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In New Zealand, Māori currently experience the "poorest health status of any ethnic group" characterised by high rates of physical and mental illness, educational underachievement, unemployment, criminal incarceration, and low socioeconomic status (Durie, 1998; Ministry of Health, 1999, 2002a, p. 2). Despite attempts to reduce the disparities between Māori and other New Zealanders, Māori continue to have a lower life expectancy than non-Māori (Durie, 1998; Reid, 1999). Māori children show similar levels of disadvantage experiencing high rates of illness and preventable death (Ministry of Health, 1998). Māori children also achieve poorly in educational settings, with literacy levels and overall involvement in education found to be below that of non-Māori (Ministry of Education, 2003a). Research findings have identified that health and educational disparities may be explained in part, by a mismatch between current approaches to practice and service delivery, and the values, beliefs, and experiences of Māori (Phillips, McNaughton, & MacDonald, 2004). In line with such findings, a number of standardised psychometric tests developed outside of New Zealand, have also been found to produce culturally biased results when used with Māori (Ogden, 2003; Ogden & McFarlane-Nathan, 1997). The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-III) is one such test which is currently used in New Zealand to measure receptive vocabulary skills (Stockman, 2000). This research investigated the suitability of the PPVT-III with 46 Māori children from three different age groups. Results revealed that the PPVT-III appeared to be suitable for use with Māori, although a number of suggestions were made as to ways in which the administration and interpretation of PPVT-III test scores could be adjusted when working with Māori. Additional research is required to establish whether changes to culturally biased items may improve the validity of the PPVT-III for use with Māori.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / The diagnosis of adult ADHD is a complex process that requires information from different sources. Instruments are used to screen or diagnose adult ADHD. The aim of the study was to identify instruments measuring adult ADHD from good quality research. This systematic review was executed following the recommended PRISMA steps. A comprehensive search was conducted across identified databases. The SFS scoring system was used to critically appraise for methodological rigour and coherence. Meta-synthesis was used to summarize extracted data from 26 articles included in the final summation. Ethics clearance was issued by the UWC Senate Research Committee. Sixteen instruments measuring adult ADHD were identified. Screening instruments measure core symptoms whereas diagnostic instruments assess all criteria. Fourteen instruments were based on DSM-IV criteria and four were based on DSM-V criteria for adult ADHD including rival explanations for the symptoms. The lack of adoption of DSM-V criteria remains a concern given criticism against DSV-IV criteria for adult ADHD. Overall instruments presented acceptable psychometric properties. However, the performance of the instruments was study dependent. A cautionary note is that these indices must be interpreted carefully. Further research must explore the reasons underlying the lack of adoption of DSM-V criteria in research, and the lack of revision of instruments measuring adult ADHD.

For my senior thesis, I am planning to blend my mathematical studies with my second field of study, psychology. In particular, to develop and test various scoring methods for a multidimensional, psychometric measure of social skills/competence. I would work with the Social Skills Inventory (see below) and an existing data set, using statistical modelling to design a more representative total score measure. The current total score measure does not appear to take into account balances and value weights of the six inventory items.

Mindfulness is an element of consciousness which has historically been associated with well-being. Mindfulness-based clinical interventions intend on reducing cognitive vulnerability to emotional distress and have produced promising results. Such endeavors however rest upon the dissent that remains among researchers on how to operationally define the construct. Measuring mindfulness in a valid and reliable manner is an essential part of scientific inquiry and facilitates the effort to define the construct. This study examines three newer self-report mindfulness instruments; Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS) and the Experiences Questionnaire (EQ). A sample of non-meditators (Texas A&M University students; n =141) and meditators (non-clinical population from Bay Area, California; n =157) with a wide range of meditation experience completed the instruments. Multiple correlations allowed for an in-depth examination of the measures at full-scale and sub-scale level and all yielded significant and positive relations. Regression analyses established that meditation does increase mindfulness scores as measured by the FFMQ, TMS and EQ. Sub-scales FFMQ Observe, FFMQ Non React and TMS Decenter increased most of the combined eight facets; while FFMQ Describe and FFMQ Aware increased least. Lastly, the study examined how various aspects of meditation practice affect total mindfulness. Aspects of practice included: Number of sittings per week (sit/wk); time spent per meditation sitting (time/med); how long the participant has engaged in formal meditation (how long) and style of meditation (style). Meditation styles were grouped into the following categories; 1) Mindfulness, Vipassana, Zen and Shambhala; 2) Concentration and Transcendental; 3) Blend and 4) “I don’t know”. “Sit/wk”, “how long” and “style” were predictive of total mindfulness, with “how long” being the strongest predictor. All the mindfulness facets were predicted by meditation style except for FFMQ Observe, FFMQ Describe and TMS Curiosity. Meditation styles mindfulness, Vipassana, Zen and Shambhala were associated with the highest mindfulness scores.

Previous research has shown that information encoded self-referentially often promotes superior recall than that encoded relative to others, semantically, or perceptually. This finding has been labeled the Self-Reference Effect (SRE). However, prior investigations have only used explicit (i.e., conscious) tests of memory, neglecting the possibility that these results could be mediated by implicit (i.e., unconscious) memory processes. Moreover, there is minimal information on the neuropsychological processes that may be involved in self-referential memory, whether explicit or implicit. This study examined subjects' implicit and explicit memory for adjectives that had been encoded self-referentially, relative to an unknown other, and structurally. Furthermore, neuropsychological measures were given.The results suggest a complex relationship between levels of self-reference, self-awareness, memory, and the general neurological areas that may support these processes. Subsequent investigations should take into account the fact that implicit memory is likely to influence self-referential encoding and retrieval. Should these findings be replicated, it could potentially influence a broad base of theoretical work in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, as well as clinical work in the areas of: traumatic brain injury, certain psychiatric disorders, amnesia, age-related memory deficits, and anosognosia (unawareness of deficits).

The violent sexual assault of women and the rehabilitation of its perpetrators is an area of crime that has been scarcely researched. The problem of sexual aggression is multi-dimensional and accordingly a comprehensive assessment needs to address a wide range of psychological vulnerabilities and offence process characteristics to enhance treatment customisation. The purpose of this study was to create a clinician rated measure for the treatment classification of rapists – Checklist of Offence Pathways – Rapist Version - and to assess the measure’s reliability and validity. The 15-item measure was created using the framework of the pathways model (Ward & Hudson, 1998; Ward, Hudson, & Keenan, 1998). The measure was divided into two subscales measuring approach vs. avoidant goals and active vs. passive strategies. Both subscales demonstrated significant interrater reliability (r = .53 and r = .46, respectively) as well as internal consistency (a = .50 and a = .60, respectively). The majority (80%) of the inter-item correlations were uncorrelated or weak indicating that the test items were measuring separate constructs. Validity analysis indicated that a number of test items displayed convergent and discriminant validity with established psychometric scales. Overall these results suggest that this measure provides a useful framework for understanding sexual aggression and selecting treatment strategies for rapists, while avoiding some of the pitfalls associated with dissimulation in self-report measures.

This thesis presents two studies that are concerned with evaluating the psychometric properties of the revised version of the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS; Nideffer, 1976) - the TAIS2 (Nideffer, n.d.). The original TAIS has many psychometric weaknesses but the revised version was developed in an attempt to rectify the problems of the original. The aim of Study One was to explore the internal consistency and construct validity of the TAIS2 attention subscales. These psychometric properties were evaluated on a sample of 119 undergraduate students who completed the TAIS2 along with measures of anxiety and the

In New Zealand, Māori currently experience the "poorest health status of any ethnic group" characterised by high rates of physical and mental illness, educational underachievement, unemployment, criminal incarceration, and low socioeconomic status (Durie, 1998; Ministry of Health, 1999, 2002a, p. 2). Despite attempts to reduce the disparities between Māori and other New Zealanders, Māori continue to have a lower life expectancy than non-Māori (Durie, 1998; Reid, 1999). Māori children show similar levels of disadvantage experiencing high rates of illness and preventable death (Ministry of Health, 1998). Māori children also achieve poorly in educational settings, with literacy levels and overall involvement in education found to be below that of non-Māori (Ministry of Education, 2003a). Research findings have identified that health and educational disparities may be explained in part, by a mismatch between current approaches to practice and service delivery, and the values, beliefs, and experiences of Māori (Phillips, McNaughton, & MacDonald, 2004). In line with such findings, a number of standardised psychometric tests developed outside of New Zealand, have also been found to produce culturally biased results when used with Māori (Ogden, 2003; Ogden & McFarlane-Nathan, 1997). The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-III) is one such test which is currently used in New Zealand to measure receptive vocabulary skills (Stockman, 2000). This research investigated the suitability of the PPVT-III with 46 Māori children from three different age groups. Results revealed that the PPVT-III appeared to be suitable for use with Māori, although a number of suggestions were made as to ways in which the administration and interpretation of PPVT-III test scores could be adjusted when working with Māori. Additional research is required to establish whether changes to culturally biased items may improve the validity of the PPVT-III for use with Māori.

Many researchers have examined religiosity, including measures of religiosity. However, researchers studying religiosity have often ignored behaviors associated with religion. The present research attempts to open up this area by constructing a measure of religiosity based completely on a study of overt behavior. The Behavioral Religiosity Inventory (BRI) determines which specific behaviors participants express as devotion to their religions and how much time they spend engaging in those religious activities. This measure of religiosity was constructed from responses given as part of focus groups, which provided valuable information about the daily religious life of college students. Three hundred ten college students were recruited and successfully completed all of the measures and requirements of this study, which included the BRI, and four other scales and demographic questions to validate the new measure. An exploratory factor analysis indicated that the BRI could assess three factors, Independent Activities, Ritualistic Traditional Activities, and Group Activities. Internal consistency was excellent for the overall survey, and the Independent and Group Activities factors. Finally, the validity coefficients comparing the BRI and the other measures of religiosity supported the validity of the BRI. The measure seemed to be well supported by all evidence.