Role-play Test Research Articles

The ability of schizophrenics to perceive and cope with negative affect.

Thirty-four schizophrenic patients in an acute in-patient hospital were compared with 24 in-patients with major affective disorder and 19 non-patient controls on a role-play test of social skills and a test of affect perception. The role-play test consisted of 12 simulated conversations in which the subject was confronted by parents and friends expressing high-EE criticism or non-critical dissatisfaction. Schizophrenic patients lacked assertiveness and social skills in all conditions, but they did not show any differential impairment when presented with high EE. They consistently lied and denied errors rather than responding assertively or apologizing, whether confronted with high-EE or benign criticisms. On the affect perception test, schizophrenic patients consistently underestimated the intensity or negativeness of negative emotions, but they were not deficient in perception of positive emotional displays. The data do not support the hypothesis that schizophrenic patients are poor at dealing with high-EE behaviours, but do indicate that their ability to cope with even mild negative affect is impaired. Possible explanations for this impairment include limited attentional capacity, a neurologically based perceptual deficit, and a self-protective mechanism to reduce or avoid stress.

Assertiveness training for disabled adults in wheelchairs: Self-report, role-play, and activity pattern outcomes.

Thirty-four physically disabled adults participated in an 11-week assertiveness training (AT) program. Ss were randomly assigned to either AT or a waiting-list (WL) condition. Each was asked to complete three self-report measures, a role-play test, and a social and recreational activity diary. The AT Ss showed significant improvements on both self-reported assertiveness and role-play performance from pre- to posttreatment, whereas WL controls showed no changes on these measures. No significant changes in frequency of social or recreational activities were found at posttest for either AT or control Ss. A mixed pattern of results was shown at 6-month follow-up. Posttest gains were maintained across all self-report measures of assertiveness and acceptance of disability, whereas role-play performance approached baseline levels at 6-month follow-up. Overall results support the use of AT in enhancing perceived social efficacy and interpersonal skill of physically disabled adults in wheelchairs.

Assertiveness training for disabled adults in wheelchairs: Self-report, role-play, and activity pattern outcomes.

Thirty-four physically disabled adults participated in an 11-week assertiveness training (AT) program. Ss were randomly assigned to either AT or a waiting-list (WL) condition. Each was asked to complete three self-report measures, a role-play test, and a social and recreational activity diary. The AT Ss showed significant improvements on both self-reported assertiveness and role-play performance from pre- to posttreatment, whereas WL controls showed no changes on these measures. No significant changes in frequency of social or recreational activities were found at posttest for either AT or control Ss. A mixed pattern of results was shown at 6-month follow-up. Posttest gains were maintained across all self-report measures of assertiveness and acceptance of disability, whereas role-play performance approached baseline levels at 6-month follow-up. Overall results support the use of AT in enhancing perceived social efficacy and interpersonal skill of physically disabled adults in wheelchairs.

Fakability of Two Different Role-Play Methodologies for Assessing Assertion

The fakability of two methodologically different role-play tests of assertion was examined, 30 undergraduates low in assertiveness were tested and retested on the Behavioral Assertiveness Test--Revised and the Idiographic Role-play Test. Half of the testees were instructed to fake assertion during the second testing. Analysis indicated that both tests were fakable; however, testees reported more difficulty faking the latter test than the former. The detection of faking may be possible, particularly on role-play tests employing an idiographic methodology.

Evaluating the Clinical Significance of a Group Approach for Improving the Social Skills of Children

To evaluate the effectiveness of a social skills proram for improving the social interactions and peer relationships of fifth grade children, a clinical analysis was conducted and compared to the statistical analysis. Social validation was used to assess clinical outcomes. Results showed that the treatment group (n = 20) made significant clinical gains on sociometric ratings and the roleplay tests. Low status children (n = 5) made significant gains on the roleplay tests and two of these children made significant gains on the sociometric measures.

The ability of schizophrenics to perceive and cope with negative affect

Thirty-four schizophrenic patients in an acute in-patient hospital were compared with 24 in-patients with major affective disorder and 19 non-patient controls on a role-play test of social skills and a test of affect perception. The role-play test consisted of 12 simulated conversations in which the subject was confronted by parents and friends expressing high-EE criticism or non-critical dissatisfaction. Schizophrenic patients lacked assertiveness and social skills in all conditions, but they did not show any differential impairment when presented with high EE. They consistently lied and denied errors rather than responding assertively or apologizing, whether confronted with high-EE or benign criticisms. On the affect perception test, schizophrenic patients consistently underestimated the intensity or negativeness of negative emotions, but they were not deficient in perception of positive emotional displays. The data do not support the hypothesis that schizophrenic patients are poor at dealing with high-EE behaviours, but do indicate that their ability to cope with even mild negative affect is impaired. Possible explanations for this impairment include limited attentional capacity, a neurologically based perceptual deficit, and a self-protective mechanism to reduce or avoid stress.

Validity and generalizability of a role-play test to select telemarketing representatives

A role-play test was developed to assess the sales skills required for success in a telemarketing job. The 30-minute test was conducted entirely by telephone and consisted of four role-plays in which the ratee attempted to sell a service contract. In a concurrent validation study, the sum of two raters' independent evaluations of overall performance on the four role-plays was significantly correlated with both objective and subjective measures of sales performance. Based on generalizability analyses, the reliability of the overall ratings provided by two raters for four role-plays was .80 in the concurrent study and .76 when the role-play test was used operationally. This study demonstrated that ratings from a 30-minute telephone role-play test are valid and reliable predictors of sales performance.

Assessment of social skills and problem behaviors in young children with spina bifida

The present study assessed social and emotional adjustment in young children with spina bifida. Role-play tests, and parents' and teachers' ratings of social competence and problem behaviors were utilized in this evaluation. Results indicated that children with spina bifida did not differ significantly from controls on verbal and nonverbal components of conversational skill and negative assertion. Also, spina bifida and control children were not differentiated on the basis of mothers' and teachers' reports. Further,while mothers and fathers were in agreement about their child's level of behavioral functioning, little correspondence was evident between ratings of parents and teachers. The present findings are consistent with more recent empirical investigations demonstrating that spina bifida children do not evince major deficits in adjustment as suggested in initial studies that relied on clinical interviews and self-report.

Social problem-solving in dual diagnosis patients

Social problem-solving skills among dual-diagnosis patients were compared to two control groups: psychiatric patients without substance abuse problems and community volunteers. A standardized, behavioral role-play test consisting of four scenarios representing interpersonal problems yielded two reliable dependent variables: (a) specificity, or elaboration, of the problem-solving response and (b) overall effectiveness of the response. Analyses of covariance (using a measure of intellectual function as the covariate) indicated that both dual-diagnosis patients and psychiatric controls were significantly poorer problem-solvers than were community controls. The overall pattern of the results indicated that deficits observed in a dual-diagnosis sample are not necessarily compounded due to the presence of the coexisting disorders. Implications of these findings, strengths and limitations of this study, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

An Analysis of Social Competence in Schizophrenia

Twenty-one schizophrenics with prominent negative symptoms were compared with 37 schizophrenics without them, 33 patients with major affective disorder and 20 non-patient controls on a battery of measures including a role-play test of social skills, the Social Adjustment Scale, and the Quality of Life Scale. The negative schizophrenics were most impaired on every subscale of each measure, followed in order by the non-negative schizophrenics, affective disorder patients, and non-patient controls. The social skill measures were not correlated with positive symptom levels, but were highly correlated with measures of community functioning. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that social dysfunction results from focal deficits in social skills.

Communication skills training, communication skills training with family and cognitive behavioral mood management training for alcoholics.

To evaluate three promising social learning approaches to the treatment of alcoholism, 69 male alcoholics in standard inpatient treatment participated in either a communication skills training group (CST), a communication skills training group with family participation (CSTF) or a cognitive behavioral mood management training group (CBMMT). Alcoholics who received CST or CSTF drank significantly less alcohol per drinking day during 6-month follow-up than those in CBMMT. The groups did not differ in abstinence rates or latency to relapse. All groups improved in skill and anxiety on the extensive battery of process measures, including role-play tests of general and alcohol-specific coping skills, but those in CST improved most in skill in alcohol-specific high-risk role plays and in ability to relax after the role plays. Alcoholics' skill, response latency, anxiety and urge to drink during alcohol-specific role plays were highly correlated with treatment outcome, demonstrating the importance of including comprehensive process measures in treatment outcome research. Implications for patient-treatment matching and future research are discussed.

Validation of a role-play measure of children's social skills.

A videotape-administered role-play test of children's social skills was developed and its psychometric properties tested. Performance criteria for the test were derived from popular children's ratings of the effectiveness of different role-play responses. The test was administered to 157 fourth- and fifth-grade boys and girls who had been classified as popular, average, neglected, or rejected, on the basis of sociometric testing. The test evidenced good interrater, test-retest, and internal consistency reliabilities. Children's role-play performance correlated significantly with teacher ratings of social competence and with peer-liking ratings. Neglected children performed more poorly on the role-play test than popular children. When differences in intelligence among social status groups were statistically controlled, social status groups did not differ on the role-play test. Results of the discriminant analyses support the conclusion that teacher ratings are better than role-play tests for identifying rejected children, whereas role-play tests and measures of intelligence appear more accurate than teacher ratings for identifying neglected children.

Negative symptoms and social skills performance in schizophrenia

The present study aimed to determine whether the negative symptoms of patients with schizophrenia were better predictors of social competence than a range of other variables pertaining to demographics, illness, hospitalization, and premorbid functioning. Independent raters assessed social skills performance on a video-taped role-play test and 5 min conversation in 53 inpatients with a DSM-III diagnosis of schizophrenia. Patients' social skills were also assessed by ward nurses. Project clinicians assessed depression, medication side effects and positive and negative symptoms. Multiple-regression analyses demonstrated that, generally, negative symptoms were the best predictors of social skills performance.

Evaluation of a Multi-Component Group Approach for Improving the Social Skills of Elementary School Children

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a multicomponent group approach for improving the social skills of elementary school children. Two fifth grade classrooms were used in the study (N = 40). One class received the treatment program while the other class served as a control group. The method of intervention included problem-solving techniques, social skill, sociorecreational activities and small group intervention strategies. Children of varying social status were assigned to small groups and met once a week for 45 minutes over an eight-week time period. Three skills were emphasized: (1) initiating and maintaining a conversation with peers, (2) joining an ongoing activity, (3) including others in your activities. Three measures were administered: sociometric ratings and nominations, a roleplay test, and a locus of control test. Students in the treatment group showed significant improvement on sociometric ratings (follow-up) and the roleplay test (posttest). Low status children in the treatment group ...

Interpersonal problem solving in alcoholics.

In Study 1, a verbal role-playing test of interpersonal problem solving, the Adaptive Skills Battery (ASB), and selected "impersonal" neuropsychological problem-solving tests were given to male alcoholics (N = 73) in a VA alcohol treatment program and to male nonalcoholic controls (N = 36). Alcoholics' ASB competency scores under a "give your typical response" instructional set were significantly lower than controls' scores. In response to a "give the very best response" set, ASB scores for alcoholics and controls did not differ. Alcoholics' interpersonal problem-solving deficits appear to be due to their less effective execution of cognitive or problem-solving skills as opposed to their capacities for such skills. A lack of correlation between performance on impersonal neuropsychological tests and performance on the ASB suggests that these areas of functioning involve quite different psychological processes. In Study 2, alcoholics with alcoholic family members (family history positive) were found to have lower ASB scores than family history negative alcoholics. "Best" ASB responses were positively correlated with therapists' ratings of treatment behaviors and treatment outcome; "typical" ASB responses were not. Thus, alcoholics' therapeutic progress was predicted by their conceptualization of the "best" response in the interpersonal problem-solving situations and not by their typical pretreatment response.

Knowledge, Perception, and Performance of Assertive Behavior in Children with Learning Disabilities

The relationships among knowledge, perception, and performance of assertive behavior in children with learning disabilities were examined. Thirty-two boys were administered a self-report assertiveness inventory to assess social knowledge. Social performance was measured via an unobtrusive role-play test. The youngsters' teachers also rated the youths' social skill level. Subjects rated videotapes of peers displaying assertive and unassertive behavior. This served as a measure of social perception of assertiveness. Lastly, sociometrics were collected. Data analyses revealed no significant interrelationship among the three components of social competence. Teacher ratings of subject assertive behavior were positively and significantly related to likeability as rated by sociometrics, but the relationship between subject response to the unobtrusive role-play test and likeability was nonsignificant. Despite these equivocal findings, assertive behavior was more highly valued than nonassertive behavior. Cognitive ability was also found to be a positive predictor of social perception. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The diagnostic role-playing test

The diagnostic role-playing test

The interview for antisocial behavior: Psychometric characteristics and concurrent validity with child psychiatric inpatients

The present study evaluated psychometric features and correlates of the Interview for Antisocial Behavior (IAB), a new measure designed to assess antisocial child behavior. Parents of 264 psychiatric inpatients (ages 6–13 years) completed the measure to evaluate antisocial behavior of their children. The investigation evaluated the relation of IAB scores to clinically derived diagnoses and to aggression and externalizing behaviors, as measured by different raters (parents, teachers), across different settings (home, school, hospital), and with different assessment methods (rating scales, behavioral role-play test). The results indicated that the IAB showed acceptable levels of internal consistency. A priori scores (severity, duration, total antisocial behavior) and factor analytically derived scales (Arguing/Fighting, Covert Antisocial Behaviors, Self-Injury) distinguished children with a DSM III diagnosis of conduct disorder, and scores on the IAB were more consistently related to other measures of aggression and externalizing behavior than to measures of internalizing behavior or overall severity of dysfunction. The implications of the results for use of the measure, particularly in relation to evaluation of the overt-covert dimension of antisocial behavior, are discussed.

Effects of scene manipulation on role-play test behavior

A number of investigations have demonstrated that by manipulating components of the role-play test procedure, subjects' behavior is differentially affected. An area that has not been widely studied using role-play paradigms is the effect of outcome expectancy on interpersonal behavior. This study evaluated the relationship between expectancy and behavior by manipulating role-play test scene descriptions. Specifically, additional information was added to descriptions portraying the confederate as easily approachable (positive expectancy) or difficult to approach (negative expectancy). Role-played interactions were subsequently rated on a variety of verbal and nonverbal indices of social skill. Data indicated that subjects were less socially effective in responding during negative expectancy scenes. Likewise, subjects were rated as somewhat more socially effective during positive expectancy scenes. In addition, high-anxious subjects (as determined through self-report inventories) appeared to be more responsive to manipulation than their low-anxious peers. Results are discussed in terms of (1) the role of outcome expectancy in interpersonal behavior and (2) the need for further refinement of role-play tests.

Performance of Disturbed and Nondisturbed Boys on a Role Play Test of Social Competence

A videotape-administered role play test of positive and negative assertion, the Behavioral Test of Interpersonal Competence for Children (BTICC), was administered to 17 emotionally disturbed and a matched sample of 17 nondisturbed boys ages 9-11 attending a nonurban school system. The two samples did not differ on mean age or IQ. Boys' role play responses to the videotaped narration and child prompt were scored from audiotapes for content, voice quality, latency, and number of words. The content of boys' responses to positive, negative, and combined assertion scenes as well as the incidence of inappropriate assertion (i.e., withdrawn or aggressive responses) on the negative assertion scenes differentiated the disturbed and nondisturbed boys. Two content scores entered into a significant discriminant function. The place of role plays in the assessment of boys suspected of behavioral or emotional disturbance is discussed. Future research is needed to determine the validity of the BTICC with more distinct clinical subgroups.