, Long-term Retention; Tuokko et al., 2009) to scores from the neuropsychological battery of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) for the purpose of confirming the latent constructs measured by its 11 tests. Measurement equivalence of the model across lower- (LE; ≤8 years) and higher-educated (HE; ≥9 years) participants was then evaluated using invariance testing. Results. The measurement model demonstrated adequate fit across LE and HE samples but the loadings of the 11 tests (indicators) onto the three factors could not be constrained equal across groups. Two non-invariant tests of verbal ability (Animal fluency, token test) were identified that, when freed from constraints, produced an invariant model. Constraint of factor covariances did not compromise the partial invariance of this model. Because demographic characteristics of the LE and HE samples differed significantly, findings were replicated on age-and sex-matched subsamples. Conclusions. Two measures of verbal ability were not invariant across HE and LE samples of older adults, suggesting that the cognitive processes underlying performance on these tests may vary as a function of educational attainment. / Graduate

This series of studies reports on the prospective and concurrent relation of attachment to a narrative based assessment of the five year old child's internal world. It relies on the exploration of a relatively new research measure designed to explore the internal world of the young child. No published studies have yet investigated the validity of this measure in relation to thoroughly tested measures of attachment patterns in infants and parents. Additionally, this study will investigate the independent contributions of mother and father. The first two chapters review the literature and introduce the instruments to be used. The initial chapter examines the theoretical points of view regarding the internal world and mental representations from the perspective of psychoanalytic, cognitive and attachment theory. It then discusses the move to a level of representation in attachment research that has made the current study possible. Chapter Two considers the history of the technique of doll play as a research tool and examines the scant research that has been published using the MacArthur Story Stem Battery. Chapter Three responds to a need for psychometric information regarding the MacArthur Story Stem Battery and the corresponding MacArthur Narrative Coding System by reporting on the construction of reliable and valid factors/scales. Subsequent chapters present these scales associations to demographic variables collected before the birth and during the infancy of the target children. Later chapters report on the longitudinal and concurrent associations between the scales with categories of infant-parent, child-parent and parental representations of attachment security and with parental assessments of child problem behaviours utilizing the reliable and validated Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). In addition, an attempt is made to construct theoretical profiles of secure and insecure children's responses to the story stem battery and to apply these profiles to the four groups of attachment patterns in the sample. The discussion focuses upon the creation of psychometrically valid scales relevant to important aspects of the child's internal world. It also concentrates upon discussing the confirmed and unconfirmed results of the application of these scales to this low-risk, non-clinical sample of the London Parent-Child Project.

<p> <i><b>Objective:</b></i> The goal of this research was to empirically evaluate the predictive utility of Harrison Assessment Talent Management System (HATS) for use as a selection instrument within organizational settings. <i><b>Method:</b></i> This was done by investigating the strength of the relationship between the job fit percentages generated by HATS and the performance ratings (i.e., number of life insurance policies sold within the first 6 months of employment ) of 238 employees (201 men and 37 women) working for a large American insurance company. <i><b>Results: </b></i> The correlation between HATS prediction scores and performance ratings yielded significant findings, <i>r</i>(236) = .599, <i> p</i>> .0001, indicating HATS is a useful instrument for predicting employee performance. Ancillary analysis revealed only 7 of 156 predictor variables significantly correlated with performance ratings. Further statistical procedures aimed at exploring the contribution of all 7 variables to performance ratings were conducted using multiple regression techniques. A significant but modest relationship was found between the vector of predictor traits and job performance, <i> R</i> = .395, F(7, 230) = 6.083, p > .001. In addition, the HATS attributes of Systematic (&beta; = .275), Teaching (&beta; = 184), and Planning (&beta; = -.156) were found to be significant predictors of performance, <i> p</i> > .04. <i><b>Conclusions:</b></i> HATS was shown to be a significant predictor of job performance. The strength of the correlation coefficient along with its innovative methodology makes it somewhat unique among psychological tests used in organizational settings.</p><p> <i>Keywords: Harrison Assessments, Harrison Assessments Talent Management Systems, Psychometric Testing, Predicting Performance, Measuring Performance, Personality, Interests, Intelligence, Person-Environment Fit, Motivation, Mood, and Uncertainty Factors.</i></p>

The lack of a relevant and responsive health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measure for lung transplantation has prevented the estimation of HRQoL changes during the prolonged wait for donors and post-operatively in the long-term. The objective of this thesis study was to streamline 58 existing patient-generated items into a short and reliable lung transplant module for use with the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36-Item Health Status Survey (SF-36) which would improve the measurement of change. Seventy-six patients responded to both SF-36 and 58-item inventory at intervals pre- and post-operatively. Data were used to reduce the inventory. Concurrent clinical data were obtained to enable validation. Reliability was assessed through a simple replication study involving 39 patients. Content was verified with a group of lung transplant specialists who had no prior contact with the study. Two resulting scales were proposed: a 10-item "Functions and Feelings" and an 8-item "Symptom" scale. Preliminary psychometric properties, including responsiveness to change, were excellent for the "Functions and Feelings," however, the "Symptom" items could not be aggregated. With further testing of the proposed module, it can become a clinically-useful HRQoL measure for lung transplantation.

Collectivism and individualism are culturally-related psychological structures which have been used to distinguish people within and across various societies. From a review of the literature, it is argued that the most salient feature of individualism is valuing personal independence, which includes self-knowledge, uniqueness, privacy, clear communication, and competitiveness. Collectivism is associated with a strong sense of duty to group, relatedness to others, seeking others' advice, harmony, and working with the group. The purpose of the thesis is to explore how collectivist and individualist attributes affect the way people respond to Likert-type questionnaires. In the first study, a new measurement tool for individualism and collectivism was developed to address critical methodological issues in this field of cross-cultural psychology. This new measure the “Auckland Individualism and Collectivism Scale” defined three dimensions of individualism: (a) Responsibility (acknowledging one's responsibility for one's actions), (b) Uniqueness (distinction of the self from the other) and (c) Compete (striving for personal goals is one's prime interest); and two dimensions of collectivism: (d) Advice (seeking advice from people close to one, before taking decisions), and (e) Harmony (seeking to avoid conflict). The AICS avoids the need for measuring horizontal and vertical dimensions of collectivism and individualism, and the confounding effect of familialism on the collectivism-individualism constructs. The second study investigated the relationship between collectivism and individualism and various response sets that have been reported relating to the way in which individuals respond to Likert-type scales. Using structural equation modelling, the Collectivism-Individualism Model of Response Bias was developed. This model suggests two types of response sets: (a) the Impression-Response Bias which includes response sets such as social desirability and context, that affect the first four stages of responding to questions, namely receiving and retrieving data and making decisions; and (b) the Expression-Response Bias which includes response sets such as the extreme response set and the neutral response set that relate to the application of the responses, namely the actual answer chosen by the respondent. Collectivism is negatively correlated with context and with self deception enhancement whereas individualism is positively correlated with context and self deception enhancement and impression management. Context is positively correlated with extreme response set and negatively correlated with neutral response set. The Collectivism-Individualism Model of Response Bias suggests that collectivist and individualist attributes directly affect the Impression-Response Bias response sets and indirectly affect the Expression-Response Bias response sets. It was concluded that attributes of collectivism and individualism affect the decision made by the respondents and therefore lead to different responses to Likert-type questionnaires. Nevertheless, the effect of collectivism and individualism on the magnitude of the responses would be limited as it is mediated by the Impression-Response Bias response set. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

Collectivism and individualism are culturally-related psychological structures which have been used to distinguish people within and across various societies. From a review of the literature, it is argued that the most salient feature of individualism is valuing personal independence, which includes self-knowledge, uniqueness, privacy, clear communication, and competitiveness. Collectivism is associated with a strong sense of duty to group, relatedness to others, seeking others' advice, harmony, and working with the group. The purpose of the thesis is to explore how collectivist and individualist attributes affect the way people respond to Likert-type questionnaires. In the first study, a new measurement tool for individualism and collectivism was developed to address critical methodological issues in this field of cross-cultural psychology. This new measure the “Auckland Individualism and Collectivism Scale” defined three dimensions of individualism: (a) Responsibility (acknowledging one's responsibility for one's actions), (b) Uniqueness (distinction of the self from the other) and (c) Compete (striving for personal goals is one's prime interest); and two dimensions of collectivism: (d) Advice (seeking advice from people close to one, before taking decisions), and (e) Harmony (seeking to avoid conflict). The AICS avoids the need for measuring horizontal and vertical dimensions of collectivism and individualism, and the confounding effect of familialism on the collectivism-individualism constructs. The second study investigated the relationship between collectivism and individualism and various response sets that have been reported relating to the way in which individuals respond to Likert-type scales. Using structural equation modelling, the Collectivism-Individualism Model of Response Bias was developed. This model suggests two types of response sets: (a) the Impression-Response Bias which includes response sets such as social desirability and context, that affect the first four stages of responding to questions, namely receiving and retrieving data and making decisions; and (b) the Expression-Response Bias which includes response sets such as the extreme response set and the neutral response set that relate to the application of the responses, namely the actual answer chosen by the respondent. Collectivism is negatively correlated with context and with self deception enhancement whereas individualism is positively correlated with context and self deception enhancement and impression management. Context is positively correlated with extreme response set and negatively correlated with neutral response set. The Collectivism-Individualism Model of Response Bias suggests that collectivist and individualist attributes directly affect the Impression-Response Bias response sets and indirectly affect the Expression-Response Bias response sets. It was concluded that attributes of collectivism and individualism affect the decision made by the respondents and therefore lead to different responses to Likert-type questionnaires. Nevertheless, the effect of collectivism and individualism on the magnitude of the responses would be limited as it is mediated by the Impression-Response Bias response set. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

Collectivism and individualism are culturally-related psychological structures which have been used to distinguish people within and across various societies. From a review of the literature, it is argued that the most salient feature of individualism is valuing personal independence, which includes self-knowledge, uniqueness, privacy, clear communication, and competitiveness. Collectivism is associated with a strong sense of duty to group, relatedness to others, seeking others' advice, harmony, and working with the group. The purpose of the thesis is to explore how collectivist and individualist attributes affect the way people respond to Likert-type questionnaires. In the first study, a new measurement tool for individualism and collectivism was developed to address critical methodological issues in this field of cross-cultural psychology. This new measure the “Auckland Individualism and Collectivism Scale” defined three dimensions of individualism: (a) Responsibility (acknowledging one's responsibility for one's actions), (b) Uniqueness (distinction of the self from the other) and (c) Compete (striving for personal goals is one's prime interest); and two dimensions of collectivism: (d) Advice (seeking advice from people close to one, before taking decisions), and (e) Harmony (seeking to avoid conflict). The AICS avoids the need for measuring horizontal and vertical dimensions of collectivism and individualism, and the confounding effect of familialism on the collectivism-individualism constructs. The second study investigated the relationship between collectivism and individualism and various response sets that have been reported relating to the way in which individuals respond to Likert-type scales. Using structural equation modelling, the Collectivism-Individualism Model of Response Bias was developed. This model suggests two types of response sets: (a) the Impression-Response Bias which includes response sets such as social desirability and context, that affect the first four stages of responding to questions, namely receiving and retrieving data and making decisions; and (b) the Expression-Response Bias which includes response sets such as the extreme response set and the neutral response set that relate to the application of the responses, namely the actual answer chosen by the respondent. Collectivism is negatively correlated with context and with self deception enhancement whereas individualism is positively correlated with context and self deception enhancement and impression management. Context is positively correlated with extreme response set and negatively correlated with neutral response set. The Collectivism-Individualism Model of Response Bias suggests that collectivist and individualist attributes directly affect the Impression-Response Bias response sets and indirectly affect the Expression-Response Bias response sets. It was concluded that attributes of collectivism and individualism affect the decision made by the respondents and therefore lead to different responses to Likert-type questionnaires. Nevertheless, the effect of collectivism and individualism on the magnitude of the responses would be limited as it is mediated by the Impression-Response Bias response set. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.