Validity Of Cognitive Tests Research Articles

Performance Validity and Post-Concussive Symptoms in a Pediatric and Young Adult Sample

To investigate the relationship between self-reported post-concussive symptoms and cognitive test validity among youth.

Register til nytte eller besvær, hva vet vi etter fem år? Etablering av et kvalitets- og forskningsregister for hukommelsesklinikker i spesialisthelsetjenesten

<p><strong>Patient Registry, useful or not? What have we learned after five years?<em><br />Background and aims</em></strong><strong><em>: </em></strong><em>A patient registry was established in January 2009 to improve the quality of assessment and treatment of dementia at memory clinics in the South-Eastern and Western Health Regions of Norway. Further aims were to examine the validity of cognitive tests used in the assessment of dementia, to obtain new knowledge about risk factors and the course of dementia, treatment with and without antidementia medication, and to identify risk factors for developing neuropsychiatric symptoms and severe carer burden and burn-out. Data was also </em><em>collected for epidemiological and clinical research.. In this article we will present our experiences regarding the process of developing and establishing the register. <br /><strong>Methods: </strong>To evaluate the process of developing the register we have used The Wheel of Continuous Improvement, as it is presented the Norwegian strategy plan for quality improvement in the social and health service with the steps: plan, do, check and action (Veileder IS-1162. SHdir 2005). <strong><br />Results: </strong>In 2013 we have included 2220 patients in the register. The number of participating memory clinics has increased from 7 in 2007 to 15 in 2013. The participating memory clinics have included data from patients with different characteristics with regard to age, diagnoses and degree of cognitive impairment. Data from the register is used in ten research studies. <strong>Conclusions: </strong>It has been possible to establish a dementia register with patients data from 15 memory clinics in Norway that have agreed to use a standard assessment battery for dementia. To motivate personal from the memory clinics to maintain collecting data, meetings, seminars and presenting results from each unit are of importance.</em></p>

Test anxiety and the validity of cognitive tests: A confirmatory factor analysis perspective and some empirical findings

The validity of cognitive ability tests is often interpreted solely as a function of the cognitive abilities that these tests are supposed to measure, but other factors may be at play. The effects of test anxiety on the criterion related validity (CRV) of tests was the topic of a recent study by Reeve, Heggestad, and Lievens (2009) (Reeve, C. L., Heggestad, E. D., & Lievens, F. (2009). Modeling the impact of test anxiety and test familiarity on the criterion-related validity of cognitive ability tests. Intelligence, 37, 34−41.). They proposed a model on the basis of classical test theory, and concluded on the basis of data simulations that test anxiety typically decreases the CRV. In this paper, we view the effects of test anxiety on cognitive ability test scores and its implications for validity coefficients from the perspective of confirmatory factor analysis. We argue that CRV will be increased above the effect of targeted constructs if test anxiety affects both predictor and criterion performance. This prediction is tested empirically by considering convergent validity of subtests in five experimental studies of the effect of stereotype threat on test performance. Results show that the effects of test anxiety on cognitive test performance may actually enhance the validity of tests.

Research on Outcomes of Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Current Advances and Future Directions

The articles in this series demonstrate the diversity of research approaches needed to enhance understanding of the sequelae of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children. Methods ranged from assessment of information processing deficits to evaluation of the construct validity of cognitive tests, tracking of changes in academic achievement after injury, and measurement of behavior and social outcomes. Several articles considered multiple influences on sequelae, including TBI severity, age at injury, time since injury, and preinjury child characteristics. The findings provide new information on injury consequences and the cognitive correlates of postinjury problems in behavior, achievement, and discourse processing. Continued progress requires additional study of relations between specific forms of neuropathology and outcomes, more comprehensive assessments of environmental influences, and greater efforts to monitor postinjury developmental changes. Other needs include more probing assessments of the effects of TBI on daily functioning and social-emotional outcomes, investigation of the specificity of sequelae and of sources of variability in outcome, and application of models that examine mechanisms of effect. This research will benefit clinical practice, clarify processes underlying children's behavior and learning problems, and advance knowledge of normal development.

General and Specific Cognitive and Psychomotor Abilities in Personnel Selection: The Prediction of Training and Job Performance

Use of ability tests in personnel selection is addressed beginning with methodological issues. Studies are reviewed that show that almost all the validity of cognitive tests comes from general cognitive ability, g. Psychomotor ability is reviewed and found to have both higher‐ and lower‐order factors, contrary to long‐held beliefs. It was found that the higher‐order general psychomotor factor was one source of validity of psychomotor tests. Additionally, psychomotor tests were shown to contain measures of g and to increment the validity of g‐based measures very little.

The validity of cognitive testing in screening for dementia.

The concept of "cognitive impairment," as an indicator of dementia, defined in 1980 as a loss of intellectual abilities of sufficient severity to interfere with social or occupational functioning, is the model which has been adopted for a condition, which has recently been reclassified from an "organic" to a "cognitive disorder." Data derived from the assessment of a sample of older people demonstrated the extreme sensitivity of a widely employed cognitive assessment instrument to all levels of educational experience, and educational correlates, notably level of physical disability, were identified as other independent predictors of test performance. The analyses raise questions with regard to the reinterpretation of "lack of education," from a confounding factor in prevalence estimates of cognitive impairment to a "risk factor" for dementia, and support those who have questioned the validity of the one-dimensional "cognitive paradigm," and the trend to diagnosis based upon objective assessment with standardized instruments.

The Correlation of General Cognitive Ability and Psychomotor Tracking Tests

AbstractA study was conducted to investigate the nexus of cognitive and psychomotor tests as might be used for personnel selection and assessment. These two domains are frequently seen as independent. A multiple aptitude cognitive test battery and a psychomotor test battery were administered to 354 United States Air Force recruits. The average multiple correlation of the cognitive tests and each psychomotor score as a criterion was 0.34, corrected for range restriction. Confirmatory factor analyses disclosed general cognitive and general psychomotor factors, three lower‐order psychomotor factors, and two lower‐order cognitive factors. The general cognitive factor accounted for 39% of the variance and the general psychomotor factor accounted for 29% of the variance. Residualized, the lower‐order factors accounted for between 10% and 3% of the variance. The average g saturations (loadings) of the cognitive and psychomotor tests were 0.82 and 0.34 respectively. An implication for personnel selection is that the incremental validity of psychomotor tracking tests beyond the validity of cognitive tests will be small due to the commonality of measurement. A further implication of findings is the need to study the validity of the general and specific psychomotor factors.