Antonio Godoy

Assessing Rational and Intuitive Thinking Styles

Theories of dual cognition assume two distinguishable information processing styles: rational and intuitive. We discuss how the concepts of rationality and intuition are used in these theories, and the relations of these two thinking styles to personality character- istics. With the Rational-Experiential Inventory (REI; Pacini & Epstein, 1999), a questionnaire that assesses personal preferences for thinking either rationally or intuitively, we found clear evidence for the independence of the two thinking styles in a large Dutch sample (N = 774). We also found Conscientiousness to be a significant predictor of a preference for rational thinking and an inverse predictor of intuitive thinking. We also administered the REI and a Big Five inventory to a Spanish sample (N = 141), and present these results next to those of the Dutch sample. We further established the validity of the REIs distinction between rationality and intuition by administering another measure, the Preference for Intuition or Deliberation (PID; Betsch, 2004, 2008), to a subset of the Dutch sample (n = 405). We briefly describe two small studies in which a preference for rationality or intuition, measured by the REI, was found to be related to task behavior. In the general discussion we consider all results together, and compare them to Pacini and Epsteins results. We conclude that a dual-process distinction between rationality and intuition is valid cross-culturally and that a proclivity toward either is reliably measured by the REI, not only in the USA but in Europe as well.

Guidelines for the Assessment Process (GAP): A Proposal for Discussion

Summary: Current existing or proposed standards and guidelines in the field of psychological assessment are confined to psychological tests and psychological testing. But tests constitute only one category of psychological assessment procedures, and testing is only one of many available strategies or classes of actions in the course of the assessment process. Tests and testing are closely linked to a certain approach to psychological assessment, i. e., the psychometric one. This is one reason why it is relatively easy to formulate and establish standards or guidelines in the case of psychological tests and testing. The much more comprehensive assessment process is an indispensable part of any approach to psychological assessment, even of those that do not use psychometric tests. This makes the formulation of guidelines for the assessment process an ambitious and very difficult enterprise. But it can be done, at least at the level of recommendations that could help the assessor to cope with the complexitie...

Information-Gathering Strategies in Behavioral Assessment

Summary: In behavioral assessment, the strategy theoretically most coherent for case formulation is to carry out a functional analysis aimed at discovering, among other factors, functionally relevant stimuli acting upon the problem-behavior. However, little is known about the decision-making processes involved in this task. Although many authors have suggested prescriptive models for this process, the strategies used by clinicians when gathering information seem to be left to experience and common sense. The present research is an attempt to increase the knowledge about this process of information gathering. The study was carried out with psychology students in their final year who already had enough theoretical knowledge to gather this kind of information, but still lacked practical experience. Subjects were asked to gather information aimed at checking a hypothesis about the functional role on a given behavior of either an antecedent or a subsequent (i.e., reinforcing) stimulus. The results show that in...

Validation of the Short Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Screener (SOCS) in children and adolescents.

Background The Short Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder Screener (SOCS) is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence as a suitable and validated screening tool for 11- to 15-year olds. Despite its excellent sensitivity and specificity in detecting obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), it has limitations. Aims To empirically examine whether the SOCS is suitable for assessing OCD symptoms across a wide age range of children and adolescents and to provide new data about its psychometric properties. Method Participants were 94 patients (9–19 years) with OCD, and 880 healthy controls. Results The results supported the SOCS’ unidimensional factor structure and metric invariance across samples. It showed good reliability in terms of internal consistency and temporal stability. Furthermore, it had significantly high correlations with other OCD measures and an acceptable sensitivity and specificity for detecting OCD. Conclusions The SOCS is a brief screening tool suitable for detecting OCD in children and adolescents. Declaration of interest None. Copyright and usage

Emotional processing in obsessive–compulsive disorder

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether there are differences in emotional processing among people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, using Langs dimensional model of emotions. A total of 22 individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder participated in the study and were compared to a control group (n=25). All participants assessed a set of photographs with emotional content (pleasant, neutral, unpleasant, and with obsessive-compulsive content) using the Self-Assessment Manikin pictorial scales for rating emotional valence (pleasant/unpleasant), arousal (calm/aroused) and dominance (controlling/controlled). The results show significant differences in the processing of emotional images among individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder and the high predictive value of dominance for diagnosis.

Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory – Child Version (OCI-CV) in General Population

Evidence-based assessment is necessary as a first step for developing psychopathological studies and assessing the effectiveness of empirically validated treatments. There are several measures of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and/or symptomatology in children and adolescents, but all of them present some limitations. The Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) by Foa and her colleagues has showed to be a good self-report measure to capture the dimensionality of OCD in adults and adolescents. The child version of the OCI (OCI-CV) was validated for clinical children and adolescents in 2010, showing excellent psychometric properties. The objective of this study was to examine the factor structure and invariance of the OCI-CV in the general population. Results showed a six-factor structure with one second-order factor, good consistency values, and invariance across region, age, and sex. The OCI-CV is an excellent inventory for assessing the dimensions of OCD symptomatology in general populations of children and adolescents. The invariance across sex and age warrants its utilization for research purposes.

Psychometric Properties of the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Child Version (OCI-CV) in Chilean Children and Adolescents

In recent years, there has been a considerable increase in the development of assessment tools for obsessive-compulsive symptomatology in children and adolescents. The Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Child Version (OCI-CV) is a well-established assessment self-report, with special interest for the assessment of dimensions of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This instrument has shown to be useful for clinical and non-clinical populations in two languages (English and European Spanish). Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the OCI-CV in a Chilean community sample. The sample consisted of 816 children and adolescents with a mean age of 14.54 years (SD = 2.21; range = 10–18 years). Factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent/divergent validity, and gender/age differences were examined. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a 6-factor structure (Doubting/Checking, Obsessing, Hoarding, Washing, Ordering, and Neutralizing) with one second-order factor. Good estimates of reliability (including internal consistency and test-retest), evidence supporting the validity, and small age and gender differences (higher levels of OCD symptomatology among older participants and women, respectively) are found. The OCI-CV is also an adequate scale for the assessment of obsessions and compulsions in a general population of Chilean children and adolescents.

How can behavior therapy treat the same disorder with different techniques and different disorders with the same technique

Traditional psychiatric diagnostic labels fail to differentiate patients on the basis of the function of the problematic behavior because such labels do not specify the nature of the individuals behavioral deficits or excesses. In contrast, behavior therapy strives to classify clinical phenomena based upon their functional characteristics guided by theoretical considerations. Yet, the anomaly exists that for a given disorder there is frequently a long list of suggested treatments that all have some degree of demonstrated efficacy. Similarly, there are a number of apparently different disorders that have been successfully treated with the same general technique. The implications of this paradox will be discussed in the context of treatments for depression. Our recent work suggests that different types of depression respond to different interventions depending on whether interventions match or do not match those types.

Attributional style and social-skill deficits as predictors of dysphoric states and response to treatment

It is hypothesized that there might be two subtypes of dysphoria. Comparison of the characteristic deficits of attributional styles and social skills of adolescent dysphorics differentiated them into two subtypes. This suggested that matched treatments of the two subtypes of dysphoria might be more effective than non-matched treatments. As is predicted by the hopelessness theory of depression (Alloy, Abramson, Metalsky, & Hartlage, 1988), dysphorics characterized by the depressogenic attributional style and adequate social skills reported significantly greater numbers of negative life-events than dysphorics characterized by social-skill deficits and healthy attributional style. Treatments matched to dysphoria subtypes were more effective than non-matched treatments. The authors suggest that similar tests of dysphorics over several years might indicate that some dysphoric states intensify and that matched treatments would abort potentially severe depressions.

Short Report: An instrument to assess architectural barriers for wheelchair‐users: description and reliability

ABSTRACT A new assessment device is presented here: The Architectural Barriers for Wheelchair‐Users Checklist.The instrument was constructed to assess obstacles to wheelchair‐users’ movements in teaching institutions. Its main characteristics are described and some reliability data offered.