Thesis (Psy.D.)--Fairleigh Dickinson University, 2001. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 62-01, Section: B, page: 0597. Chairperson: Judith Kaufman. Available also in print.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Prevention science has suggested that universal screening can enhance educational and mental health outcomes in the schools (Greenberg et al., 2003). A three-tier model of prevention has been proposed by Albers, Glover, and Kratochwill (2007) and Brown-Chidsey and Steege (2005) employing universal screening assessments of basic academic skills at Tier-1. Curriculum-based measurement maze (CBM-maze) probes are universal screeners that were developed as measures of reading comprehension. They are characterized as easy to administer, time-efficient, valid, and reliable (Parker, Hasbrouck, & Tindal, 1992). CBM-maze probes are short stories consisting of 400 words where every seventh word is omitted and replaced with three answer choices. Students are given 3-minutes to read the passage silently and select a word from the answer choices that restores the meaning of the story. Maze probes have been utilized as reading comprehension assessments for universal screening (Tier 1) and progress monitoring (Tier 2 and Tier 3; Espin, Deno, Maruyama, & Cohen, 1989; D. Fuchs & Fuchs, 1992). The current research study was conducted to further extend the research on the reliability and validity of CBM-maze probes. More specifically, it investigated if there were any differences between 1-minute, 2-minute, and 3-minute time frames, alternate form reliability, concurrent validity, and social validity of the maze probes. Results indicated differences in correct word selections (CWS) between 1-minute, 2-minute, and 3-minute time frames with significant interaction effects noted for the 2-minute maze probe. Alternate form reliability correlation were statistically significant and moderately strong (r = .47 to .71). Concurrent validity correlations between the STAR Reading norm referenced test (computer adaptive reading comprehension test) and CBM-maze probes yielded statistically significant and moderate correlations (r = .30 to .50). Tabulations of the assessment rating scale indicated that students perceived maze probes as acceptable measures for reading comprehension. Implications for practice, cautions in interpreting the results, and future directions are discussed. / School Psychology

To assess a wide range of stressors and traumas, we developed a trauma and stressors exposure checklist for adults to capture a wide variety of potential trauma exposure. This study details the extensive development and validation process of the Comprehensive Trauma and Stressors Checklist (CTSC). Study 1 consisted of item pool generation, review of existing trauma measures, content analysis, and expert review and input. Study 2 analyzed reliability and validity of the updated checklist. Participants were recruited from college and community samples (N = 200) and completed the CTSC along with five additional measures. The CTSC demonstrated high internal consistency (α =.96). Good temporal stability was established with a subset of participants (n = 28) who completed the survey twice for test-retest reliability (r = 0.86, p < .001). Significant correlations between scores on the CTSC and the Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire, Life Events Checklist for the DSM-5, Intersectional Discrimination Index, and Spiritual Abuse Questionnaire are evidence of strong convergent validity. Finally, the lack of significant correlations between CTSC scores and theoretically unrelated constructs supported the discriminant validity of the CTSC. This study provides preliminary evidence that the CTSC is a reliable and valid measure of exposure to traumas and stressors. Future studies with the CTSC will examine measurement invariance, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and reading level.

Divergent thinking (DT) tasks that solicit responses to open-ended stimuli are the most common form of assessment used in creativity research. Intended to measure creative potential, these tasks present researchers with multiple choices throughout administration and scoring that often result in widely varying scores. This study used a combined dataset from 9 independent samples (N = 1,066) containing DT responses (n = 15,935) to the alternate uses task to evaluate substantive validity under different scoring approaches. Human ratings of creative quality were compared to 11 additional quality scores based on statistical infrequency and semantic distance. Psychometric analyses were supplemented by review of response content to assess conceptual and operational correspondence. Results revealed several inconsistencies between and within scoring approaches, including considerable subjectivity required to group semantically equivalent responses before applying objective frequency rules; low reliability estimates for statistically unique responses; dictionary uses for some prompts scored as unique under 5% and 10% infrequency thresholds; variation in semantic distance scores of responses with similar meanings; and large within-subject differences across scoring types. Substantive review also indicated that how the creative dimension of appropriateness is operationalized can play a sizable role in score differences, such as treatment of responses featuring randomness, humor, fantasy, or cultural references. Recommendations for expanded reporting practices to support substantive validity in future DT research are discussed.

Previous research has been limited regarding the measurement of computational thinking, particularly as a learning progression in K-12. This study proposes to apply a multidimensional item response theory (IRT) model to a newly developed measure of computational thinking utilizing both selected response and open-ended polytomous items to establish the factorial structure of the construct, apply the recently introduced composite and structured constructs models, and to investigate the measurement invariance of the assessment between males and females using the means and covariance structures (MACS) approach.

La psychoéducation de même que plusieurs approches théoriques en psychologie clinique suggèrent que l’intervenant constitue un élément actif fondamental des interventions auprès des individus en difficulté. Parmi l’ensemble des caractéristiques des intervenants qui sont utiles de considérer, les attitudes et préférences éducatives des intervenants apparaissent importantes puisqu’elles peuvent être reliées à un bon appariement avec un milieu d’intervention donné, au sentiment d’efficacité professionnelle et, ultimement, à l’efficacité d’une intervention. Or, très peu d’instruments psychométriques d’évaluation validés existent pour évaluer ces construits importants. Cette étude visait principalement à effectuer un examen préliminaire des propriétés psychométriques de la version française du Questionnaire d’attitudes et de préférences des intervenants (QAPÉI; Jesness & Wedge, 1983; Le Blanc, Trudeau-Le Blanc, & Lanctôt, 1999). Le premier objectif de la présente étude était d’évaluer si la structure théorique originale était reproductible empiriquement ou si une structure factorielle alternative était nécessaire. Le deuxième objectif était d’évaluer si les attitudes et préférences éducatives des intervenants étaient reliées à leurs traits de personnalité. L’échantillon utilisé était composé d’intervenants faisant partie de Boscoville2000, un projet d’intervention cognitive-comportementale en milieu résidentiel pour les adolescents en difficulté. Des analyses factorielles exploratoires ont démontré que la structure théorique originale n’était pas reproduite empiriquement. Une structure alternative en cinq facteurs a été recouvrée. Cette structure alternative était plus cohérente sur le plan conceptuel et démontrait une bonne adéquation aux données. Les facteurs identifiés ont été nommés Distance affective, Évitement thérapeutique, Exaspération, Permissivité et Coercition. Des analyses corrélationnelles ont démontré que ces échelles d’attitudes et de préférences éducatives étaient reliées de façon conceptuellement cohérente aux traits de personnalité des intervenants, ce qui appuie la validité de critère de la nouvelle structure de l’instrument. / Psychoeducation and several clinical psychology theoretical approaches suggest that the interventionist constitute a fundamental active ingredient of psychosocial interventions for individuals with adjustment problems. Among the various characteristics of interventionists there are useful to consider, attitudes and preferences in interventions are important because they can be related to an adequate matching in a given intervention milieu, to professional self-efficacy and, ultimately, to the intervention efficacy. However, there are very empirically-validated psychometric instrument to asses these important constructs. The main aim of this study was to make a preliminary evaluation of the psychometric properties of the French-Canadian version of the Counselors’ AIttitudes and Preferences Questionnaire (“Questionnaire d’attitudes et de préférences éducatives des intervenants”, QAPÉI; Jesness & Wedge, 1983; Le Blanc, Trudeau-Le Blanc, & Lanctôt, 1999). The first objective was to assess if the original theoretical structure could be reproduced empirically, or if an alternative factor structure was necessary. The second objective was to assess if interventionists’ attitudes and preferences were related to their personality traits. The sample that was used was composed of interventionists from Boscoville2000, a residential cognitive-behavioral intervention program for adolescents with serious adjustment problems. Exploratory factor analyses demonstrated that the original theoretical structure was not reproduced empirically. An alternative five-factor structure was recovered. This alternative structure was more conceptually coherent and provided a better fit to the data. The identified factors were labeled Affective distance, Therapeutic Avoidance, Exasperation, Permissiveness, and Coercion. Correlational analyses demonstrated that attitudes and preferences scales were related in a conceptually coherent way to interventionists’ personality traits, which supported the criterion-related validity of the instrument new structure.

The ability for an organization to innovate has become one of the most important capabilities needed in the new knowledge economy. The research has demonstrated that an organization’s culture of innovation in particular predicts organizational innovativeness across multiple industries. To provide support to these organizations in their abilities to understand the culture of innovation, researchers have developed instruments to measure culture of innovation, and while many of these instruments have been widely used to inform organizational opportunities for improvement, few of these instruments have been validated or replicated beyond their initial use. The current study employs multiple factor analytic methods to validate the factor structure of the Innovation Quotient instrument developed by Rao and Weintraub and assess the extent to which the instrument is reliable for multiple organizational groups. The results of this study, as well as implications for researchers interested in culture of innovation, are presented.