Some experiences in administering a psychometric test with a light pen and microcomputer

The Use of Information Technology in Psychiatric Assessment

This article presents a theoretical and empirical overview of ergonomic and other Issues relating to Information technology use by a particular special needs group, that of psychiatric patients. The application of Information technology to assessment in computer-based testing and computer-mediated videotelephonic Interviewing is used to examine these issues. These are discussed in terms of hardware, software and user-interface considerations, and it is argued that the selection and design of systems must reflect the demands of the tasks used in assessment and also the characteristics of the psychiatric population.

Konventionelle und computergestützte Durchführung von Leistungstests: der Benton-Test

Zusammenfassung: 372 unausgelesene Patienten im Alter von 15 bis 81 Jahren mit cerebraler Erkrankung wurden mit der Zeichenform des Benton-Tests untersucht. In 12 kriterienparallelisierten Gruppen von je 31 Patienten wurden der Darbietungsmodus (Testheft vs. Bildschirm) sowie die Testform (C vs. D) systematisch variiert. Während es auf Skalen- und Itemniveau keine statistisch bedeutsamen Unterschiede zwischen den einzelnen Bedingungen gab und keine Retest- oder Konsistenzunterschiede zwischen den Darbietungsformen für die Form C nachweisbar waren, wurde - insbesondere für die Anzahl der richtigen Reproduktionen - eine unterschiedliche Veränderung der Testwerte von der Erst- zur Zweitmessung beobachtet. So kam es insgesamt zu einer Leistungsabnahme, wenn von der Erst- zur Zweitmessung Testform und Darbietungsmodus gewechselt wurden. Diese Transferwirkung war je nach Darbietungsmodus und Testform aber verschieden. Solche kontextuellen Unterschiede werden zwar in der Literatur bereits gelegentlich diskutiert, haben aber insgesamt bislang wenig Beachtung gefunden. Im Sinne einer so gefaßten kontextuellen oder Transferäquivalenz gibt es keine Übereinstimmung zwischen der konventionellen und der Computerdarbietung der Testitems. Im Gegensatz zu früheren Studien zeichnet sich für die untersuchte unausgelesene Patientengruppe keine Bevorzugung für eine der beiden Darbietungsformen ab.

The Gay Party Question of the Eysenck Personality Inventory: An Example of Effects of Item Alteration on Direction and Latency of Response

This study examined the effects of making an apparently innocuous change in the wording of an item on the Eysenck Personality Inventory to improve face validity. A microcomputer was employed to administer the inventory (Form A) to 90 female and 68 male volunteer respondents from college, university, and shopping center settings. Response direction and latency (in milliseconds) were recorded for each item. For every second subject the word ”gay” in item 25 (”Can you usually let yourself go and enjoy yourself a lot at a gay party?”) was replaced with the word ”lively,” a word judged by a panel of raters as equivalent in connotation to the word ”gay” as employed in the test. Data support warnings with respect to making even apparently minor changes in the wording of the items in a personality inventory. Respondents were slower to respond to the ”gay” item and endorsed it significantly less frequently. in addition, respondents’ post ”critical-item” response latencies to the ”gay” item differed inconsistently from those of respondents to the ”lively” item.

Assessment of a microcomputer-based version of the Austin maze

The Austin (or Milner) Maze consists of a 10 x 10 array of electrical contacts through which the subject must discover a hidden pathway by touching successive points in the matrix. Trials needed to reach 3 consecutive errorless performances, errors committed, and time taken to reach this criterion are commonly regarded as indicators of frontal lobe function. This study evaluated the equivalence of a computer-based version of this task. Thirty-two male computer science students completed both forms of the maze in counterbalanced order, separated by an interval of 4 weeks. In a 2-year follow-up, 25 remaining subjects completed the tasks in reverse order, again separated by a 4-week interval. Correlational data and analysis of variance supported the proposition that the computer-based version could act as a substitute for the more tediously administered traditional form. Although the sample characteristics may limit the generalizability of this conclusion, the application and development of the software by independent investigators may facilitate its clinical application and allow a more efficient resolution of relevant theoretical issues.