M.A. (Psychological Counseling) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

D. Phil. (Industrial Psychology) / This study focused on the measurement of social desirability from a cross-cultural perspective. In applied settings industrial psychologists use social desirability scales to eliminate sources of bias or systematic error that are not relevant to the measured attribute, to identify applicants who are deliberately presenting themselves in a positive manner, to adjust personality scale scores or to flag potentially invalid personality profiles. Socially desirable responding on personality measures continues to be an important concern for researchers and practitioners due to the potentially serious consequences of response distortion in personnel selection contexts. The effect of socially desirable responding on the validity and utility of personality testing in employment settings has been extensively debated and researched internationally. However, depending on the operational definition of social desirability used and the choice of research design, research results have been mixed and at times contradictory. In addition, there is growing recognition that the cross-cultural transferability of the social desirability construct needs to be empirically examined. Furthermore, the influence of potential race and ethnic group differences in social desirability scale scores, which can lead to disproportional selection ratios, has not been sufficiently researched in South Africa. This study therefore focused on the systematic analysis of theoretical and scientific evidence relating to socially desirable responding in occupational settings across different cultures and across different personality instruments currently in use in South Africa.

Inclusive education generally promotes a shift away from the use of psychometric assessment for the placement of learners in special education facilities. This study, however, examines the potential role of psychometric screening for inclusive education in South Africa. This was done by investigating the relationship between selected demographic factors of age, gender, parental levels of education, and caregiver employment status – and psychometric test performances in children identified as having barriers to learning. The participant sample consisted of 329 primary school children aged between 6 and 15 years from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area. Demographic data was collected by means of a questionnaire completed in collaboration with participants’ caregivers and their school authorities. Participants were psychometrically assessed by means of the Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) and the Bender Gestalt Test (BGT), which are commonly used screening measures in the South African context. Results indicated a relationship between test scores and the demographic variables of age and gender on both the Raven’s CPM and the BGT. Paternal level of education was found to impact positively on the BGT scores when the father had achieved a Grade 10 level of education or higher. No statistically significant relationship was found between any of the other socio-demographic factors and the performance scores on the Raven’s CPM and the BGT. It was concluded that the measures appear to be free of undue influence or bias arising from demographic factors. They were found to be useful psychological measures which should be included in screening processes when identifying children with barriers to learning.

This study, focused on child mental development, has aimed to contribute and provide valuable information to a larger research project that is currently under way to create a set of norms for a South African population on the GMDS-ER. The primary aim of the study was to explore and describe the developmental profile of children from a low socio-economic status, aged between 3 and 8 years 4 months old, on the Griffiths Mental Development Scales- Extended Revised (GMDS-ER). The purpose of the study was to generate information on low socio-economic status and child mental development. A quantitative, exploratory-descriptive research design was employed. The participants were selected through a non-probability, purposive sampling procedure. Information was collated using clinical observations, biographical data, as well as the results of an assessment on the Griffiths Mental Development Scales Extended-Revised. The data were analysed using descriptive statistical tables[PJS1].

Child assessment has become imperative today as parents and teachers recognize the need for early diagnostic assessments to adequately cater for children’s’ diverse and growing needs so that children can benefit from services and attention in a psychological or educational setting. The Griffiths Mental Development Scales, an established and well-researched instrument is reported to be one of the most carefully designed measures of child development . Studies in various parts of the world have demonstrated that the Griffiths Scales are applicable to diverse populations and that they tap experiences that are common to different cultures. The recent revision and restandardisation of the Griffiths Mental Developmental Scales-Extended Revised (GMDS-ER) has necessitated investigations into its psychometric properties. In view of the important role that assessment measures play in the early identification of developmental delays, it is important that assessment measures are reliable and valid for their intended purpose(s). This study, which is part of a larger research project, attempted to explore and add further evidence of the construct validity of one of the six Subscales of the GMDS-ER, namely the Personal-Social Subscale (Subscale B). An exploratory-descriptive design using a triangulation approach was utilized to explore the construct validity of the Personal-Social Subscale. A nonprobability purposively selected sample of 18 experts working with children participated in the facet analysis to identify the constructs underlying Subscale B (the qualitative aspect of the study). The sample for the quantitative aspects of this study (i.e., the empirical validation of the identified constructs) was collected as part of the broader restandardisation and represented a stratified random sample of 1026 children between the ages of 3 and 8 years from across the United Kingdom and Eire. Three measures, namely a biographical questionnaire, the GMDS-ER and a construct evaluation form were used to gather the qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data was analysed by means of facet analysis and literature control. The quantitative data was analysed by using exploratory common factor analysis using oblique (DQUART) rotation to empirically verify the qualitatively identified construct model by specifying a onefactor solution for each underlying construct.

The general purpose of this study was to do further research work with Dombrose and Slobin's Photo-Analysis Test, and to construct a comparable Photo-Analysis Test without some of the possible defects which produced the unexpected results for Dombrose and Slobin. Both tests were used for measuring impulse, ego, and superego sex differences, and Dombrose and Slobin's test was also used for comparing age group differences of both sexes, on their impulse, ego, and superego responses. This study was also expected to contribute to the psychological literature concerning the sex differences on the self-rating of conscience as a determinant of behavior, as well as sex differences on the relative strength of the impulse, ego, and superego variables. The test constructed for the present study had both male and female photographs of a broad age range, instead of male photographs only, as in Dombrose and Slobin's test. The photographs were tested for ambiguity, and the items were tested for impulse, ego, and superego content, in preliminary studies. A seven point self-rating scale was constructed according to the specifications of the literature. This scale was expected to measure conscience as a determinant of behavior, with the scores acting as an independent means of testing the test for validity. Both tests were converted into a single group test, so that the photographs could be projected on the screen by the use of a projector. The test was given to two introductory psychology classes at the University of British Columbia, of which forty-two females and fifty-five males, eighteen and nineteen years of age, remained for the statistical analysis. The subjects were expected to project impulse and superego pressures through the processes of perception, apperception, empathy, and identification. Fifty hypotheses were set up for testing the experimental results, and both the Chi-square and t tests were used for testing the hypotheses. Fifteen hypotheses, which affected Dombrose and Slobin's test only, only demanded the results to be in the predicted direction and position in order to be verified. The other hypotheses had to be supported at the .05 level of confidence in order to be verified. The results show that the test constructed for the present study is a useful instrument for measuring impulse and ego sex differences, but not superego sex differences. Dombrose and Slobin1s test was not able to differentiate in the predicted direction between the sexes on any of the critical variables. The results from Dombrose and Slobin's test on the male age group differences were no better than could be expected by chance alone. The two female age groups, that were compared, verified the hypotheses set up for the impulse and ego variables, but not those set up for the superego variable. Since only two female age groups were compared, no definite conclusions can be formulated for the impulse, ego, and superego variables. The male photographs elicited more impulse and fewer ego and superego responses, from both male and female subjects, than the female photographs, but the superego differences were not significant statistically. Only the females produced more impulse and fewer ego responses in response to Dombrose and Slobin's test than in response to the female photographs. The male response was not in the predicted direction on any of the critical variables, when the responses to Dombrose and Slobin's photographs and the female photographs were compared. Both tests differentiate fairly well among the male groups which had been grouped on the basis of their own self-rating of conscience as a determinant of behavior. Dombrose and Slobin's test, however, differentiated much better than the test constructed for the present study when similar female groups were compared, but the differences were in the predicted direction only on the impulse and ego variables. Both tests appear to be measuring different things in males and females, and the superego variable differentiates poorest of the three critical variables. These tests, however, do appear to be measuring more than overt behavior, and seem to be getting at underlying psychodynamics. In general, the test constructed for the present study seems to be an improvement over Dombrose and Slobin's test. The self-rating scale seems to be a valid instrument for measuring conscience as a determinant of behavior for both sexes. It is suggested that more research work be done with both the Photo-Analysis Test and the self-rating scale. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Historically, moral awareness and conscience have been considered matters for speculation by philosophers and moralists and it is difficult to find many studies that set out explicitly to gather empirical evidence concerning conscience. A few psychologists, however, have attempted to measure these phenomena. These studies can be criticized because the moral categories and questionnaire items used were derived by "armchair" methods rather than by empirical methods. This study was undertaken as an attempt to develop, empirically, a reliable set of conscience items. From these items a scale to measure conscience in children of the age range found in grade eight in Vancouver schools could be constructed. In order to develop a set of conscience items by empirical methods, two tasks were undertaken: 1. To obtain empirical data regarding behavioural situations illustrating instances of moral awareness and conscience. 2. To construct, from these data, items describing these behavioural situations, to administer these items to a sample population and to test these items for reliability. The data were collected by presenting to 200 grade eight students a word list of categories evolved in a previous study. The subjects were asked to write statements, from their own experience, which would illustrate the meaning of each of these words. In this manner 5,440 statements were collected from which were evolved 247 items. These items were checked for understanding by presenting them to a sample drawn from the original population. Two scales were constructed from the original 247 items. Each of the scales was administered to 100 grade eight students and the results analysed. The analysis of the results consisted of testing the answers to the questionnaire items for significant differences in the way in which the subjects answered these items. A limitation of this thesis is that it excludes any reference to the areas of Lust and Sex. This exclusion was a condition set by the Vancouver School Board in granting permission to conduct the study in one of the schools. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that of the original 247 items, 229 items would lend themselves to a scale which would measure conscience in both boys and girls of the age range found in grade eight in Vancouver. While such a scale is outlined in the present study, the checking of its reliability and. validity is left for future study. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

More and more, accident studies conclude that accident-involved individuals can be identified by their personal characteristics and background. The problem of this study was to compare drivers who had incurred more than their share of accidents as opposed to drivers with relatively few accidents during a three year period of initial bus driving experience, using psychological tests and biographical data. Nine areas of biographical data and twenty-nine psychological test variables were analyzed from a group of seventy-three bus drivers. This psychological test battery, used at selection time, consisted of the Wonderlic Personnel Test, the American Transit Association Test, the Kuder Preference Record - Vocational, and a personality questionnaire. The top and bottom 20% of drivers in an accident distribution, involving all collisions, were established for comparison. Only four differences were significant dealing with the tests alone. It was found that the low accident bus driver has a higher intelligence factor, although most of the low accident group still fall in the lower average range of the general population. Minimum intelligence test scores were determined for selection purposes. The low accident driver has less interest in social service type of work and is not as strong in tolerance as the high accident driver. Dealing with the biographical data it was found that the low accident driver has been a resident in the city in which he is driving for a longer period of time, has had more previous commercial driving experience, has had fewer jobs in the past and has no recent work history of being in business for himself. Further indications, although lacking required statistical significance, are that the low accident driver tends to have more dependents, a better education, a better credit rating and is more likely to be a home owner. It was determined that the accident pattern forms early in service and that drivers with a record of repeated accidents in any one unit of time would repeat the accidents in another unit of time. It was suggested that a twelve month probationary period be in effect for all drivers. It was also suggested that a re-training program might be effective at the end of twelve months of service especially for those drivers having more than their share of accidents. An important result of this study was to point out the increasing importance of biographical data in determining characteristics of accident-involved bus drivers. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to explore some of the possibilities of a promising new culture-free, individual performance test of intelligence. This test, the Bhatia Patterns Test, was originally designed for a test battery that was used on Indian school children. The problem of this study was to determine if the Patterns Test had any value in a North American setting. One hundred and sixty-five pupils were tested with the Bhatia Patterns Test and the Porteus Maze Test. In addition, the I.Q. scores of the California Short Form Test of Mental Maturity, the scores of the Stanford Achievement Intermediate Battery (Form K) and the grade scores of the pupils were collected. More specifically, this study wished to ascertain whether there were any differences between sexes with the Patterns Test, whether the Patterns Test and the Maze Test correlated significantly, whether the Patterns Test was related to a standardized group achievement measure, and whether the Patterns Test was related to the pupils’ grade scores. One hundred and sixty-five school pupils were chosen at random from grades four, five and six from five Vancouver elementary schools. The subjects were given the Patterns Test and the Maze Test in a counterbalanced design to determine whether either of the tests had an effect upon each other. The counterbalanced design was analyzed by a two by two latin square. In addition, all the scores were correlated with each other to determine what relationships existed between the various measures. It was concluded that there were no sex differences among the scores of the subjects. The Bhatia Patterns Test and the Porteus Maze Test did not correlate significantly. The Patterns Test correlated higher with a standardized achievement test than did a group measure of intelligence. The Patterns Test did not correlate significantly with the pupils’ grade scores. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that positive transfer is a function of the degree of inter-list stimulus similarity, and the degree of learning of an initial list. More specifically, the following hypotheses, derived from E. J. Gibson's theory of verbal learning, were tested: 1. Positive transfer is a function of inter-list stimulus similarity. A decrease of inter-list stimulus similarity will result in a decrease in the amount of positive transfer. 2. Less positive transfer will occur to a second list if practice of an initial list is continued after discrimination has been established among the stimulus items. The effect of the interaction between inter-list stimulus similarity and the degree of initial list learning was also assessed. Since the status of Gibson's theory did not enable the deduction of a hypothesis, the null hypothesis was tested. Sixty subjects learned an initial list of eleven stimulus forms paired with nonsense syllables of zero associative value. The subjects were required to learn each syllable so that they could spell it when the appropriate form was presented. Learning was by the method of right associates, and material was presented at the rate of two seconds per item, with a six second interval between trials. Thirty of the subjects learned this list to a criterion of one perfect recitation, and the other thirty subjects learned it to a criterion of five consecutive perfect recitations. When the criterion had been reached, the subjects were given a ten minute interval in which-to rate a series of thirty jokes. The subjects were then assigned to three groups. Each group consisted of ten subjects who had learned the initial list to a criterion of one perfect recitation, and ten who had learned it to five consecutive perfect recitations. As a transfer task, each group received a different list of paired associates, whose stimulus members were of either medium, low or zero similarity to those of the initial list. Each group learned this task to a criterion of one perfect recitation. Th8 main findings and conclusions of the study were as follows: 1. Positive transfer is a function of the degree of inter-list stimulus similarity. Significantly less transfer occurs to a list of zero similarity than to a list of medium similarity or to one of low similarity. There is no significant difference between the amount of transfer to a list of medium similarity and the amount of transfer to one of low similarity. This indicates that the relationship between positive transfer and inter-list stimulus similarity is indirect, whereas Gibson's theory indicates that the relationship should be linear. 2. Increasing the degree of initial list learning from one perfect recitation to five consecutive perfect recitations does not significantly decrease the amount of positive transfer. This was considered to be an inadequate test of Gibson's hypothesis, because the criterion of one perfect recitation did not allow discrimination to be established among the items. 3. There is no interaction between inter-list stimulus similarity and the degree of initial list learning. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate