Matthew H. Scullin

The Flynn Effect and U.S. Policies: The Impact of Rising IQ Scores on American Society Via Mental Retardation Diagnoses.

Over the last century, IQ scores have been steadily rising, a phenomenon dubbed the Flynn effect. Because of the Flynn effect, IQ tests are periodically renormed, making them harder. Given that eligibility for mental retardation (MR) services relies heavily on IQ scores, renormed tests could have a significant impact on MR placements. In longitudinal IQ records from 9 sites around the country, students in the borderline and mild MR range lost an average of 5.6 points when retested on a renormed test and were more likely to be classified MR compared with peers retested on the same test. The magnitude of the effect is large and affects national policies on education, social security, the death penalty, and the military. This paper reports the perceptions of professionals as they relate to IQ score fluctuations in normal, borderline, and/or MR populations.

A suggestibility scale for children

Abstract This article describes the development and properties of the Video Suggestibility Scale for Children (Video SSC), a scale designed to measure individual differences in suggestibility in preschool children. The scale was administered to 195 3- to 5-year-old children, and the results suggest that they tend to respond affirmatively to suggestive questions (‘Yield’) and change their answers in response to negative feedback (‘Shift’) in a manner similar to adults, though at an elevated rate. Older children were able to remember the video better than younger children in memory recall, but were also more likely to shift their answers in response to negative feedback. The scale items had satisfactory internal consistency and were factor analyzed using the Varimax procedure. Yield and Shift were found to load on different factors, supporting Gudjonsson’s (1984) view that there are at least two basic types of interrogative suggestibility [Gudjonsson, G. H. (1984). A new scale of interrogative suggestibility. Personality and Individual Differences, 5, 303–314]. Finally, preliminary validity analyses with an early version of the Video SSC reveals that it is predictive of suggestibility errors made in an independent study, using different procedures.

The difficulty of basing death penalty eligibility on iq cutoff scores for mental retardation

Suppose you are told that there has been an enormous reduction in the rate of Americans classified as mentally retarded during the past 30 years—from 2.27% of the school-age population in 1974 to only 0.94% of those in 1992 (Flynn, 1998a). In addition, suppose you are told that average intelligence is growing by leaps and bounds—the average Briton gained 55 IQ points between the cohort aged 20 in 1892 and the cohort aged 20 in 1992. Good news, you would undoubtedly respond. According to recent psychometric data, something akin to this situation appears to have occurred (Raven, Raven, & Court, 1993). For example, the Ravens Progressive Matrices is a popular test of so-called fluid intelligence that was developed and standardized in 1942. At that time, many adults were given the test, including ones between the ages of 20 and 70 years old. In 1992 the Ravens was restandardized on a sample of Scottish adults who were representative of adults in the United Kingdom. (These norms show that performance peaked by ages 35–40—similarly to the 1942 norms, which peaked somewhat

The stability and generalizability of young children's suggestibility over a 44-month interval

Abstract We discuss a 44-month longitudinal study of the stability of the two-factor Norwegian Book Suggestibility Scale for Children (BSSC; Melinder, Scullin, Gunnerød, & Nyborg, 2005) in a sample of 7-year-old children (M Time 2 age=94 months). Several measures of suggestibility were assessed: yielding to suggestive questions (Yield), shifting answers in response to negative feedback (Shift), the sum of Yield and Shift (Total Suggestibility), and suggestibility in response to open-ended and misleading direct and tag questions about an event experienced 44 months earlier. Results showed a moderate correlation for Total Suggestibility scores over time in spite of marked declines in Yield and Shift. Both Yield and Total Suggestibility were related to childrens tendency to respond affirmatively to misleading tag questions about the past event. The two-factor model of suggestibility showed some weakening over time with a positive correlation developing between Yield and Shift.

Generalizability of a two-factor measure of young children's suggestibility in Norway and the USA

Abstract We discuss the development of the Book Suggestibility Scale for Children (BSSC), a two-factor suggestibility measure developed as an alternative to the Video Suggestibility Scale for Children (VSSC; Scullin & Ceci, Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 843–856, 2001). In study 1, both the BSSC and the VSSC were administered to 60 American preschool children. Children responded affirmatively to inaccurate leading questions (Yield) and changed their answers in response to negative feedback from interviewers (Shift) in a similar manner on both scales. In study 2 we found that the BSSC was useful for studies of suggestibility in contexts other than America because 62 Norwegian preschool children responded to questions in a similar manner to an age-range and vocabulary matched group of 31 American children. Results support a two-factor model of suggestibility, although Yield appears to measure suggestibility across scales and situations more consistently than does Shift. American age-matched samples had significantly higher Shift and Yield 2 scores than the Norwegian sample.

Risk for sleep-disordered breathing and home and classroom behavior in Hispanic preschoolers.

Pediatric sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is known to negatively impact home and classroom behavior. Preschool-age Hispanic children from Spanish-speaking households are at elevated risk for poor school readiness. The authors used a multi-informant approach to assess home and preschool behavior among Hispanic children at risk for SDB (n = 67). Higher parent-reported SDB risk and elevated snoring were associated with parent- and teacher-reported problem behaviors and poorer teacher-reported classroom executive function among boys; elevated snoring was associated with internalizing behaviors among girls. Elevated snoring may be associated with problems related to impaired inhibitory self-control, suggesting the need for early intervention in order to improve school readiness among these a priori defined at-risk Hispanic children.

How Reliable are Children’s Memories?

In this chapter we examine the role of behavioral scientists as reporters of research findings that may be contrary to public knowledge and expectations. The research to be examined relates to the suggestibility of children’;s memory and was prompted in part by the recent flood of highly publicized and horrifying accusations of child sexual abuse in this country and abroad. Specifically, the discussion focuses on the contrast between public perceptions of children’;s testimonial competence versus actual research findings about children’;s vulner-ability to suggestion.

Development of the Rapport Scales for Investigative Interviews and Interrogations (RS3i), Interviewee Version.

This article describes the development and psychometric properties of the Rapport Scales for Investigative Interviews and Interrogations, Interviewee Version (RS3i), a multidimensional self-report questionnaire intended to measure interviewees’ experience of rapport in forensic and intelligence interviews. Two studies are described. In Study 1, 80 simulated investigative interviews were conducted regarding a supposed case of domestic terrorism. Afterward, the 80 interviewee participants rated the interviews on rapport-related questionnaire items. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of these ratings was used to construct a 21-item measure, the RS3i, comprising 5 Rapport Scales (Attentiveness, Trust/Respect, Expertise, Cultural Similarity, and Connected Flow) and a sixth scale, Commitment to Communication, that assesses an interviewee’s motivation to be cooperative. In Study 2, another 94 simulated investigative interviews were conducted, after which interviewee participants rated the interview using the RS3i. A CFA of the Study 2 data confirmed the factor structure identified in Study 1. Good internal reliability and construct validity were demonstrated for most RS3i scales. Furthermore, scores on several scales were found to be higher when interviewers used rapport-based tactics and to correlate with the amount of information disclosed by interviewees during questioning. The RS3i can be a useful, psychometrically sound tool for use in rapport research and the training of forensic and intelligence interviewers.