Karen Paulsen

Impulsivity: a multidimensional concept with developmental aspects.

Fifty-five preschool children were administered a number of tests purported to measure impulsivity: Delay of Gratification, Walk-the-Line-Slowly, Matching Familiar Figures Test, Schenectady Kindergarten Rating Scales, a teacher rating scale, and the Porteus Maze Test. Analyses indicated that impulsivity is multi-dimensional, with age-, sex-, IQ-, and teacher-related types. The results suggested that multiple indices are essential to the measurement and study of impulsivity. An interaction between sex and age of child was also revealed with respect to type and rate of activity. While 3- and 4-year-old girls differ radically from boys in type and rate of motor activity (fine muscle vs. gross muscle), 5-year-olds were virtually identical.

The Matching Familiar Figures Test: A Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Evaluation.

Analyzed the Matching Familiar Figures (MFF) Test, which has been employed by researchers to determine conceptual tempo, for potential use as a tool for the clinician. The literature indicates that the test is valid in terms of range and structural clarity of information provided. The psychological factors inherent in impulsivity are discussed, along with some significant implications of the MFF that justify its further development. Currently, the primary deficits are a lack of norms as well as an alternate form. Several crucial advantages of this test are listed that favor its use in a clinical environment.

Construct Validation of Children's Behavior Problem Dimensions: Relationship to Activity Level, Impulsivity, and Soft Neurological Signs

A construct validation study of dimensions of childrens behavior problems was carried out with use of multiple linear regression. The Ss were 76 latency-aged boys in residential treatment. The dimensions involved were Conduct Disorder and Inadequacy-Immaturity. The predictor variables were activity level, impulsivity, and soft signs of neurological damage. Results indicated that Conduct Disorder was significantly predicted by activity level, in combination with impulsivity. Inadequacy-Immaturity was significantly predicted by activity level and soft signs. A third dimension, Personality Disorder, was found to be uncorrelated with the three predictor variables.

Relationship between minor physical anomalies and "soft signs" of brain damage.

Several investigations have drawn attention to the possible etiological significance for childrens behavior disorders of such organismic characteristics as soft neurological signs of brain damage and minor physical anomalies ( 1 , 3, 4 ) . Although both soft neurological signs and minor physical anomalies have been related to the same disorders, only one study ( 5 ) has attempted to determine whether these variables are correlated. Although soft signs and anomalies are both assumed to reflect a common underlying factor, such as congenital abnormality, no relationship was obtained between these variables. However, the absence of a correlation between presence of anomalies and soft signs may have been a function of the item content of the soft-sign examination used by Quinn and Rapoport. Half of their examination was composed of gross motor coordination items, e.g., balance on one foot; heel to toe walk. Such items may reflect a slowed developmental rate rather than neurological abnormality. The present study attempted to clarify the relationship between minor physical anomalies, soft signs, and gross motor coordination by separating items for gross motor coordination from those for soft neurological signs. The subjects were 76 boys from a residential treatment center. Their ages ranged from 8-3 to 12-9 yr. ( M = 10-6 yr.) and their IQs on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children ranged from 76 to 118 ( M = 9 0 ) . None of the boys were psychotic or obviously brain damaged. All were from lower-socioeconomic-class families. The majority were black, but many were Puerto Rican or of mixed parentage. All of the boys were administered an abbreviated examination of soft neurological signs ( 4 ) , an examination for minor physical anomalies ( G ) , and the gross motor subtest from the McCarthy Scales of Childrens Abilities ( 2 ) . Product-moment correlations were computed among all the variables. A significant value obtained between soft signs and anomalies ( 7 7 , = .28, p < . 01 ) . This correlation confirms the expectation that these variables should be linked due to a common underlying factor such as congenital abnormality. Significantly correlated also were soft signs and motor coordination ( f a = -.43, p < . 01 ) , which may reflect the element of motor execution common to both sets of items.

Matching Familiar Figures Test Norms Based on IQ

The Matching Familiar Figures Test (1) has been the most commonly used instrument to assess the dimension of reflection-impulsivity in children. Subjects are typically labeled by use of a median split for time to first response (latency) and for total number of errors. Subjects labeled as reflective score above the median on response time and below the median on errors, while those who score in the opposite direction are labeled impulsive. A problem with this method is that a childs classification could change as the comparison group changed. Norms have been provided based on thousands of subjects which, if used, would obviate this problem ( 3 ) . The present study compared responses of a single sample to the established norms and added IQ for classification purposes. Salkinds norms do not take IQ into consideration, although there is evidence that matching scores are influenced by IQ ( 2 ) . Thc subjects were 104 8-yr.-old children (42 boys and 62 girls) from a lower middle-class group. They were administered the marching task and the Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Test. Analysis showed IQ significantly correlated by Pearsons method with both latency ( r = .22, p < .05) and errors ( r = .34, p < .01). The latency-error r was -.59 ( p < .01) which is comparable to Salkinds correlation of -.54. Mean number of errors was 13.36 and mean latency was 8.79 sec., which contrasted with Salkinds mean errors for 8-yr.-olds of 12.39 and mean latency of 13.55. A number of children would have been classified differently in this study without referral to the norms. Most interesting, however, was the classification according to IQ. Group I (IQ 85) had mean latencies and errors of 9.13 and 15.00, respectively. This group might be called slow-inaccurate. Group I1 ( IQ 8 6 1 0 0 ) had mean latencies and errors of 7.44 and 15.65 and might be referred to as fast-inaccurate or impulsive. Group I11 (IQ 101-115) had mean latencies and errors of 8.96 and 11.72 and might be referred to as fast-accurate. Group IV ( IQ I 116) had mean latencies and errors of 9.64 and 11.09 and might be referred to as slow-accurate or reflective. It is imponant to refer to norms based on a large sample when classifying children along this dimension, but it is proposed that exist~ng norms be modified to take IQ into consideration.

A note on the assessment of ethnic attitudes in preschool children

Four commonly used measures of racial attitudes, the Preschool Racial Attitude Measure, Doll Test, Projective Prejudice Test, and Sticker Test, were adapted for use with preschoolers and were administered to 36 preschool children ranging in age from 31 to 72 months. Results indicated that each test had adequate reliability. A significant correlation was obtained between two measures, the Preschool Racial Attitude Measure and the Projective Prejudice Test. Correlations between age of the children and the Preschool Racial Attitude Measure and the Doll Test were also significant. The children indicated increasing awareness of racial attitudes as they got older. Five-year-olds were significantly different from the younger children. The development of racial attitudes, implications for assessment of young children, and the multidimensional make-up of racial attitudes are discussed.