Conceptual analysis and measurement of the construct of ego-resiliency.

This investigation explored the meaning, measurement, and validity of the ego-resiliency construct ([ER] J. H. Block and J. Block, 1980) in 3 samples. Study 1 explored the internal structure of ER in observer and self-report data, and the development of a self-report measure is described. Study 2 tested convergent and discriminant relations of ER with personality attributes. Study 3 investigated implications of ER for adjustment and effective functioning in adulthood. Components of ER obtained through exploratory factor analyses (confident optimism, productive and autonomous activity, interpersonal warmth and insight, and skilled expressiveness) formed a unitary construct and mirrored the relations found between ER and other trait domains. Across samples, there were strong relations between ER and effective functioning in diverse areas of life. ER is discussed in relation to generally accepted criteria of adjustment and effective functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual foundations of IQ testing.

Cognitive neuroscience has not yet arrived at a definition of what human "intelligence" is. Intelligence is a chapter-heading word used in the 19th century to denote some unspecified mental property that increases in evolution. Other words were given speculative evolutionary meanings in the 19th century: genius, degeneracy, retardation. When the Binet-Simon test came along as a test to screen degrees of mental retardation, later as a pupil classification instrument, some (not Binet) associated the test with these 19th-century words and meanings. Descendants of the Binet-Simon instrument, IQ tests, remain useful today, but the old legendry lives on with them, at times supporting speculative social and political arguments. Researchers need to disentangle what is factual about IQ testing from its associated legendry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of ego-control, ego-resiliency, and IQ in delay of gratification in adolescence.

The delay-of-gratification behavior of 104 14-yr-old Ss was assessed in an experiment in which each S chose between immediate monetary payment and larger, delayed payment on 5 occasions. Personality data were obtained on these adolescents in the form of California Adult Q-Set ratings made by several research examiners who were blind to the Ss' delay behavior. The number of delayed payments chosen was strongly correlated with these personality ratings, within both sexes. Ss who exhibited the most delay of gratification tended to be independently described as responsible, productive, ethically consistent, interested in intellectual matters, and overly controlled. They tended not to be described as unable to delay gratification, rebellious, unpredictable, self-indulgent, or hostile. Delay behavior in both sexes was also correlated positively with IQ and with Q-sort-derived indexes of ego resiliency and ego control. The relationship between ego control and delay behavior was particularly strong after both IQ and ego resiliency were partialled. These results were interpreted as reflecting the fundamental importance of both cognitive skillfulness and impulse control for adaptive delay behavior in situations that contain strong motivational inducements. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual and empirical bases of conjoint behavioral consultation.

This article describes "conjoint behavioral consultation," a model of service delivery that addresses the shared responsibility among school personnel, families, and other important systems in educational problem solving. In conjoint behavioral consultation parents and teachers are joined to work together to address the academic, social, or behavioral needs of a child for whom both parties bear some responsibility. The conceptual background (incorporating ecological-systems and behavioral theories) and important features of the model are reviewed briefly. Findings from a number of empirical studies, including outcome studies, case studies, process research, and acceptability research, are reviewed. Directions for future research are also explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal commitment and the goal-setting process: Conceptual clarification and empirical synthesis.

Goals are central to current treatments of work motivation, and goal commitment is a critical construct in understanding the relationship between goals and task performance. Despite this importance, there is confusion about the role of goal commitment and only recently has this key construct received the empirical attention it warrants. This meta-analysis, based on 83 independent samples, updates the goal commitment literature by summarizing the accumulated evidence on the antecedents and consequences of goal commitment. Using this aggregate empirical evidence, the role of goal commitment in the goal-setting process is clarified and key areas for future research are identified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual and empirical analysis of military recruit training attrition.

A role choice model, which included attraction, expectancy, and intention indexes for both civilian and military roles, was used to analyze the recruit training turnover behavior of 1,521 male Marine Corps recruits. Demographic, expected leadership, and expected job content were also measured at the beginning of recruit training. It was found that on the way into recruit training, subsequent graduates and dropouts differed significantly on 20 of 29 variables, including intention to complete their enlistments, expectancy of completing their enlistments, attraction to the Marine role, and a number of other expected organizational and demographic variables. When the variables were subjected to stepwise multiple regression, a multiple R of .30 was observed for 11-wk recruit training attrition, with expectancy of completing, education, Marine role outcome expectancies, expectancy of finding an acceptable civilian role, and intention to complete being the 1st 5 variables to enter the equation. Results support the usefulness of moving beyond demographic prediction of attrition, including perception and evaluation of alternative roles, and exploring more closely the organizational entry process. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual and empirical analysis of some assumptions of an explicitly typological theory.

Argues that the 1st of the 2 criteria for single-variable typologies, multimodality, offered by G. A. Mendelsohn et al (see record 1983-00168-001) is a weak one for psychological data and that only the 2nd criterion, discontinuity against an external variable, is telling. The present author agrees that the requirement of Mendelsohn et al that multiple-variable typologies combine interactively to predict external variables is a mandatory one, although it is not one that is diagnostic of typology. These issues are illustrated by a multiple-variable, explicitly typological system specified by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). 104 rural public school employees (mean age 37.4 yrs) were administered the MBTI to determine bookishness and to give the typological theory a fair hearing. Results show no predictor bimodality, although the distribution displayed platykurosis, the index of which is maximized with bimodal distributions. A review of relevant MBTI research, coupled with these findings, challenges pessimism about the verifiability of all typological systems. (50 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In search of the unifying principles of psychotherapy: Conceptual, empirical, and clinical convergence.

The search for the principles of unified psychotherapy is an important stage in the advancement of the field. Converging evidence from various streams of clinical science allows the identification of some of the major domains of human functioning, adaptation, and dysfunction. These principles, supported by animal modeling, neuroscience, and developmental psychopathology, along with new theoretical constructs, are demonstrating that human functioning is best conceptualized as holistic and highly interrelated at all domain levels of the total ecological system. Incorporating these findings with evidence accrued over the past century of psychotherapy practice and study allows psychologists to begin to explore the development of a unified system of psychotherapy that is rooted in the clinical sciences. One such attempt to develop a unified framework is presented as a starting point. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual and empirical analysis of the typological implications of patterns of socialization and femininity.

Argues that if a typological system is to be more than an efficient means of communication, if it is to have predictive and explanatory power superior to approaches that make no assumptions about categories, the existence of discontinuities in the relevant data must be established empirically. Two forms of discontinuity are discussed: (a) discontinuities in the univariate or joint distributions of the variables that define the types and (b) discontinuities (configurality) in relationships with variables external to the system. It has been suggested that the Socialization and Femininity scales of the California Psychological Inventory can be combined to yield distinct types of individuals, but analyses of 2 data sets failed to reveal either form of discontinuity. Rather, the data are best understood as reflecting a linear additive combination of 2 continuous dimensions. At present, there does not seem to be any typology in personality research that is demonstrably more than a simplifying way of talking about complex, continuous data. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Massive IQ gains in 14 nations: What IQ tests really measure.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 101(3) of Psychological Bulletin (see record 2008-10701-001). In this article, it was wrongly stated that that U. Schallberger put forward a hypothesis or hypotheses concerning the magnitude of Swiss IQ gains; in fact, he did not. The erratum includes the author's clarification.] Data from 14 nations reveal IQ gains ranging from 5 to 25 points in a single generation. Some of the largest gains occur on culturally reduced tests and tests of fluid intelligence. The Norwegian data show that a nation can make significant gains on a culturally reduced test while suffering losses on other tests. The Dutch data proved the existence of unknown environmental factors so potent that they account for 15 of the 20 points gained. The hypothesis that best fits the results is that IQ tests do not measure intelligence but rather a correlate with a weak causal link to intelligence. This hypothesis can also explain difficult trends on various mental tests, such as the combination of IQ gains and Scholastic Aptitude Test losses in the United States. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and IQ change.

"For a group of 140 boys and girls in the Fels Research population on whom continuous Binet IQ data were available, a distribution of IQ change was obtained by subtracting each S's smoothed IQ at age 6 from his smoothed IQ at age 10. This distribution of differences was divided into quartiles, and the Rorschach and TAT protocols of the upper (maximum increase in IQ), and lower (maximum decrease in IQ) quartiles were analyzed and compared. The results showed that in comparing the Ss who showed IQ increases with those showing IQ decreases, the former head, on the TAT, significantly more (a) achievement imagery… and (b) themes of curiosity… . [It is concluded] that high need achievement, competitive striving, and curiosity about nature are correlated with gains in IQ score." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:1HD61K. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

IQ: Knowns and unknowns, hits and misses.

Questions the U. Neisser et al (see record 83-26553) task force report's emphasis on alternatives to traditional IQ tests that have not been put in a usable form for practicing psychologists. The author presents 3 important research efforts overlooked by the APA Task Force on Intelligence Report: (1) the Kaufman Assessment Battery Children (K-ABC) and Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test; (2) the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities—Revised; and (3) the Cognitive Assessment System. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intelligence and IQ: Landmark issues and great debates.

Understanding human intelligence and its development has been a major pursuit of psychologists for more than a century. This article describes the status of controversies regarding the definition of intelligence, its measurement, and the relative roles of genes versus environments in the development of individual differences in intelligence. The article concludes with social and educational policy suggestions that emphasize the limitations of intelligence tests alone in drawing conclusions about individual children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individuation: Conceptual analysis and assessment.

Reviews the literature on public individuation, in which people choose to act differently than others, which is an important process in interpersonal behavior that has received little attention from researchers. A new individual difference measure, the Individual Scale, is proposed. The scale is designed to assess people's willingness to engage in behaviors that publicly differentiate themselves from others. Various psychometric analyses demonstrate that the scale is a reliable and valid assessment instrument. The potential utility of this measure for several areas of social psychological research is discussed. (66 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual differentiation: Quantity and pouring-time.

On the basis of an analysis of the theoretical utility of H. Werner's "concept differentiation," it was hypothesized that nonconservation performance on a modified conservation task could be determined by a logically irrelevant but conceptually undifferentiated cue related to magnitude, specifically rate of pouring. As in the conventional procedure, 57 51/2-71/2 yr. old kindergarten and 1st grade Ss, judged the equality of liquid in 2 identical beakers. The contents of these beakers were then poured simultaneously into 2 tall beakers hidden, except for the tops, behind a screen. In the control group, the liquid was poured at the same rate into both tall beakers, while for the experimental groups, it was poured more quickly from 1 than from the other, resulting in a longer pouring time into 1 of the beakers. Ss observing the differential pouring rates almost without exception judged that the beaker which had taken longer to pour now contained more liquid. Results suggest that Ss' notions of magnitude were not yet completely differentiated into such concepts as time, rate, quantity, and height. (French Summary) (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

IQ and reasoning complexity: The roles of experience.

In his commentary Reagan (1987) raises several methodological and interpretive concerns about conclusions of our study on handicapping expertise and IQ (Ceci & Liker, 1986b). In this article, we address these concerns and argue that our original conclusion that IQ is uncorrelated to the complexity and accuracy of racetrack handicapping continues to be a valid interpretation of our data. We discuss the implications of the negative correlation between IQ and years of horse-race experience and explain why the sampling procedures would not produce the type of selectional biases suggested by Reagan. Nonetheless, Reagan's commentary suggests an interesting hypothesis for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial functioning of learning-disabled children: Relations between WISC Verbal IQ Performance IQ discrepancies and personality subtypes.

A total of 132 children with learning disabilities (LD) between the ages of 6 and 12 years were divided equally into 3 groups on the basis of the difference between Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) VIQ-PIQ scores (viz., VIQ?>?PIQ, VIQ?=?PIQ, and VIQ??PIQ group showed pathological evaluations on some PIC scales. Group average linkage cluster analysis using 10 PIC scales revealed 6 psychosocial subtypes. Within these subtypes, children with VIQ?>?PIQ were found at lower than expected frequencies in normal and mildly disturbed subtypes, but at higher than expected frequencies in seriously disturbed subtypes. These results support the notion that patterns of cognitive performance are related to patterns of psychosocial functioning in children with LD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Separation of home intellectual environment and maternal IQ as determinants of child IQ.

Measured both parental and child IQs with the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test; Ss included 80 mothers, 35 fathers, and 80 children (mean age 12 yrs). Home intellectual environment was assessed through a 2-hr interview with the mother. Multiple regression analyses showed that for each IQ test and for the 2 scores combined, the addition of home environment ratings to the regression equations did not add a significant increment to the prediction of child IQ from that provided by maternal IQ, whereas the addition of maternal IQ to the regression equation did add a significant increment to that provided by home environment ratings. Thus, the correlation of home environment and child IQ is considerably overestimated when maternal IQ is allowed to covary. When maternal IQ was statistically controlled, the correlation between home environment ratings and child IQ was attenuated to nonsignificance. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The adopted child's IQ: A critical review.

Summarizes all reliable published data about the nature and nurture of adopted children's IQs, and draws conclusions about the relative importance of heredity and environment on children's mental development. Any study that compares the central tendency of adopted children's IQs with a group mean of 100 IQ points for a normal population cannot be taken seriously until several methodological criteria have been met: (a) representative sampling, (b) no differential loss of Ss over time, (c) accurate, age-corrected information on biological and adoptive parents, (d) careful attention to early separation and placement of children, and (e) elimination of practice effects and regression to the mean artifacts. Analysis of the resemblance between individual adopted children's IQ scores and their adoptive and biological parents' mental abilities shows that the adoptive parents' home environment has only a modest effect on their adopted children's intellectual growth, while heredity and environment of the biological parents have a strong effect on their own children's intellectual growth. At present there is disagreement about the precise values of genetic and environmental effects on IQ, and several assumptions must be made before accurate statistics can be derived. But, the available data strongly suggest that under existing circumstances, heredity is much more important than environment in producing individual differences in IQ. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)