Earl Jennings

Dimensions of Talented Behavior

people modify the educative process so as to foster and influence these changes? Which boys and girls respond to such opportunities? How are different kinds of abilities affected by variations in personality makeup and by pressures imposed by parents, age-mates, and significant elders in the community? Some answers to these and related questions, as well as to problems of method, are being sought in the Human Talent Project begun in 1957 with all boys and girls entering the seventh grades in the schools of four mediumsized Texas communities.

Multivariate analyses of the profile stability of intelligence tests: high for IQs, low to very low for subtest analyses☆

Profile stability involves the consistency of a set of scores over time. That is, does a profile of scores change on retesting and does this change affect clinical decisions? While psychologists routinely examine the reliability of individual scores, little research has examined the stability of a profile or set of scores. The first study described in this paper examined potential measures of profile stability using a simulation computer program. The results suggest that several measures show promise in this context, particularly Cattells coefficient of pattern similarity (r(p)), salient variable similarity index (S), and the D(2) coefficient. In the second study, selected measures of profile stability were applied to Wechsler test-retest data. The results suggest that profiles composed of IQ and index scores demonstrate acceptable stability and can be usefully interpreted in clinical and research situations. However, subtest score profiles are inherently less stable and provide little useful clinical information.

Neuropsychological profiles of children with depressive and anxiety disorders

Abstract The neuropsychological functioning of 56 children and young adolescents with diagnoses of unipolar depression (n = 17), anxiety disorder (n = 19), or comorbid anxiety/depressive disorder (n = 20) was examined. The neuropsychological profiles of the three groups were parallel, but not equal in level of performance. The three groups displayed similar patterns of performance with profiles suggesting diminished attention abilities. The groups, however, were not equal in level of performance. While subjects with an anxiety or a depressive disorder were similar in level of performance, subjects with a comorbid anxiety/depressive disorder generally performed worse than those with either an anxiety or depressive disorder alone. There was no significant evidence of asymmetrical cerebral dysfunction in any of the diagnostic groups. Results are discussed in relation to adult models of psychopathology with an emphasis on the importance of considering developmental factors when formulating models of childhood...

Factor structure of the halstead-reitan neuropsychological test battery for older children

Abstract The underlying dimensions of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery for Older Children (HRNB-C) were examined for a large sample of school-referred children. First, a principal components analysis (PCA) of 17 HRNB-C subtests produced a seven-factor solution that accounted for 76% of the original variance. In the second phase, analysis of 31 scores from the HRNB-C, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-R & WISC-III), and achievement tests produced a nine-factor solution accounting for 67% of the variance. Principal factor analyses (PFA) of these data were performed to permit comparison with the PCA solutions. The PFA and PCA solutions were similar and conclusions about factor structure were comparable. It is suggested that the use of factor/index scores may provide an additional approach to interpretation of the HRNB-C and guidelines for estimating factor scores are provided. Initial attempts at establishing construct validity are described, along with estimates of reliabilit...

Matrix formulas for part and partial correlation.

General formulas for part and partial correlation of any order are derived in terms of multiple correlation coefficients, standard partial regression weights, and validities. The relationship between part correlation and the “independent contribution of a predictor” is discussed.

MMPI--2 Code-Type Congruence of Injured Workers.

In this study, the authors examined the stability of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--2 (J. N. Butcher, W. G. Dahlstrom, J. R. Graham, A. Tellegen, & B. Kaemmer, 1989) code types in a sample of 94 injured workers with a mean test-retest interval of 21.3 months (SD = 14.1). Congruence rates for undefined code types were 34% for high-point codes, 22% for 2-point codes, and 22% for 3-point codes. The data provide tentative evidence suggesting that defined code types are more stable than undefined code types. Cohens kappa, a statistic that controls for chance agreement, was calculated for each clinical scale for both 2-point and 3-point code types. Only 2 of the 20 kappa coefficients were not significant at the p = .05 level.

Hypothesis Identification in the Case of the Missing Cell

Abstract Using a paper by Freund as a context, the authors argue that many of the perceived difficulties in missing cells problems result from overparameterization. A full-rank approach, with special emphasis placed on the importance of stating hypotheses in terms of easily understood estimable parameters, is suggested as a way of reducing confusion.