François Vigneau

Fear of movement/(re)injury in chronic pain : A psychometric assessment of the original english version of the tampa scale for kinesiophobia (TSK)

Abstract The Tampa scale for kinesiophobia (TSK) was developed to measure fear of movement/(re)injury in chronic pain patients. Although studies of the Dutch adaptation of the TSK have identified fear of movement/(re)injury as an important predictor of chronic pain, pain‐related avoidance behaviour, and disability, surprisingly little data on the psychometric properties of the original English version of the TSK are available. The present study examined the reliability, construct validity and factor structure of the TSK in a sample of chronic pain patients (n = 200) presenting for an interdisciplinary functional restoration program. Consistent with prior evaluations of the Dutch version of the TSK, the present findings indicate that the English TSK possesses a high degree of internal consistency and is positively associated with related measures of fear‐avoidance beliefs, pain catastrophizing, pain‐related disability and general negative affect. The TSK was not related to individual differences in physical performance testing as assessed using standardised treadmill and lifting tasks. Confirmatory factor analyses suggest that the TSK is best characterized by a three‐factor traith method model that includes all 17 of the original scale items and takes into account the distinction between positively and negatively keyed items. The results of the present study provide important details regarding the psychometric properties of the original English version of the TSK and suggest that it may be unnecessary to remove the negatively keyed items in an attempt to improve scale validity.

The effect of practice on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices

Abstract Sixty-seven participants (39 men and 28 women), ranging in age from 26 to 79 years, were administered Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) on three occasions. Although total APM scores were found to be highly reliable across the three occasions, the reliabilities of most individual items were extremely low. A single-factor model remained a borderline adequate fit (explaining approximately 20% of the variance) for the interitem correlation matrix on all three occasions. Total APM scores increased significantly across the three occasions (approximately two items per occasion). Improvements in total score across the occasions happened within a context of subjects changing both correct and incorrect responses from the previous occasion. The number of items left unanswered was found to be unrelated to both APM score on any given occasion and the amount of gain in score made across occasions. These findings suggest that the improvements in performance were not based on the acquisition of a strategy design to respond to more items or on the retention of item-specific information, but rather, the improvement reflected learning, something common to the types of items found in the APM.

The factor structure of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: an alternative view.

Past studies of the factor structure of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983) have arrived at various solutions. However, a relatively strong consensus supports a four-factor (State Anxiety Present, State Anxiety Absent, Trait Anxiety Present, and Trait Anxiety Absent) structure of the scale resulting from the combination of item polarity dimensions and the original two factors (State and Trait Anxiety). In this article, we assessed the adequacy of an alternative factor model of STAI data, the two-construct, two-method model, in three large samples using confirmatory factor analysis. The results revealed a statistical advantage of the two-construct, two-method model over the one-factor model, the two-construct factor model, and the four-factor model. We discuss possible interpretational advantages of the two-construct, two-method model of the STAI.

ITEMS IN CONTEXT: ASSESSING THE DIMENSIONALITY OF RAVEN'S ADVANCED PROGRESSIVE MATRICES

The problem of dimensionality with respect to Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) specifically and, more generally, g or fluid intelligence, has been a long-standing issue. The present article reports two studies examining the dimensionality of both the original Set II of the APM (n = 506) and a short form (n = 644), using principal component analysis and Rasch analysis. Although the results from the principal component analysis were equivocal, results from the Rasch analyses more strongly suggested that both forms of the test are best described as being multidimensional. Furthermore, comparison of items common to both forms indicated a context effect, thus making adaptive testing versions of this test difficult.

What does the Mental Rotation Test Measure? An Analysis of Item Difficulty and Item Characteristics

The present study examined the contributions of various item characteristics to the difficulty of the individual items on the Mental Rotation Test (MRT). Analyses of item difficulties from a large data set of university students were conducted to assess the role of time limitation, distractor type, occlusion, configuration type, and the degree of angular disparity. Results replicated in large part previous findings that indicated that occluded items were significantly more dif- ficult than non-occluded and that mirror items were more difficult than structural items. An item characteristic not previ- ously examined in the literature, configuration type (homogeneous versus heterogeneous), also was found to be associated with item difficulty. Interestingly, no significant association was found between angular disparity and difficulty. Multiple regression analysis revealed that a model consisting of occlusion and configuration type alone was sufficient for explain- ing 53 percent of the variance in item difficulty. No interaction between these two factors was found. It is suggested, based on overall results, that basic figure perception, identification and comparison, but not necessarily mental rotation, account for much of the variance in item difficulty on the MRT.

Response speed on aptitude tests as an index of intellectual performance: A developmental perspective

Abstract The development of mental speed has been studied extensively in recent research, but its consequences on individual differences in intelligence are still largely unknown. We examine this issue here, with an index of mental speed measured from computerized aptitude tests items. This index of mental speed rallies three methodological controls (separate measures of speed and level of ability, control for the correctness of the response and for the items difficulty), which permit one to go beyond the confusion that has reigned in psychometric studies of mental speed and to bypass most of the criticisms that have been addressed recently to elementary cognitive tasks. Our results show an increase in response speed from the age of 9 to 11 years and a strong correlation between speed and mental age. We also observed an increase, from the ages of 9 to 11, in the correlation between speed and IQ. In conclusion, we explore the hypothesis of a transformation, with age, of the combination of processes that are involved in performance. This transformation would be comparable to automatization.

Response latencies measured on IQ tests: dimensionality of speed indices and the relationship between speed and level

It has been suggested that correlations observed between psychometric intelligence and simple reaction-time (RT) tasks support mental speed models of intelligence. It has also been argued that when simple and complex RT tasks are contrasted, RT on complex tasks offers better estimates of intelligence (complexity hypothesis). Some points on the continuum of task complexity seem to have been neglected in the research on mental speed and cognitive ability, however. In particular, latencies measured on individually administered IQ tests have been little studied. The present study provides evidence for a relatively strong correlation between psychometric intelligence and latencies measured on IQ-test items in a sample of 131 15- to 17-year-old adolescents. In contrast with results obtained for groups of children, no age difference in latencies was found. This is consistent with more general studies of the evolution of speed in childhood and adolescence [Kail, R. (1991). Psychological Bulletin, 109, 490]. Also contrary to results obtained with children, the speed indices clustered into distinct speed factors. The central role of task complexity in assessing speed, development, and intelligence is discussed, as well as the advantage of adopting a clear operational definition of speed and level when assessing intellectual performance.