Clinton B. De Soto

Neuropsychological impairment scale (NIS): Initial validation study using trailmaking test (A & B) and wais digit symbol (scaled score) in a mixed grouping of psychiatric, neurological, and normal patients

Described a 50-item, self-administered neuropsychological screening test with test results correlating with three reference measures for three participant groupings--Normals (N = 22), Psychiatric patients (N = 21) and Neurological patients (N = 14). Results suggest that neuropsychological self-description can correlate with performance measures that are known to be sensitive to cognitive impairment.

Validity and reliability of the revised Neuropsychological Impairment Scale (NIS).

The revised Neuropsychological Impairment Scale (NIS) is a 95-item, self-reporting screening measure of neuropsychological symptoms. The present report examines the concurrent validity and test-retest stability of the NIS with a neurologically stable sample. The validation study found higher than chance correlations between the NIS and the validity battery and higher correlations with tests that are more sensitive to cognitive impairment. Results also suggest that patients may have more accurate awareness of certain areas of cognitive functioning (academic skills, speech/language functioning) than others (memory, attention, higher level problem-solving). High stability correlations over 2 to 3 months suggest that the NIS measures persisting characteristics rather than temporary states.

Validity and reliability of the neuropsychological impairment scale (NIS)

The Neuropsychological Impairment Scale (NIS) is a self-report screening instrument intended to identify neuropsychological symptoms and deficit. A validity study that used 40 neuropsychiatric patients compared four NIS derived measures with the four best Halstead-Reitan general indicators of impairment. Additionally, two test-retest reliability studies with both patient and normal samples are reported. Results support and corroborate previous validity findings and suggest that the NIS is an acceptably stable and reliable measure.

Grouping and ordering schemata in competition

Two experiments were performed to determine which is the more powerful, the grouping schema or the ordering schema, when they are placed in competition. It was found that, when free to do either, people tend to group elements rather than order them. It was also found that the two schemata are not inherently antagonistic; people will readily employ both when permitted and they can be mutually facilitory. One exceptional case occurs when people have the choice of augmenting a group or an ordering with an internal gap: filling in the ordering is more attractive than adding to the group.

On the Relation between Two Variables

Ir there is a ubiquitous statistic in psychology, it surely is r. Psychometricians, clinicians, industrial psychologists, social psychologists―even experimental psychologists-all use r to an extent that would no doubt astound Pearson. It is the purpose of this article to suggest that r and allied measures of correlation are overused, and that their overuse tends to corrupt psychologists’ thinking about the relations among variables. Anything so popular as r must have strong appeals or attractions. One obvious appeal of r is the prestige, or sanction at least, it receives from the fact of its widespread use. Another appeal is the ease with which it can be calculated and its statistical significance tested. Still another appeal is the extensive mathematical development and elaboration of things that can be done with r, ranging from its use to compute a standard error of estimate to its use in multiple correlation and factor analysis. And there is perhaps a subtle intellectual appeal in the description of the relation between two variables in terms of a single numerical index, in the reduction of a scattergram to a single number. But the fundamental justification for any statistic is that it provides the important information about a set of data. If r fails to do this, the other attractions are only snares. We hold that r does so fail in its applications in psychology, not just occasionally, but often.

READING ACHIEVEMENT AND AUTOMATIC RECOGNITION OF WORDS AND PSEUDOWORDS

Picture-word interference tasks were used to examine the relationship between reading achievement and the automatic recognition of familiar and less familiar words and pseudowords. Superimposed upon pictures (line drawings) were pronounceable nonwords (pseudowords), letter strings, and sets of words which varied over four levels of difficulty, from first-grade nouns to fourth-and fifth-grade nouns. The results of this study indicate that achieving (n = 60) and nonachieving (n = 60) fourth-grade readers show similar automatic recognition of both familiar and less familiar words. As the words increased in difficulty, interference with picture naming decreased for readers in both groups. Interference from pseudowords was evident for only the achieving readers, an indication that automatic recoding skills had not yet been attained by the nonachieving readers.Picture-word interference tasks were used to examine the relationship between reading achievement and the automatic recognition of familiar and less familiar words and pseudowords. Superimposed upon pictures (line drawings) were pronounceable nonwords (pseudowords), letter strings, and sets of words which varied over four levels of difficulty, from first-grade nouns to fourthand fifth-grade nouns. The results of this study indicate that achieving (n = 60) and nonachieving (n = 60) fourth-grade readers show similar automatic recognition of both familiar and less familiar words. As the words increased in difficulty, interference with picture naming decreased for readers in both groups. Interference from pseudowords was evident for only the achieving readers, an indication that automatic recoding skills had not yet been attained by the nonachieving readers. Learning to read requires both the automatic recognition of increasing numbers of familiar words and the ability to phonologically recode unfamiliar words. As words reach the level of automatic recognition, attention can be directed to the execution of higher-level comprehension processes (LaBerge & Samuels, 1974). It is generally agreed that phonological recoding facilitates the process of learning to read; but, in addition, Stanovich (1982) proposes that