Methodologically Sound: Evaluating the Psychometric Approach to the Assessment of Human Life History [Reply to Copping, Campbell, and Muncer, 2014

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Cabeza de Baca, Tomás; Black, Candace Jasmine; García, Rafael Antonio; Fernandes, Heitor Barcellos Ferreira; Wolf, Pedro Sofio Abril; Woodley of Menie, Michael Anthony

2016-01-01

Copping, Campbell, and Muncer (2014) have recently published an article critical of the psychometric approach to the assessment of life history (LH) strategy. Their purported goal was testing for the convergent validation and examining the psychometric structure of the High-K Strategy Scale (HKSS). As much of the literature on the psychometrics of human LH during the past decade or so has emanated from our research laboratory and those of close collaborators, we have prepared this detailed response. Our response is organized into four main sections: (1) A review of psychometric methods for the assessment of human LH strategy, expounding upon the essence of our approach; (2) our theoretical/conceptual concerns regarding the critique, addressing the broader issues raised by the critique regarding the latent and hierarchical structure of LH strategy; (3) our statistical/methodological concerns regarding the critique, examining the validity and persuasiveness of the empirical case made specifically against the HKSS; and (4) our recommendations for future research that we think might be helpful in closing the gap between the psychometric and biometric approaches to measurement in this area. Clearly stating our theoretical positions, describing our existing body of work, and acknowledgintheir limitations should assist future researchers in planning and implementing more informed and prudent empirical research that will synthesize the psychometric approach to the assessment of LH strategy with complementary methods. PMID:25844774

Methodologically Sound: Evaluating the Psychometric Approach to the Assessment of Human Life History [Reply to Copping, Campbell, and Muncer, 2014

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Aurelio José Figueredo

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Copping, Campbell, and Muncer (2014 have recently published an article critical of the psychometric approach to the assessment of life history (LH strategy. Their purported goal was testing for the convergent validation and examining the psychometric structure of the High-K Strategy Scale (HKSS. As much of the literature on the psychometrics of human LH during the past decade or so has emanated from our research laboratory and those of close collaborators, we have prepared this detailed response. Our response is organized into four main sections: (1 A review of psychometric methods for the assessment of human LH strategy, expounding upon the essence of our approach; (2 our theoretical/conceptual concerns regarding the critique, addressing the broader issues raised by the critique regarding the latent and hierarchical structure of LH strategy; (3 our statistical/methodological concerns regarding the critique, examining the validity and persuasiveness of the empirical case made specifically against the HKSS; and (4 our recommendations for future research that we think might be helpful in closing the gap between the psychometric and biometric approaches to measurement in this area. Clearly stating our theoretical positions, describing our existing body of work, and acknowledging their limitations should assist future researchers in planning and implementing more informed and prudent empirical research that will synthesize the psychometric approach to the assessment of LH strategy with complementary methods.

Psychometric characteristics of health-related quality-of-life questionnaires in oropharyngeal dysphagia.

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Timmerman, Angelique A; Speyer, Renée; Heijnen, Bas J; Klijn-Zwijnenberg, Iris R

2014-04-01

Dysphagia can have severe consequences for the patient's health, influencing health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Sound psychometric properties of HRQoL questionnaires are a precondition for assessing the impact of dysphagia, the focus of this study, resulting in recommendations for the appropriate use of these questionnaires in both clinical practice and research contexts. We performed a systematic review starting with a search for and retrieval of all full-text articles on the development of HRQoL questionnaires related to oropharyngeal dysphagia and/or their psychometric validation from the electronic databases PubMed and Embase published up to June 2011. Psychometric properties were judged according to quality criteria proposed for health status questionnaires. Eight questionnaires were included in this study. Four are aimed solely at HRQoL in oropharyngeal dysphagia: the deglutition handicap index (DHI), dysphagia handicap index (DHI'), M.D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI), and SWAL-QOL, while the EDGQ, EORTC QLQ-STO 22, EORTC QLQ-OG 25 and EORTC QLQ-H&N35 focus on other primary diseases resulting in dysphagia. The psychometric properties of the DHI, DHI', MDADI, and SWAL-QOL were evaluated. For appropriate applicability of HRQoL questionnaires, strong scores on the psychometric criteria face validity, criterion validity, and interpretability are prerequisites. The SWAL-QOL has the strongest ratings for these criteria, while the DHI' is the most easy to apply given its 25 items and the use of a uniform scoring format. For optimal use of HRQoL questionnaires in diverse settings, it is necessary to combine psychometric and utility approaches.

Measuring Gratitude in Youth: Assessing the Psychometric Properties of Adult Gratitude Scales in Children and Adolescents

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Froh, Jeffrey J.; Fan, Jinyan; Emmons, Robert A.; Bono, Giacomo; Huebner, E. Scott; Watkins, Philip

2011-01-01

Before the developmental trajectory, outcomes, and related interventions of gratitude can be accurately and confidently studied among the youth, researchers must ensure that they have psychometrically sound measures of gratitude that are suitable for this population. Thus, considering that no known scales were specifically designed to measure…

Psychometric Evaluation of Two Appetite Questionnaires in Patients With Heart Failure.

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Andreae, Christina; Strömberg, Anna; Sawatzky, Richard; Årestedt, Kristofer

2015-12-01

Decreased appetite in heart failure (HF) may lead to undernutrition which could negatively influence prognosis. Appetite is a complex clinical issue that is often best measured with the use of self-report instruments. However, there is a lack of self-rated appetite instruments. The Council on Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire (CNAQ) and the Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ) are validated instruments developed primarily for elderly people. Yet, the psychometric properties have not been evaluated in HF populations. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of CNAQ and SNAQ in patients with HF. A total of 186 outpatients with reduced ejection fraction and New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classifications II-IV were included (median age 72 y; 70% men). Data were collected with the use of a questionnaire that included the CNAQ and SNAQ. The psychometric evaluation included data quality, factor structure, construct validity, known-group validity, and internal consistency. Unidimensionality was supported by means of parallel analysis and confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs). The CFA results indicated sufficient model fit. Both construct validity and known-group validity were supported. Internal consistency reliability was acceptable, with ordinal coefficient alpha estimates of 0.82 for CNAQ and 0.77 for SNAQ. CNAQ and SNAQ demonstrated sound psychometric properties and can be used to measure appetite in patients with HF. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quality of Life Assessment for Physical Activity and Health Promotion: Further Psychometrics and Comparison of Measures

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Gill, Diane L.; Reifsteck, Erin J.; Adams, Melanie M.; Shang, Ya-Ting

2015-01-01

Despite the clear relationship between physical activity and quality of life, few sound, relevant quality of life measures exist. Gill and colleagues developed a 32-item quality of life survey, and provided initial psychometric evidence. This study further examined that quality of life survey in comparison with the widely used short form (SF-36)…

Psychometric Properties of a Scale Designed to Measure Perceived Social Support in Chilean Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

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Manuel Salvador Ortiz Parada

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The present study tested the psychometric properties of the Zimet et al.’ Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS, in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM (n = 76 from Temuco City, Chile. The total scale shown appropriate levels of internal consistency (0,849. An exploratory factorial analysis, with Varimax rotation, was performed over the MSPSS measures. In agreement with the original Scale, three factors were obtained explaining 66,8% of the variance. These results suggest that MSPSS is a psychometrically sound instrument that can be applied to patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

A Systematic Review of the Psychometric Properties of the Sexual Relationship Power Scale in HIV/AIDS Research

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McMahon, James M.; Volpe, Ellen M.; Klostermann, Keith; Trabold, Nicole; Xue, Ying

2014-01-01

The Sexual Relationship Power Scale (SRPS) was developed over a decade ago to address the lack of reliable and valid measures of relationship power in social, behavioral and medical research. The SRPS and its two subscales (relationship control [RC], decision-making dominance [DMD]) have been used extensively in the field of HIV prevention and sexual risk behavior. We performed a systematic review of the psychometric properties of the SRPS and subscales as reported in the HIV/AIDS literature from 2000 to 2012. A total of 54 published articles were identified that reported reliability or construct validity estimates of the scales. Description of the psychometric properties of the SRPS and subscales are reported according to study population, and several cross-population trends were identified. In general, the SRPS and RC subscale exhibited sound psychometric properties across multiple study populations and research settings. By contrast, the DMD subscale had relatively weak psychometric properties, especially when used with specific populations and research settings. Factors that influenced the psychometric properties of the various scales and subscales included the study population, mean age of the sample, number of items retained in the scale, and modifications to the original scales. We conclude with recommendations for (a) the application and use of the SRPS and subscales, (b) reporting of psychometric properties of the scales in the literature, and (c) areas for future research. PMID:25331613

Constraining the reversing and non-reversing modes of the geodynamo. New insights from magnetostratigraphy.

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Gallet, Y.; Pavlov, V.; Shatsillo, A.; Hulot, G.

2015-12-01

Constraining the evolution in the geomagnetic reversal frequency over hundreds of million years is not a trivial matter. Beyond the fact that there are long periods without reversals, known as superchrons, and periods with many reversals, the way the reversal frequency changes through time during reversing periods is still debated. A smooth evolution or a succession of stationary segments have both been suggested to account for the geomagnetic polarity time scale since the Middle-Late Jurassic. Sudden changes from a reversing mode to a non-reversing mode of the geodynamo may also well have happened, the switch between the two modes having then possibly been controlled by the thermal conditions at the core-mantle boundary. There is, nevertheless, a growing set of magnetostratigraphic data, which could help decipher a proper interpretation of the reversal history, in particular in the early Paleozoic and even during the Precambrian. Although yielding a fragmentary record, these data reveal the occurrence of both additional superchrons and periods characterized by extremely high, not to say extraordinary, magnetic reversal frequencies. In this talk, we will present a synthesis of these data, mainly obtained from Siberia, and discuss their implication for the magnetic reversal behavior over the past billion years.

Psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) in depressed clinical samples.

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Page, Andrew C; Hooke, Geoffrey R; Morrison, David L

2007-09-01

The psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995a) were examined in depressed psychiatric hospital samples. Three studies administered the DASS and other symptom measures at admission and discharge to consecutive adult hospital patients with a primary diagnosis of depression. Study 3 aimed to address problems with the DASS by extending the response options. Study 1 found that the DASS had good reliability and validity, was moderately sensitive to change, but the Depression Scale exhibited a ceiling effect. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure and the DASS continued to demonstrate good psychometric properties, but the ceiling effect was replicated. Study 3 found that by extending the response scale to include an additional option, the factor structure of the instrument as a whole was maintained, the sensitivity to treatment was increased, but the ceiling effect was only marginally reduced. The psychometric properties of the DASS were sound in clinically depressed samples, but the Depression Scale exhibited a ceiling effect that could not be resolved with minor changes to the scale. Suggestions for revisions of the DASS are made.

The Reliability and Validity of a Progress-Monitoring Tool: A Psychometric Examination of the Phonological Awareness Skills of Preschoolers with ASD

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Martini, Jay R.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to conduct a psychometric evaluation the "Sound Beginning" phonological awareness progress monitoring tool. This assessment was used to track emergent literacy skills of preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder who were participating in a randomized trial studying early literacy interventions. Research…

Insomnia Severity Index: psychometric properties with Chinese community-dwelling older people.

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Yu, Doris S F

2010-10-01

This paper is a report of a study to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Insomnia Severity Index. Despite the high prevalence of insomnia in older people and its detrimental impact on well-being and healthcare costs, this problem is almost always undetected and consequently under-treated. The Insomnia Severity Index is psychometrically sound in measuring perceived insomnia severity. However, it has had very limited application in non-White populations. An instrument validation study was carried out between October 2008 and April 2009. The Insomnia Severity Index was translated into Chinese using Brislin's model and administered to a convenience sample of 585 older Chinese people recruited from three community centres for elders. Other instruments were also administered, including the Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Geriatric Depression Scale. Cronbach's alpha of the Chinese version of the Insomnia Severity Index was 0.81, with item-to-total correlations in the range of 0.34-0.67. Construct validity was supported by its moderate relationship with the Chinese Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and sleep efficiency. The Chinese version of the Insomnia Severity Index also indicated more severe level of insomnia in older people who reported depressed mood on the Geriatric Depression Scale. Discriminant validity was supported as the Chinese version of the Insomnia Severity Index could discriminate poorer sleepers from normal sleepers. Exploratory factor analysis identified a two-factor structure for the Chinese version of the Insomnia Severity Index in measuring the severity and impacts of insomnia on the Chinese older people. The Chinese version of the Insomnia Severity Index is a culturally-relevant and psychometrically-sound instrument for assessing severity and impact of insomnia in Chinese community-dwelling older people. Nurses can use this tool to assess older people's perceptions of insomnia. © 2010 The

Development, Testing, and Psychometric Qualities of the Nash Duty to Care Scale for Disaster Response.

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Nash, Tracy Jeanne

2017-08-01

Although nurses struggle with the decision to report for work during disaster events, there are no instruments to measure nurses' duty to care for disaster situations. The purpose of this study was to describe the development, testing, and psychometric qualities of the Nash Duty to Care Scale. A convenience sample of 409 registered nurses were recruited from 3 universities in the United States. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 19-item, 4-factor model explaining 67.34% of the variance. Internal consistency reliability was supported by Cronbach's alpha ranging from .81 to .91 for the 4-factor subscales and .92 for the total scale. The psychometrically sound instrument for measuring nurses' perceived duty to care for disasters is applicable to contemporary nursing practice, institutional disaster management plans, and patient health outcomes worldwide.

A preliminary psychometric evaluation of the eight-item cognitive load scale.

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Pignatiello, Grant A; Tsivitse, Emily; Hickman, Ronald L

2018-04-01

The aim of this article is to report the psychometric properties of the eight-item cognitive load scale. According to cognitive load theory, the formatting and delivery of healthcare education influences the degree to which patients and/or family members can engage their working memory systems for learning. However, despite its relevance, cognitive load has not yet been evaluated among surrogate decision makers exposed to electronic decision support for healthcare decisions. To date, no psychometric analyses of instruments evaluating cognitive load have been reported within healthcare settings. A convenience sample of 62 surrogate decision makers for critically ill patients were exposed to one of two healthcare decision support interventions were recruited from four intensive care units at a tertiary medical center in Northeast Ohio. Participants were administered a battery of psychosocial instruments and the eight-item cognitive load scale (CLS). The CLS demonstrated a bidimensional factor structure with acceptable discriminant validity and internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.75 and 0.89). The CLS is a psychometrically sound instrument that may be used in the evaluation of decision support among surrogate decision makers of the critically ill. The authors recommend application of the cognitive load scale in the evaluation and development of healthcare education and interventions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Mayo-Portland Participation Index: A brief and psychometrically sound measure of brain injury outcome.

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Malec, James F

2004-12-01

To evaluate the internal consistency, interrater agreement, concurrent validity, and floor and ceiling effects of the 8-item Participation Index (M2PI) of the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory (MPAI). M2PI data derived from MPAIs completed independently by the people with acquired brain injury undergoing evaluation, their significant others, and rehabilitation staff were submitted to Rasch Facets analysis to determine the internal consistency of each independent rater group and of composite measures that combined rater groups. Correlations with the full-scale MPAI were examined to assess concurrent validity, as was interrater agreement. Outpatient rehabilitation in academic physical medicine and rehabilitation department. People with acquired brain injury (N=134) consecutively seen for evaluation, significant others, and evaluating staff. Not applicable. The MPAI and M2PI. The M2PI showed satisfactory internal consistency, concurrent validity, interrater agreement, and minimal floor and ceiling effects, although evidence of rater bias was also apparent. Composite indices showed more desirable psychometric properties than ratings by individual rater groups. The M2PI, particularly in composite indices and with attention to rater biases, provides an outcome measure with satisfactory psychometric qualities and the potential to represent the varying perspectives of people with acquired brain injury, significant others, and rehabilitation staff.

R in Psychometrics and Psychometrics in R

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Leeuw, Jan de

2006-01-01

In psychometrics, and in the closely related fields of quantititative methods for the social and educational sciences, R is not yet used very often. Traditional mainframe packages such as SAS and SPSS are still dominant at the user-level, Stata has made inroads at the teaching level, and Matlab is quite prominent at the research level. In this paper we define the most visible techniques in the psychometrics area, we give an overview of what is available in R, and we discuss what is m...

A note on contemporary psychometrics.

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Vitoratou, Silia; Pickles, Andrew

2017-12-01

Psychometrics provide the mathematical underpinnings for psychological assessment. From the late 19th century, a plethora of methodological research achievements equipped researchers and clinicians with efficient tools whose practical value becomes more evident in the era of the internet and big data. Nowadays, powerful probabilistic models exist for most types of data and research questions. As the usability of the psychometric scales is better comprehended, there is an increased interest in applied research outcomes. Paradoxically, while the interest in applications for psychometric scales increases, publishing research on the development and/or evaluation of those scales per se, is not welcomed by many relevant journals. This special issue in psychometrics is therefore a great opportunity to briefly review the main ideas and methods used in psychometrics, and to discuss the challenges in contemporary applied psychometrics.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Filipino Versions of the Duke University Religion Index and the Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale in Filipino Hemodialysis Patients.

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Cruz, Jonas Preposi; Reyes, Ralph Warren P; Colet, Paolo C; Estacio, Joel C; Caldeira, Sílvia; Vitorino, Luciano Magalhães; Koenig, Harold G

2017-08-01

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Filipino versions of the Duke University Religion Index (DUREL-F) and the Spiritual Coping Strategies scale (SCS-F) for hemodialysis (HD) patients in the Philippines. A convenient sample of 162 HD patients was included in this descriptive, cross-sectional study. The DUREL-F and SCS-F exhibited acceptable internal consistency and stability reliability, as well as excellent content and construct validity. The findings confirmed the soundness of the psychometric properties of the two scales. Thus, they can be used for timely and accurate assessment of religiosity and spiritual coping utilization among Filipino patients receiving HD.

Child's Challenging Behaviour Scale, Version 2 (CCBS-2): Psychometric Evaluation With Young Children.

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Bourke-Taylor, Helen; Pallant, Julie; Cordier, Reinie

In this article, we evaluate psychometric properties of the Child's Challenging Behaviour Scale, Version 2 (CCBS-2) with mothers of young, typically developing children. A cross-sectional mail survey with Australian mothers (N = 337) included the CCBS-2, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, and the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status scale. Internal consistency was good, and no gender differences in CCBS-2 scores were significant. Significant results included differences between CCBS-2 scores: among children grouped according to age, among children grouped according to pre- and post-school entry, among mothers grouped according to extent of any symptom type, and between this sample and a previously collected age-matched sample of children with disabilities. Of the properties tested, results support sound psychometrics. The CCBS-2 can be used to differentiate children according to age, school entry, and disability as well as to identify families for potential services in behavior management and mental health. Copyright © 2017 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

Future of Psychometrics: Ask What Psychometrics Can Do for Psychology

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Sijtsma, Klaas

2012-01-01

I address two issues that were inspired by my work on the Dutch Committee on Tests and Testing (COTAN). The first issue is the understanding of problems test constructors and researchers using tests have of psychometric knowledge. I argue that this understanding is important for a field, like psychometrics, for which the dissemination of…

Psychometrics in action, science as practice.

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Pearce, Jacob

2017-07-27

Practitioners in health sciences education and assessment regularly use a range of psychometric techniques to analyse data, evaluate models, and make crucial progression decisions regarding student learning. However, a recent editorial entitled "Is Psychometrics Science?" highlighted some core epistemological and practical problems in psychometrics, and brought its legitimacy into question. This paper attempts to address these issues by applying some key ideas from history and philosophy of science (HPS) discourse. I present some of the conceptual developments in HPS that have bearing on the psychometrics debate. Next, by shifting the focus onto what constitutes the practice of science, I discuss psychometrics in action. Some incorrectly conceptualize science as an assemblage of truths, rather than an assemblage of tools and goals. Psychometrics, however, seems to be an assemblage of methods and techniques. Psychometrics in action represents a range of practices using specific tools in specific contexts. This does not render the practice of psychometrics meaningless or futile. Engaging in debates about whether or not we should regard psychometrics as 'scientific' is, however, a fruitless enterprise. The key question and focus should be whether, on what grounds, and in what contexts, the existing methods and techniques used by psychometricians can be justified or criticized.

Characteristics of reversible and nonreversible COPD and asthma and COPD overlap syndrome patients: an analysis of salbutamol Easyhaler data

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Müller V

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Veronika Müller,1 Gabriella Gálffy,1 Márta Orosz,1 Zsuzsanna Kováts,1 Balázs Odler,1 Olof Selroos,2 Lilla Tamási1 1Department of Pulmonology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; 2Semeco AB, Ängelholm, Sweden Abstract: The choice of inhaler device for bronchodilator reversibility is crucial since suboptimal inhalation technique may influence the result. On the other hand, bronchodilator response also varies from time to time and may depend on patient characteristics. In this study, patients with airway obstruction (forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1]/forced vital capacity [FVC] ratio <70% in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]; <80% in asthma were included (n=121, age: 57.8±17.3 years. Bronchodilator reversibility (American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society criteria was tested in patients with COPD (n=63 and asthma and COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS; n=12. Forty-six asthmatics served as controls. Reversibility was tested with 400 µg salbutamol dry powder inhaler (Buventol Easyhaler, Orion Pharma Ltd, Espoo, Finland. Demographic data and patients’ perceptions of Easyhaler compared with β2-agonist pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDIs were analyzed. American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society guideline defined reversibility was found in 21 out of 63 COPD patients and in two out of 12 ACOS patients. Airway obstruction was more severe in COPD patients as compared with controls (mean FEV1 and FEV1% predicted both P<0.0001. Average response to salbutamol was significantly lower in COPD patients compared with asthma controls (P<0.0001. Reversibility was equally often found in smokers as in never-smokers (33% vs 34%. Nonreversible COPD patients had higher mean weight, body mass index, and FEV1/FVC compared with reversible COPD patients. Most patients preferred Easyhaler and defined its use as simpler and more effective than use of a pMDI. Never-smokers and patients with asthma experienced

Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Body Appreciation Scale-2.

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Razmus, Magdalena; Razmus, Wiktor

2017-12-01

This study aimed to investigate the factor structure and psychometric properties of a Polish version of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015). Data were collected from 721 individuals residing in various regions of Poland. There were two subsamples (n=336, age M=34.95, SD=10.83; and n=385, age M=35.38, SD=10.83). Both principal-axis and confirmatory factor analyses supported the one-dimensional structure of BAS-2 scores. Moreover, full scalar invariance of the BAS-2 in Poland across sex was demonstrated. Scores on the Polish BAS-2 had adequate internal consistency. Convergent validity was demonstrated through significant correlations between BAS-2 scores and variables related to body image (body and appearance self-conscious emotions), well-being (self-esteem, positive affect, and positive orientation), and body mass index. These results indicate that the Polish BAS-2 is an appropriate and psychometrically-sound measure of body appreciation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synchronous Sounds Enhance Visual Sensitivity without Reducing Target Uncertainty

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Yi-Chuan Chen

2011-10-01

Full Text Available We examined the crossmodal effect of the presentation of a simultaneous sound on visual detection and discrimination sensitivity using the equivalent noise paradigm (Dosher & Lu, 1998. In each trial, a tilted Gabor patch was presented in either the first or second of two intervals consisting of dynamic 2D white noise with one of seven possible contrast levels. The results revealed that the sensitivity of participants' visual detection and discrimination performance were both enhanced by the presentation of a simultaneous sound, though only close to the noise level at which participants' target contrast thresholds started to increase with the increasing noise contrast. A further analysis of the psychometric function at this noise level revealed that the increase in sensitivity could not be explained by the reduction of participants' uncertainty regarding the onset time of the visual target. We suggest that this crossmodal facilitatory effect may be accounted for by perceptual enhancement elicited by a simultaneously-presented sound, and that the crossmodal facilitation was easier to observe when the visual system encountered a level of noise that happened to be close to the level of internal noise embedded within the system.

Psychometrics of the scale of attitudes toward physician-pharmacist collaboration: a study with medical students.

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Hojat, Mohammadreza; Spandorfer, John; Isenberg, Gerald A; Vergare, Michael J; Fassihi, Reza; Gonnella, Joseph S

2012-01-01

Despite the emphasis placed on interdisciplinary education and interprofessional collaboration between physicians and pharmacologists, no psychometrically sound instrument is available to measure attitudes toward collaborative relationships. This study was designed to examine psychometrics of an instrument for measuring attitudes toward physician-pharmacist collaborative relationships for administration to students in medical and pharmacy schools and to physicians and pharmacists. The Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration was completed by 210 students at Jefferson Medical College. Factor analysis and correlational methods were used to examine psychometrics of the instrument. Consistent with the conceptual framework of interprofessional collaboration, three underlying constructs, namely "responsibility and accountability;" "shared authority;" and "interdisciplinary education" emerged from the factor analysis of the instrument providing support for its construct validity. The reliability coefficient alpha for the instrument was 0.90. The instrument's criterion-related validity coefficient with scores of a validated instrument (Jefferson Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration) was 0.70. Findings provide support for the validity and reliability of the instrument for medical students. The instrument has the potential to be used for the evaluation of interdisciplinary education in medical and pharmacy schools, and for the evaluation of patient outcomes resulting from collaborative physician-pharmacist relationships.

Psychometric evaluation of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Nicotine Dependence Item Bank for use with electronic cigarettes.

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Morean, Meghan; Krishnan-Sarin, Suchitra; Sussman, Steve; Foulds, Jonathan; Fishbein, Howard; Grana, Rachel; O'Malley, Stephanie S

2018-01-02

Psychometrically sound measures of e-cigarette dependence are lacking. We modified the PROMIS Nicotine Dependence Item Banks for use with e-cigarettes and evaluated the psychometrics of the 22-, 8- and 4-item adapted versions. 1009 adults who reported using e-cigarettes at least weekly completed an anonymous survey in Summer 2016 (50.2% male, 77.1% White, mean age 35.81 [10.71], 66.4% daily e-cigarette users, 72.6% current cigarette smokers). Psychometric analyses included confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency, measurement invariance, examination of mean-level differences, convergent validity, and test-criterion relationships with e-cigarette use outcomes. All PROMIS-E versions had confirmable, internally consistent latent structures that were scalar invariant by sex, race, e-cigarette use (non-daily/daily), e-liquid nicotine content (no/yes), and current cigarette smoking status (no/yes). Daily e-cigarette users, nicotine e-liquid users, and cigarette smokers reported being more dependent on e-cigarettes than their counterparts. All PROMIS-E versions correlated strongly with one another, evidenced convergent validity with the Penn State E-cigarette Dependence Index and time to first e-cigarette use in the morning, and evidenced test-criterion relationships with vaping frequency, e-liquid nicotine concentration, and e-cigarette quit attempts. Similar results were observed when analyses were conducted within subsamples of exclusive e-cigarette users and duals-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Each PROMIS-E version evidenced strong psychometric properties for assessing e-cigarette dependence in adults who either use e-cigarette exclusively or who are dual-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. However, results indicated little benefit of the longer versions over the 4-item PROMIS-E, which provides an efficient assessment of e-cigarette dependence. The availability of the novel, psychometrically sound PROMIS-E can further research on a wide range of

Psychometric Evaluation of the Hospital Culture of Transitions Survey.

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McClelland, Mark; Bena, James; Albert, Nancy M; Pines, Jesse M

2017-10-01

Ineffective or inefficient transitions threaten patient safety, hinder communication, and worsen patient outcomes. The Hospital Culture of Transitions (H-CulT) survey was designed to assess a hospital's organizational culture related to within-hospital transitions in care involving patient movement. In this article, psychometric properties of the H-CulT survey were examined to assess and refine the hospital culture of transitions. A cross-sectional, multicenter, multidisciplinary correlational design and survey methods were used to examine the psychometric properties of the H-CulT survey. Exploratory factor analysis was used to quantify the accuracy of the previously identified structure. Specifically, the analysis involved the principal axis factor method with an oblique rotation, based on a polychoric correlation matrix. A sample of 492 respondents from 13 diverse hospitals participated. Cronbach's alpha for the instrument was 0.88, indicating strong internal consistency. Seven subscales emerged and were labeled: Hospital Leadership, Unit Leadership, My Unit's Culture, Other Units' Culture, Busy Workload, Priority of Patient Care, and Use of Data. Correlations between subscales ranged from 0.07 to 0.52, providing evidence that the subscales did not measure the same construct. Subscale correlations with the total score were near or above 0.50 (p <0.001). Use of a factor-loading cutoff of 0.40 resulted in the elimination of 12 items because of weak associations with the topic. The H-CulT is a psychometrically sound and practical survey for assessing hospital culture related to patient flow during transitions in care. Survey results may prompt quality improvement interventions that enhance in-hospital transitions and improve staff satisfaction and patient satisfaction with care. Copyright © 2017 The Joint Commission. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Content Validity and Psychometric Characteristics of the "Knowledge about Older Patients Quiz" for Nurses Using Item Response Theory.

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Dikken, Jeroen; Hoogerduijn, Jita G; Kruitwagen, Cas; Schuurmans, Marieke J

2016-11-01

To assess the content validity and psychometric characteristics of the Knowledge about Older Patients Quiz (KOP-Q), which measures nurses' knowledge regarding older hospitalized adults and their certainty regarding this knowledge. Cross-sectional. Content validity: general hospitals. Psychometric characteristics: nursing school and general hospitals in the Netherlands. Content validity: 12 nurse specialists in geriatrics. Psychometric characteristics: 107 first-year and 78 final-year bachelor of nursing students, 148 registered nurses, and 20 nurse specialists in geriatrics. Content validity: The nurse specialists rated each item of the initial KOP-Q (52 items) on relevance. Ratings were used to calculate Item-Content Validity Index and average Scale-Content Validity Index (S-CVI/ave) scores. Items with insufficient content validity were removed. Psychometric characteristics: Ratings of students, nurses, and nurse specialists were used to test for different item functioning (DIF) and unidimensionality before item characteristics (discrimination and difficulty) were examined using Item Response Theory. Finally, norm references were calculated and nomological validity was assessed. Content validity: Forty-three items remained after assessing content validity (S-CVI/ave = 0.90). Psychometric characteristics: Of the 43 items, two demonstrating ceiling effects and 11 distorting ability estimates (DIF) were subsequently excluded. Item characteristics were assessed for the remaining 30 items, all of which demonstrated good discrimination and difficulty parameters. Knowledge was positively correlated with certainty about this knowledge. The final 30-item KOP-Q is a valid, psychometrically sound, comprehensive instrument that can be used to assess the knowledge of nursing students, hospital nurses, and nurse specialists in geriatrics regarding older hospitalized adults. It can identify knowledge and certainty deficits for research purposes or serve as a tool in educational

Psychometric Evaluation of the Persian Version of Barkley Adult Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Screening Tool among the Elderly

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mostafa Sadeghi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background. The Barkley Adult Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD Rating Scale-IV (BAARS-IV was developed, and it demonstrated good psychometric properties. The BAARS-IV includes 27 questions on the symptoms of adult ADHD. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the psychometric testing of the Persian version of BAARS-IV among the elderlies in Tabriz City. Method. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Tabriz City—in the west of Iran—in 2015 via enrolling of 121 old-aged people. We did the process of translation and adaptation of BAARS-IV and examined its concurrent validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. Result. The BAARS-IV demonstrated good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Correlations between the BAARS-IV and the CAARS-S: SV were high and evidence supporting concurrent validity was revealed. Cronbach’s alpha for the overall scale and subscales stood at 0.89, 0.81, 0.66, 0.56, and 0.82, respectively. Conclusion. The Persian BAARS-IV showed acceptable reliability and validity. BAARS-IV was determined to be composed of internally consistent and psychometrically sound items.

The Psychometric Toolbox: An Excel Package for Use in Measurement and Psychometrics Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrando, Pere J.; Masip-Cabrera, Antoni; Navarro-González, David; Lorenzo-Seva, Urbano

2017-01-01

The Psychometric Toolbox (PT) is a user-friendly, non-commercial package mainly intended to be used for instructional purposes in introductory courses of educational and psychological measurement, psychometrics and statistics. The PT package is organized in six separate modules or sub-programs: Data preprocessor (descriptive analyses and data…

A psychometric evaluation of the Scale of Work Engagement and Burnout (SWEBO).

Science.gov (United States)

Hultell, Daniel; Gustavsson, J Petter

2010-01-01

Burnout and work engagement are generally defined as psychological states but the methods used to measure these constructs are more in line with methods used to assess psychological traits. Thus, a new instrument called the Scale of Work Engagement and Burnout (SWEBO) measuring the state mood of burnout and work engagement was developed during the fall of 2007. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the SWEBO using psychometrical methods. The sample consisted of 2,266 newly graduated Swedish nurses and teachers. Measurement models of both burnout and work engagement were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Both burnout and work engagement were also tested for measurement invariance across occupation and age. The fit of the measurement model of burnout was satisfactory and it was invariant across both occupation and age. The measurement model of work engagement as initially defined did not fit the data satisfactorily. The model was therefore revised and reanalyzed. The revised model had a satisfactory fit and was invariant across occupation. Analysis of its invariance across age, however, gave ambiguous results that were difficult to interpret. The SWEBO presents a psychometrically sound alternative for measuring burnout and work engagement.

Work environment impact scale: testing the psychometric properties of the Swedish version.

Science.gov (United States)

Ekbladh, Elin; Fan, Chia-Wei; Sandqvist, Jan; Hemmingsson, Helena; Taylor, Renée

2014-01-01

The Work Environment Impact Scale (WEIS) is an assessment that focuses on the fit between a person and his or her work environment. It is based on Kielhofner's Model of Human Occupation and designed to gather information on how clients experience their work environment. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the WEIS assessment instrument. In total, 95 ratings on the 17-item WEIS were obtained from a sample of clients with experience of sick leave due to different medical conditions. Rasch analysis was used to analyze the data. Overall, the WEIS items together cohered to form a single construct of increasingly challenging work environmental factors. The hierarchical ordering of the items along the continuum followed a logical and expected pattern, and the participants were validly measured by the scale. The three occupational therapists serving as raters validly used the scale, but demonstrated a relatively high rater separation index, indicating differences in rater severity. The findings provide evidence that the Swedish version of the WEIS is a psychometrically sound assessment across diagnoses and occupations, which can provide valuable information about experiences of work environment challenges.

Psychometric properties of the French Canadian version of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory.

Science.gov (United States)

Champagne, Alexandra; Landreville, Philippe; Gosselin, Patrick; Carmichael, Pierre-Hugues

2018-01-01

The Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) and a short form of this instrument (GAI-SF) were developed to assess the severity of anxiety symptoms in older adults in order to compensate for the lack of validated screening tools adapted to the elderly population. This study examined the psychometric properties of the French Canadian version of the GAI, in its complete (GAI-FC) and short form (GAI-FC-SF). A total of 331 community-dwelling seniors between 65 and 92 years old participated in this study. Both the GAI-FC and the GAI-FC-SF have sound psychometric properties with, respectively, a high internal consistency (α = .94 and .83), an adequate convergent validity (r = .50 to .86 with instruments known to evaluate constructs similar to the GAI or related to anxiety), a good test-retest reliability (r = .89 and .85), in addition to a single-factor structure. The results support the use of both the GAI-FC and the GAI-FC-SF. The GAI-FC-SF seems to be an interesting alternative to the GAI-FC as a screening tool when time available for assessment is limited.

The Functionality Appreciation Scale (FAS): Development and psychometric evaluation in U.S. community women and men.

Science.gov (United States)

Alleva, Jessica M; Tylka, Tracy L; Kroon Van Diest, Ashley M

2017-12-01

Body functionality has been identified as an important dimension of body image that has the potential to be useful in the prevention and treatment of negative body image and in the enhancement of positive body image. Specifically, cultivating appreciation of body functionality may offset appearance concerns. However, a scale assessing this construct has yet to be developed. Therefore, we developed the Functionality Appreciation Scale (FAS) and examined its psychometric properties among three online community samples totalling 1042 women and men (ns=490 and 552, respectively). Exploratory factor analyses revealed a unidimensional structure with seven items. Confirmatory factor analysis upheld its unidimensionality and invariance across gender. The internal consistency, test-retest reliability, criterion-related, and construct (convergent, discriminant, incremental) validity of its scores were upheld. The FAS is a psychometrically sound measure that is unique from existing positive body image measures. Scholars will find the FAS applicable within research and clinical settings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Revision and psychometric testing of the Incivility in Nursing Education (INE) survey: introducing the INE-R.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Cynthia M; Barbosa-Leiker, Celestina; Gill, Larecia Money; Nguyen, Danh

2015-06-01

Academic incivility is a serious challenge for nursing education, which needs to be empirically measured and fully addressed. A convenience sample of nursing faculty and students from 20 schools of nursing in the United States participated in a mixed-methods study to test the psychometric properties of the Incivility in Nursing Education-Revised (INE-R) Survey. A factor analysis and other reliability analyses support the use of the INE-R as a valid and reliable measurement of student and faculty perceptions of incivility in nursing education. The INE-R is a psychometrically sound instrument to measure faculty and student perceptions of incivility; to examine differences regarding levels of nursing education, program type, gender, age, and ethnicity; to compare perceptions of incivility between and among adjunct, clinical, teaching, and research faculty; and to conduct pre- and postassessments of the perceived levels of faculty and student incivility in nursing programs to inform evidence-based interventions. Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.

Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) in caregivers of clinically-referred youth: psychometric properties and mediation analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Athay, M Michele

2012-03-01

This paper presents the psychometric evaluation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et al. in J Personal Assess 49:71-75, 1985) used with a large sample (N = 610) of caregivers for youth receiving mental health services. Methods from classical test theory, factor analysis, and item response theory were utilized. Additionally, this paper investigated whether caregiver strain mediates the effect of youth symptom severity on caregiver life satisfaction (N = 356). Bootstrapped confidence intervals were used to determine the significance of the mediated effects. Results indicated that the SWLS is a psychometrically sound instrument to be used with caregivers of clinically-referred youth. Mediation analyses found that the effect of youth symptom severity on caregiver life satisfaction was mediated by caregiver strain but that the mediation effect differed based on the type of youth symptoms: caregiver strain was a partial mediator when externalizing symptoms were measured and a full mediator when internalizing symptoms were measured. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale Arabic Version for Saudi Nursing Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Jonas Preposi; Alquwez, Nahed; Alqubeilat, Hikmet; Colet, Paolo C

2016-05-22

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Coping Strategies scale Arabic version (SCS-A) in a sample of nursing students in Saudi Arabia. This study had a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of 100 nursing students in Saudi Arabia. Using the SCS-A and the Muslim Religiosity Scale for data collection, data were analyzed to establish the reliability and validity of the SCS-A. Good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α > .70) and stability reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient > .80) were observed. Two dominant factors were extracted from the scale items, the nonreligious coping strategies and religious coping strategies, which accounted for 35.5% and 32.7% of the variance, respectively. The religious coping subscale exhibited a strong positive correlation with the religious practices subscale of the Muslim Religious Involvement Scale (r = .45, p well as a weak positive correlation with the intrinsic religious beliefs subscale (r = .25, p Scale. The SCS-A exhibited an acceptable validity and reliability, supporting its sound psychometric properties with respect to the responses from Saudi nursing students. © The Author(s) 2016.

Psychometric properties of the Satisfaction With Life Scale in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosengren, L; Jonasson, S B; Brogårdh, C; Lexell, J

2015-09-01

The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a global measure of life satisfaction (LS). The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties (data completeness, scaling assumptions, targeting and reliability) of the SWLS in a sample of people with Parkinson's disease (PD). A postal survey including a Swedish version of the SWLS and demographic information was administered to 174 persons with PD; 97 responded and received a second survey after 2 weeks. The mean (SD) age and PD duration of the 97 responders were 73 (8) and 7 (6) years, respectively. Data completeness was 92% to 97% for the five items in the SWLS and 92% for the total score (5-35 points). The mean score of the SWLS was 24.2 points (7.7), indicating that this group had an average LS. The items' means and SDs were roughly parallel and the score distribution was even. The internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.90. The test-retest reliability, assessed by the intraclass correlation coefficient, was 0.78. The scale showed no systematic difference between the first and second response. The standard error of measurement was 3.6 points, and the smallest detectable difference was 10.0 points. This evaluation of the psychometric properties of the SWLS shows that the scale has good data completeness, scaling assumptions and targeting and that the internal consistency reliability and the test-retest reliability are acceptable. Thus, the SWLS is a psychometrically sound and suitable tool to asses LS in people with PD. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Sound and sound sources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Ole Næsbye; Wahlberg, Magnus

2017-01-01

There is no difference in principle between the infrasonic and ultrasonic sounds, which are inaudible to humans (or other animals) and the sounds that we can hear. In all cases, sound is a wave of pressure and particle oscillations propagating through an elastic medium, such as air. This chapter...... is about the physical laws that govern how animals produce sound signals and how physical principles determine the signals’ frequency content and sound level, the nature of the sound field (sound pressure versus particle vibrations) as well as directional properties of the emitted signal. Many...... of these properties are dictated by simple physical relationships between the size of the sound emitter and the wavelength of emitted sound. The wavelengths of the signals need to be sufficiently short in relation to the size of the emitter to allow for the efficient production of propagating sound pressure waves...

Psychometrics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Borsboom, D.; Molenaar, D.; Wright, J.D.

2015-01-01

Psychometrics is a scientific discipline concerned with the construction of measurement models for psychological data. In these models, a theoretical construct (e.g., intelligence) is systematically coordinated with observables (e.g., IQ scores). This is often done through latent variable models,

Developing a model of competence in the operating theatre: psychometric validation of the perceived perioperative competence scale-revised.

Science.gov (United States)

Gillespie, Brigid M; Polit, Denise F; Hamlin, Lois; Chaboyer, Wendy

2012-01-01

This paper describes the development and validation of the Revised Perioperative Competence Scale (PPCS-R). There is a lack of a psychometrically tested sound self-assessment tools to measure nurses' perceived competence in the operating room. Content validity was established by a panel of international experts and the original 98-item scale was pilot tested with 345 nurses in Queensland, Australia. Following the removal of several items, a national sample that included all 3209 nurses who were members of the Australian College of Operating Room Nurses was surveyed using the 94-item version. Psychometric testing assessed content validity using exploratory factor analysis, internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha, and construct validity using the "known groups" technique. During item reduction, several preliminary factor analyses were performed on two random halves of the sample (n=550). Usable data for psychometric assessment were obtained from 1122 nurses. The original 94-item scale was reduced to 40 items. The final factor analysis using the entire sample resulted in a 40 item six-factor solution. Cronbach's alpha for the 40-item scale was .96. Construct validation demonstrated significant differences (pperceived competence scores relative to years of operating room experience and receipt of specialty education. On the basis of these results, the psychometric properties of the PPCS-R were considered encouraging. Further testing of the tool in different samples of operating room nurses is necessary to enable cross-cultural comparisons. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Psychometric testing of the Chinese version of the medical outcomes study social support survey (MOS-SSS-C).

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Doris S F; Lee, Diana T F; Woo, Jean

2004-04-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS-C) in a sample of 110 patients. Criterion-related and construct validities of the MOS-SSS-C were evaluated by correlations with the Chinese version of the Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Survey (r =.82) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (r = -.58). Confirmatory factor analysis affirmed the four-factor structure of the MOS-SSS-C in measuring the functional aspects of perceived social support. Cronbach's alphas for the subscales ranged from.93 to.96, whereas the alpha for the overall scale was.98. The 2-week test-retest reliability of the MOS-SSS-C as measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient was.84. The MOS-SSS-C is a psychometrically sound multidimensional measure for the evaluation of functional aspects of perceived social support by Chinese patients with chronic disease. Copyright 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Psychometric Evaluation of an Instrument for Measuring Organizational Climate for Quality: Evidence From a National Sample of Infection Preventionists.

Science.gov (United States)

Pogorzelska-Maziarz, Monika; Nembhard, Ingrid M; Schnall, Rebecca; Nelson, Shanelle; Stone, Patricia W

2016-09-01

In recent years, there has been increased interest in measuring the climate for infection prevention; however, reliable and valid instruments are lacking. This study tested the psychometric properties of the Leading a Culture of Quality for Infection Prevention (LCQ-IP) instrument measuring the infection prevention climate in a sample of 972 infection preventionists from acute care hospitals. An exploratory principal component analysis showed that the instrument had structural validity and captured 4 factors related to the climate for infection prevention: Psychological Safety, Prioritization of Quality, Supportive Work Environment, and Improvement Orientation. LCQ-IP exhibited excellent internal consistency, with a Cronbach α of .926. Criterion validity was supported with overall LCQ-IP scores, increasing with the number of evidence-based prevention policies in place (P = .047). This psychometrically sound instrument may be helpful to researchers and providers in assessing climate for quality related to infection prevention. © The Author(s) 2015.

The emotion regulation questionnaire in women with cancer: A psychometric evaluation and an item response theory analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Brandão, Tânia; Schulz, Marc S; Gross, James J; Matos, Paula Mena

2017-10-01

Emotion regulation is thought to play an important role in adaptation to cancer. However, the emotion regulation questionnaire (ERQ), a widely used instrument to assess emotion regulation, has not yet been validated in this context. This study addresses this gap by examining the psychometric properties of the ERQ in a sample of Portuguese women with cancer. The ERQ was administered to 204 women with cancer (mean age = 48.89 years, SD = 7.55). Confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory analysis were used to examine psychometric properties of the ERQ. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the 2-factor solution proposed by the original authors (expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal). This solution was invariant across age and type of cancer. Item response theory analyses showed that all items were moderately to highly discriminant and that items are better suited for identifying moderate levels of expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal. Support was found for the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the ERQ. The pattern of relationships with emotional control, alexithymia, emotional self-efficacy, attachment, and quality of life provided evidence of the convergent and concurrent validity for both dimensions of the ERQ. Overall, the ERQ is a psychometrically sound approach for assessing emotion regulation strategies in the oncological context. Clinical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The development and psychometric validation of the Ethical Awareness Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Milliken, Aimee; Ludlow, Larry; DeSanto-Madeya, Susan; Grace, Pamela

2018-04-19

To develop and psychometrically assess the Ethical Awareness Scale using Rasch measurement principles and a Rasch item response theory model. Critical care nurses must be equipped to provide good (ethical) patient care. This requires ethical awareness, which involves recognizing the ethical implications of all nursing actions. Ethical awareness is imperative in successfully addressing patient needs. Evidence suggests that the ethical import of everyday issues may often go unnoticed by nurses in practice. Assessing nurses' ethical awareness is a necessary first step in preparing nurses to identify and manage ethical issues in the highly dynamic critical care environment. A cross-sectional design was used in two phases of instrument development. Using Rasch principles, an item bank representing nursing actions was developed (33 items). Content validity testing was performed. Eighteen items were selected for face validity testing. Two rounds of operational testing were performed with critical care nurses in Boston between February-April 2017. A Rasch analysis suggests sufficient item invariance across samples and sufficient construct validity. The analysis further demonstrates a progression of items uniformly along a hierarchical continuum; items that match respondent ability levels; response categories that are sufficiently used; and adequate internal consistency. Mean ethical awareness scores were in the low/moderate range. The results suggest the Ethical Awareness Scale is a psychometrically sound, reliable and valid measure of ethical awareness in critical care nurses. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Using the Rasch Measurement Model in Psychometric Analysis of the Family Effectiveness Measure

Science.gov (United States)

McCreary, Linda L.; Conrad, Karen M.; Conrad, Kendon J.; Scott, Christy K; Funk, Rodney R.; Dennis, Michael L.

2013-01-01

Background Valid assessment of family functioning can play a vital role in optimizing client outcomes. Because family functioning is influenced by family structure, socioeconomic context, and culture, existing measures of family functioning--primarily developed with nuclear, middle class European American families--may not be valid assessments of families in diverse populations. The Family Effectiveness Measure was developed to address this limitation. Objectives To test the Family Effectiveness Measure with data from a primarily low-income African American convenience sample, using the Rasch measurement model. Method A sample of 607 adult women completed the measure. Rasch analysis was used to assess unidimensionality, response category functioning, item fit, person reliability, differential item functioning by race and parental status, and item hierarchy. Criterion-related validity was tested using correlations with five other variables related to family functioning. Results The Family Effectiveness Measure measures two separate constructs: The effective family functioning construct was a psychometrically sound measure of the target construct that was more efficient due to the deletion of 22 items. The ineffective family functioning construct consisted of 16 of those deleted items but was not as strong psychometrically. Items in both constructs evidenced no differential item functioning by race. Criterion-related validity was supported for both. Discussion In contrast to the prevailing conceptualization that family functioning is a single construct, assessed by positively and negatively worded items, use of the Rasch analysis suggested the existence of two constructs. While the effective family functioning is a strong and efficient measure of family functioning, the ineffective family functioning will require additional item development and psychometric testing. PMID:23636342

The ADAS-cog in Alzheimer's disease clinical trials: psychometric evaluation of the sum and its parts.

Science.gov (United States)

Cano, Stefan J; Posner, Holly B; Moline, Margaret L; Hurt, Stephen W; Swartz, Jina; Hsu, Tim; Hobart, Jeremy C

2010-12-01

The Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale Cognitive Behavior Section (ADAS-cog), a measure of cognitive performance, has been used widely in Alzheimer's disease trials. Its key role in clinical trials should be supported by evidence that it is both clinically meaningful and scientifically sound. Its conceptual and neuropsychological underpinnings are well-considered, but its performance as an instrument of measurement has received less attention. Objective To examine the traditional psychometric properties of the ADAS-cog in a large sample of people with Alzheimer's disease. Data from three clinical trials of donepezil (Aricept) in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease (n=1421; MMSE 10-26) were analysed at both the scale and component level. Five psychometric properties were examined using traditional psychometric methods. These methods of examination underpin upcoming Food and Drug Administration recommendations for patient rating scale evaluation. At the scale-level, criteria tested for data completeness, scaling assumptions (eg, component total correlations: 0.39-0.67), targeting (no floor or ceiling effects), reliability (eg, Cronbach's α: = 0.84; test-retest intraclass correlations: 0.93) and validity (correlation with MMSE: -0.63) were satisfied. At the component level, 7 of 11 ADAS-cog components had substantial ceiling effects (range 40-64%). Performance was satisfactory at the scale level, but most ADAS-cog components were too easy for many patients in this sample and did not reflect the expected depth and range of cognitive performance. The clinical implication of this finding is that the ADAS-cog's estimate of cognitive ability, and its potential ability to detect differences in cognitive performance under treatment, could be improved. However, because of the limitations of traditional psychometric methods, further evaluations would be desirable using additional rating scale analysis techniques to pinpoint specific improvements.

10 Hz Amplitude Modulated Sounds Induce Short-Term Tinnitus Suppression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Neff

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Acoustic stimulation or sound therapy is proposed as a main treatment option for chronic subjective tinnitus. To further probe the field of acoustic stimulations for tinnitus therapy, this exploratory study compared 10 Hz amplitude modulated (AM sounds (two pure tones, noise, music, and frequency modulated (FM sounds and unmodulated sounds (pure tone, noise regarding their temporary suppression of tinnitus loudness. First, it was hypothesized that modulated sounds elicit larger temporary loudness suppression (residual inhibition than unmodulated sounds. Second, with manipulation of stimulus loudness and duration of the modulated sounds weaker or stronger effects of loudness suppression were expected, respectively.Methods: We recruited 29 participants with chronic tonal tinnitus from the multidisciplinary Tinnitus Clinic of the University of Regensburg. Participants underwent audiometric, psychometric and tinnitus pitch matching assessments followed by an acoustic stimulation experiment with a tinnitus loudness growth paradigm. In a first block participants were stimulated with all of the sounds for 3 min each and rated their subjective tinnitus loudness to the pre-stimulus loudness every 30 s after stimulus offset. The same procedure was deployed in the second block with the pure tone AM stimuli matched to the tinnitus frequency, manipulated in length (6 min, and loudness (reduced by 30 dB and linear fade out. Repeated measures mixed model analyses of variance (ANOVA were calculated to assess differences in loudness growth between the stimuli for each block separately.Results: First, we found that all sounds elicit a short-term suppression of tinnitus loudness (seconds to minutes with strongest suppression right after stimulus offset [F(6, 1331 = 3.74, p < 0.01]. Second, similar to previous findings we found that AM sounds near the tinnitus frequency produce significantly stronger tinnitus loudness suppression than noise [vs. Pink

Generalized Network Psychometrics : Combining Network and Latent Variable Models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Epskamp, S.; Rhemtulla, M.; Borsboom, D.

2017-01-01

We introduce the network model as a formal psychometric model, conceptualizing the covariance between psychometric indicators as resulting from pairwise interactions between observable variables in a network structure. This contrasts with standard psychometric models, in which the covariance between

Foley Sounds vs Real Sounds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trento, Stefano; Götzen, Amalia De

2011-01-01

This paper is an initial attempt to study the world of sound effects for motion pictures, also known as Foley sounds. Throughout several audio and audio-video tests we have compared both Foley and real sounds originated by an identical action. The main purpose was to evaluate if sound effects...

78 FR 13869 - Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-01

...-123-LNG; 12-128-NG; 12-148-NG; 12- 158-NG] Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; CE FLNG, LLC; Consolidated...-NG Puget Sound Energy, Inc Order granting long- term authority to import/export natural gas from/to...

Loosening Psychometric Constraints on Educational Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, Michael T.

2017-01-01

In response to an argument by Baird, Andrich, Hopfenbeck and Stobart (2017), Michael Kane states that there needs to be a better fit between educational assessment and learning theory. In line with this goal, Kane will examine how psychometric constraints might be loosened by relaxing some psychometric "rules" in some assessment…

Sensing Emotion in Voices: Negativity Bias and Gender Differences in a Validation Study of the Oxford Vocal (?OxVoc?) Sounds Database

OpenAIRE

Young, Katherine S.; Parsons, Christine E.; LeBeau, Richard T.; Tabak, Benjamin A.; Sewart, Amy R.; Stein, Alan; Kringelbach, Morten L.; Craske, Michelle G.

2016-01-01

Emotional expressions are an essential element of human interactions. Recent work has increasingly recognized that emotional vocalizations can color and shape interactions between individuals. Here we present data on the psychometric properties of a recently developed database of authentic nonlinguistic emotional vocalizations from human adults and infants (the Oxford Vocal 'OxVoc' Sounds Database; Parsons, Young, Craske, Stein, & Kringelbach, 2014). In a large sample (n = 562), we demonstrat...

78th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society

CERN Document Server

Bolt, Daniel; Ark, L; Wang, Wen-Chung

2015-01-01

The 78th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society (IMPS) builds on the Psychometric Society's mission to share quantitative methods relevant to psychology. The chapters of this volume present cutting-edge work in the field. Topics include studies of item response theory, computerized adaptive testing, cognitive diagnostic modeling, and psychological scaling. Additional psychometric topics relate to structural equation modeling, factor analysis, causal modeling, mediation, missing data methods, and longitudinal data analysis, among others. The papers in this volume will be especially useful for researchers in the social sciences who use quantitative methods. Prior knowledge of statistical methods is recommended. The 78th annual meeting took place in Arnhem, The Netherlands between July 22nd and 26th, 2013. The previous volume to showcase work from the Psychometric Society’s Meeting is New Developments in Quantitative Psychology: Presentations from the 77th Annual Psychometric Society Meeting (Springer, 201...

Item-level psychometrics and predictors of performance for Spanish/English bilingual speakers on an object and action naming battery.

Science.gov (United States)

Edmonds, Lisa A; Donovan, Neila J

2012-04-01

There is a pressing need for psychometrically sound naming materials for Spanish/English bilingual adults. To address this need, in this study the authors examined the psychometric properties of An Object and Action Naming Battery (An O&A Battery; Druks & Masterson, 2000) in bilingual speakers. Ninety-one Spanish/English bilinguals named O&A Battery items in English and Spanish. Responses underwent a Rasch analysis. Using correlation and regression analyses, the authors evaluated the effect of psycholinguistic (e.g., imageability) and participant (e.g., proficiency ratings) variables on accuracy. Rasch analysis determined unidimensionality across English and Spanish nouns and verbs and robust item-level psychometric properties, evidence for content validity. Few items did not fit the model, there were no ceiling or floor effects after uninformative and misfit items were removed, and items reflected a range of difficulty. Reliability coefficients were high, and the number of statistically different ability levels provided indices of sensitivity. Regression analyses revealed significant correlations between psycholinguistic variables and accuracy, providing preliminary construct validity. The participant variables that contributed most to accuracy were proficiency ratings and time of language use. Results suggest adequate content and construct validity of O&A items retained in the analysis for Spanish/English bilingual adults and support future efforts to evaluate naming in older bilinguals and persons with bilingual aphasia.

Work-nonwork interference: Preliminary results on the psychometric properties of a new instrument

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eileen Koekemoer

2010-11-01

Research purpose: The objectives of this study were to investigate the internal validity (construct, discriminant and convergent validity, reliability and external validity (relationship with theoretically relevant variables, including job characteristics, home characteristics, burnout, ill health and life satisfaction of the instrument. Motivation for the study: Work-family interaction is a key topic receiving significant research attention. In order to facilitate comparison across work-family studies, the use of psychometrically sound instruments is of great importance. Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional survey design was used for the target population of married employees with children working at a tertiary institution in the North West province (n = 366. In addition to the new instrument, job characteristics, home characteristics, burnout, ill health and life satisfaction were measured. Main findings: The results provided evidence for construct, discriminant and convergent validity, reliability and significant relations with external variables. Practical/managerial implications: The new instrument can be used by researchers and managers as a test under development to investigate the interference between work and different nonwork roles (i.e. parental role, spousal role, work role, domestic role and specific relations with antecedents (e.g. job/home characteristics and well-being (e.g. burnout, ill health and life satisfaction. Contribution/value-add: This study provides preliminary information on the psychometric properties of a new instrument that measures the interference between work and nonwork.

Evaluation of the psychometric properties of a modified version of the Social Phobia Screening Questionnaire for use in adolescents

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Svedin Carl

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Social phobia (social anxiety disorder - SAD is a rather common but often undetected and undertreated psychiatric condition in youths. Screening of SAD in young individuals in community samples is thus important in preventing negative outcomes. The present study is the first report on the psychometric properties of the Social Phobia Screening Questionnaire for Children and adolescents (SPSQ-C. Methods The SPSQ-C was administered to a community sample of high-school students. Test-retest reliability over three weeks was evaluated (n = 127 and internal consistency was calculated for items measuring level of fear in eight social situations. To measure concurrent validity, subjects who reported SAD on at least one occasion and randomly selected non-cases were blindly interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis-I disorders (SCID-I, as gold standard (n = 51. Results A moderate test-retest reliability, r = .60 (P Conclusion The SPSQ-C is a short and psychometrically sound questionnaire for screening of SAD in adolescents, with the advantage of being based on the DSM-IV criteria.

Bayesian psychometric scaling

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Fox, Gerardus J.A.; van den Berg, Stéphanie Martine; Veldkamp, Bernard P.; Irwing, P.; Booth, T.; Hughes, D.

2015-01-01

In educational and psychological studies, psychometric methods are involved in the measurement of constructs, and in constructing and validating measurement instruments. Assessment results are typically used to measure student proficiency levels and test characteristics. Recently, Bayesian item

Psychometric and Clinimetric Properties of the Melbourne Assessment 2 in Children With Cerebral Palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tien-Ni; Liang, Kai-Jie; Liu, Yi-Chia; Shieh, Jeng-Yi; Chen, Hao-Ling

2017-09-01

To examine the psychometric and clinimetric properties of the Melbourne Assessment 2 (MA2), an outcome measurement that is increasingly used in clinical studies. Psychometric and clinimetric study. Community. Seventeen children with cerebral palsy (CP) from 5 to 12 years were recruited for the estimation of the test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change (MDC). Thirty-five children with CP were recruited to receive an 8-week intensive neurorehabilitation intervention to estimate the validity, responsiveness, and minimal clinically important difference (MCID). Thirty-five children with CP received upper limb neurorehabilitation programs for 8 weeks. The MA2 and the criterion measures, including the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, 2nd edition (BOT-2), the Box and Blocks Test (BBT), and the Pediatric Motor Activity Log-Revised (PMAL-R), were evaluated at pretreatment and posttreatment. The MA2 has 4 subscales: range of motion, fluency, accuracy, and dexterity. The test-retest reliability of the MA2 is high (intraclass correlation coefficient, .92-.98). The significant relationships between the MA2 and BBT, BOT-2, and PMAL-R support its validity. The significance of paired t test results (PMA2. The MDC values of the 4 subscales of the MA2 are 2.85, 1.63, 1.97, and 1.84, respectively, and the suggested MCID values of these 4 subscales are 2.35, 3.20, 2.09, and 2.22, respectively, indicating the minimum scores of improvement to be interpreted as both statistically significant and clinically important. The study findings indicate that the MA2 has sound psychometric and clinimetric properties and is thus an adequate measurement for research and clinical applications. Copyright © 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sound

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Robertson, William C

2003-01-01

Muddled about what makes music? Stuck on the study of harmonics? Dumbfounded by how sound gets around? Now you no longer have to struggle to teach concepts you really don t grasp yourself. Sound takes an intentionally light touch to help out all those adults science teachers, parents wanting to help with homework, home-schoolers seeking necessary scientific background to teach middle school physics with confidence. The book introduces sound waves and uses that model to explain sound-related occurrences. Starting with the basics of what causes sound and how it travels, you'll learn how musical instruments work, how sound waves add and subtract, how the human ear works, and even why you can sound like a Munchkin when you inhale helium. Sound is the fourth book in the award-winning Stop Faking It! Series, published by NSTA Press. Like the other popular volumes, it is written by irreverent educator Bill Robertson, who offers this Sound recommendation: One of the coolest activities is whacking a spinning metal rod...

Psychometric properties of the Danish MCMI-I translation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, E L; Simonsen, E

1990-01-01

A translation of the MCMI-I has been in use in Denmark for some years. An untested assumption in the interpretation of the pattern of test results is that the psychometric characteristics of the Danish and American versions are similar. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric...... properties of the questionnaire by using traditional psychometric analysis techniques on the results of a sample consisting of 423 patients and 179 normal controls. Coefficient alpha was calculated for the 20 clinical subscales of the test and the Danish results were strikingly similar to the original...... coefficients reported by Millon. Furthermore, factor analysis of the subscales showed a factor structure very similar to American findings, and it is concluded that the psychometric properties of the Danish MCMI are not significantly different from the original....

University student depression inventory (USDI): confirmatory factor analysis and review of psychometric properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Romaniuk, Madeline; Khawaja, Nigar G

2013-09-25

The 30-item USDI is a self-report measure that assesses depressive symptoms among university students. It consists of three correlated three factors: lethargy, cognitive-emotional and academic motivation. The current research used confirmatory factor analysis to asses construct validity and determine whether the original factor structure would be replicated in a different sample. Psychometric properties were also examined. Participants were 1148 students (mean age 22.84 years, SD=6.85) across all faculties from a large Australian metropolitan university. Students completed a questionnaire comprising of the USDI, the depression anxiety stress scale (DASS) and Life Satisfaction Scale (LSS). The three correlated factor model was shown to be an acceptable fit to the data, indicating sound construct validity. Internal consistency of the scale was also demonstrated to be sound, with high Cronbach alpha values. Temporal stability of the scale was also shown to be strong through test-retest analysis. Finally, concurrent and discriminant validity was examined with correlations between the USDI and DASS subscales as well as the LSS, with sound results further supporting the construct validity of the scale. Cut-off points were also developed to aid total score interpretation. Response rates are unclear. In addition, the representativeness of the sample could be improved potentially through targeted recruitment (i.e. reviewing the online sample statistics during data collection, examining the representativeness trends and addressing particular faculties within the university that were underrepresented). The USDI provides a valid and reliable method of assessing depressive symptoms found among university students. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

79th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society

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Bolt, Daniel; Wang, Wen-Chung; Douglas, Jeffrey; Chow, Sy-Miin

2015-01-01

These research articles from the 79th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society (IMPS) cover timely quantitative psychology topics, including new methods in item response theory, computerized adaptive testing, cognitive diagnostic modeling, and psychological scaling. Topics within general quantitative methodology include structural equation modeling, factor analysis, causal modeling, mediation, missing data methods, and longitudinal data analysis. These methods will appeal, in particular, to researchers in the social sciences. The 79th annual meeting took place in Madison, WI between July 21nd and 25th, 2014. Previous volumes to showcase work from the Psychometric Society’s Meeting are New Developments in Quantitative Psychology: Presentations from the 77th Annual Psychometric Society Meeting (Springer, 2013) and Quantitative Psychology Research: The 78th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society  (Springer, 2015).

80th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society

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Bolt, Daniel; Wang, Wen-Chung; Douglas, Jeffrey; Wiberg, Marie

2016-01-01

The research articles in this volume cover timely quantitative psychology topics, including new methods in item response theory, computerized adaptive testing, cognitive diagnostic modeling, and psychological scaling. Topics within general quantitative methodology include structural equation modeling, factor analysis, causal modeling, mediation, missing data methods, and longitudinal data analysis. These methods will appeal, in particular, to researchers in the social sciences. The 80th annual meeting took place in Beijing, China, between the 12th and 16th of July, 2014. Previous volumes to showcase work from the Psychometric Society’s Meeting are New Developments in Quantitative Psychology: Presentations from the 77th Annual Psychometric Society Meeting (Springer, 2013), Quantitative Psychology Research: The 78th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society (Springer, 2015), and Quantitative Psychology Research: The 79th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society, Wisconsin, USA, 2014 (Springer, 2015).

Psychometric assessment of the Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version for nurses in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Jonas Preposi; Albaqawi, Hamdan Mohammad; Alharbi, Sami Melbes; Alicante, Jerico G; Vitorino, Luciano M; Abunab, Hamzeh Y

2017-12-07

To assess the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version for Saudi nurses. Evidence showed that a high level of spiritual climate in the workplace is associated with increased productivity and performance, enhanced emotional intelligence, organisational commitment and job satisfaction among nurses. A convenient sample of 165 Saudi nurses was surveyed in this descriptive, cross-sectional study. Cronbach's α and intraclass correlation coefficient of the 2 week test-retest scores were computed to establish reliability. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to support the validity of the Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version. The Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version manifested excellent content validity. Exploratory factor analysis supported a single factor with an explained variance of 73.2%. The Cronbach's α values of the scale ranged from .79 to .88, while the intraclass correlation coefficient value was .90. The perceived spiritual climate was associated with the respondents' hospital, gender, age and years of experience. Findings of this study support the sound psychometric properties of the Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version. The Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version can be used by nurse managers to assess the nurses' perception of the spiritual climate in any clinical area. This process can lead to spiritually centred interventions, thereby ensuring a clinical climate that accepts and respects different spiritual beliefs and practices. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PROMIS Sleep Disturbance and Sleep-Related Impairment in Adolescents: Examining Psychometrics Using Self-Report and Actigraphy.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanish, Alyson E; Lin-Dyken, Deborah C; Han, Joan C

The National Institutes of Health Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) has self-reported health measures available for both pediatric and adult populations, but no pediatric measures are available currently in the sleep domains. The purpose of this observational study was to perform preliminary validation studies on age-appropriate, self-reported sleep measures in healthy adolescents. This study examined 25 healthy adolescents' self-reported daytime sleepiness, sleep disturbance, sleep-related impairment, and sleep patterns. Healthy adolescents completed a physical exam at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (Bethesda, MD), had no chronic medical conditions, and were not taking any chronic medications. The Cleveland Adolescent Sleepiness Questionnaire (CASQ), PROMIS Sleep Disturbance (v. 1.0; 8a), and PROMIS Sleep-Related Impairment (v. 1.0; 8b) questionnaires were completed, and sleep patterns were assessed using actigraphy. Total scores on the three sleep questionnaires were correlated (all Spearman's r > .70, p psychometrically sound sleep questionnaires. Findings suggest the potential research and clinical utility of adult versions of PROMIS sleep measures in adolescents. Future studies should include larger, more diverse samples and explore additional psychometric properties of PROMIS sleep measures to provide age-appropriate, validated, and reliable measures of sleep in adolescents.

Psychometric characteristics and dimensionality of a Persian version of Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Shapurian, R; Hojat, M; Nayerahmadi, H

1987-08-01

The Rosenberg Self-esteem scale was translated into Persian and 12 Iranian bilingual judges confirmed the soundness of translation. The psychometric properties of the Persian version of Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale were studied in two samples of Iranian college students separately. Sample I consisted of 232 Iranian students in American universities, and Sample II comprised 305 Iranian students in Iranian universities. Criterion measures of loneliness, depression, anxiety, neuroticism, psychoticism, misanthropy, locus of control, tendency to dissimulate, and measures of relationship with parents, peers, and academic achievement were obtained. Item-total score correlations and alpha reliabilities supported the internal consistency of the scale. Test-retest reliabilities indicated the stability of the scores, and correlations between scores of the scale, and criterion measures supported the concurrent validity of the Rosenberg scale. Factor analysis of the Rosenberg scores confirmed the unidimensionality of the scale.

Measuring cannabis consumption: Psychometric properties of the Daily Sessions, Frequency, Age of Onset, and Quantity of Cannabis Use Inventory (DFAQ-CU).

Science.gov (United States)

Cuttler, Carrie; Spradlin, Alexander

2017-01-01

We created the Daily Sessions, Frequency, Age of Onset, and Quantity of Cannabis Use Inventory (DFAQ-CU) because the current lack of psychometrically sound inventories for measuring these dimensions of cannabis use has impeded research on the effects of cannabis in humans. A sample of 2,062 cannabis users completed the DFAQ-CU and was used to assess the DFAQ-CU's factor structure and reliability. To assess validity, a subsample of 645 participants completed additional measures of cannabis dependence and problems (Marijuana Smoking History Questionnaire [MSHQ], Timeline Followback [TLFB], Cannabis Abuse Screening Test [CAST], Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test Revised [CUDIT-R], Cannabis Use Problems Identification Test [CUPIT], and Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test [AUDIT]). A six-factor structure was revealed, with factors measuring: daily sessions, frequency, age of onset, marijuana quantity, cannabis concentrate quantity, and edibles quantity. The factors were reliable, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from .69 (daily sessions) to .95 (frequency). Results further provided evidence for the factors' convergent (MSHQ, TLFB), predictive (CAST, CUDIT-R, CUPIT), and discriminant validity (AUDIT). The DFAQ-CU is the first psychometrically sound inventory for measuring frequency, age of onset, and quantity of cannabis use. It contains pictures of marijuana to facilitate the measurement of quantity of marijuana used, as well as questions to assess the use of different forms of cannabis (e.g., concentrates, edibles), methods of administering cannabis (e.g., joints, hand pipes, vaporizers), and typical THC levels. As such, the DFAQ-CU should help facilitate research on frequency, quantity, and age of onset of cannabis use.

Measuring cannabis consumption: Psychometric properties of the Daily Sessions, Frequency, Age of Onset, and Quantity of Cannabis Use Inventory (DFAQ-CU.

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Carrie Cuttler

Full Text Available We created the Daily Sessions, Frequency, Age of Onset, and Quantity of Cannabis Use Inventory (DFAQ-CU because the current lack of psychometrically sound inventories for measuring these dimensions of cannabis use has impeded research on the effects of cannabis in humans.A sample of 2,062 cannabis users completed the DFAQ-CU and was used to assess the DFAQ-CU's factor structure and reliability. To assess validity, a subsample of 645 participants completed additional measures of cannabis dependence and problems (Marijuana Smoking History Questionnaire [MSHQ], Timeline Followback [TLFB], Cannabis Abuse Screening Test [CAST], Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test Revised [CUDIT-R], Cannabis Use Problems Identification Test [CUPIT], and Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test [AUDIT].A six-factor structure was revealed, with factors measuring: daily sessions, frequency, age of onset, marijuana quantity, cannabis concentrate quantity, and edibles quantity. The factors were reliable, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from .69 (daily sessions to .95 (frequency. Results further provided evidence for the factors' convergent (MSHQ, TLFB, predictive (CAST, CUDIT-R, CUPIT, and discriminant validity (AUDIT.The DFAQ-CU is the first psychometrically sound inventory for measuring frequency, age of onset, and quantity of cannabis use. It contains pictures of marijuana to facilitate the measurement of quantity of marijuana used, as well as questions to assess the use of different forms of cannabis (e.g., concentrates, edibles, methods of administering cannabis (e.g., joints, hand pipes, vaporizers, and typical THC levels. As such, the DFAQ-CU should help facilitate research on frequency, quantity, and age of onset of cannabis use.

Assessment of Reduced Tolerance to Sound (Hyperacusis in University Students

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Sule Yilmaz

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Hyperacusis is defined as a reduction in tolerance to ordinary environmental sounds. Hyperacusis can occur in individuals of all age groups, making daily life difficult for the sufferers. Although there is no objective test to accurately diagnose hyperacusis, questionnaires are useful for the assessment of hyperacusis. The aim of this study was to explore the reduced sound tolerance in university students using a hyperacusis questionnaire (HQ. Materials and Methods: A total of 536 university students (300 females and 236 males aged between 18 and 25 years, with a mean age of 21.34 ± 1.87 years, were assessed using an HQ developed by Khalfa. The mean total score of all the participants was 16.34 ± 7.91, and 5.78% of the participants had total scores indicating hyperacusis, where a majority of them were females. Results: Females had significantly higher scores than men in terms of both the total and the attentional and emotional dimensions. The scores of the participants who reported noise exposure or a decrease in their tolerance to noise were significantly higher than those of the other participants. Even among young adults, there was a group of participants suffering from some problems related to decreased tolerance to everyday sounds. Discussion: Although the Turkish translation of the HQ seems to be a reliable tool for evaluating hyperacusis in young adults, further work with various populations of different age groups is required to establish validity and to assess the psychometric qualities of the Turkish form.

81st Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society

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Wiberg, Marie; Culpepper, Steven; Douglas, Jeffrey; Wang, Wen-Chung

2017-01-01

This proceedings volume compiles and expands on selected and peer reviewed presentations given at the 81st Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society (IMPS), organized by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and held in Asheville, North Carolina, July 11th to 17th, 2016. IMPS is one of the largest international meetings focusing on quantitative measurement in psychology, education, and the social sciences, both in terms of participants and number of presentations. The meeting built on the Psychometric Society's mission to share quantitative methods relevant to psychology, addressing a diverse set of psychometric topics including item response theory, factor analysis, structural equation modeling, time series analysis, mediation analysis, cognitive diagnostic models, and multi-level models. Selected presenters were invited to revise and expand their contributions and to have them peer reviewed and published in this proceedings volume. Previous volumes to showcase work from the Psychometric Society�...

Psychometric properties and convergent and predictive validity of an executive function test battery for two-year-olds

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Hanna eMulder

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Executive function (EF is an important predictor of numerous developmental outcomes, such as academic achievement and behavioral adjustment. Although a plethora of measurement instruments exists to assess executive function in children, only few of these are suitable for toddlers, and even fewer have undergone psychometric evaluation. The present study evaluates the psychometric properties and validity of an assessment battery for measuring EF in two-year-olds. A sample of 2437 children were administered the assessment battery at a mean age of 2;4 years (SD = 0;3 years in a large-scale field study. Measures of both hot EF (snack and gift delay tasks and cool EF (six boxes, memory for location, and visual search task were included. Confirmatory Factor Analyses showed that a two-factor hot and cool EF model fitted the data better than a one-factor model. Measurement invariance was supported across groups differing in age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES, home language, and test setting. Criterion and convergent validity were evaluated by examining relationships between EF and age, gender, SES, home language, and parent and teacher reports of children’s attention and inhibitory control. Predictive validity of the test battery was investigated by regressing children’s pre-academic skills and behavioral problems at age three on the latent hot and cool EF factors at age two years. The test battery showed satisfactory psychometric quality and criterion, convergent, and predictive validity. Whereas cool EF predicted both pre-academic skills and behavior problems one year later, hot EF predicted behavior problems only. These results show that EF can be assessed with psychometrically sound instruments in children as young as two years, and that EF tasks can be reliably applied in large scale field research. The current instruments offer new opportunities for investigating EF in early childhood, and for evaluating interventions targeted at improving

A psychometric appraisal of the DREEM

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Hammond Sean M

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The quality of the Educational environment is a key determinant of a student centred curriculum. Evaluation of the educational environment is an important component of programme appraisal. In order to conduct such evaluation use of a comprehensive, valid and reliable instrument is essential. One of most widely used contemporary tools for evaluation of the learning environment is the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM. Apart from the initial psychometric evaluation of the DREEM, few published studies report its psychometric properties in detail. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric quality of the DREEM measure in the context of medical education in Ireland and to explore the construct validity of the device. Methods 239 final year medical students were asked to complete the DREEM inventory. Anonymised responses were entered into a database. Data analysis was performed using PASW 18 and confirmatory factor analysis performed. Results Whilst the total DREEM score had an acceptable level of internal consistency (alpha 0.89, subscale analysis shows that two subscales had sub-optimal internal consistency. Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis (using Fleming's indices shows an overall fit of 0.76, representing a weak but acceptable level of fit. 17 of the 50 items manifest fit indices less than 0.70. We sought the best fitting oblique solution to the 5-subscale structure, which showed large correlations, suggesting that the independence of the separate scales is open to question. Conclusions There has perhaps been an inadequate focus on establishing and maintaining the psychometric credentials of the DREEM. The present study highlights two concerns. Firstly, the internal consistency of the 5 scales is quite variable and, in our sample, appears rather low. Secondly, the construct validity is not well supported. We suggest that users of the DREEM will provide basic psychometric appraisal of the

A psychometric appraisal of the DREEM

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Hammond, Sean M

2012-01-12

Abstract Background The quality of the Educational environment is a key determinant of a student centred curriculum. Evaluation of the educational environment is an important component of programme appraisal. In order to conduct such evaluation use of a comprehensive, valid and reliable instrument is essential. One of most widely used contemporary tools for evaluation of the learning environment is the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM). Apart from the initial psychometric evaluation of the DREEM, few published studies report its psychometric properties in detail. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric quality of the DREEM measure in the context of medical education in Ireland and to explore the construct validity of the device. Methods 239 final year medical students were asked to complete the DREEM inventory. Anonymised responses were entered into a database. Data analysis was performed using PASW 18 and confirmatory factor analysis performed. Results Whilst the total DREEM score had an acceptable level of internal consistency (alpha 0.89), subscale analysis shows that two subscales had sub-optimal internal consistency. Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis (using Fleming\\'s indices) shows an overall fit of 0.76, representing a weak but acceptable level of fit. 17 of the 50 items manifest fit indices less than 0.70. We sought the best fitting oblique solution to the 5-subscale structure, which showed large correlations, suggesting that the independence of the separate scales is open to question. Conclusions There has perhaps been an inadequate focus on establishing and maintaining the psychometric credentials of the DREEM. The present study highlights two concerns. Firstly, the internal consistency of the 5 scales is quite variable and, in our sample, appears rather low. Secondly, the construct validity is not well supported. We suggest that users of the DREEM will provide basic psychometric appraisal of the device in future

Applied psychometrics in clinical psychiatry: the pharmacopsychometric triangle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech, P; Bech, P

2009-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To consider applied psychometrics in psychiatry as a discipline focusing on pharmacopsychology rather than psychopharmacology as illustrated by the pharmacopsychometric triangle. METHOD: The pharmacopsychological dimensions of clinically valid effects of drugs (antianxiety, antidepress......OBJECTIVE: To consider applied psychometrics in psychiatry as a discipline focusing on pharmacopsychology rather than psychopharmacology as illustrated by the pharmacopsychometric triangle. METHOD: The pharmacopsychological dimensions of clinically valid effects of drugs (antianxiety...... psychometrics in psychiatry have been found to cover a pharmacopsychometric triangle illustrating the measurements of wanted and unwanted effects of pharmacotherapeutic drugs as well as health-related quality of life....

The Interpersonal Relationship Inventory: continued psychometric evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tilden, V P; Hirsch, A M; Nelson, C A

1994-01-01

For norm-referenced measures to be useful in social-behavioral research, investigators who develop measures face several psychometric challenges, including: (a) adequate domain specification; (b) adequate initial evidence of reliability and validity; and (c) ongoing evidence of psychometric quality. The Interpersonal Relationship Inventory (IPRI) was developed in response to gaps in measurement of social relationships, and contributed scales for reciprocity and conflict to a measure of social support. For the IPRI, the first two points were addressed during the period of instrument development. The measure now has been in use for 4 years. This article reports evidence addressing the third challenge: ongoing evidence of psychometric quality. Findings from 19 studies using the IPRI provide compelling evidence for internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the scales.

Psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT).

Science.gov (United States)

Boysan, Murat; Kuss, Daria J; Barut, Yaşar; Ayköse, Nafi; Güleç, Mustafa; Özdemir, Osman

2017-01-01

Of many instruments developed to assess Internet addiction, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), an expanded version of the Internet Addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire (IADQ), has been the most widely used scale in English and non-English speaking populations. In this study, our aim was to investigate the psychometric properties of short and expanded versions of the IAT in a Turkish undergraduate sample. Overall, 455 undergraduate students from Turkey aged between 18 and 30 participated in the study (63.53% were females). Explanatory and confirmatory factor analytic procedures investigated factor structures of the IADQ and IAT. The Internet Addiction Scale (IAS), Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) and Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) were administered to assess convergent and divergent validities of the IADQ and IAT. Internal consistency and 15-day test-retest reliability were computed. In the factorial analytic investigation, we found a unidimensional factor structure for each measure fit the current data best. Significant but weak to moderate correlations of the IADQ and the IAT with the CISS, OCI-R and DES provided empirical evidence for divergent validity, whereas strong associations with the subscales of the IAS pointed to the convergent validity of Young's Internet addiction construct. Internal consistency of the IADQ was weak (α=0.67) and of the IAT was high (α=0.93). Temporal reliability of both instruments was very high (α=0.81 and α=0.87; respectively). The IAT revealed promising and sound psychometric properties in a Turkish sample. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of the psychometrics of a PROMIS item bank: self-efficacy for managing daily activities.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Ickpyo; Velozo, Craig A; Li, Chih-Ying; Romero, Sergio; Gruber-Baldini, Ann L; Shulman, Lisa M

2016-09-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the psychometrics of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System self-efficacy for managing daily activities item bank. The item pool was field tested on a sample of 1087 participants via internet (n = 250) and in-clinic (n = 837) surveys. All participants reported having at least one chronic health condition. The 35 item pool was investigated for dimensionality (confirmatory factor analyses, CFA and exploratory factor analysis, EFA), item-total correlations, local independence, precision, and differential item functioning (DIF) across gender, race, ethnicity, age groups, data collection modes, and neurological chronic conditions (McFadden Pseudo R (2) less than 10 %). The item pool met two of the four CFA fit criteria (CFI = 0.952 and SRMR = 0.07). EFA analysis found a dominant first factor (eigenvalue = 24.34) and the ratio of first to second eigenvalue was 12.4. The item pool demonstrated good item-total correlations (0.59-0.85) and acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.97). The item pool maintained its precision (reliability over 0.90) across a wide range of theta (3.70), and there was no significant DIF. The findings indicated the item pool has sound psychometric properties and the test items are eligible for development of computerized adaptive testing and short forms.

The inventory of dyadic heterosexual preferences: development and psychometric evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Purnine, D M; Carey, M P; Jorgensen, R S

1996-04-01

This article describes the development and evaluation of an instrument that measures preferences for specific sexual behaviors of heterosexual men and women in a dyadic context. In Study 1, 74 statements of preference were reduced to 46 on the basis of reliability and range of responses. Factor analysis revealed that 27 of the 46 items loaded on 6 factors: Erotophilia, Use of Contraception, Conventionality, Use of Erotica, Use of Drugs/Alcohol, and Romanticism. In Study 2, factor analysis of fresh data from a second sample cross-validated these results. To establish construct validity of the revised 27-item Inventory of Dyadic Heterosexual Preferences (IDHP), relationships between each of its 6 scales and 6 criterion measures were examined. These analyses suggested that the last scale is more accurately characterized by the term Romantic Foreplay. We conclude that the IDHP measures 6 distinct domains of sexual preference with a brief, psychometrically sound instrument. Potential applications of the IDHP, suggestions for future research, and strengths and limitations of the current investigation are discussed.

Psychometric properties of the Children’s Revised Impact of Events Scale (CRIES with Bangladeshi children and adolescents

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Farah Deeba

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Identification of possible cases suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD is important, especially in developing countries where traumatic events are typically prevalent. The Children’s Revised Impact of Events Scale is a reliable and valid measure that has two brief versions (13 items and 8 items to assess reactions to traumatic events among young people. The current study evaluated the psychometric properties of both versions of the CRIES in a sample of 1,342 children and adolescents aged 9–17 years (M = 12.3 years, SD = 2.12 recruited from six districts of Bangladesh. A sub-group of 120 children from four schools was re-tested on the measures within 3.5 weeks. Confirmatory factor analysis supported factor structures similar to those found in other studies for both versions of the CRIES. Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis showed gender and age-group differences within the sample, supporting established age and gender differences in prevalence of PTSD symptoms. Analyses also indicated moderate to excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability and clear discriminant and convergent validity. These data support use of both the CRIES-13 and CRIES-8 to provide quick and psychometrically sound assessment of symptoms of PTSD among children and adolescents from Bangla-speaking communities.

Psychometric properties of the Cumulated Ambulation Score

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ferriero, Giorgio; Kristensen, Morten T; Invernizzi, Marco

2018-01-01

INTRODUCTION: In the geriatric population, independent mobility is a key factor in determining readiness for discharge following acute hospitalization. The Cumulated Ambulation Score (CAS) is a potentially valuable score that allows day-to-day measurements of basic mobility. The CAS was developed...... and validated in older patients with hip fracture as an early postoperative predictor of short-term outcome, but it is also used to assess geriatric in-patients with acute medical illness. Despite the fast- accumulating literature on the CAS, to date no systematic review synthesizing its psychometric properties....... Of 49 studies identified, 17 examined the psychometric properties of the CAS. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Most papers dealt with patients after hip fracture surgery, and only 4 studies assessed the CAS psychometric characteristics also in geriatric in-patients with acute medical illness. Two versions of CAS...

Sound algorithms

OpenAIRE

De Götzen , Amalia; Mion , Luca; Tache , Olivier

2007-01-01

International audience; We call sound algorithms the categories of algorithms that deal with digital sound signal. Sound algorithms appeared in the very infancy of computer. Sound algorithms present strong specificities that are the consequence of two dual considerations: the properties of the digital sound signal itself and its uses, and the properties of auditory perception.

46 CFR 7.20 - Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound, Buzzards Bay, Narragansett Bay, MA, Block Island Sound and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound, Buzzards Bay, Narragansett Bay, MA, Block Island Sound and easterly entrance to Long Island Sound, NY. 7.20 Section 7.20... Atlantic Coast § 7.20 Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound, Buzzards Bay, Narragansett Bay, MA, Block Island...

The Toronto Obsessive-Compulsive Scale: Psychometrics of a Dimensional Measure of Obsessive-Compulsive Traits.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Laura S; Burton, Christie L; Dupuis, Annie; Shan, Janet; Storch, Eric A; Crosbie, Jennifer; Schachar, Russell J; Arnold, Paul D

2016-04-01

To describe the Toronto Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (TOCS), a novel 21-item parent- or self-report questionnaire that covers wide variation in obsessive-compulsive (OC) traits, and to evaluate its psychometric properties in a community-based pediatric sample. The TOCS was completed for 16,718 children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 17 years in a community setting. Internal consistency, convergent validity with the Obsessive-Compulsive Scale of the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL-OCS), divergent validity with the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) Symptoms and Normal Behaviour Rating Scale (SWAN), interrater reliability, as well as sensitivity and specificity of the TOCS were assessed. The internal consistency of the 21 TOCS items was excellent (Cronbach's α = 0.94). TOCS was moderately correlated with the CBCL-OCS (Spearman correlation = 0.51) and poorly correlated with the SWAN (Pearson correlation = 0.02). Sensitivity and specificity analyses indicated that a TOCS total score of greater than 0 successfully discriminated community-reported obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) cases from noncases. OC traits were continuously distributed both at the total score and dimensional level in our pediatric community sample. TOCS is a multidimensional measure of OC traits in children and adolescents with sound psychometric properties. TOCS reveals that OC traits are common and continuously distributed in a community sample. TOCS may be a useful measure for studies of the characteristics and etiology of OC traits. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Initial psychometric evaluation of the Moral Injury Questionnaire--Military version.

Science.gov (United States)

Currier, Joseph M; Holland, Jason M; Drescher, Kent; Foy, David

2015-01-01

possible psychological, ethical, and spiritual/existential challenges among persons who served in modern wars and other trauma-exposed professional groups. There is currently a need for psychometrically sound instrumentation for assessing morally injurious experiences (MIEs). The Moral Injury Questionnaire - Military Version (MIQ-M) was developed to provide a tool for assessing possible MIEs among military populations. This study provides preliminary evidence of the validity - including factorial, concurrent, and incremental - and clinical utility of the MIQ-M for further applications in clinical and research contexts. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure of the German Version of the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller-Engelmann, Meike; Schnyder, Ulrich; Dittmann, Clara; Priebe, Kathlen; Bohus, Martin; Thome, Janine; Fydrich, Thomas; Pfaltz, Monique C; Steil, Regina

2018-05-01

The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) is a widely used diagnostic interview for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Following fundamental modifications in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition ( DSM-5), the CAPS had to be revised. This study examined the psychometric properties (internal consistency, interrater reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and structural validity) of the German version of the CAPS-5 in a trauma-exposed sample ( n = 223 with PTSD; n =51 without PTSD). The results demonstrated high internal consistency (αs = .65-.93) and high interrater reliability (ICCs = .81-.89). With regard to convergent and discriminant validity, we found high correlations between the CAPS severity score and both the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale sum score ( r = .87) and the Beck Depression Inventory total score ( r = .72). Regarding the underlying factor structure, the hybrid model demonstrated the best fit, followed by the anhedonia model. However, we encountered some nonpositive estimates for the correlations of the latent variables (factors) for both models. The model with the best fit without methodological problems was the externalizing behaviors model, but the results also supported the DSM-5 model. Overall, the results demonstrate that the German version of the CAPS-5 is a psychometrically sound measure.

Factorial Validity and Internal Consistency of Malaysian Adapted Depression Anxiety Stress Scale - 21 in an Adolescent Sample

OpenAIRE

Hairul Anuar Hashim; Freddy Golok; Rosmatunisah Ali

2011-01-01

Background: Psychometrically sound measurement instrument is a fundamental requirement across broad range of research areas. In negative affect research, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) has been identified as a psychometrically sound instrument to measure depression, anxiety and stress, especially the 21-item version. However, its psychometric properties in adolescents have been less consistent. Objectives: Thus, the present study sought to examine the factorial validity and internal c...

Psychometric evaluation of the Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID survey in Southern, rural African American women with Type 2 diabetes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elasy Tom A

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID survey is a measure of diabetes-related stress for which reported use has been in largely Caucasian populations. Our purpose was to assess the psychometric properties of the PAID in Southern rural African American women with Type 2 diabetes. Methods A convenience sample of African American women (N = 131 ranging from 21–50 years of age and diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes were recruited for a survey study from two rural Southern community health centers. Participants completed the PAID, Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D, and the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities Scale (SDSCA. Factor analysis, Cronbach's coefficient alpha, and construct validation facilitated psychometric evaluation. Results A principle component factor analysis of the PAID yielded two factors, 1 a lack of confidence subscale, and 2 a negative emotional consequences subscale. The Lack of Confidence and Negative Emotional Consequences subscales, but not the overall PAID scale, were associated with glycemic control and body mass index, respectively. Relationships with measures of depression and diabetes self-care supported construct validity of both subscales. Both subscales had acceptable (alpha = 0.85 and 0.94 internal consistency measures. Conclusion A psychometrically sound two-factor solution to the PAID survey is identified in Southern, rural African American women with Type 2 diabetes. Lack of confidence in and negative emotional consequences of diabetes self-care implementation provide a better understanding of determinants of glycemic control and weight than an aggregate of the two scales.

Validation of Karolinska Exhaustion Scale: psychometric properties of a measure of exhaustion syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Saboonchi, Fredrik; Perski, Aleksander; Grossi, Giorgio

2013-12-01

The syndrome of exhaustion is currently a medical diagnosis in Sweden. The description of the syndrome largely corresponds to the suggested core component of burnout, that is exhaustion. Karolinska Exhaustion Scale (KES) has been constructed to provide specific assessment of exhaustion in clinical and research settings. The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of this scale in its original and revised versions by examining the factorial structure and measures of convergent and discriminant validity. Data gathered from two independent samples (n1 = 358 & n2 = 403) consisting of patients diagnosed with 'reaction to severe stress, and adjustment disorder' were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis. The study's instruments were Karolinska Exhaustion Scale and Shirom Melam Burnout Measure. Correlation analyses were employed to follow up the established factorial structure of the scale. The study was ethically approved by Karolinska Institute regional ethic committee. The findings demonstrated adequate fit of the data to the measurement model provided by the revised version of KES Limitations: The main limitation of the present study is the lack of a gold standard of exhaustion for direct comparison with KES. (KES-26) and partially supported convergent validity and discriminant validity of the scale. The demonstrated psychometric properties of KES-26 indicate sound construct validity for this scale encouraging use of this scale in assessment of exhaustion. The factorial structure of KES-26 may also be used to provide information concerning possible different clinical profiles. © 2012 The Authors Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences © 2012 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of the Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Qi; Zhang, Shengyu; Lin, Xiang; Ban, Chunxia; Yang, Haibo; Liu, Zhengwen; Wang, Jingrong; Wang, Tao; Xiao, Shifu; Abdel-Khalek, Ahmed M; Li, Xia

2016-06-25

Death anxiety is regarded as a risk and maintaining factor of psychopathology. While the Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety (ASDA) is a brief, commonly used assessment, such a tool is lacking in Chinese clinical practice. The current study was conducted to develop a Chinese version of the ASDA, i.e., the ASDA(C), using a multistage back-translation technique, and examine the psychometric properties of the scale. A total of 1372 participants from hospitals and universities located in three geographic areas of China were recruited for this study. To calculate the criterion-related validity of the ASDA(C) compared to the Chinese version of the longer-form Multidimensional Orientation toward Dying and Death Inventory (MODDI-F/chin), 49 undergraduates were randomly assigned to complete both questionnaires. Of the total participants, 56 were randomly assigned to retake the ASDA(C) in order to estimate the one-week, test-retest reliability of the ASDA(C). The overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.91 for the whole scale. The one-week, test-retest reliability was 0.96. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) revealed three factors, "fear of dead people and tombs," "fear of lethal disease," and "fear of postmortem events," accounted for 57.09% of the total variance. Factor structure for the three-factor model was sound. The correlation between the total scores on the ASDA(C) and the MODDI-F/chin was 0.54, indicating acceptable concurrent validity. ASDA(C) has adequate psychometrics and properties that make it a reliable and valid scale to assess death anxiety in Mandarin-speaking Chinese.

Workplace nutrition knowledge questionnaire: psychometric validation and application.

Science.gov (United States)

Guadagnin, Simone C; Nakano, Eduardo Y; Dutra, Eliane S; de Carvalho, Kênia M B; Ito, Marina K

2016-11-01

Workplace dietary intervention studies in low- and middle-income countries using psychometrically sound measures are scarce. This study aimed to validate a nutrition knowledge questionnaire (NQ) and its utility in evaluating the changes in knowledge among participants of a Nutrition Education Program (NEP) conducted at the workplace. A NQ was tested for construct validity, internal consistency and discriminant validity. It was applied in a NEP conducted at six workplaces, in order to evaluate the effect of an interactive or a lecture-based education programme on nutrition knowledge. Four knowledge domains comprising twenty-three items were extracted in the final version of the NQ. Internal consistency of each domain was significant, with Kuder-Richardson formula values>0·60. These four domains presented a good fit in the confirmatory factor analysis. In the discriminant validity test, both the Expert and Lay groups scored>0·52, but the Expert group scores were significantly higher than those of the Lay group in all domains. When the NQ was applied in the NEP, the overall questionnaire scores increased significantly because of the NEP intervention, in both groups (Pnutrition knowledge among participants of NEP at the workplace. According to the NQ, an interactive nutrition education had a higher impact on nutrition knowledge than a lecture programme.

Review of the Psychometric Evidence of the Perceived Stress Scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eun-Hyun Lee, RN, PhD

2012-12-01

Conclusion: Overall, the PSS is an easy-to-use questionnaire with established acceptable psychometric properties. However, future studies should evaluate these psychometric properties in greater depth, and validate the scale using diverse populations.

Problems in nonlinear acoustics: Scattering of sound by sound, parametric receiving arrays, nonlinear effects in asymmetric sound beams and pulsed finite amplitude sound beams

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Mark F.

1989-08-01

Four projects are discussed in this annual summary report, all of which involve basic research in nonlinear acoustics: Scattering of Sound by Sound, a theoretical study of two nonconlinear Gaussian beams which interact to produce sum and difference frequency sound; Parametric Receiving Arrays, a theoretical study of parametric reception in a reverberant environment; Nonlinear Effects in Asymmetric Sound Beams, a numerical study of two dimensional finite amplitude sound fields; and Pulsed Finite Amplitude Sound Beams, a numerical time domain solution of the KZK equation.

PREFACE: Aerodynamic sound Aerodynamic sound

Science.gov (United States)

Akishita, Sadao

2010-02-01

The modern theory of aerodynamic sound originates from Lighthill's two papers in 1952 and 1954, as is well known. I have heard that Lighthill was motivated in writing the papers by the jet-noise emitted by the newly commercialized jet-engined airplanes at that time. The technology of aerodynamic sound is destined for environmental problems. Therefore the theory should always be applied to newly emerged public nuisances. This issue of Fluid Dynamics Research (FDR) reflects problems of environmental sound in present Japanese technology. The Japanese community studying aerodynamic sound has held an annual symposium since 29 years ago when the late Professor S Kotake and Professor S Kaji of Teikyo University organized the symposium. Most of the Japanese authors in this issue are members of the annual symposium. I should note the contribution of the two professors cited above in establishing the Japanese community of aerodynamic sound research. It is my pleasure to present the publication in this issue of ten papers discussed at the annual symposium. I would like to express many thanks to the Editorial Board of FDR for giving us the chance to contribute these papers. We have a review paper by T Suzuki on the study of jet noise, which continues to be important nowadays, and is expected to reform the theoretical model of generating mechanisms. Professor M S Howe and R S McGowan contribute an analytical paper, a valuable study in today's fluid dynamics research. They apply hydrodynamics to solve the compressible flow generated in the vocal cords of the human body. Experimental study continues to be the main methodology in aerodynamic sound, and it is expected to explore new horizons. H Fujita's study on the Aeolian tone provides a new viewpoint on major, longstanding sound problems. The paper by M Nishimura and T Goto on textile fabrics describes new technology for the effective reduction of bluff-body noise. The paper by T Sueki et al also reports new technology for the

Investigating Psychometric Isomorphism for Traditional and Performance-Based Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Fay, Derek M.; Levy, Roy; Mehta, Vandhana

2018-01-01

A common practice in educational assessment is to construct multiple forms of an assessment that consists of tasks with similar psychometric properties. This study utilizes a Bayesian multilevel item response model and descriptive graphical representations to evaluate the psychometric similarity of variations of the same task. These approaches for…

Psychometric properties of Spanish-language adult dental fear measures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heaton Lisa J

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background It would be useful to have psychometrically-sound measures of dental fear for Hispanics, who comprise the largest ethnic minority in the United States. We report on the psychometric properties of Spanish-language versions of two common adult measures of dental fear (Modified Dental Anxiety Scale, MDAS; Dental Fear Survey, DFS, as well as a measure of fear of dental injections (Needle Survey, NS. Methods Spanish versions of the measures were administered to 213 adults attending Hispanic cultural festivals, 31 students (who took the questionnaire twice, for test-retest reliability, and 100 patients at a dental clinic. We also administered the questionnaire to 136 English-speaking adults at the Hispanic festivals and 58 English-speaking students at the same college where we recruited the Spanish-speaking students, to compare the performance of the English and Spanish measures in the same populations. Results The internal reliabilities of the Spanish MDAS ranged from 0.80 to 0.85. Values for the DFS ranged from 0.92 to 0.96, and values for the NS ranged from 0.92 to 0.94. The test-retest reliabilities (intra-class correlations for the three measures were 0.69, 0.86, and 0.94 for the MDAS, DFS, and NS, respectively. The three measures showed moderate correlations with one another in all three samples, providing evidence for construct validity. Patients with higher scores on the measures were rated as being more anxious during dental procedures. Similar internal reliabilities and correlations were found in the English-version analyses. The test-retest values were also similar in the English students for the DFS and NS; however, the English test-retest value for the MDAS was better than that found in the Spanish students. Conclusion We found evidence for the internal reliability, construct validity, and criterion validity for the Spanish versions of the three measures, and evidence for the test-retest reliability of the Spanish

Psychometric Research in Reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Frederick B.

This review of psychometric research in reading analyzes the factors which seem related to reading comprehension skills. Experimental analysis of reading comprehension by L. E. Thorndike revealed two major components: knowledge of word meanings and verbal reasoning abilities. Subsequent analysis of experimental studies of reading comprehension…

Imagining Sound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grimshaw, Mark; Garner, Tom Alexander

2014-01-01

We make the case in this essay that sound that is imagined is both a perception and as much a sound as that perceived through external stimulation. To argue this, we look at the evidence from auditory science, neuroscience, and philosophy, briefly present some new conceptual thinking on sound...... that accounts for this view, and then use this to look at what the future might hold in the context of imagining sound and developing technology....

Smoking habit and psychometric scores: a community study.

Science.gov (United States)

Waal-Manning, H J; de Hamel, F A

1978-09-13

During the Milton health survey subjects completed a psychometric inventory consisting of the 48 questions of the Middlesex Hospital questionnaire (MHQ) and 26 from the hostility and direction of hostility questionnaire (HDHQ) designed to examine nine psychological dimensions. The 1209 subjects were classified into smoking categories and the scores for each psychometric trait were calculated. Women scored higher than men and heavy smokers scored higher than "never smokers". The psychometric traits and the scores of the four smoking categories after correcting for age and Quetelet's index showed statistically significant differences by analysis of variance in respect of somatic anxiety and depression for both men and women; and free-floating anxiety, phobic anxiety, hysteria, acting out hostility, self criticism and guilt in women. For somatic anxiety the increase in score almost exactly paralleled the increasing quantity of tobacco consumed.

Testing Psychometrics of Healthcare Empowerment Questionnaires ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Testing Psychometrics of Healthcare Empowerment Questionnaires (HCEQ) among Iranian ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... translation and backtranslation procedures, pilot testing, and getting views of expert panel.

Psychometric Evaluation and Discussions of English Language Learners' Listening Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Daeryong; Taherbhai, Husein; Frantz, Roger

2016-01-01

The importance of listening in the context of English language acquisition is gaining acceptance, but its unique attributes in language performance, while substantively and qualitatively justifiable, are generally not psychometrically defined. This article psychometrically supports listening as a distinct domain among the three other domains of…

Sound radiation contrast in MR phase images. Method for the representation of elasticity, sound damping, and sound impedance changes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radicke, Marcus

2009-01-01

The method presented in this thesis combines ultrasound techniques with the magnetic-resonance tomography (MRT). An ultrasonic wave generates in absorbing media a static force in sound-propagation direction. The force leads at sound intensities of some W/cm 2 and a sound frequency in the lower MHz range to a tissue shift in the micrometer range. This tissue shift depends on the sound power, the sound frequency, the sound absorption, and the elastic properties of the tissue. A MRT sequence of the Siemens Healthcare AG was modified so that it measures (indirectly) the tissue shift, codes as grey values, and presents as 2D picture. By means of the grey values the sound-beam slope in the tissue can be visualized, and so additionally sound obstacles (changes of the sound impedance) can be detected. By the MRT images token up spatial changes of the tissue parameters sound absorption and elasticity can be detected. In this thesis measurements are presented, which show the feasibility and future chances of this method especially for the mammary-cancer diagnostics. [de

Psychometrics of a Child Report Measure of Maternal Support following Disclosure of Sexual Abuse.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Daniel W; Sawyer, Genelle K; Heck, Nicholas C; Zajac, Kristyn; Solomon, David; Self-Brown, Shannon; Danielson, Carla K; Ralston, M Elizabeth

2017-04-01

The study examined a new child report measure of maternal support following child sexual abuse. One hundred and forty-six mother-child dyads presenting for a forensic evaluation completed assessments including standardized measures of adjustment. Child participants also responded to 32 items considered for inclusion in a new measure, the Maternal Support Questionnaire-Child Report (MSQ-CR). Exploratory factor analysis of the Maternal Support Questionnaire-Child Report resulted in a three factor, 20-item solution: Emotional Support (9 items), Skeptical Preoccupation (5 items), and Protection/Retaliation (6 items). Each factor demonstrated adequate internal consistency. Construct and concurrent validity of the new measure were supported in comparison to other trauma-specific measures. The Maternal Support Questionnaire-Child Report demonstrated sound psychometric properties. Future research is needed to determine whether the Maternal Support Questionnaire-Child Report provides a more sensitive approximation of maternal support following disclosure of sexual abuse, relative to measures of global parent-child relations and to contextualize discrepancies between mother and child ratings of maternal support.

The Alliance Negotiation Scale: A psychometric investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Doran, Jennifer M; Safran, Jeremy D; Muran, J Christopher

2016-08-01

This study investigates the utility and psychometric properties of a new measure of psychotherapy process, the Alliance Negotiation Scale (ANS; Doran, Safran, Waizmann, Bolger, & Muran, 2012). The ANS was designed to operationalize the theoretical construct of negotiation (Safran & Muran, 2000), and to extend our current understanding of the working alliance concept (Bordin, 1979). The ANS was also intended to improve upon existing measures such as the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI; Horvath & Greenberg, 1986, 1989) and its short form (WAI-S; Tracey & Kokotovic, 1989) by expanding the emphasis on negative therapy process. The present study investigates the psychometric validity of the ANS test scores and interpretation-including confirming its original factor structure and evaluating its internal consistency and construct validity. Construct validity was examined through the ANS' convergence and divergence with several existing scales that measure theoretically related constructs. The results bolster and extend previous findings about the psychometric integrity of the ANS, and begin to illuminate the relationship between negotiation and other important variables in psychotherapy research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychometric Validation of the Parental Bonding Instrument in a U.K. Population-Based Sample: Role of Gender and Association With Mental Health in Mid-Late Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Man K; Morin, Alexandre J S; Marsh, Herbert W; Richards, Marcus; Jones, Peter B

2016-08-01

The factorial structure of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) has been frequently studied in diverse samples but no study has examined its psychometric properties from large, population-based samples. In particular, important questions have not been addressed such as the measurement invariance properties across parental and offspring gender. We evaluated the PBI based on responses from a large, representative population-based sample, using an exploratory structural equation modeling method appropriate for categorical data. Analysis revealed a three-factor structure representing "care," "overprotection," and "autonomy" parenting styles. In terms of psychometric measurement validity, our results supported the complete invariance of the PBI ratings across sons and daughters for their mothers and fathers. The PBI ratings were also robust in relation to personality and mental health status. In terms of predictive value, paternal care showed a protective effect on mental health at age 43 in sons. The PBI is a sound instrument for capturing perceived parenting styles, and is predictive of mental health in middle adulthood. © The Author(s) 2016.

A psychometric appraisal of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy using law students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Williams B

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Brett Williams,1 Adiva Sifris,2 Marty Lynch1 1Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, 2Faculty of Law, Monash University, Frankston, VIC, Australia Background: A growing body of literature indicates that empathic behaviors are positively linked, in several ways, with the professional performance and mental well-being of lawyers and law students. It is therefore important to assess empathy levels among law students using psychometrically sound tools that are suitable for this cohort.Participants and methods: The 20-item Jefferson Scale of Empathy – Health Profession Students Version was adapted for a law context (eg, the word “health care” became “legal”, and the new Jefferson Scale of Empathy – Law Students (JSE-L-S version was completed by 275 students at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Data were subjected to principal component analysis.Results: Four factors emerged from the principal component analysis (“understanding the client’s perspective”, “responding to clients’ experiences and emotions”, “responding to clients’ cues and behaviors”, and “standing in clients’ shoes”, which accounted for 46.7% of the total variance. The reliability of the factors varied, but the overall 18-item JSE-L-S yielded a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.80. Several patterns among the item loadings were similar to those reported in studies using other versions of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy.Conclusion: The JSE-L-S appears to be a reliable measure of empathy among undergraduate law students, which could help provide insights into law student welfare and future performance as legal practitioners. Additional evaluation of the JSE-L-S is required to disambiguate some of the minor findings explored. Adjustments may improve the psychometric properties. Keywords: empathy, law, student, Jefferson, sympathy

Health Literacy Measure for Adolescents (HELMA: Development and Psychometric Properties.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahla Ghanbari

Full Text Available Health literacy refers to personal competencies for the access to, understanding of, appraisal of and application of health information in order to make sound decisions in everyday life. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of an instrument for the measurement of health literacy among adolescents (the Health Literacy Measure for Adolescents-HELMA.This study was made up of two phases, qualitative and quantitative, which were carried out in 2012-2014 in Tehran, Iran. In the qualitative part of the study, in-depth interviews with 67 adolescents aged 15-18 were carried out in 4 high schools to generate the initial item pool for the survey. The content validity of the items was then assessed by an expert panel review (n = 13 and face validity was assessed by interviewing adolescents (n = 16. In the quantitative part of the study, in order to describe the psychometric properties of the scale, validity, reliability (internal consistency and test-retest and factor analysis were assessed.An item pool made up of 104 items was generated at the qualitative stage. After content validity was considered, this decreased to 47 items. In the quantitative stage, 582 adolescents aged 15-18 participated in the study with a mean age of 16.2 years. 51.2% of participants were females. In principal component factor analysis, 8 factors were loaded, which accounted for 53.37% of the variance observed. Reliability has been approved by α = 0.93 and the test-retest of the scale at two-week intervals indicated an appropriate stability for the scale (ICC = 0.93. The final questionnaire was approved with 44 items split into eight sections. The sections were titled: gain access to, reading, understanding, appraise, use, communication, self-efficacy and numeracy.The Health Literacy Measure for Adolescents (HELMA is a valid and reliable tool for the measurement of the health literacy of adolescents aged 15-18 and can be used to evaluate

Development of Prediction Tool for Sound Absorption and Sound Insulation for Sound Proof Properties

OpenAIRE

Yoshio Kurosawa; Takao Yamaguchi

2015-01-01

High frequency automotive interior noise above 500 Hz considerably affects automotive passenger comfort. To reduce this noise, sound insulation material is often laminated on body panels or interior trim panels. For a more effective noise reduction, the sound reduction properties of this laminated structure need to be estimated. We have developed a new calculate tool that can roughly calculate the sound absorption and insulation properties of laminate structure and handy ...

Parameterizing Sound: Design Considerations for an Environmental Sound Database

Science.gov (United States)

2015-04-01

associated with, or produced by, a physical event or human activity and 2) sound sources that are common in the environment. Reproductions or sound...Rogers S. Confrontation naming of environmental sounds. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology . 2000;22(6):830–864. 14 VanDerveer NJ

Making fictions sound real - On film sound, perceptual realism and genre

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Birger Langkjær

2010-05-01

Full Text Available This article examines the role that sound plays in making fictions perceptually real to film audiences, whether these fictions are realist or non-realist in content and narrative form. I will argue that some aspects of film sound practices and the kind of experiences they trigger are related to basic rules of human perception, whereas others are more properly explained in relation to how aesthetic devices, including sound, are used to characterise the fiction and thereby make it perceptually real to its audience. Finally, I will argue that not all genres can be defined by a simple taxonomy of sounds. Apart from an account of the kinds of sounds that typically appear in a specific genre, a genre analysis of sound may also benefit from a functionalist approach that focuses on how sounds can make both realist and non-realist aspects of genres sound real to audiences.

Making fictions sound real - On film sound, perceptual realism and genre

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Birger Langkjær

2009-09-01

Full Text Available This article examines the role that sound plays in making fictions perceptually real to film audiences, whether these fictions are realist or non-realist in content and narrative form. I will argue that some aspects of film sound practices and the kind of experiences they trigger are related to basic rules of human perception, whereas others are more properly explained in relation to how aesthetic devices, including sound, are used to characterise the fiction and thereby make it perceptually real to its audience. Finally, I will argue that not all genres can be defined by a simple taxonomy of sounds. Apart from an account of the kinds of sounds that typically appear in a specific genre, a genre analysis of sound may also benefit from a functionalist approach that focuses on how sounds can make both realist and non-realist aspects of genres sound real to audiences.

Sound Absorbers

Science.gov (United States)

Fuchs, H. V.; Möser, M.

Sound absorption indicates the transformation of sound energy into heat. It is, for instance, employed to design the acoustics in rooms. The noise emitted by machinery and plants shall be reduced before arriving at a workplace; auditoria such as lecture rooms or concert halls require a certain reverberation time. Such design goals are realised by installing absorbing components at the walls with well-defined absorption characteristics, which are adjusted for corresponding demands. Sound absorbers also play an important role in acoustic capsules, ducts and screens to avoid sound immission from noise intensive environments into the neighbourhood.

Measuring romantic love: psychometric properties of the infatuation and attachment scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Langeslag, Sandra J E; Muris, Peter; Franken, Ingmar H A

2013-01-01

Romantic love is ubiquitous and has major influences on people's lives. Because romantic love consists of infatuation and attachment, researchers need to be able to differentiate between these constructs when examining the behavioral, affective, cognitive, and physiological correlates of this intriguing phenomenon. Existing love questionnaires appear less suitable for measuring the two-dimensional construct of romantic love. We present here the new 20-item Infatuation and Attachment Scales (IAS) questionnaire. In Study 1, exploratory factor analyses in a Dutch-speaking sample (n = 162) revealed a clear-cut two-factor structure, with 10 infatuation and 10 attachment items loading on separate components. This two-factor structure was confirmed in a new Dutch-speaking sample (n = 214, Study 2), and in an English-speaking sample (n = 183, Study 3). In all studies, it was additionally shown that both scales possessed good convergent and discriminant validity, as well as excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability. We argue that the IAS is a widely applicable, psychometrically sound instrument that will be useful in future research exploring the effects of infatuation and attachment on behavior, emotion, cognition, peripheral physiology, and brain functioning.

Music and language expertise influence the categorization of speech and musical sounds: behavioral and electrophysiological measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Elmer, Stefan; Klein, Carina; Kühnis, Jürg; Liem, Franziskus; Meyer, Martin; Jäncke, Lutz

2014-10-01

In this study, we used high-density EEG to evaluate whether speech and music expertise has an influence on the categorization of expertise-related and unrelated sounds. With this purpose in mind, we compared the categorization of speech, music, and neutral sounds between professional musicians, simultaneous interpreters (SIs), and controls in response to morphed speech-noise, music-noise, and speech-music continua. Our hypothesis was that music and language expertise will strengthen the memory representations of prototypical sounds, which act as a perceptual magnet for morphed variants. This means that the prototype would "attract" variants. This so-called magnet effect should be manifested by an increased assignment of morphed items to the trained category, by a reduced maximal slope of the psychometric function, as well as by differential event-related brain responses reflecting memory comparison processes (i.e., N400 and P600 responses). As a main result, we provide first evidence for a domain-specific behavioral bias of musicians and SIs toward the trained categories, namely music and speech. In addition, SIs showed a bias toward musical items, indicating that interpreting training has a generic influence on the cognitive representation of spectrotemporal signals with similar acoustic properties to speech sounds. Notably, EEG measurements revealed clear distinct N400 and P600 responses to both prototypical and ambiguous items between the three groups at anterior, central, and posterior scalp sites. These differential N400 and P600 responses represent synchronous activity occurring across widely distributed brain networks, and indicate a dynamical recruitment of memory processes that vary as a function of training and expertise.

Development and Psychometric Validation of the Family Outcomes Survey-Revised

Science.gov (United States)

Bailey, Donald B., Jr.; Raspa, Melissa; Olmsted, Murrey G.; Novak, Scott P.; Sam, Ann M.; Humphreys, Betsy P.; Nelson, Robin; Robinson, Nyle; Guillen, Chelsea

2011-01-01

Few psychometrically valid scales exist to assess family outcomes and the helpfulness of early intervention. This article describes the development and psychometric properties of the Family Outcomes Survey-Revised. The revision was prompted by the need to (a) create a new format that would be easier for parents to understand, (b) revise and expand…

Making Sound Connections

Science.gov (United States)

Deal, Walter F., III

2007-01-01

Sound provides and offers amazing insights into the world. Sound waves may be defined as mechanical energy that moves through air or other medium as a longitudinal wave and consists of pressure fluctuations. Humans and animals alike use sound as a means of communication and a tool for survival. Mammals, such as bats, use ultrasonic sound waves to…

Validation of online psychometric instruments for common mental health disorders: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

van Ballegooijen, Wouter; Riper, Heleen; Cuijpers, Pim; van Oppen, Patricia; Smit, Johannes H

2016-02-25

Online questionnaires for measuring common mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders are increasingly used. The psychometrics of several pen-and-paper questionnaires have been re-examined for online use and new online instruments have been developed and tested for validity as well. This study aims to review and synthesise the literature on this subject and provide a framework for future research. We searched Medline and PsycINFO for psychometric studies on online instruments for common mental health disorders and extracted the psychometric data. Studies were coded and assessed for quality by independent raters. We included 56 studies on 62 online instruments. For common instruments such as the CES-D, MADRS-S and HADS there is mounting evidence for adequate psychometric properties. Further results are scattered over different instruments and different psychometric characteristics. Few studies included patient populations. We found at least one online measure for each of the included mental health disorders and symptoms. A small number of online questionnaires have been studied thoroughly. This study provides an overview of online instruments to refer to when choosing an instrument for assessing common mental health disorders online, and can structure future psychometric research.

Abnormal sound detection device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamada, Izumi; Matsui, Yuji.

1995-01-01

Only components synchronized with rotation of pumps are sampled from detected acoustic sounds, to judge the presence or absence of abnormality based on the magnitude of the synchronized components. A synchronized component sampling means can remove resonance sounds and other acoustic sounds generated at a synchronously with the rotation based on the knowledge that generated acoustic components in a normal state are a sort of resonance sounds and are not precisely synchronized with the number of rotation. On the other hand, abnormal sounds of a rotating body are often caused by compulsory force accompanying the rotation as a generation source, and the abnormal sounds can be detected by extracting only the rotation-synchronized components. Since components of normal acoustic sounds generated at present are discriminated from the detected sounds, reduction of the abnormal sounds due to a signal processing can be avoided and, as a result, abnormal sound detection sensitivity can be improved. Further, since it is adapted to discriminate the occurrence of the abnormal sound from the actually detected sounds, the other frequency components which are forecast but not generated actually are not removed, so that it is further effective for the improvement of detection sensitivity. (N.H.)

Four theorems on the psychometric function.

Science.gov (United States)

May, Keith A; Solomon, Joshua A

2013-01-01

In a 2-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) discrimination task, observers choose which of two stimuli has the higher value. The psychometric function for this task gives the probability of a correct response for a given stimulus difference, Δx. This paper proves four theorems about the psychometric function. Assuming the observer applies a transducer and adds noise, Theorem 1 derives a convenient general expression for the psychometric function. Discrimination data are often fitted with a Weibull function. Theorem 2 proves that the Weibull "slope" parameter, β, can be approximated by β(Noise) x β(Transducer), where β(Noise) is the β of the Weibull function that fits best to the cumulative noise distribution, and β(Transducer) depends on the transducer. We derive general expressions for β(Noise) and β(Transducer), from which we derive expressions for specific cases. One case that follows naturally from our general analysis is Pelli's finding that, when d' ∝ (Δx)(b), β ≈ β(Noise) x b. We also consider two limiting cases. Theorem 3 proves that, as sensitivity improves, 2AFC performance will usually approach that for a linear transducer, whatever the actual transducer; we show that this does not apply at signal levels where the transducer gradient is zero, which explains why it does not apply to contrast detection. Theorem 4 proves that, when the exponent of a power-function transducer approaches zero, 2AFC performance approaches that of a logarithmic transducer. We show that the power-function exponents of 0.4-0.5 fitted to suprathreshold contrast discrimination data are close enough to zero for the fitted psychometric function to be practically indistinguishable from that of a log transducer. Finally, Weibull β reflects the shape of the noise distribution, and we used our results to assess the recent claim that internal noise has higher kurtosis than a Gaussian. Our analysis of β for contrast discrimination suggests that, if internal noise is stimulus

Four theorems on the psychometric function.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keith A May

Full Text Available In a 2-alternative forced-choice (2AFC discrimination task, observers choose which of two stimuli has the higher value. The psychometric function for this task gives the probability of a correct response for a given stimulus difference, Δx. This paper proves four theorems about the psychometric function. Assuming the observer applies a transducer and adds noise, Theorem 1 derives a convenient general expression for the psychometric function. Discrimination data are often fitted with a Weibull function. Theorem 2 proves that the Weibull "slope" parameter, β, can be approximated by β(Noise x β(Transducer, where β(Noise is the β of the Weibull function that fits best to the cumulative noise distribution, and β(Transducer depends on the transducer. We derive general expressions for β(Noise and β(Transducer, from which we derive expressions for specific cases. One case that follows naturally from our general analysis is Pelli's finding that, when d' ∝ (Δx(b, β ≈ β(Noise x b. We also consider two limiting cases. Theorem 3 proves that, as sensitivity improves, 2AFC performance will usually approach that for a linear transducer, whatever the actual transducer; we show that this does not apply at signal levels where the transducer gradient is zero, which explains why it does not apply to contrast detection. Theorem 4 proves that, when the exponent of a power-function transducer approaches zero, 2AFC performance approaches that of a logarithmic transducer. We show that the power-function exponents of 0.4-0.5 fitted to suprathreshold contrast discrimination data are close enough to zero for the fitted psychometric function to be practically indistinguishable from that of a log transducer. Finally, Weibull β reflects the shape of the noise distribution, and we used our results to assess the recent claim that internal noise has higher kurtosis than a Gaussian. Our analysis of β for contrast discrimination suggests that, if internal noise is

Conducting Simulation Studies in Psychometrics

Science.gov (United States)

Feinberg, Richard A.; Rubright, Jonathan D.

2016-01-01

Simulation studies are fundamental to psychometric discourse and play a crucial role in operational and academic research. Yet, resources for psychometricians interested in conducting simulations are scarce. This Instructional Topics in Educational Measurement Series (ITEMS) module is meant to address this deficiency by providing a comprehensive…

The negative affect repair questionnaire: factor analysis and psychometric evaluation in three samples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Scherer Anne

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Negative affect and difficulties in its regulation have been connected to several adverse psychological consequences. While several questionnaires exist, it would be important to have a theory-based measure that includes clinically relevant items and shows good psychometric properties in healthy and patient samples. This study aims at developing such a questionnaire, combining the two Gross [1] scales Reappraisal and Suppression with an additional response-focused scale called Externalizing Behavioral Strategies covering clinically relevant items. Methods The samples consisted of 684 students (mean age = 23.3, SD = 3.5; 53.6% female and 369 persons with mixed mental disorders (mean age = 36.0 SD = 14.6; 71.2% female. Items for the questionnaire were derived from existing questionnaires and additional items were formulated based on suggestions by clinical experts. All items start with “When I don’t feel well, in order to feel better…”. Participants rated how frequently they used each strategy on a 5-point Likert scale. Confirmatory Factor Analyses were conducted to verify the factor structure in two separate student samples and a clinical sample. Group comparisons and correlations with other questionnaires were calculated to ensure validity. Results After modification, the CFA showed good model fit in all three samples. Reliability scores (Cronbach’s α for the three NARQ scales ranged between .71 and .80. Comparisons between students and persons with mental disorders showed the postulated relationships, as did comparisons between male and female students and persons with or without Borderline Personality Disorder. Correlations with other questionnaires suggest the NARQ’s construct validity. Conclusions The results indicate that the NARQ is a psychometrically sound and reliable measure with practical use for therapy planning and tracking of treatment outcome across time. We advocate the integration

Sound Search Engine Concept

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2006-01-01

Sound search is provided by the major search engines, however, indexing is text based, not sound based. We will establish a dedicated sound search services with based on sound feature indexing. The current demo shows the concept of the sound search engine. The first engine will be realased June...

The sound manifesto

Science.gov (United States)

O'Donnell, Michael J.; Bisnovatyi, Ilia

2000-11-01

Computing practice today depends on visual output to drive almost all user interaction. Other senses, such as audition, may be totally neglected, or used tangentially, or used in highly restricted specialized ways. We have excellent audio rendering through D-A conversion, but we lack rich general facilities for modeling and manipulating sound comparable in quality and flexibility to graphics. We need coordinated research in several disciplines to improve the use of sound as an interactive information channel. Incremental and separate improvements in synthesis, analysis, speech processing, audiology, acoustics, music, etc. will not alone produce the radical progress that we seek in sonic practice. We also need to create a new central topic of study in digital audio research. The new topic will assimilate the contributions of different disciplines on a common foundation. The key central concept that we lack is sound as a general-purpose information channel. We must investigate the structure of this information channel, which is driven by the cooperative development of auditory perception and physical sound production. Particular audible encodings, such as speech and music, illuminate sonic information by example, but they are no more sufficient for a characterization than typography is sufficient for characterization of visual information. To develop this new conceptual topic of sonic information structure, we need to integrate insights from a number of different disciplines that deal with sound. In particular, we need to coordinate central and foundational studies of the representational models of sound with specific applications that illuminate the good and bad qualities of these models. Each natural or artificial process that generates informative sound, and each perceptual mechanism that derives information from sound, will teach us something about the right structure to attribute to the sound itself. The new Sound topic will combine the work of computer

Unsound Sound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knakkergaard, Martin

2016-01-01

This article discusses the change in premise that digitally produced sound brings about and how digital technologies more generally have changed our relationship to the musical artifact, not simply in degree but in kind. It demonstrates how our acoustical conceptions are thoroughly challenged...... by the digital production of sound and, by questioning the ontological basis for digital sound, turns our understanding of the core term substance upside down....

Early Sound Symbolism for Vowel Sounds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ferrinne Spector

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Children and adults consistently match some words (e.g., kiki to jagged shapes and other words (e.g., bouba to rounded shapes, providing evidence for non-arbitrary sound–shape mapping. In this study, we investigated the influence of vowels on sound–shape matching in toddlers, using four contrasting pairs of nonsense words differing in vowel sound (/i/ as in feet vs. /o/ as in boat and four rounded–jagged shape pairs. Crucially, we used reduplicated syllables (e.g., kiki vs. koko rather than confounding vowel sound with consonant context and syllable variability (e.g., kiki vs. bouba. Toddlers consistently matched words with /o/ to rounded shapes and words with /i/ to jagged shapes (p < 0.01. The results suggest that there may be naturally biased correspondences between vowel sound and shape.

Sound Art and Spatial Practices: Situating Sound Installation Art Since 1958

OpenAIRE

Ouzounian, Gascia

2008-01-01

This dissertation examines the emergence and development ofsound installation art, an under-recognized tradition that hasdeveloped between music, architecture, and media art practicessince the late 1950s. Unlike many musical works, which are concernedwith organizing sounds in time, sound installations organize sounds inspace; they thus necessitate new theoretical and analytical modelsthat take into consideration the spatial situated-ness of sound. Existingdiscourses on “spatial sound” privile...

A Protocol for Advanced Psychometric Assessment of Surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Squires, Janet E.; Hayduk, Leslie; Hutchinson, Alison M.; Cranley, Lisa A.; Gierl, Mark; Cummings, Greta G.; Norton, Peter G.; Estabrooks, Carole A.

2013-01-01

Background and Purpose. In this paper, we present a protocol for advanced psychometric assessments of surveys based on the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. We use the Alberta Context Tool (ACT) as an exemplar survey to which this protocol can be applied. Methods. Data mapping, acceptability, reliability, and validity are addressed. Acceptability is assessed with missing data frequencies and the time required to complete the survey. Reliability is assessed with internal consistency coefficients and information functions. A unitary approach to validity consisting of accumulating evidence based on instrument content, response processes, internal structure, and relations to other variables is taken. We also address assessing performance of survey data when aggregated to higher levels (e.g., nursing unit). Discussion. In this paper we present a protocol for advanced psychometric assessment of survey data using the Alberta Context Tool (ACT) as an exemplar survey; application of the protocol to the ACT survey is underway. Psychometric assessment of any survey is essential to obtaining reliable and valid research findings. This protocol can be adapted for use with any nursing survey. PMID:23401759

How mechanisms of perceptual decision-making affect the psychometric function.

Science.gov (United States)

Gold, Joshua I; Ding, Long

2013-04-01

Psychometric functions are often interpreted in the context of Signal Detection Theory, which emphasizes a distinction between sensory processing and non-sensory decision rules in the brain. This framework has helped to relate perceptual sensitivity to the "neurometric" sensitivity of sensory-driven neural activity. However, perceptual sensitivity, as interpreted via Signal Detection Theory, is based on not just how the brain represents relevant sensory information, but also how that information is read out to form the decision variable to which the decision rule is applied. Here we discuss recent advances in our understanding of this readout process and describe its effects on the psychometric function. In particular, we show that particular aspects of the readout process can have specific, identifiable effects on the threshold, slope, upper asymptote, time dependence, and choice dependence of psychometric functions. To illustrate these points, we emphasize studies of perceptual learning that have identified changes in the readout process that can lead to changes in these aspects of the psychometric function. We also discuss methods that have been used to distinguish contributions of the sensory representation versus its readout to psychophysical performance. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sound a very short introduction

CERN Document Server

Goldsmith, Mike

2015-01-01

Sound is integral to how we experience the world, in the form of noise as well as music. But what is sound? What is the physical basis of pitch and harmony? And how are sound waves exploited in musical instruments? Sound: A Very Short Introduction looks at the science of sound and the behaviour of sound waves with their different frequencies. It also explores sound in different contexts, covering the audible and inaudible, sound underground and underwater, acoustic and electronic sound, and hearing in humans and animals. It concludes with the problem of sound out of place—noise and its reduction.

A psychometric validation of the Short Alcohol Withdrawal Scale (SAWS)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elholm, Bjarne; Larsen, Klaus; Hornnes, Nete

2010-01-01

The study aimed to evaluate psychometrically a Danish translation of the Short Alcohol Withdrawal Scale (SAWS) in an outpatient setting in patients with Alcohol Dependence (AD) and Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms/Syndrome (AWS).......The study aimed to evaluate psychometrically a Danish translation of the Short Alcohol Withdrawal Scale (SAWS) in an outpatient setting in patients with Alcohol Dependence (AD) and Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms/Syndrome (AWS)....

On the Psychometric Study of Human Life History Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, George B; Sanning, Blair K; Lai, Mark H C; Copping, Lee T; Hardesty, Patrick H; Kruger, Daniel J

2017-01-01

This article attends to recent discussions of validity in psychometric research on human life history strategy (LHS), provides a constructive critique of the extant literature, and describes strategies for improving construct validity. To place the psychometric study of human LHS on more solid ground, our review indicates that researchers should (a) use approaches to psychometric modeling that are consistent with their philosophies of measurement, (b) confirm the dimensionality of life history indicators, and (c) establish measurement invariance for at least a subset of indicators. Because we see confirming the dimensionality of life history indicators as the next step toward placing the psychometrics of human LHS on more solid ground, we use nationally representative data and structural equation modeling to test the structure of middle adult life history indicators. We found statistically independent mating competition and Super-K dimensions and the effects of parental harshness and childhood unpredictability on Super-K were consistent with past research. However, childhood socioeconomic status had a moderate positive effect on mating competition and no effect on Super-K, while unpredictability did not predict mating competition. We conclude that human LHS is more complex than previously suggested-there does not seem to be a single dimension of human LHS among Western adults and the effects of environmental components seem to vary between mating competition and Super-K.

On the Psychometric Study of Human Life History Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George B. Richardson

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This article attends to recent discussions of validity in psychometric research on human life history strategy (LHS, provides a constructive critique of the extant literature, and describes strategies for improving construct validity. To place the psychometric study of human LHS on more solid ground, our review indicates that researchers should (a use approaches to psychometric modeling that are consistent with their philosophies of measurement, (b confirm the dimensionality of life history indicators, and (c establish measurement invariance for at least a subset of indicators. Because we see confirming the dimensionality of life history indicators as the next step toward placing the psychometrics of human LHS on more solid ground, we use nationally representative data and structural equation modeling to test the structure of middle adult life history indicators. We found statistically independent mating competition and Super-K dimensions and the effects of parental harshness and childhood unpredictability on Super-K were consistent with past research. However, childhood socioeconomic status had a moderate positive effect on mating competition and no effect on Super-K, while unpredictability did not predict mating competition. We conclude that human LHS is more complex than previously suggested—there does not seem to be a single dimension of human LHS among Western adults and the effects of environmental components seem to vary between mating competition and Super-K.

Psychometric Properties of Raw and Scale Scores on Mixed-Format Tests

Science.gov (United States)

Kolen, Michael J.; Lee, Won-Chan

2011-01-01

This paper illustrates that the psychometric properties of scores and scales that are used with mixed-format educational tests can impact the use and interpretation of the scores that are reported to examinees. Psychometric properties that include reliability and conditional standard errors of measurement are considered in this paper. The focus is…

Testing the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the level of expressed emotion scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Chien, Wai Tong; Chan, Zenobia Chung-Yee; Chan, Sally Wai-Chi

2014-01-01

This study tested the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the level of expressed emotion scale in Hong Kong Chinese patients with severe mental illness and their family caregivers. First, the semantic equivalence with the original English version and test-retest reliability at 2-week interval of the Chinese version was examined. After that, the reproducibility, construct validity, and internal consistency of the Chinese version were tested. The Chinese version indicated good semantic equivalence with the English version (kappa values = 0.76-0.95 and ICC = 0.81-0.92), test-retest reliability (r = 0.89-0.95, P Chinese version had substantial loadings on one of the four factors identified (intrusiveness/hostility, attitude towards patient, tolerance, and emotional involvement), accounting for 71.8% of the total variance of expressed emotion. In confirmatory factor analysis, the identified four-factor model showed the best fit based on all fit indices (χ (2)/df = 1.93, P = 0.75; AGFI = 0.96; TLI = 1.02; RMSEA = 0.031; WRMR = 0.78) to the collected data. The four-factor Chinese version also indicated a good concurrent validity with significant correlations with family functioning (r = -0.54) and family burden (r = 0.49) and a satisfactory reproducibility over six months (intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.90). The mean scores of the overall and subscale of the Chinese version in patients with unipolar disorder were higher than in other illness groups (schizophrenia, psychotic disorders, and bipolar disorder; P Chinese version demonstrates sound psychometric properties to measure families' expressed emotion in Chinese patients with severe mental illness, which are found varied across countries.

Psychometric analysis of the PTSD Checklist-5 (PCL-5) among treatment-seeking military service members.

Science.gov (United States)

Wortmann, Jennifer H; Jordan, Alexander H; Weathers, Frank W; Resick, Patricia A; Dondanville, Katherine A; Hall-Clark, Brittany; Foa, Edna B; Young-McCaughan, Stacey; Yarvis, Jeffrey S; Hembree, Elizabeth A; Mintz, Jim; Peterson, Alan L; Litz, Brett T

2016-11-01

The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5; Weathers et al., 2013) was recently revised to reflect the changed diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). We investigated the psychometric properties of PCL-5 scores in a large cohort (N = 912) of military service members seeking PTSD treatment while stationed in garrison. We examined the internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity, and DSM-5 factor structure of PCL-5 scores, their sensitivity to clinical change relative to PTSD Symptom Scale-Interview (PSS-I; Foa, Riggs, Dancu, & Rothbaum, 1993) scores, and their diagnostic utility for predicting a PTSD diagnosis based on various measures and scoring rules. PCL-5 scores exhibited high internal consistency. There was strong agreement between the order of hypothesized and observed correlations among PCL-5 and criterion measure scores. The best-fitting structural model was a 7-factor hybrid model (Armour et al., 2015), which demonstrated closer fit than all other models evaluated, including the DSM-5 model. The PCL-5's sensitivity to clinical change, pre- to posttreatment, was comparable with that of the PSS-I. Optimally efficient cut scores for predicting PTSD diagnosis were consistent with prior research with service members (Hoge, Riviere, Wilk, Herrell, & Weathers, 2014). The results indicate that the PCL-5 is a psychometrically sound measure of DSM-5 PTSD symptoms that is useful for identifying provisional PTSD diagnostic status, quantifying PTSD symptom severity, and detecting clinical change over time in PTSD symptoms among service members seeking treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

What is Sound?

OpenAIRE

Nelson, Peter

2014-01-01

What is sound? This question is posed in contradiction to the every-day understanding that sound is a phenomenon apart from us, to be heard, made, shaped and organised. Thinking through the history of computer music, and considering the current configuration of digital communi-cations, sound is reconfigured as a type of network. This network is envisaged as non-hierarchical, in keeping with currents of thought that refuse to prioritise the human in the world. The relationship of sound to musi...

Broadcast sound technology

CERN Document Server

Talbot-Smith, Michael

1990-01-01

Broadcast Sound Technology provides an explanation of the underlying principles of modern audio technology. Organized into 21 chapters, the book first describes the basic sound; behavior of sound waves; aspects of hearing, harming, and charming the ear; room acoustics; reverberation; microphones; phantom power; loudspeakers; basic stereo; and monitoring of audio signal. Subsequent chapters explore the processing of audio signal, sockets, sound desks, and digital audio. Analogue and digital tape recording and reproduction, as well as noise reduction, are also explained.

Propagation of sound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wahlberg, Magnus; Larsen, Ole Næsbye

2017-01-01

properties can be modified by sound absorption, refraction, and interference from multi paths caused by reflections.The path from the source to the receiver may be bent due to refraction. Besides geometrical attenuation, the ground effect and turbulence are the most important mechanisms to influence...... communication sounds for airborne acoustics and bottom and surface effects for underwater sounds. Refraction becomes very important close to shadow zones. For echolocation signals, geometric attenuation and sound absorption have the largest effects on the signals....

Making fictions sound real

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Langkjær, Birger

2010-01-01

This article examines the role that sound plays in making fictions perceptually real to film audiences, whether these fictions are realist or non-realist in content and narrative form. I will argue that some aspects of film sound practices and the kind of experiences they trigger are related...... to basic rules of human perception, whereas others are more properly explained in relation to how aesthetic devices, including sound, are used to characterise the fiction and thereby make it perceptually real to its audience. Finally, I will argue that not all genres can be defined by a simple taxonomy...... of sounds. Apart from an account of the kinds of sounds that typically appear in a specific genre, a genre analysis of sound may also benefit from a functionalist approach that focuses on how sounds can make both realist and non-realist aspects of genres sound real to audiences....

Psychometric Properties of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS in a Lithuanian-speaking population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Augustinas Rotomskis

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Research suggests that intolerance of uncertainty may be important in understanding worry and may play a key role in the etiology and maintenance of worry. Intolerance of uncertainty is measured using the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS, which has been shown to be reliable and valid in many studies. The aim of the present study was to develop a Lithuanian version of this instrument. 228 university students completed the scale. The Lithuanian version of the IUS was found to have good psychometric properties. The IUS showed high internal consistency and good test-retest reliability over a five-week period, and good convergent and divergent validity when assessed with measures of trait anxiety, situational anxiety, and depression. Factor analysis indicated that the IUS has a two-factor structure that represents the beliefs that “uncertainty about the future is unfair” and that “uncertainty has negative behavioral and self-referent implications”. In conclusion, it was found that the Lithuanian version of the IUS is a sound scale for assessing intolerance of uncertainty.

Psychometric properties of the Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beauchamp, Marla K; Schmidt, Catherine T; Pedersen, Mette M

2014-01-01

The choice of measure for use as a primary outcome in geriatric research is contingent upon the construct of interest and evidence for its psychometric properties. The Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument (LLFDI) has been widely used to assess functional limitations and disability...... in studies with older adults. The primary aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the current available evidence for the psychometric properties of the LLFDI....

Sound sensitivity of neurons in rat hippocampus during performance of a sound-guided task

Science.gov (United States)

Vinnik, Ekaterina; Honey, Christian; Schnupp, Jan; Diamond, Mathew E.

2012-01-01

To investigate how hippocampal neurons encode sound stimuli, and the conjunction of sound stimuli with the animal's position in space, we recorded from neurons in the CA1 region of hippocampus in rats while they performed a sound discrimination task. Four different sounds were used, two associated with water reward on the right side of the animal and the other two with water reward on the left side. This allowed us to separate neuronal activity related to sound identity from activity related to response direction. To test the effect of spatial context on sound coding, we trained rats to carry out the task on two identical testing platforms at different locations in the same room. Twenty-one percent of the recorded neurons exhibited sensitivity to sound identity, as quantified by the difference in firing rate for the two sounds associated with the same response direction. Sensitivity to sound identity was often observed on only one of the two testing platforms, indicating an effect of spatial context on sensory responses. Forty-three percent of the neurons were sensitive to response direction, and the probability that any one neuron was sensitive to response direction was statistically independent from its sensitivity to sound identity. There was no significant coding for sound identity when the rats heard the same sounds outside the behavioral task. These results suggest that CA1 neurons encode sound stimuli, but only when those sounds are associated with actions. PMID:22219030

Seeking a Balance between the Statistical and Scientific Elements in Psychometrics

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Mark

2013-01-01

In this paper, I will review some aspects of psychometric projects that I have been involved in, emphasizing the nature of the work of the psychometricians involved, especially the balance between the statistical and scientific elements of that work. The intent is to seek to understand where psychometrics, as a discipline, has been and where it…

Memory for product sounds: the effect of sound and label type.

Science.gov (United States)

Ozcan, Elif; van Egmond, René

2007-11-01

The (mnemonic) interactions between auditory, visual, and the semantic systems have been investigated using structurally complex auditory stimuli (i.e., product sounds). Six types of product sounds (air, alarm, cyclic, impact, liquid, mechanical) that vary in spectral-temporal structure were presented in four label type conditions: self-generated text, text, image, and pictogram. A memory paradigm that incorporated free recall, recognition, and matching tasks was employed. The results for the sound type suggest that the amount of spectral-temporal structure in a sound can be indicative for memory performance. Findings related to label type suggest that 'self' creates a strong bias for the retrieval and the recognition of sounds that were self-labeled; the density and the complexity of the visual information (i.e., pictograms) hinders the memory performance ('visual' overshadowing effect); and image labeling has an additive effect on the recall and matching tasks (dual coding). Thus, the findings suggest that the memory performances for product sounds are task-dependent.

33 CFR 167.1702 - In Prince William Sound: Prince William Sound Traffic Separation Scheme.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false In Prince William Sound: Prince William Sound Traffic Separation Scheme. 167.1702 Section 167.1702 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST....1702 In Prince William Sound: Prince William Sound Traffic Separation Scheme. The Prince William Sound...

Sounds Exaggerate Visual Shape

Science.gov (United States)

Sweeny, Timothy D.; Guzman-Martinez, Emmanuel; Ortega, Laura; Grabowecky, Marcia; Suzuki, Satoru

2012-01-01

While perceiving speech, people see mouth shapes that are systematically associated with sounds. In particular, a vertically stretched mouth produces a /woo/ sound, whereas a horizontally stretched mouth produces a /wee/ sound. We demonstrate that hearing these speech sounds alters how we see aspect ratio, a basic visual feature that contributes…

Sound Zones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Martin Bo; Olsen, Martin

2017-01-01

Sound zones, i.e. spatially confined regions of individual audio content, can be created by appropriate filtering of the desired audio signals reproduced by an array of loudspeakers. The challenge of designing filters for sound zones is twofold: First, the filtered responses should generate...... an acoustic separation between the control regions. Secondly, the pre- and post-ringing as well as spectral deterioration introduced by the filters should be minimized. The tradeoff between acoustic separation and filter ringing is the focus of this paper. A weighted L2-norm penalty is introduced in the sound...

Can road traffic mask sound from wind turbines? Response to wind turbine sound at different levels of road traffic sound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pedersen, Eja; Berg, Frits van den; Bakker, Roel; Bouma, Jelte

2010-01-01

Wind turbines are favoured in the switch-over to renewable energy. Suitable sites for further developments could be difficult to find as the sound emitted from the rotor blades calls for a sufficient distance to residents to avoid negative effects. The aim of this study was to explore if road traffic sound could mask wind turbine sound or, in contrast, increases annoyance due to wind turbine noise. Annoyance of road traffic and wind turbine noise was measured in the WINDFARMperception survey in the Netherlands in 2007 (n=725) and related to calculated levels of sound. The presence of road traffic sound did not in general decrease annoyance with wind turbine noise, except when levels of wind turbine sound were moderate (35-40 dB(A) Lden) and road traffic sound level exceeded that level with at least 20 dB(A). Annoyance with both noises was intercorrelated but this correlation was probably due to the influence of individual factors. Furthermore, visibility and attitude towards wind turbines were significantly related to noise annoyance of modern wind turbines. The results can be used for the selection of suitable sites, possibly favouring already noise exposed areas if wind turbine sound levels are sufficiently low.

Nonparametric tests for equality of psychometric functions.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Pérez, Miguel A; Núñez-Antón, Vicente

2017-12-07

Many empirical studies measure psychometric functions (curves describing how observers' performance varies with stimulus magnitude) because these functions capture the effects of experimental conditions. To assess these effects, parametric curves are often fitted to the data and comparisons are carried out by testing for equality of mean parameter estimates across conditions. This approach is parametric and, thus, vulnerable to violations of the implied assumptions. Furthermore, testing for equality of means of parameters may be misleading: Psychometric functions may vary meaningfully across conditions on an observer-by-observer basis with no effect on the mean values of the estimated parameters. Alternative approaches to assess equality of psychometric functions per se are thus needed. This paper compares three nonparametric tests that are applicable in all situations of interest: The existing generalized Mantel-Haenszel test, a generalization of the Berry-Mielke test that was developed here, and a split variant of the generalized Mantel-Haenszel test also developed here. Their statistical properties (accuracy and power) are studied via simulation and the results show that all tests are indistinguishable as to accuracy but they differ non-uniformly as to power. Empirical use of the tests is illustrated via analyses of published data sets and practical recommendations are given. The computer code in MATLAB and R to conduct these tests is available as Electronic Supplemental Material.

Structure-borne sound structural vibrations and sound radiation at audio frequencies

CERN Document Server

Cremer, L; Petersson, Björn AT

2005-01-01

Structure-Borne Sound"" is a thorough introduction to structural vibrations with emphasis on audio frequencies and the associated radiation of sound. The book presents in-depth discussions of fundamental principles and basic problems, in order to enable the reader to understand and solve his own problems. It includes chapters dealing with measurement and generation of vibrations and sound, various types of structural wave motion, structural damping and its effects, impedances and vibration responses of the important types of structures, as well as with attenuation of vibrations, and sound radi

Quantitative Psychology : the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society

CERN Document Server

Culpepper, Steven; Janssen, Rianne; González, Jorge; Molenaar, Dylan

2018-01-01

This proceedings book highlights the latest research and developments in psychometrics and statistics. Featuring contributions presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society (IMPS), organized by the University of Zurich and held in Zurich, Switzerland from July 17 to 21, 2017, its 34 chapters address a diverse range of psychometric topics including item response theory, factor analysis, causal inference, Bayesian statistics, test equating, cognitive diagnostic models and multistage adaptive testing. The IMPS is one of the largest international meetings on quantitative measurement in psychology, education and the social sciences, attracting over 500 participants and 250 paper presentations from around the world every year. This book gathers the contributions of selected presenters, which were subsequently expanded and peer-reviewed.

InfoSound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sonnenwald, Diane H.; Gopinath, B.; Haberman, Gary O.

1990-01-01

The authors explore ways to enhance users' comprehension of complex applications using music and sound effects to present application-program events that are difficult to detect visually. A prototype system, Infosound, allows developers to create and store musical sequences and sound effects with...

The Sound of Science

Science.gov (United States)

Merwade, Venkatesh; Eichinger, David; Harriger, Bradley; Doherty, Erin; Habben, Ryan

2014-01-01

While the science of sound can be taught by explaining the concept of sound waves and vibrations, the authors of this article focused their efforts on creating a more engaging way to teach the science of sound--through engineering design. In this article they share the experience of teaching sound to third graders through an engineering challenge…

Development and psychometric evaluation of the self-assessment of psoriasis symptoms (SAPS) - clinical trial and the SAPS - real world patient-reported outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Armstrong, April W; Banderas, Benjamin; Foley, Catherine; Stokes, Jonathan; Sundaram, Murali; Shields, Alan L

2017-09-01

The Self-Assessment of Psoriasis Symptoms - Clinical Trials (SAPS-CT) and SAPS - Real World (SAPS-RW) were simultaneously created to assess the experience of plaque psoriasis in two unique contexts. Qualitative and quantitative research was conducted in four phases namely concept elicitation, questionnaire construction, content evaluation and psychometric evaluation. Following concept elicitation, 18 concepts were selected to inform questionnaire construction of the SAPS-CT and SAPS-RW. To accommodate each context of use, the SAPS-CT asks respondents to rate the target symptom 'at its worst' in the 24 h prior to assessment, while the SAPS-RW asks respondents to rate the target symptom "on average" in the 7 days prior to assessment. Cognitive debriefing confirmed that patients could comprehend and provide meaningful responses to both versions and, after minor modifications, resulted in 11-item questionnaires administered in an observational study (N = 200). Results from the observational study informed further item reduction (SAPS-RW to six items and SAPS-CT to nine items) and demonstrated that scores from each were reliable (Cronbach's α > 0.90, test-retest intraclass correlation coefficient >0.70), construct valid and able to differentiate among clinically distinct groups. The SAPS-CT and SAPS-RW are content-valid PRO questionnaires capable of producing psychometrically sound scores when administered chronic to plaque psoriasis patients.

Assessing therapy-relevant cognitive capacities in young people: development and psychometric evaluation of the self-reflection and insight scale for youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Sauter, Floor M; Heyne, David; Blöte, Anke W; van Widenfelt, Brigit M; Westenberg, P Michiel

2010-05-01

The effectiveness of cognitive-behaviour therapy with young people may be influenced by a young person's capacity for self-reflection and insight. Clinicians who assess clients' proficiencies in these cognitive capacities can better tailor cognitive and behavioural techniques to the client, facilitating engagement and enhancing treatment outcome. It is therefore important that sound instruments for assessing self-reflection and insight in young people are available. The aim of the current study was to translate and adapt the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale (SRIS) for use with a child and adolescent population (Study 1), and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the resulting measure, the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale for Youth (SRIS-Y; Study 2). In Study 1 (n=145), the comprehensibility of the SRIS-Y was assessed in a community sample of children and adolescents. Study 2 (n=215) then explored the reliability and structural, convergent, and divergent validity of the SRIS-Y. The SRIS-Y was found to be comprehensible to young people, and had good reliability and structural validity. It appears that the SRIS-Y is a sound instrument for assessing therapy-relevant cognitive capacities in young people, of potential benefit in both research and clinical contexts. Future research foci include the predictive validity of the instrument.

A measure of family eating habits: initial psychometric properties using the profile pattern approach (PPA).

Science.gov (United States)

Klempel, Natalie; Kim, Se-Kang; Wilson, Monique; Annunziato, Rachel A

2013-01-01

Although it seems likely that family characteristics and eating habits are a major factor in the development of eating behaviors, there are no self-report measures that examine how individuals view their family's eating habits. Seventy-one women ages 18-22 were recruited from a private university in a large northeastern city and asked to complete a short questionnaire packet consisting of demographic questions, the newly developed Family Eating Habits Questionnaire (FEHQ) and the Eating Inventory (EI). Internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the FEHQ was established. Significant associations were found between the FEHQ and the EI, indicating convergent validity for the FEHQ. Further validation was conducted using a novel statistical technique, the profile pattern approach (PPA). The results of the present study are limited by the restricted sample characteristic of a university setting. However, our findings show that the family eating habits' measure appears psychometrically sound. A future aim will be to continue validating this instrument in other samples, particularly to determine its predictive value. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Collaborative Computer-Intensive Projects in an Undergraduate Psychometrics Course

Science.gov (United States)

Barchard, Kimberly A.; Pace, Larry A.

2010-01-01

Undergraduate psychometrics classes often use computer-intensive active learning projects. However, little research has examined active learning or computer-intensive projects in psychometrics courses. We describe two computer-intensive collaborative learning projects used to teach the design and evaluation of psychological tests. Course…

The Drug Effects Questionnaire: Psychometric Support across Three Drug Types

Science.gov (United States)

Morean, Meghan E.; de Wit, Harriet; King, Andrea C.; Sofuoglu, Mehmet; Rueger, Sandra Y.; O’Malley, Stephanie S.

2013-01-01

Rationale The Drug Effects Questionnaire (DEQ) is widely used in studies of acute subjective response (SR) to a variety of substances, but the format of the DEQ varies widely across studies, and details of its psychometric properties are lacking. Thus, the field would benefit from demonstrating the reliability and validity of the DEQ for use across multiple substances. Objective The current study evaluated the psychometric properties of several variations of DEQ items, which assessed the extent to which participants (1) feel any substance effect(s), (2) feel high, (3) like the effects, (4) dislike the effects, and (5) want more of the substance using 100mm Visual Analog Scales. Methods DEQ data from three placebo-controlled studies were analyzed to examine SR to amphetamine, nicotine, and alcohol. We evaluated the internal structure of the DEQ for use with each substance as well as relationships between scale items, measures of similar constructs, and substance-related behaviors. Results Results provided preliminary psychometric support for items assessing each DEQ construct (FEEL, HIGH, DISLIKE, LIKE, and MORE). Conclusions Based on the study results, we identify several common limitations of extant variants of the DEQ and recommend an improved version of the measure. The simplicity and brevity of the DEQ combined with its promising psychometric properties support its use in future SR research across a variety of substances. PMID:23271193

Light and Sound

CERN Document Server

Karam, P Andrew

2010-01-01

Our world is largely defined by what we see and hear-but our uses for light and sound go far beyond simply seeing a photo or hearing a song. A concentrated beam of light, lasers are powerful tools used in industry, research, and medicine, as well as in everyday electronics like DVD and CD players. Ultrasound, sound emitted at a high frequency, helps create images of a developing baby, cleans teeth, and much more. Light and Sound teaches how light and sound work, how they are used in our day-to-day lives, and how they can be used to learn about the universe at large.

The Textile Form of Sound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bendixen, Cecilie

Sound is a part of architecture, and sound is complex. Upon this, sound is invisible. How is it then possible to design visual objects that interact with the sound? This paper addresses the problem of how to get access to the complexity of sound and how to make textile material revealing the form...... goemetry by analysing the sound pattern at a specific spot. This analysis is done theoretically with algorithmic systems and practical with waves in water. The paper describes the experiments and the findings, and explains how an analysis of sound can be catched in a textile form....

Perceived Effects of Sexually Explicit Media among Men who have Sex with Men and Psychometric Properties of the Pornography Consumption Effects Scale (PCES)

Science.gov (United States)

Hald, Gert Martin; Smolenski, Derek; Simon Rosser, B. R.

2012-01-01

Introduction Researchers have proposed that consumption of Sexually Explicit Media (SEM) may not only adversely influence sexual attitudes and behaviors of Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) but (also) play a positive role in the development and sexual education of MSM, be a major source of sexual information for MSM, and provide validation, understanding, and confirmation of MSM’s sexual orientation. However, such claims are in urgent need of empirical validation as is the development of psychometrically sound and easily implemented instruments able to reliably assist such validations. Aim To investigate how MSM who consume SEM self-perceive the impact of SEM on their STI-related sexual risk behaviors (i.e. anal intercourse), sexual knowledge, enjoyment of sex, interest in sex, attitudes toward sex, and understanding of their sexual orientation. Further, to provide a thorough psychometric validation of a reduced and reworked version of the Pornography Consumption Effect Scale. Main Outcomes Measures A revised version of the Pornography Consumption Effect Scale (PCES) by Hald and Malamuth (2008). Results This study found that 97% of MSM reported positive effects of SEM consumption on their sexual knowledge, enjoyment of and interest in sex, attitudes toward sex, and understanding of their sexual orientation. Only 3 % reported any negative effects of their SEM consumption. SEM consumption was found to significantly increase consumers’ interest in having protected anal intercourse while not significantly influencing their interests in having unprotected anal intercourse. The revised version of the PCES showed excellent psychometric performance. Conclusion The study found that MSM generally report positive effects of their consumption of sexually explicit materials in areas related to their sexual knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and orientation. This finding could have important implications for the sexual health and well-being of MSM by suggesting that SEM

Reduction of heart sound interference from lung sound signals using empirical mode decomposition technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Mondal, Ashok; Bhattacharya, P S; Saha, Goutam

2011-01-01

During the recording time of lung sound (LS) signals from the chest wall of a subject, there is always heart sound (HS) signal interfering with it. This obscures the features of lung sound signals and creates confusion on pathological states, if any, of the lungs. A novel method based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD) technique is proposed in this paper for reducing the undesired heart sound interference from the desired lung sound signals. In this, the mixed signal is split into several components. Some of these components contain larger proportions of interfering signals like heart sound, environmental noise etc. and are filtered out. Experiments have been conducted on simulated and real-time recorded mixed signals of heart sound and lung sound. The proposed method is found to be superior in terms of time domain, frequency domain, and time-frequency domain representations and also in listening test performed by pulmonologist.

Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (PCL-5) in veterans.

Science.gov (United States)

Bovin, Michelle J; Marx, Brian P; Weathers, Frank W; Gallagher, Matthew W; Rodriguez, Paola; Schnurr, Paula P; Keane, Terence M

2016-11-01

This study examined the psychometric properties of the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (PCL-5; Weathers, Litz, et al., 2013b) in 2 independent samples of veterans receiving care at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center (N = 468). A subsample of these participants (n = 140) was used to define a valid diagnostic cutoff score for the instrument using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5; Weathers, Blake, et al., 2013) as the reference standard. The PCL-5 test scores demonstrated good internal consistency (α = .96), test-retest reliability (r = .84), and convergent and discriminant validity. Consistent with previous studies (Armour et al., 2015; Liu et al., 2014), confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the data were best explained by a 6-factor anhedonia model and a 7-factor hybrid model. Signal detection analyses using the CAPS-5 revealed that PCL-5 scores of 31 to 33 were optimally efficient for diagnosing PTSD (κ(.5) = .58). Overall, the findings suggest that the PCL-5 is a psychometrically sound instrument that can be used effectively with veterans. Further, by determining a valid cutoff score using the CAPS-5, the PCL-5 can now be used to identify veterans with probable PTSD. However, findings also suggest the need for research to evaluate cluster structure of DSM-5. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Sound generator

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berkhoff, Arthur P.

2008-01-01

A sound generator, particularly a loudspeaker, configured to emit sound, comprising a rigid element (2) enclosing a plurality of air compartments (3), wherein the rigid element (2) has a back side (B) comprising apertures (4), and a front side (F) that is closed, wherein the generator is provided

Sound generator

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berkhoff, Arthur P.

2010-01-01

A sound generator, particularly a loudspeaker, configured to emit sound, comprising a rigid element (2) enclosing a plurality of air compartments (3), wherein the rigid element (2) has a back side (B) comprising apertures (4), and a front side (F) that is closed, wherein the generator is provided

Sound generator

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berkhoff, Arthur P.

2007-01-01

A sound generator, particularly a loudspeaker, configured to emit sound, comprising a rigid element (2) enclosing a plurality of air compartments (3), wherein the rigid element (2) has a back side (B) comprising apertures (4), and a front side (F) that is closed, wherein the generator is provided

NASA Space Sounds API

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA has released a series of space sounds via sound cloud. We have abstracted away some of the hassle in accessing these sounds, so that developers can play with...

Testing the Psychometric Properties of a Chinese Version of the Level of Expressed Emotion Scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wai Tong Chien

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This study tested the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the level of expressed emotion scale in Hong Kong Chinese patients with severe mental illness and their family caregivers. First, the semantic equivalence with the original English version and test-retest reliability at 2-week interval of the Chinese version was examined. After that, the reproducibility, construct validity, and internal consistency of the Chinese version were tested. The Chinese version indicated good semantic equivalence with the English version (kappa values = 0.76–0.95 and ICC = 0.81–0.92, test-retest reliability (r = 0.89–0.95, P<0.01, and internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.86–0.92. Among 262 patients with severe mental illness and their caregivers, the 50-item Chinese version had substantial loadings on one of the four factors identified (intrusiveness/hostility, attitude towards patient, tolerance, and emotional involvement, accounting for 71.8% of the total variance of expressed emotion. In confirmatory factor analysis, the identified four-factor model showed the best fit based on all fit indices (χ2/df = 1.93, P=0.75; AGFI = 0.96; TLI = 1.02; RMSEA = 0.031; WRMR = 0.78 to the collected data. The four-factor Chinese version also indicated a good concurrent validity with significant correlations with family functioning (r = −0.54 and family burden (r = 0.49 and a satisfactory reproducibility over six months (intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.90. The mean scores of the overall and subscale of the Chinese version in patients with unipolar disorder were higher than in other illness groups (schizophrenia, psychotic disorders, and bipolar disorder; P<0.01. The Chinese version demonstrates sound psychometric properties to measure families’ expressed emotion in Chinese patients with severe mental illness, which are found varied across countries.

Psychometric testing and Human Resource Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. P. van der Merwe

2002-09-01

Full Text Available This is a cumulative report on the findings of various exploratory research that were done with regard to the practice of psychometric testing in the Eastern Cape. Recent and ongoing developments in the South African labour legislation, and especially the implications of the Employment Equity Act, highlight once again the importance of the validation of all instruments to be used for human assessment and selection purposes. Information was gathered to establish which psychometric tests are used, and for what purposes, in industry today. Biographical information on each organisation is supplied, including the number of employees. The role of psychometric testing in the selection procedure is discussed. The different tests used, as well as the test users, are also indicated. The findings of other, related research, as well as comments, recommendations and shortcomings, are discussed. Opsomming Hierdie is ‘n kumulatiewe verslag wat die resultate verstrek van verskeie verkennende ondersoeke wat gedoen is na die aanwending van psigometriese toetsing in die Oos-Kaap. Onlangse en voortdurende ontwikkelinge in die Suid-Afrikaanse arbeidswetgewing, en veral die implikasies van die Wet op Gelyke Indiensneming, beklemtoon weer eens die belangrikheid van die validering van enige instrumente wat gebruik word vir evaluerings- en keuringsdoeleindes van individue. Inligting is ingewin om te bepaal watter psigometriese toetse, sowel as vir watter doel, vandag in die bedryf gebruik word. Biografiese inligting oor die onderskeie organisasies, insluitende hul aantal werknemers, word verstrek. Die rol van psigometriese toetsing in die keuringsproses word bespreek. Die verskillende toetse wat deur die organisasies gebruik word, sowel as die toetsge-bruikers, word ook aangedui. Die bevindinge van ander, relevante navorsing, sowel as opmerkings, aanbevelings en tekortkominge word bespreek.

Psychometrics of Multiple Choice Questions with Non-Functioning Distracters: Implications to Medical Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Deepak, Kishore K; Al-Umran, Khalid Umran; AI-Sheikh, Mona H; Dkoli, B V; Al-Rubaish, Abdullah

2015-01-01

The functionality of distracters in a multiple choice question plays a very important role. We examined the frequency and impact of functioning and non-functioning distracters on psychometric properties of 5-option items in clinical disciplines. We analyzed item statistics of 1115 multiple choice questions from 15 summative assessments of undergraduate medical students and classified the items into five groups by their number of non-functioning distracters. We analyzed the effect of varying degree of non-functionality ranging from 0 to 4, on test reliability, difficulty index, discrimination index and point biserial correlation. The non-functionality of distracters inversely affected the test reliability and quality of items in a predictable manner. The non-functioning distracters made the items easier and lowered the discrimination index significantly. Three non-functional distracters in a 5-option MCQ significantly affected all psychometric properties (p psychometrically as effective as 5-option items. Our study reveals that a multiple choice question with 3 functional options provides lower most limit of item format that has adequate psychometric property. The test containing items with less number of functioning options have significantly lower reliability. The distracter function analysis and revision of nonfunctioning distracters can serve as important methods to improve the psychometrics and reliability of assessment.

Psychometric Properties of the MMPI-2-RF Somatic Complaints (RC1) Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Michael L.; Locke, Dona E. C.

2010-01-01

The MMPI-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF; Tellegen & Ben-Porath, 2008) was designed to be psychometrically superior to its MMPI-2 counterpart. However, the test has yet to be extensively evaluated in diverse clinical settings. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the MMPI-2-RF Somatic Complaints (RC1) scale in…

Sound Insulation between Dwellings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Birgit

2011-01-01

Regulatory sound insulation requirements for dwellings exist in more than 30 countries in Europe. In some countries, requirements have existed since the 1950s. Findings from comparative studies show that sound insulation descriptors and requirements represent a high degree of diversity...... and initiate – where needed – improvement of sound insulation of new and existing dwellings in Europe to the benefit of the inhabitants and the society. A European COST Action TU0901 "Integrating and Harmonizing Sound Insulation Aspects in Sustainable Urban Housing Constructions", has been established and runs...... 2009-2013. The main objectives of TU0901 are to prepare proposals for harmonized sound insulation descriptors and for a European sound classification scheme with a number of quality classes for dwellings. Findings from the studies provide input for the discussions in COST TU0901. Data collected from 24...

What Is Embodiment? A Psychometric Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Longo, Matthew R.; Schuur, Friederike; Kammers, Marjolein P. M.; Tsakiris, Manos; Haggard, Patrick

2008-01-01

What is it like to have a body? The present study takes a psychometric approach to this question. We collected structured introspective reports of the rubber hand illusion, to systematically investigate the structure of bodily self-consciousness. Participants observed a rubber hand that was stroked either synchronously or asynchronously with their…

Remembering that big things sound big: Sound symbolism and associative memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Preziosi, Melissa A; Coane, Jennifer H

2017-01-01

According to sound symbolism theory, individual sounds or clusters of sounds can convey meaning. To examine the role of sound symbolic effects on processing and memory for nonwords, we developed a novel set of 100 nonwords to convey largeness (nonwords containing plosive consonants and back vowels) and smallness (nonwords containing fricative consonants and front vowels). In Experiments 1A and 1B, participants rated the size of the 100 nonwords and provided definitions to them as if they were products. Nonwords composed of fricative/front vowels were rated as smaller than those composed of plosive/back vowels. In Experiment 2, participants studied sound symbolic congruent and incongruent nonword and participant-generated definition pairings. Definitions paired with nonwords that matched the size and participant-generated meanings were recalled better than those that did not match. When the participant-generated definitions were re-paired with other nonwords, this mnemonic advantage was reduced, although still reliable. In a final free association study, the possibility that plosive/back vowel and fricative/front vowel nonwords elicit sound symbolic size effects due to mediation from word neighbors was ruled out. Together, these results suggest that definitions that are sound symbolically congruent with a nonword are more memorable than incongruent definition-nonword pairings. This work has implications for the creation of brand names and how to create brand names that not only convey desired product characteristics, but also are memorable for consumers.

An Antropologist of Sound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Groth, Sanne Krogh

2015-01-01

PROFESSOR PORTRAIT: Sanne Krogh Groth met Holger Schulze, newly appointed professor in Musicology at the Department for Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen, to a talk about anthropology of sound, sound studies, musical canons and ideology.......PROFESSOR PORTRAIT: Sanne Krogh Groth met Holger Schulze, newly appointed professor in Musicology at the Department for Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen, to a talk about anthropology of sound, sound studies, musical canons and ideology....

Development and Psychometric Evaluation of Scales: A Survey of Published Articles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Foroozan Atashzadeh-Shoorideh

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background and purpose: Using valid and reliable instruments is an important way for collecting data in qualitative researches. This paper is a report of a study conducted to examine the extent of psychometric properties of the scales in research papers published in Journal of Advanced Nursing.Methods: In this study, the Journal of Advanced Nursing was chosen for systematic review. All articles which were published during 2007-2009 in this journal were collected and articles related to instrument development were selected. Each article was completely reviewed to identify the methods of instrument validation and reliability.Results: From 980 articles published in Journal of Advanced Nursing during 2007-2009, 41 (4.18% articles were about research methodology. In these, 12 articles (29.27% were related to developing an instrument. In this study, review of 12 articles that published in Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2007-2009, showed that some of the articles did not measure psychometric properties properly, thus some of the developed scales need to measure other types of necessary validity. In addition, reliability testing needs to be performed on each instrument used in a study before other statistical analysis are performed. From 12 articles, all of the articles measured and reported Cronbach’s alpha, but four of them did not measure test-retest.Conclusions: Although researchers put a great emphasis on methodology and statistical analysis, they pay less attention to the psychometric properties of their new instruments. The authors of this article hope to draw the attention of researcher to the importance of measuring psychometric properties of new instruments.Keywords: PSYCHOMETRIC, SCALES, CRITICAL REVIEW

A Psychometric Review of Norm-Referenced Tests Used to Assess Phonological Error Patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Kirk, Celia; Vigeland, Laura

2014-01-01

Purpose: The authors provide a review of the psychometric properties of 6 norm-referenced tests designed to measure children's phonological error patterns. Three aspects of the tests' psychometric adequacy were evaluated: the normative sample, reliability, and validity. Method: The specific criteria used for determining the psychometric…

Psychometric Properties of Patient-Facing eHealth Evaluation Measures: Systematic Review and Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Wakefield, Bonnie J; Turvey, Carolyn L; Nazi, Kim M; Holman, John E; Hogan, Timothy P; Shimada, Stephanie L; Kennedy, Diana R

2017-10-11

-English language publications (n=14,550) and books (n=27), another 31,647 articles were excluded through review of titles. Following a review of the abstracts of the remaining 1096 articles, 68 were retained for full-text review. Of these, 16 described an instrument and six used an instrument; one instrument was drawn from the GEM database, resulting in 23 articles for inclusion. None included a complete psychometric evaluation. The most frequently assessed property was internal consistency (21/23, 91%). Testing for aspects of validity ranged from 48% (11/23) to 78% (18/23). Approximately half (13/23, 57%) reported how to score the instrument. Only six (26%) assessed the readability of the instrument for end users, although all the measures rely on self-report. Although most measures identified in this review were published after the year 2000, rapidly changing technology makes instrument development challenging. Platform-agnostic measures need to be developed that focus on concepts important for use of any type of eHealth innovation. At present, there are important gaps in the availability of psychometrically sound measures to evaluate eHealth technologies. ©Bonnie J Wakefield, Carolyn L Turvey, Kim M Nazi, John E Holman, Timothy P Hogan, Stephanie L Shimada, Diana R Kennedy. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 11.10.2017.

Psychometric properties of carer-reported outcome measures in palliative care: A systematic review

Science.gov (United States)

Michels, Charlotte TJ; Boulton, Mary; Adams, Astrid; Wee, Bee; Peters, Michele

2016-01-01

Background: Informal carers face many challenges in caring for patients with palliative care needs. Selecting suitable valid and reliable outcome measures to determine the impact of caring and carers’ outcomes is a common problem. Aim: To identify outcome measures used for informal carers looking after patients with palliative care needs, and to evaluate the measures’ psychometric properties. Design: A systematic review was conducted. The studies identified were evaluated by independent reviewers (C.T.J.M., M.B., M.P.). Data regarding study characteristics and psychometric properties of the measures were extracted and evaluated. Good psychometric properties indicate a high-quality measure. Data sources: The search was conducted, unrestricted to publication year, in the following electronic databases: Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, The Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PubMed, PsycINFO, Social Sciences Citation Index and Sociological Abstracts. Results: Our systematic search revealed 4505 potential relevant studies, of which 112 studies met the inclusion criteria using 38 carer measures for informal carers of patients with palliative care needs. Psychometric properties were reported in only 46% (n = 52) of the studies, in relation to 24 measures. Where psychometric data were reported, the focus was mainly on internal consistency (n = 45, 87%), construct validity (n = 27, 52%) and/or reliability (n = 14, 27%). Of these, 24 measures, only four (17%) had been formally validated in informal carers in palliative care. Conclusion: A broad range of outcome measures have been used for informal carers of patients with palliative care needs. Little formal psychometric testing has been undertaken. Furthermore, development and refinement of measures in this field is required. PMID:26407683

Sound specificity effects in spoken word recognition: The effect of integrality between words and sounds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strori, Dorina; Zaar, Johannes; Cooke, Martin

2017-01-01

Recent evidence has shown that nonlinguistic sounds co-occurring with spoken words may be retained in memory and affect later retrieval of the words. This sound-specificity effect shares many characteristics with the classic voice-specificity effect. In this study, we argue that the sound......-specificity effect is conditional upon the context in which the word and sound coexist. Specifically, we argue that, besides co-occurrence, integrality between words and sounds is a crucial factor in the emergence of the effect. In two recognition-memory experiments, we compared the emergence of voice and sound...... from a mere co-occurrence context effect by removing the intensity modulation. The absence of integrality led to the disappearance of the sound-specificity effect. Taken together, the results suggest that the assimilation of background sounds into memory cannot be reduced to a simple context effect...

Active sound reduction system and method

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2016-01-01

The present invention refers to an active sound reduction system and method for attenuation of sound emitted by a primary sound source, especially for attenuation of snoring sounds emitted by a human being. This system comprises a primary sound source, at least one speaker as a secondary sound

Computational Psychometrics for the Measurement of Collaborative Problem Solving Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Polyak, Stephen T.; von Davier, Alina A.; Peterschmidt, Kurt

2017-01-01

This paper describes a psychometrically-based approach to the measurement of collaborative problem solving skills, by mining and classifying behavioral data both in real-time and in post-game analyses. The data were collected from a sample of middle school children who interacted with a game-like, online simulation of collaborative problem solving tasks. In this simulation, a user is required to collaborate with a virtual agent to solve a series of tasks within a first-person maze environment. The tasks were developed following the psychometric principles of Evidence Centered Design (ECD) and are aligned with the Holistic Framework developed by ACT. The analyses presented in this paper are an application of an emerging discipline called computational psychometrics which is growing out of traditional psychometrics and incorporates techniques from educational data mining, machine learning and other computer/cognitive science fields. In the real-time analysis, our aim was to start with limited knowledge of skill mastery, and then demonstrate a form of continuous Bayesian evidence tracing that updates sub-skill level probabilities as new conversation flow event evidence is presented. This is performed using Bayes' rule and conversation item conditional probability tables. The items are polytomous and each response option has been tagged with a skill at a performance level. In our post-game analysis, our goal was to discover unique gameplay profiles by performing a cluster analysis of user's sub-skill performance scores based on their patterns of selected dialog responses. PMID:29238314

Computational Psychometrics for the Measurement of Collaborative Problem Solving Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen T. Polyak

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a psychometrically-based approach to the measurement of collaborative problem solving skills, by mining and classifying behavioral data both in real-time and in post-game analyses. The data were collected from a sample of middle school children who interacted with a game-like, online simulation of collaborative problem solving tasks. In this simulation, a user is required to collaborate with a virtual agent to solve a series of tasks within a first-person maze environment. The tasks were developed following the psychometric principles of Evidence Centered Design (ECD and are aligned with the Holistic Framework developed by ACT. The analyses presented in this paper are an application of an emerging discipline called computational psychometrics which is growing out of traditional psychometrics and incorporates techniques from educational data mining, machine learning and other computer/cognitive science fields. In the real-time analysis, our aim was to start with limited knowledge of skill mastery, and then demonstrate a form of continuous Bayesian evidence tracing that updates sub-skill level probabilities as new conversation flow event evidence is presented. This is performed using Bayes' rule and conversation item conditional probability tables. The items are polytomous and each response option has been tagged with a skill at a performance level. In our post-game analysis, our goal was to discover unique gameplay profiles by performing a cluster analysis of user's sub-skill performance scores based on their patterns of selected dialog responses.

Computational Psychometrics for the Measurement of Collaborative Problem Solving Skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Polyak, Stephen T; von Davier, Alina A; Peterschmidt, Kurt

2017-01-01

This paper describes a psychometrically-based approach to the measurement of collaborative problem solving skills, by mining and classifying behavioral data both in real-time and in post-game analyses. The data were collected from a sample of middle school children who interacted with a game-like, online simulation of collaborative problem solving tasks. In this simulation, a user is required to collaborate with a virtual agent to solve a series of tasks within a first-person maze environment. The tasks were developed following the psychometric principles of Evidence Centered Design (ECD) and are aligned with the Holistic Framework developed by ACT. The analyses presented in this paper are an application of an emerging discipline called computational psychometrics which is growing out of traditional psychometrics and incorporates techniques from educational data mining, machine learning and other computer/cognitive science fields. In the real-time analysis, our aim was to start with limited knowledge of skill mastery, and then demonstrate a form of continuous Bayesian evidence tracing that updates sub-skill level probabilities as new conversation flow event evidence is presented. This is performed using Bayes' rule and conversation item conditional probability tables. The items are polytomous and each response option has been tagged with a skill at a performance level. In our post-game analysis, our goal was to discover unique gameplay profiles by performing a cluster analysis of user's sub-skill performance scores based on their patterns of selected dialog responses.

Sound Symbolism in Basic Vocabulary

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Søren Wichmann

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The relationship between meanings of words and their sound shapes is to a large extent arbitrary, but it is well known that languages exhibit sound symbolism effects violating arbitrariness. Evidence for sound symbolism is typically anecdotal, however. Here we present a systematic approach. Using a selection of basic vocabulary in nearly one half of the world’s languages we find commonalities among sound shapes for words referring to same concepts. These are interpreted as due to sound symbolism. Studying the effects of sound symbolism cross-linguistically is of key importance for the understanding of language evolution.

An antisymmetric psychometric function on a logarithmic scale

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergmann Tiest, W.M.; Kappers, A.M.L.

2011-01-01

This very brief report introduces a psychometric function, very suitable for psychophysical data that displays Weber-like behaviour, because it is antisymmetric on a logarithmic scale. © 2011 a Pion publication.

Sounding the Alarm: An Introduction to Ecological Sound Art

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan Gilmurray

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In recent years, a number of sound artists have begun engaging with ecological issues through their work, forming a growing movement of ˝ecological sound art˝. This paper traces its development, examines its influences, and provides examples of the artists whose work is currently defining this important and timely new field.

Sound Stuff? Naïve materialism in middle-school students' conceptions of sound

Science.gov (United States)

Eshach, Haim; Schwartz, Judah L.

2006-06-01

Few studies have dealt with students’ preconceptions of sounds. The current research employs Reiner et al. (2000) substance schema to reveal new insights about students’ difficulties in understanding this fundamental topic. It aims not only to detect whether the substance schema is present in middle school students’ thinking, but also examines how students use the schema’s properties. It asks, moreover, whether the substance schema properties are used as islands of local consistency or whether one can identify more global coherent consistencies among the properties that the students use to explain the sound phenomena. In-depth standardized open-ended interviews were conducted with ten middle school students. Consistent with the substance schema, sound was perceived by our participants as being pushable, frictional, containable, or transitional. However, sound was also viewed as a substance different from the ordinary with respect to its stability, corpuscular nature, additive properties, and inertial characteristics. In other words, students’ conceptions of sound do not seem to fit Reiner et al.’s schema in all respects. Our results also indicate that students’ conceptualization of sound lack internal consistency. Analyzing our results with respect to local and global coherence, we found students’ conception of sound is close to diSessa’s “loosely connected, fragmented collection of ideas.” The notion that sound is perceived only as a “sort of a material,” we believe, requires some revision of the substance schema as it applies to sound. The article closes with a discussion concerning the implications of the results for instruction.

Sound symbolism: the role of word sound in meaning.

Science.gov (United States)

Svantesson, Jan-Olof

2017-09-01

The question whether there is a natural connection between sound and meaning or if they are related only by convention has been debated since antiquity. In linguistics, it is usually taken for granted that 'the linguistic sign is arbitrary,' and exceptions like onomatopoeia have been regarded as marginal phenomena. However, it is becoming more and more clear that motivated relations between sound and meaning are more common and important than has been thought. There is now a large and rapidly growing literature on subjects as ideophones (or expressives), words that describe how a speaker perceives a situation with the senses, and phonaesthemes, units like English gl-, which occur in many words that share a meaning component (in this case 'light': gleam, glitter, etc.). Furthermore, psychological experiments have shown that sound symbolism in one language can be understood by speakers of other languages, suggesting that some kinds of sound symbolism are universal. WIREs Cogn Sci 2017, 8:e1441. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1441 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Measuring HIV stigma at the family level: psychometric assessment of the Chinese Courtesy Stigma Scales (CCSSs).

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hongjie; Xu, Yongfang; Sun, Yehuan; Dumenci, Levent

2014-01-01

Courtesy stigma is the stigmatization a person perceives or experiences due to their association with a stigmatized individual or group. Most HIV-related stigma scales have been developed for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), but not for their HIV-uninfected family members. To date, few measurement scales have been designed to measure the degree of stigma among both PLWHAs and their HIV-uninfected family members at the family level. We developed a set of courtesy stigma scales and estimated their reliability and validity from 256 PLWHAs and 256 of their HIV-uninfected family members. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed in two independent samples: a development sample (N = 216) and a validation sample (N = 296), respectively. Two factors ("public stigma" and "self-perceived stigma") had high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha coefficient between 0.83-0.90) and good construct validity (standardized factor loading range: 0.37-0.95) in both samples. These findings document that the newly developed brief instrument is a psychometrically sound measure of HIV-related stigma among both PLWHAs and their HIV-uninfected family members.

Sound-by-sound thalamic stimulation modulates midbrain auditory excitability and relative binaural sensitivity in frogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Ponnath, Abhilash; Farris, Hamilton E

2014-01-01

Descending circuitry can modulate auditory processing, biasing sensitivity to particular stimulus parameters and locations. Using awake in vivo single unit recordings, this study tested whether electrical stimulation of the thalamus modulates auditory excitability and relative binaural sensitivity in neurons of the amphibian midbrain. In addition, by using electrical stimuli that were either longer than the acoustic stimuli (i.e., seconds) or presented on a sound-by-sound basis (ms), experiments addressed whether the form of modulation depended on the temporal structure of the electrical stimulus. Following long duration electrical stimulation (3-10 s of 20 Hz square pulses), excitability (spikes/acoustic stimulus) to free-field noise stimuli decreased by 32%, but returned over 600 s. In contrast, sound-by-sound electrical stimulation using a single 2 ms duration electrical pulse 25 ms before each noise stimulus caused faster and varied forms of modulation: modulation lasted sound-by-sound electrical stimulation varied between different acoustic stimuli, including for different male calls, suggesting modulation is specific to certain stimulus attributes. For binaural units, modulation depended on the ear of input, as sound-by-sound electrical stimulation preceding dichotic acoustic stimulation caused asymmetric modulatory effects: sensitivity shifted for sounds at only one ear, or by different relative amounts for both ears. This caused a change in the relative difference in binaural sensitivity. Thus, sound-by-sound electrical stimulation revealed fast and ear-specific (i.e., lateralized) auditory modulation that is potentially suited to shifts in auditory attention during sound segregation in the auditory scene.

Sound specificity effects in spoken word recognition: The effect of integrality between words and sounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Strori, Dorina; Zaar, Johannes; Cooke, Martin; Mattys, Sven L

2018-01-01

Recent evidence has shown that nonlinguistic sounds co-occurring with spoken words may be retained in memory and affect later retrieval of the words. This sound-specificity effect shares many characteristics with the classic voice-specificity effect. In this study, we argue that the sound-specificity effect is conditional upon the context in which the word and sound coexist. Specifically, we argue that, besides co-occurrence, integrality between words and sounds is a crucial factor in the emergence of the effect. In two recognition-memory experiments, we compared the emergence of voice and sound specificity effects. In Experiment 1 , we examined two conditions where integrality is high. Namely, the classic voice-specificity effect (Exp. 1a) was compared with a condition in which the intensity envelope of a background sound was modulated along the intensity envelope of the accompanying spoken word (Exp. 1b). Results revealed a robust voice-specificity effect and, critically, a comparable sound-specificity effect: A change in the paired sound from exposure to test led to a decrease in word-recognition performance. In the second experiment, we sought to disentangle the contribution of integrality from a mere co-occurrence context effect by removing the intensity modulation. The absence of integrality led to the disappearance of the sound-specificity effect. Taken together, the results suggest that the assimilation of background sounds into memory cannot be reduced to a simple context effect. Rather, it is conditioned by the extent to which words and sounds are perceived as integral as opposed to distinct auditory objects.

Analysis, Synthesis, and Perception of Musical Sounds The Sound of Music

CERN Document Server

Beauchamp, James W

2007-01-01

Analysis, Synthesis, and Perception of Musical Sounds contains a detailed treatment of basic methods for analysis and synthesis of musical sounds, including the phase vocoder method, the McAulay-Quatieri frequency-tracking method, the constant-Q transform, and methods for pitch tracking with several examples shown. Various aspects of musical sound spectra such as spectral envelope, spectral centroid, spectral flux, and spectral irregularity are defined and discussed. One chapter is devoted to the control and synthesis of spectral envelopes. Two advanced methods of analysis/synthesis are given: "Sines Plus Transients Plus Noise" and "Spectrotemporal Reassignment" are covered. Methods for timbre morphing are given. The last two chapters discuss the perception of musical sounds based on discrimination and multidimensional scaling timbre models.

The Short Form Vaping Consequences Questionnaire: Psychometric Properties of a Measure of Vaping Expectancies for Use With Adult E-cigarette Users.

Science.gov (United States)

Morean, Meghan E; L'Insalata, Alexa

2017-02-01

E-cigarettes are popular in the United States, but psychometrically sound measures of vaping beliefs and behaviors are lacking. We evaluated the psychometrics of the Short Form Vaping Consequences Questionnaire (S-VCQ), a modified version of the Short Form Smoking Consequences Questionnaire that assesses expectancies for negative consequences, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and appetite/weight control associated with vaping. Adult, past-month e-cigarette users completed an anonymous survey in Fall 2015 (N = 522, 50.4% female; 71.5% white; 34.10 [SD = 9.66] years). Psychometric analyses included confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency, measurement invariance, t tests, correlations, and test-criterion relationships with vaping outcomes. The S-VCQ evidenced a four-factor latent structure (Bentler's Comparative Fit Index = .95, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = .05, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual = .06), and subscales evidenced internal consistency (mean α = 0.89). S-VCQ scores were scalar invariant for sex and smoking status; women reported stronger appetite/weight control than men and dual cigarette/e-cigarette users (n = 309) reported stronger negative vaping consequences and negative reinforcement than nonsmokers. Among dual users, vaping and smoking expectancies also were scalar invariant; dual users reported stronger positive reinforcement associated with vaping than smoking but stronger negative consequences, negative reinforcement, and appetite/weight control associated with smoking than vaping. Correlations indicated that vaping and smoking expectancies were related, yet distinct constructs. Univariate general linear models indicated that vaping frequency and dependence were associated with positive reinforcement (ηp2 = .02/.02), negative reinforcement (ηp2 = .02/.08), and appetite/weight control (ηp2 = .02/.02) from vaping. The S-VCQ evidences solid psychometrics as a measure of adult e-cigarette users' vaping

Michael Jackson's Sound Stages

OpenAIRE

Morten Michelsen

2012-01-01

In order to discuss analytically spatial aspects of recorded sound William Moylan’s concept of ‘sound stage’ is developed within a musicological framework as part of a sound paradigm which includes timbre, texture and sound stage. Two Michael Jackson songs (‘The Lady in My Life’ from 1982 and ‘Scream’ from 1995) are used to: a) demonstrate the value of such a conceptualisation, and b) demonstrate that the model has its limits, as record producers in the 1990s began ignoring the conventions of...

The Mental Vulnerability Questionnaire: a psychometric evaluation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eplov, Lene Falgaard; Petersen, Janne; Jørgensen, Torben

2010-01-01

The Mental Vulnerability Questionnaire was originally a 22 item scale, later reduced to a 12 item scale. In population studies the 12 item scale has been a significant predictor of health and illness. The scale has not been psychometrically evaluated for more than 30 years, and the aim of the pre......The Mental Vulnerability Questionnaire was originally a 22 item scale, later reduced to a 12 item scale. In population studies the 12 item scale has been a significant predictor of health and illness. The scale has not been psychometrically evaluated for more than 30 years, and the aim...... 0.30 for the 12 and the 22 item scales. All five Mental Vulnerability scales had positively skewed score distributions which were associated significantly with both SCL-90-R symptom scores and NEO-PI-R personality scales (primarily Neuroticism and Extraversion). Coefficient alpha was highest...

ABOUT SOUNDS IN VIDEO GAMES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denikin Anton A.

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The article considers the aesthetical and practical possibilities for sounds (sound design in video games and interactive applications. Outlines the key features of the game sound, such as simulation, representativeness, interactivity, immersion, randomization, and audio-visuality. The author defines the basic terminology in study of game audio, as well as identifies significant aesthetic differences between film sounds and sounds in video game projects. It is an attempt to determine the techniques of art analysis for the approaches in study of video games including aesthetics of their sounds. The article offers a range of research methods, considering the video game scoring as a contemporary creative practice.

The Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test: evidence of psychometric adequacy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

KATJA OCEPEK-WELIKSON

2009-09-01

Full Text Available These analyses examine the psychometric properties of the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test with Immediate Recall (FCSRT-IR. FCSRT-IR is a measure of memory under conditions that control attention and cognitive processing in order to obtain an assessment of memory unconfounded by normal agerelated changes in cognition. FCSRT-IR performance has been associated with preclinical and early dementia in several longitudinal epidemiological studies. Factor and item response theory analyses were applied to FCSRT-IR data from patients at a geriatric primary care center who had independently established clinical diagnoses. The results provide supporting evidence for the psychometric adequacy of the FCSR-IR in terms of reliability, essential (sufficient unidimensionality, information across the continuum of memory disability/ability, and classification accuracy. The psychometric adequacy of the FCSRT-IR adds further validity to its use as a case finding strategy for dementia.

”Sound [signal] noise

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjørnsten, Thomas

2012-01-01

The article discusses the intricate relationship between sound and signification through notions of noise. The emergence of new fields of sonic artistic practices has generated several questions of how to approach sound as aesthetic form and material. During the past decade an increased attention...... has been paid to, for instance, a category such as ‘sound art’ together with an equally strengthened interest in phenomena and concepts that fall outside the accepted aesthetic procedures and constructions of what we traditionally would term as musical sound – a recurring example being ‘noise’....

Psychometric Analyses of the Birthday Party

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Young-Sun

2016-01-01

The present research focuses on the psychometric properties of the Birthday Party measure for ages 3-5. The Birthday Party was developed to provide a reliable, valid, and engaging measure of early mathematical content--Number and Operation, Shape, Space, and Pattern--that can be given in either a short or a long form to English and Spanish…

Beneath sci-fi sound: primer, science fiction sound design, and American independent cinema

OpenAIRE

Johnston, Nessa

2012-01-01

Primer is a very low budget science-fiction film that deals with the subject of time travel; however, it looks and sounds quite distinctively different from other films associated with the genre. While Hollywood blockbuster sci-fi relies on “sound spectacle” as a key attraction, in contrast Primer sounds “lo-fi” and screen-centred, mixed to two channel stereo rather than the now industry-standard 5.1 surround sound. Although this is partly a consequence of the economics of its production, the...

Emotional Considerations in Spasmodic Dysphonia: Psychometric Quantification.

Science.gov (United States)

Cannito, Michael P.

1991-01-01

This study examined emotional characteristics of 18 female spasmodic dysphonic subjects in comparison to matched normal controls across psychometric measures of depression, anxiety, and somatic complaints. Statistically significant differences were noted between groups for all measures and over half of the dysphonic subjects exhibited clinically…

Assessment of Minimal HE (with emphasis on computerized psychometric tests)

Science.gov (United States)

Kappus, Matthew R; Bajaj, Jasmohan S

2012-01-01

Synopsis Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is associated with a high risk of development of overt hepatic encephalopathy, impaired quality of life and driving accidents. The detection of MHE requires specialized testing since it cannot by definition, be diagnosed on standard clinical examination. Psychometric (paper-pencil or computerized or a combination) and neuro-physiological techniques are often used to test for MHE. Paper-pencil psychometric batteries like the Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score (PHES) have been validated in several countries but do not have US normative values. Computerized tests such as the inhibitory control test (ICT), cognitive drug research system and Scan test have proven useful to diagnose MHE and predict outcomes. The specificity and sensitivity of these tests are similar to the recommended gold standards. Neuro-physiological tests such as the EEG and its interpretations, evoked potentials and Critical Flicker Frequency (CFF) also provide useful information. The diagnosis of MHE is an important issue for clinicians and patients alike and the testing strategies depend on the normative data available, patient comfort and local expertise. PMID:22321464

Psychometric properties and clinical usefulness of the Oswestry Disability Index.

Science.gov (United States)

Vianin, Michael

2008-12-01

Outcome measures with good reliability, validity, responsiveness, and low burden of administration are clinically useful. The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) is one of the most commonly used outcome measures for individuals with low back pain. Psychometric properties of the ODI will determine the questionnaire's suitability as a useful clinical tool. A literature search of relevant databases on psychometric evaluation of the ODI was performed. The search was done using the key words disability evaluation, and low back pain, and questionnaires, and reproducibility of results, and the term Oswestry. Inclusion criterion was direct reference regarding psychometric property, interpretability, and burden being included in the abstract. Eight articles met the inclusion criterion. The ODI shows good construct validity; internal consistency is rated as acceptable; test-retest reliability and responsiveness have been shown to be high; and burden of administration is low. The ODI is a valid, reliable, and responsive condition-specific assessment tool that is suited for use in clinical practice. It is easy to administer and score, objectifies clients' complaints, and monitors effects of therapy.

Sound classification of dwellings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Birgit

2012-01-01

National schemes for sound classification of dwellings exist in more than ten countries in Europe, typically published as national standards. The schemes define quality classes reflecting different levels of acoustical comfort. Main criteria concern airborne and impact sound insulation between...... dwellings, facade sound insulation and installation noise. The schemes have been developed, implemented and revised gradually since the early 1990s. However, due to lack of coordination between countries, there are significant discrepancies, and new standards and revisions continue to increase the diversity...... is needed, and a European COST Action TU0901 "Integrating and Harmonizing Sound Insulation Aspects in Sustainable Urban Housing Constructions", has been established and runs 2009-2013, one of the main objectives being to prepare a proposal for a European sound classification scheme with a number of quality...

The Psychometric Anatomy of Two Unidimensional Workload Scales

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

George, Edward

2004-01-01

.... The more specific intent is to encourage reevaluation from a structured psychometric viewpoint. The end goal is to facilitate a uniformly higher standard of measurement quality in unidimensional scaling having complex scale step descriptors...

A psychometric assessment of the LPME scale for the South African skills development context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maelekanyo Christopher Tshilongamulenzhe

2015-09-01

Full Text Available A thorough examination of psychometric properties of measurement scales is necessary to ensure that these scales comply with the existing scientific conventions. This article assesses the psychometric properties of the Learning Programme Management and Evaluation (LPME scale. A quantitative, non-experimental cross-sectional survey design was used. Data were collected from a sample of 652 respondents comprising skills development practitioners and learners/apprentices. Data were analyzed using Winsteps, SPSS and AMOS computer software. The findings show that the LPME scale meets the psychometric expectations and complies with the established scientific conventions in terms of validity, reliability, fit and unidimensionality.

Vocal Imitations of Non-Vocal Sounds

Science.gov (United States)

Houix, Olivier; Voisin, Frédéric; Misdariis, Nicolas; Susini, Patrick

2016-01-01

Imitative behaviors are widespread in humans, in particular whenever two persons communicate and interact. Several tokens of spoken languages (onomatopoeias, ideophones, and phonesthemes) also display different degrees of iconicity between the sound of a word and what it refers to. Thus, it probably comes at no surprise that human speakers use a lot of imitative vocalizations and gestures when they communicate about sounds, as sounds are notably difficult to describe. What is more surprising is that vocal imitations of non-vocal everyday sounds (e.g. the sound of a car passing by) are in practice very effective: listeners identify sounds better with vocal imitations than with verbal descriptions, despite the fact that vocal imitations are inaccurate reproductions of a sound created by a particular mechanical system (e.g. a car driving by) through a different system (the voice apparatus). The present study investigated the semantic representations evoked by vocal imitations of sounds by experimentally quantifying how well listeners could match sounds to category labels. The experiment used three different types of sounds: recordings of easily identifiable sounds (sounds of human actions and manufactured products), human vocal imitations, and computational “auditory sketches” (created by algorithmic computations). The results show that performance with the best vocal imitations was similar to the best auditory sketches for most categories of sounds, and even to the referent sounds themselves in some cases. More detailed analyses showed that the acoustic distance between a vocal imitation and a referent sound is not sufficient to account for such performance. Analyses suggested that instead of trying to reproduce the referent sound as accurately as vocally possible, vocal imitations focus on a few important features, which depend on each particular sound category. These results offer perspectives for understanding how human listeners store and access long

Sound Art Situations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krogh Groth, Sanne; Samson, Kristine

2017-01-01

and combine theories from several fields. Aspects of sound art studies, performance studies and contemporary art studies are presented in order to theoretically explore the very diverse dimensions of the two sound art pieces: Visual, auditory, performative, social, spatial and durational dimensions become......This article is an analysis of two sound art performances that took place June 2015 in outdoor public spaces in the social housing area Urbanplanen in Copenhagen, Denmark. The two performances were On the production of a poor acoustics by Brandon LaBelle and Green Interactive Biofeedback...... Environments (GIBE) by Jeremy Woodruff. In order to investigate the complex situation that arises when sound art is staged in such contexts, the authors of this article suggest exploring the events through approaching them as ‘situations’ (Doherty 2009). With this approach it becomes possible to engage...

Psychometric properties of patient-reported outcome measures for hip arthroscopic surgery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kemp, Joanne L; Collins, Natalie J; Roos, Ewa M.

2013-01-01

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are considered the gold standard when evaluating outcomes in a surgical population. While the psychometric properties of some PROs have been tested, the properties of newer PROs in patients undergoing hip arthroscopic surgery remain somewhat unknown.......Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are considered the gold standard when evaluating outcomes in a surgical population. While the psychometric properties of some PROs have been tested, the properties of newer PROs in patients undergoing hip arthroscopic surgery remain somewhat unknown....

Characteristic sounds facilitate visual search.

Science.gov (United States)

Iordanescu, Lucica; Guzman-Martinez, Emmanuel; Grabowecky, Marcia; Suzuki, Satoru

2008-06-01

In a natural environment, objects that we look for often make characteristic sounds. A hiding cat may meow, or the keys in the cluttered drawer may jingle when moved. Using a visual search paradigm, we demonstrated that characteristic sounds facilitated visual localization of objects, even when the sounds carried no location information. For example, finding a cat was faster when participants heard a meow sound. In contrast, sounds had no effect when participants searched for names rather than pictures of objects. For example, hearing "meow" did not facilitate localization of the word cat. These results suggest that characteristic sounds cross-modally enhance visual (rather than conceptual) processing of the corresponding objects. Our behavioral demonstration of object-based cross-modal enhancement complements the extensive literature on space-based cross-modal interactions. When looking for your keys next time, you might want to play jingling sounds.

Modern psychometrics for assessing achievement goal orientation: a Rasch analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Muis, Krista R; Winne, Philip H; Edwards, Ordene V

2009-09-01

A program of research is needed that assesses the psychometric properties of instruments designed to quantify students' achievement goal orientations to clarify inconsistencies across previous studies and to provide a stronger basis for future research. We conducted traditional psychometric and modern Rasch-model analyses of the Achievement Goals Questionnaire (AGQ, Elliot & McGregor, 2001) and the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scale (PALS, Midgley et al., 2000) to provide an in-depth analysis of the two most popular instruments in educational psychology. For Study 1, 217 undergraduate students enrolled in educational psychology courses participated. Thirty-four were male and 181 were female (two did not respond). Participants completed the AGQ in the context of their educational psychology class. For Study 2, 126 undergraduate students enrolled in educational psychology courses participated. Thirty were male and 95 were female (one did not respond). Participants completed the PALS in the context of their educational psychology class. Traditional psychometric assessments of the AGQ and PALS replicated previous studies. For both, reliability estimates ranged from good to very good for raw subscale scores and fit for the models of goal orientations were good. Based on traditional psychometrics, the AGQ and PALS are valid and reliable indicators of achievement goals. Rasch analyses revealed that estimates of reliability for items were very good but respondent ability estimates varied from poor to good for both the AGQ and PALS. These findings indicate that items validly and reliably reflect a group's aggregate goal orientation, but using either instrument to characterize an individual's goal orientation is hazardous.

Determining the speed of sound in the air by sound wave interference

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Abel A.

2017-07-01

Mechanical waves propagate through material media. Sound is an example of a mechanical wave. In fluids like air, sound waves propagate through successive longitudinal perturbations of compression and decompression. Audible sound frequencies for human ears range from 20 to 20 000 Hz. In this study, the speed of sound v in the air is determined using the identification of maxima of interference from two synchronous waves at frequency f. The values of v were correct to 0 °C. The experimental average value of {\\bar{ν }}\\exp =336 +/- 4 {{m}} {{{s}}}-1 was found. It is 1.5% larger than the reference value. The standard deviation of 4 m s-1 (1.2% of {\\bar{ν }}\\exp ) is an improved value by the use of the concept of the central limit theorem. The proposed procedure to determine the speed of sound in the air aims to be an academic activity for physics classes of scientific and technological courses in college.

Psychometrics and Its Discontents: An Historical Perspective on the Discourse of the Measurement Tradition

Science.gov (United States)

Schoenherr, Jordan Richard; Hamstra, Stanley J.

2016-01-01

Psychometrics has recently undergone extensive criticism within the medical education literature. The use of quantitative measurement using psychometric instruments such as response scales is thought to emphasize a narrow range of relevant learner skills and competencies. Recent reviews and commentaries suggest that a paradigm shift might be…

The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5): Development and initial psychometric evaluation in military veterans.

Science.gov (United States)

Weathers, Frank W; Bovin, Michelle J; Lee, Daniel J; Sloan, Denise M; Schnurr, Paula P; Kaloupek, Danny G; Keane, Terence M; Marx, Brian P

2018-03-01

The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) is an extensively validated and widely used structured diagnostic interview for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The CAPS was recently revised to correspond with PTSD criteria in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This article describes the development of the CAPS for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) and presents the results of an initial psychometric evaluation of CAPS-5 scores in 2 samples of military veterans (Ns = 165 and 207). CAPS-5 diagnosis demonstrated strong interrater reliability (к = .78 to 1.00, depending on the scoring rule) and test-retest reliability (к = .83), as well as strong correspondence with a diagnosis based on the CAPS for DSM-IV (CAPS-IV; к = .84 when optimally calibrated). CAPS-5 total severity score demonstrated high internal consistency (α = .88) and interrater reliability (ICC = .91) and good test-retest reliability (ICC = .78). It also demonstrated good convergent validity with total severity score on the CAPS-IV (r = .83) and PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (r = .66) and good discriminant validity with measures of anxiety, depression, somatization, functional impairment, psychopathy, and alcohol abuse (rs = .02 to .54). Overall, these results indicate that the CAPS-5 is a psychometrically sound measure of DSM-5 PTSD diagnosis and symptom severity. Importantly, the CAPS-5 strongly corresponds with the CAPS-IV, which suggests that backward compatibility with the CAPS-IV was maintained and that the CAPS-5 provides continuity in evidence-based assessment of PTSD in the transition from DSM-IV to DSM-5 criteria. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Fluid Sounds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Explorations and analysis of soundscapes have, since Canadian R. Murray Schafer's work during the early 1970's, developed into various established research - and artistic disciplines. The interest in sonic environments is today present within a broad range of contemporary art projects and in arch......Explorations and analysis of soundscapes have, since Canadian R. Murray Schafer's work during the early 1970's, developed into various established research - and artistic disciplines. The interest in sonic environments is today present within a broad range of contemporary art projects...... and in architectural design. Aesthetics, psychoacoustics, perception, and cognition are all present in this expanding field embracing such categories as soundscape composition, sound art, sonic art, sound design, sound studies and auditory culture. Of greatest significance to the overall field is the investigation...

The influence of environmental sound training on the perception of spectrally degraded speech and environmental sounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Shafiro, Valeriy; Sheft, Stanley; Gygi, Brian; Ho, Kim Thien N

2012-06-01

Perceptual training with spectrally degraded environmental sounds results in improved environmental sound identification, with benefits shown to extend to untrained speech perception as well. The present study extended those findings to examine longer-term training effects as well as effects of mere repeated exposure to sounds over time. Participants received two pretests (1 week apart) prior to a week-long environmental sound training regimen, which was followed by two posttest sessions, separated by another week without training. Spectrally degraded stimuli, processed with a four-channel vocoder, consisted of a 160-item environmental sound test, word and sentence tests, and a battery of basic auditory abilities and cognitive tests. Results indicated significant improvements in all speech and environmental sound scores between the initial pretest and the last posttest with performance increments following both exposure and training. For environmental sounds (the stimulus class that was trained), the magnitude of positive change that accompanied training was much greater than that due to exposure alone, with improvement for untrained sounds roughly comparable to the speech benefit from exposure. Additional tests of auditory and cognitive abilities showed that speech and environmental sound performance were differentially correlated with tests of spectral and temporal-fine-structure processing, whereas working memory and executive function were correlated with speech, but not environmental sound perception. These findings indicate generalizability of environmental sound training and provide a basis for implementing environmental sound training programs for cochlear implant (CI) patients.

Original article The Symbiotic Bond Questionnaire – theoretical background and psychometric qualities

OpenAIRE

Aleksandra Lewandowska-Walter; Magdalena Błażek; Maria Kaźmierczak

2015-01-01

Background The article describes the Symbiotic Bond Questionnaire (SBQ) – the theoretical background as well as its psychometric characteristics and psychological correlates. The items were created on the basis of the definition of symbiotic personality (Johnson, 1994a). Participants and procedure For these initial survey development and cross-validation studies, the factor structure and psychometric properties of the SBQ were examined. To assess the SBQ’s reliability, the...

Sound Surfing Network (SSN): Mobile Phone-based Sound Spatialization with Audience Collaboration

OpenAIRE

Park, Saebyul; Ban, Seonghoon; Hong, Dae Ryong; Yeo, Woon Seung

2013-01-01

SSN (Sound Surfing Network) is a performance system that provides a new musicalexperience by incorporating mobile phone-based spatial sound control tocollaborative music performance. SSN enables both the performer and theaudience to manipulate the spatial distribution of sound using the smartphonesof the audience as distributed speaker system. Proposing a new perspective tothe social aspect music appreciation, SSN will provide a new possibility tomobile music performances in the context of in...

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Core Nurse Resource Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Simpson, Michelle R

2010-11-01

To examine the factor structure, internal consistency reliability and concurrent-related validity of the Core Nurse Resource Scale. A cross-sectional survey study design was used to obtain a sample of 149 nurses and nursing staff [Registered Nurse (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPNs) and Certified Nursing Assistant (CNAs)] working in long-term care facilities. Exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha and bivariate correlations were used to evaluate validity and reliability. Exploratory factor analysis yielded a scale with 18 items on three factors, accounting for 52% of the variance in scores. Internal consistency reliability for the composite and Core Nurse Resource Scale factors ranged from 0.79 to 0.91. The Core Nurse Resource Scale composite scale and subscales correlated positively with a measure of work engagement (r=0.247-0.572). The initial psychometric evaluation of the Core Nurse Resource Scale demonstrates it is a sound measure. Further validity and reliability assessment will need to be explored and assessed among nurses and other nursing staff working in other practice settings. The intent of the Core Nurse Resource Scale is to evaluate the presence of physical, psychological and social resources of the nursing work environment, to identify workplaces at risk for disengaged (low work engagement) nursing staff and to provide useful diagnostic information to healthcare administrators interested in interventions to improve the nursing work environment. © 2010 The Author. Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Sound Exposure of Symphony Orchestra Musicians

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Jesper Hvass; Pedersen, Ellen Raben; Juhl, Peter Møller

2011-01-01

dBA and their left ear was exposed 4.6 dB more than the right ear. Percussionists were exposed to high sound peaks >115 dBC but less continuous sound exposure was observed in this group. Musicians were exposed up to LAeq8h of 92 dB and a majority of musicians were exposed to sound levels exceeding......Background: Assessment of sound exposure by noise dosimetry can be challenging especially when measuring the exposure of classical orchestra musicians where sound originate from many different instruments. A new measurement method of bilateral sound exposure of classical musicians was developed...... and used to characterize sound exposure of the left and right ear simultaneously in two different symphony orchestras.Objectives: To measure binaural sound exposure of professional classical musicians and to identify possible exposure risk factors of specific musicians.Methods: Sound exposure was measured...

Letter-Sound Reading: Teaching Preschool Children Print-to-Sound Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Gail Marie

2016-01-01

This intervention study investigated the growth of letter sound reading and growth of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) word decoding abilities for a representative sample of 41 US children in preschool settings. Specifically, the study evaluated the effectiveness of a 3-step letter-sound teaching intervention in teaching preschool children to…

Psychometric Properties of Questionnaires on Functional Health Status in Oropharyngeal Dysphagia: A Systematic Literature Review

Science.gov (United States)

Speyer, Renée; Cordier, Reinie; Kertscher, Berit; Heijnen, Bas J

2014-01-01

Introduction. Questionnaires on Functional Health Status (FHS) are part of the assessment of oropharyngeal dysphagia. Objective. To conduct a systematic review of the literature on the psychometric properties of English-language FHS questionnaires in adults with oropharyngeal dysphagia. Methods. A systematic search was performed using the electronic databases Pubmed and Embase. The psychometric properties of the questionnaires were determined based on the COSMIN taxonomy of measurement properties and definitions for health-related patient-reported outcomes and the COSMIN checklist using preset psychometric criteria. Results. Three questionnaires were included: the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10), the Swallowing Outcome after Laryngectomy (SOAL), and the Self-report Symptom Inventory. The Sydney Swallow Questionnaire (SSQ) proved to be identical to the Modified Self-report Symptom Inventory. All FHS questionnaires obtained poor overall methodological quality scores for most measurement properties. Conclusions. The retrieved FHS questionnaires need psychometric reevaluation; if the overall methodological quality shows satisfactory improvement on most measurement properties, the use of the questionnaires in daily clinic and research can be justified. However, in case of insufficient validity and/or reliability scores, new FHS questionnaires need to be developed using and reporting on preestablished psychometric criteria as recommended in literature. PMID:24877095

Modelling Hyperboloid Sound Scattering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Burry, Jane; Davis, Daniel; Peters, Brady

2011-01-01

The Responsive Acoustic Surfaces workshop project described here sought new understandings about the interaction between geometry and sound in the arena of sound scattering. This paper reports on the challenges associated with modelling, simulating, fabricating and measuring this phenomenon using...... both physical and digital models at three distinct scales. The results suggest hyperboloid geometry, while difficult to fabricate, facilitates sound scattering....

The influence of ski helmets on sound perception and sound localisation on the ski slope

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lana Ružić

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate whether a ski helmet interferes with the sound localization and the time of sound perception in the frontal plane. Material and Methods: Twenty-three participants (age 30.7±10.2 were tested on the slope in 2 conditions, with and without wearing the ski helmet, by 6 different spatially distributed sound stimuli per each condition. Each of the subjects had to react when hearing the sound as soon as possible and to signalize the correct side of the sound arrival. Results: The results showed a significant difference in the ability to localize the specific ski sounds; 72.5±15.6% of correct answers without a helmet vs. 61.3±16.2% with a helmet (p < 0.01. However, the performance on this test did not depend on whether they were used to wearing a helmet (p = 0.89. In identifying the timing, at which the sound was firstly perceived, the results were also in favor of the subjects not wearing a helmet. The subjects reported hearing the ski sound clues at 73.4±5.56 m without a helmet vs. 60.29±6.34 m with a helmet (p < 0.001. In that case the results did depend on previously used helmets (p < 0.05, meaning that that regular usage of helmets might help to diminish the attenuation of the sound identification that occurs because of the helmets. Conclusions: Ski helmets might limit the ability of a skier to localize the direction of the sounds of danger and might interfere with the moment, in which the sound is firstly heard.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Diabetes Symptom Checklist-Revised (DSC-R)-A Measure of Symptom Distress

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arbuckle, R.A.; Humphrey, L.; Vardeva, K.; Arondekar, B.; Scott, J.A.; Snoek, F.J.

2009-01-01

Objective: To assess the psychometric validity, reliability, responsiveness, and minimal important differences of the Diabetes Symptoms Checklist-Revised (DSC-R), a widely used patient-reported outcome measure of diabetes symptom distress. Research Design and Methods: Psychometric validity of the

77 FR 37318 - Eighth Coast Guard District Annual Safety Zones; Sound of Independence; Santa Rosa Sound; Fort...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-21

...-AA00 Eighth Coast Guard District Annual Safety Zones; Sound of Independence; Santa Rosa Sound; Fort... Coast Guard will enforce a Safety Zone for the Sound of Independence event in the Santa Rosa Sound, Fort... during the Sound of Independence. During the enforcement period, entry into, transiting or anchoring in...

Material sound source localization through headphones

Science.gov (United States)

Dunai, Larisa; Peris-Fajarnes, Guillermo; Lengua, Ismael Lengua; Montaña, Ignacio Tortajada

2012-09-01

In the present paper a study of sound localization is carried out, considering two different sounds emitted from different hit materials (wood and bongo) as well as a Delta sound. The motivation of this research is to study how humans localize sounds coming from different materials, with the purpose of a future implementation of the acoustic sounds with better localization features in navigation aid systems or training audio-games suited for blind people. Wood and bongo sounds are recorded after hitting two objects made of these materials. Afterwards, they are analysed and processed. On the other hand, the Delta sound (click) is generated by using the Adobe Audition software, considering a frequency of 44.1 kHz. All sounds are analysed and convolved with previously measured non-individual Head-Related Transfer Functions both for an anechoic environment and for an environment with reverberation. The First Choice method is used in this experiment. Subjects are asked to localize the source position of the sound listened through the headphones, by using a graphic user interface. The analyses of the recorded data reveal that no significant differences are obtained either when considering the nature of the sounds (wood, bongo, Delta) or their environmental context (with or without reverberation). The localization accuracies for the anechoic sounds are: wood 90.19%, bongo 92.96% and Delta sound 89.59%, whereas for the sounds with reverberation the results are: wood 90.59%, bongo 92.63% and Delta sound 90.91%. According to these data, we can conclude that even when considering the reverberation effect, the localization accuracy does not significantly increase.

Investigating the psychometric properties of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale for South African residents of Greater Pretoria.

Science.gov (United States)

Westaway, Margaret S; Jordaan, Esmè R; Tsai, Jennifer

2015-06-01

Interviewers administered the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale (RSES) to five groups of Black (formal township and informal settlement), White, Indian, and mixed race adult residents of Greater Pretoria. The results demonstrated that the RSES was psychometrically sound for the five groups. The minimal effects of sociodemographic characteristics on global self-esteem showed that the RSES and its two dimensions, self-competence (SC) and self-liking (SL), were suitable in this setting. All five groups scored above the theoretical midpoint of the RSES, indicating that generally positive self-evaluations appear to be universal. The relationships between positively and negatively worded items, SC, and SL attested to the following: internal structure reliability, congruence between positive and negative items, no negative biases in response, and concordance between SC and SL dimensions. The significant differences between informal settlement residents and the other four groups on global self-esteem, positively and negatively worded items, and SC and SL were possibly due to physiological needs taking precedence over higher order needs. © The Author(s) 2013.

Waveform analysis of sound

CERN Document Server

Tohyama, Mikio

2015-01-01

What is this sound? What does that sound indicate? These are two questions frequently heard in daily conversation. Sound results from the vibrations of elastic media and in daily life provides informative signals of events happening in the surrounding environment. In interpreting auditory sensations, the human ear seems particularly good at extracting the signal signatures from sound waves. Although exploring auditory processing schemes may be beyond our capabilities, source signature analysis is a very attractive area in which signal-processing schemes can be developed using mathematical expressions. This book is inspired by such processing schemes and is oriented to signature analysis of waveforms. Most of the examples in the book are taken from data of sound and vibrations; however, the methods and theories are mostly formulated using mathematical expressions rather than by acoustical interpretation. This book might therefore be attractive and informative for scientists, engineers, researchers, and graduat...

Sound Settlements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Peder Duelund; Hornyanszky, Elisabeth Dalholm; Larsen, Jacob Norvig

2013-01-01

Præsentation af projektresultater fra Interreg forskningen Sound Settlements om udvikling af bæredygtighed i det almene boligbyggerier i København, Malmø, Helsingborg og Lund samt europæiske eksempler på best practice......Præsentation af projektresultater fra Interreg forskningen Sound Settlements om udvikling af bæredygtighed i det almene boligbyggerier i København, Malmø, Helsingborg og Lund samt europæiske eksempler på best practice...

Clinimetrics and clinical psychometrics: macro- and micro-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomba, Elena; Bech, Per

2012-01-01

Clinimetrics was introduced three decades ago to specify the domain of clinical markers in clinical medicine (indexes or rating scales). In this perspective, clinical validity is the platform for selecting the various indexes or rating scales (macro-analysis). Psychometric validation of these indexes or rating scales is the measuring aspect (micro-analysis). Clinical judgment analysis by experienced psychiatrists is included in the macro-analysis and the item response theory models are especially preferred in the micro-analysis when using the total score as a sufficient statistic. Clinical assessment tools covering severity of illness scales, prognostic measures, issues of co-morbidity, longitudinal assessments, recovery, stressors, lifestyle, psychological well-being, and illness behavior have been identified. The constructive dialogue in clinimetrics between clinical judgment and psychometric validation procedures is outlined for generating developments of clinical practice in psychiatry. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Sounds of silence: How to animate virtual worlds with sound

Science.gov (United States)

Astheimer, Peter

1993-01-01

Sounds are an integral and sometimes annoying part of our daily life. Virtual worlds which imitate natural environments gain a lot of authenticity from fast, high quality visualization combined with sound effects. Sounds help to increase the degree of immersion for human dwellers in imaginary worlds significantly. The virtual reality toolkit of IGD (Institute for Computer Graphics) features a broad range of standard visual and advanced real-time audio components which interpret an object-oriented definition of the scene. The virtual reality system 'Virtual Design' realized with the toolkit enables the designer of virtual worlds to create a true audiovisual environment. Several examples on video demonstrate the usage of the audio features in Virtual Design.

The Nurses Self-Concept Instrument (NSCI): assessment of psychometric properties for Australian domestic and international student nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Angel, Elizabeth; Craven, Rhonda; Denson, Nida

2012-07-01

Professional self-concept is a critical driver of job satisfaction. In Australia, as international nursing enrolments rise, nursing is increasingly characterised by a professional body of international nurses who may differ from domestic Australian nurses in their nursing self-concept. At present, no psychometrically sound instrument for assessing nursing self-concept for Australian domestic and international nursing students is available. The purpose of this study was to: (1) develop an instrument (the Nurses' Self-Concept Instrument (NSCI)) to measure the professional self-concept of domestic and international nursing students in Australia, and (2) test the psychometric properties of this newly developed instrument. A literature review was conducted to generate the initial dimension and item pools to measure nurses' professional self-concept (NSCI). Two stakeholders examined the content and face validity of dimensions and items. Analysis was performed on data collected from 253 undergraduate nursing students in a large public university in Sydney, Australia, and consisted of domestic (n=218) and international (n=35) nursing students. Internal reliability was assessed using Cronbach's Alpha. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess the construct validity of the NSCI. The resulting NSCI consisted of 14 items across four self-concept domains: care, leadership, staff relations, and knowledge. The CFA supported the hypothesised factor structure of the self-concept model. All reliabilities were acceptable for both domestic and international students (ranging from r=.78 to .93). The NSCI was shown to be a valid and reliable tool for assessing Australian domestic and international student nurses' professional self-concept. This instrument may also enable those responsible for recruitment of students into nursing courses to assess students' professional self-concept and implement appropriate strategies to foster the growth of lifelong career development

Terrorism, Radicalisation, Extremism, Authoritarianism and Fundamentalism: A Systematic Review of the Quality and Psychometric Properties of Assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Scarcella, Akimi; Page, Ruairi; Furtado, Vivek

2016-01-01

Currently, terrorism and suicide bombing are global psychosocial processes that attracts a growing number of psychological and psychiatric contributions to enhance practical counter-terrorism measures. The present study is a systematic review that explores the methodological quality reporting and the psychometric soundness of the instruments developed to identify risk factors of terrorism, extremism, radicalisation, authoritarianism and fundamentalism. A systematic search strategy was established to identify instruments and studies developed to screen individuals at risk of committing extremist or terrorist offences using 20 different databases across the fields of law, medicine, psychology, sociology and politics. Information extracted was consolidated into two different tables and a 26-item checklist, reporting respectively background information, the psychometric properties of each tool, and the methodological quality markers of these tools. 37 articles met our criteria, which included a total of 4 instruments to be used operationally by professionals, 17 tools developed as research measures, and 9 inventories that have not been generated from a study. Just over half of the methodological quality markers required for a transparent methodological description of the instruments were reported. The amount of reported psychological properties was even fewer, with only a third of them available across the different studies. The category presenting the least satisfactory results was that containing the 4 instruments to be used operationally by professionals, which can be explained by the fact that half of them refrained from publishing the major part of their findings and relevant guidelines. A great number of flaws have been identified through this systematic review. The authors encourage future researchers to be more thorough, comprehensive and transparent in their methodology. They also recommend the creation of a multi-disciplinary joint working group in order to

How Pleasant Sounds Promote and Annoying Sounds Impede Health: A Cognitive Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tjeerd C. Andringa

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This theoretical paper addresses the cognitive functions via which quiet and in general pleasurable sounds promote and annoying sounds impede health. The article comprises a literature analysis and an interpretation of how the bidirectional influence of appraising the environment and the feelings of the perceiver can be understood in terms of core affect and motivation. This conceptual basis allows the formulation of a detailed cognitive model describing how sonic content, related to indicators of safety and danger, either allows full freedom over mind-states or forces the activation of a vigilance function with associated arousal. The model leads to a number of detailed predictions that can be used to provide existing soundscape approaches with a solid cognitive science foundation that may lead to novel approaches to soundscape design. These will take into account that louder sounds typically contribute to distal situational awareness while subtle environmental sounds provide proximal situational awareness. The role of safety indicators, mediated by proximal situational awareness and subtle sounds, should become more important in future soundscape research.

Sound synthesis and evaluation of interactive footsteps and environmental sounds rendering for virtual reality applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordahl, Rolf; Turchet, Luca; Serafin, Stefania

2011-09-01

We propose a system that affords real-time sound synthesis of footsteps on different materials. The system is based on microphones, which detect real footstep sounds from subjects, from which the ground reaction force (GRF) is estimated. Such GRF is used to control a sound synthesis engine based on physical models. Two experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, the ability of subjects to recognize the surface they were exposed to was assessed. In the second experiment, the sound synthesis engine was enhanced with environmental sounds. Results show that, in some conditions, adding a soundscape significantly improves the recognition of the simulated environment.

It sounds good!

CERN Multimedia

CERN Bulletin

2010-01-01

Both the atmosphere and we ourselves are hit by hundreds of particles every second and yet nobody has ever heard a sound coming from these processes. Like cosmic rays, particles interacting inside the detectors at the LHC do not make any noise…unless you've decided to use the ‘sonification’ technique, in which case you might even hear the Higgs boson sound like music. Screenshot of the first page of the "LHC sound" site. A group of particle physicists, composers, software developers and artists recently got involved in the ‘LHC sound’ project to make the particles at the LHC produce music. Yes…music! The ‘sonification’ technique converts data into sound. “In this way, if you implement the right software you can get really nice music out of the particle tracks”, says Lily Asquith, a member of the ATLAS collaboration and one of the initiators of the project. The ‘LHC...

Musical Sound, Instruments, and Equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Photinos, Panos

2017-12-01

'Musical Sound, Instruments, and Equipment' offers a basic understanding of sound, musical instruments and music equipment, geared towards a general audience and non-science majors. The book begins with an introduction of the fundamental properties of sound waves, and the perception of the characteristics of sound. The relation between intensity and loudness, and the relation between frequency and pitch are discussed. The basics of propagation of sound waves, and the interaction of sound waves with objects and structures of various sizes are introduced. Standing waves, harmonics and resonance are explained in simple terms, using graphics that provide a visual understanding. The development is focused on musical instruments and acoustics. The construction of musical scales and the frequency relations are reviewed and applied in the description of musical instruments. The frequency spectrum of selected instruments is explored using freely available sound analysis software. Sound amplification and sound recording, including analog and digital approaches, are discussed in two separate chapters. The book concludes with a chapter on acoustics, the physical factors that affect the quality of the music experience, and practical ways to improve the acoustics at home or small recording studios. A brief technical section is provided at the end of each chapter, where the interested reader can find the relevant physics and sample calculations. These quantitative sections can be skipped without affecting the comprehension of the basic material. Questions are provided to test the reader's understanding of the material. Answers are given in the appendix.

Sound Velocity in Soap Foams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Gong-Tao; Lü Yong-Jun; Liu Peng-Fei; Li Yi-Ning; Shi Qing-Fan

2012-01-01

The velocity of sound in soap foams at high gas volume fractions is experimentally studied by using the time difference method. It is found that the sound velocities increase with increasing bubble diameter, and asymptotically approach to the value in air when the diameter is larger than 12.5 mm. We propose a simple theoretical model for the sound propagation in a disordered foam. In this model, the attenuation of a sound wave due to the scattering of the bubble wall is equivalently described as the effect of an additional length. This simplicity reasonably reproduces the sound velocity in foams and the predicted results are in good agreement with the experiments. Further measurements indicate that the increase of frequency markedly slows down the sound velocity, whereas the latter does not display a strong dependence on the solution concentration

OMNIDIRECTIONAL SOUND SOURCE

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

1996-01-01

A sound source comprising a loudspeaker (6) and a hollow coupler (4) with an open inlet which communicates with and is closed by the loudspeaker (6) and an open outlet, said coupler (4) comprising rigid walls which cannot respond to the sound pressures produced by the loudspeaker (6). According...

The velocity of sound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beyer, R.T.

1985-01-01

The paper reviews the work carried out on the velocity of sound in liquid alkali metals. The experimental methods to determine the velocity measurements are described. Tables are presented of reported data on the velocity of sound in lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium and caesium. A formula is given for alkali metals, in which the sound velocity is a function of shear viscosity, atomic mass and atomic volume. (U.K.)

My Vocational Situation (MVS): Case Example and Psychometric Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Nitsch, Kristian P; Pedersen, Jessica; Miliotto, Alexandra; Petersen, Brett; Robbins, Samantha; Garcia, Ana; Hoisington, Molly Ansel; The, Kimberly J; Smiley, Jill; Janikowski, Timothy

This case report provides an overview of the psychometric properties and clinical utility of the My Vocational Situation (MVS) instrument. The accompanying hypothetical case description illustrates how clinicians could use the MVS to evaluate vocational preferences and outcomes and how the MVS can be used to inform treatment planning and rehabilitation decision making. The information contained in this report is intended to familiarize clinicians with the administration and scoring of the MVS, the psychometric information necessary to interpret results obtained from the MVS, and how the results could be used to provide comprehensive, patient-centered care. It is important to note that the information provided represents only a sample of the available research literature on the MVS. Copyright © 2017 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

Product sounds : Fundamentals and application

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ozcan-Vieira, E.

2008-01-01

Products are ubiquitous, so are the sounds emitted by products. Product sounds influence our reasoning, emotional state, purchase decisions, preference, and expectations regarding the product and the product's performance. Thus, auditory experience elicited by product sounds may not be just about

A psychometric validation analysis of Eysenck’s Neuroticism and Extraversion Scales in a sample of first time depressed patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Stine Bjerrum; Bech, Per; Kessing, Lars Vedel

2015-01-01

Eysenck and Eysenck identified the two-factor structure of personality, namely neuroticism and extraversion which has been widely used in clinical psychiatry, and generated much research on the psychometric properties of the scales. Using a classical psychometric approach the neuroticism...... and extraversion scales have shown robust psychometric properties. The present study used both classical psychometric and item response theory (IRT) analyses to evaluate the neuroticism and extraversion scales and improve scalability of the instrument neuroticism and extraversion. A first time depressed sample...... symptoms related to interpersonal sensitivity were identified. For the extraversion scale a shorter and psychometrically more robust version was identified together with a short introversion scale. Clinically discriminant validity was analysed using correlations. The correlation between depression (Ham...

Psychometric evaluation of ADAS-Cog and NTB for measuring drug response.

Science.gov (United States)

Karin, A; Hannesdottir, K; Jaeger, J; Annas, P; Segerdahl, M; Karlsson, P; Sjögren, N; von Rosen, T; Miller, F

2014-02-01

To conduct a psychometric analysis to determine the adequacy of instruments that measure cognition in Alzheimer's disease trials. Both the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognition (ADAS-Cog) and the Neuropsychological Test Battery (NTB) are validated outcome measures for clinical trials in Alzheimer's disease and are approved also for regulatory purposes. However, it is not clear how comparable they are in measuring cognitive function. In fact, many recent trials in Alzheimer's disease patients have failed and it has been questioned if ADAS-Cog still is a sensitive measure. The present paper examines the psychometric properties of ADAS-Cog and NTB, based on a post hoc analysis of data from a clinical trial (NCT01024660), which was conducted by AstraZeneca, in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, with a Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) Total score 16-24. Acceptability, reliability, different types of validity and ability to detect change were assessed using relevant statistical methods. Total scores of both tests, as well as separate domains of both tests, including the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS), Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Verbal Fluency Condition, were analyzed. Overall, NTB performed well, with acceptable reliability and ability to detect change, while ADAS-Cog had insufficient psychometric properties, including ceiling effects in 8 out of a total of 11 ADAS-Cog items in mild AD patients, as well as low test-retest reliability in some of the items. Based on a direct comparison on the same patient sample, we see advantages of the NTB compared with the ADAS-Cog for the evaluation of cognitive function in the population of mild-to-moderate AD patients. The results suggest that not all of ADAS-Cog items are relevant for both mild and moderate AD population. This validation study demonstrates satisfactory psychometric properties of the NTB, while ADAS-Cog was found to be

Suppression of sound radiation to far field of near-field acoustic communication system using evanescent sound field

Science.gov (United States)

Fujii, Ayaka; Wakatsuki, Naoto; Mizutani, Koichi

2016-01-01

A method of suppressing sound radiation to the far field of a near-field acoustic communication system using an evanescent sound field is proposed. The amplitude of the evanescent sound field generated from an infinite vibrating plate attenuates exponentially with increasing a distance from the surface of the vibrating plate. However, a discontinuity of the sound field exists at the edge of the finite vibrating plate in practice, which broadens the wavenumber spectrum. A sound wave radiates over the evanescent sound field because of broadening of the wavenumber spectrum. Therefore, we calculated the optimum distribution of the particle velocity on the vibrating plate to reduce the broadening of the wavenumber spectrum. We focused on a window function that is utilized in the field of signal analysis for reducing the broadening of the frequency spectrum. The optimization calculation is necessary for the design of window function suitable for suppressing sound radiation and securing a spatial area for data communication. In addition, a wide frequency bandwidth is required to increase the data transmission speed. Therefore, we investigated a suitable method for calculating the sound pressure level at the far field to confirm the variation of the distribution of sound pressure level determined on the basis of the window shape and frequency. The distribution of the sound pressure level at a finite distance was in good agreement with that obtained at an infinite far field under the condition generating the evanescent sound field. Consequently, the window function was optimized by the method used to calculate the distribution of the sound pressure level at an infinite far field using the wavenumber spectrum on the vibrating plate. According to the result of comparing the distributions of the sound pressure level in the cases with and without the window function, it was confirmed that the area whose sound pressure level was reduced from the maximum level to -50 dB was

Reconsidering the psychometrics of quality of life assessment in light of response shift and appraisal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schwartz Carolyn E

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract The increasing evidence for response shift phenomena in quality of life (QOL assessment points to the necessity to reconsider both the measurement model and the application of psychometric analyses. The proposed psychometric model posits that the QOL true score is always contingent upon parameters of the appraisal process. This new model calls into question existing methods for establishing the reliability and validity of QOL assessment tools and suggests several new approaches for describing the psychometric properties of these scales. Recommendations for integrating the assessment of appraisal into QOL research and clinical practice are discussed.

Reconsidering the psychometrics of quality of life assessment in light of response shift and appraisal

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Carolyn E; Rapkin, Bruce D

2004-01-01

The increasing evidence for response shift phenomena in quality of life (QOL) assessment points to the necessity to reconsider both the measurement model and the application of psychometric analyses. The proposed psychometric model posits that the QOL true score is always contingent upon parameters of the appraisal process. This new model calls into question existing methods for establishing the reliability and validity of QOL assessment tools and suggests several new approaches for describing the psychometric properties of these scales. Recommendations for integrating the assessment of appraisal into QOL research and clinical practice are discussed. PMID:15038830

Psychometric properties of the Greek TCI-R and its clinical correlates: schizotypy and the self-regulation of affective and cognitive functioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Giakoumaki, Stella G; Karagiannopoulou, Leda; Rózsa, Sándor; Zouraraki, Chrysoula; Karamaouna, Penny; Cloninger, C Robert

2016-01-01

Background. The revised Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) measures Cloninger's psychobiological model of personality. The average effects of individual temperament and character traits have been associated with schizotypy and with impaired regulation of affect and cognition. We extended prior research by testing predictions about the association of specific multidimensional configurations of temperament and character traits on schizotypy, affect balance, and self-perceived cognitive functioning. Method. A well-educated sample of native Greeks (N = 483), completed a new Greek translation of the TCI-R, as well as the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), the Positive/Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ). The factor structure of the TCI-R was examined with exploratory and confirmatory tests. Associations between reported measures were examined with correlational and regression analyses. Results. The TCI-R had good psychometric properties as expected from studies in other countries. As predicted, specific configurations of temperament and character were associated with schizotypy, negative affect balance, and cognitive lapses. The "Borderline/Explosive temperament" (high Novelty Seeking, high Harm Avoidance, low Reward Dependence), "Schizotypal/Disorganized character" (low Self-directedness, low Cooperativeness, high Self-transcendence), and "Low Ego Strength/Fragile" profile (high Harm Avoidance, low Persistence, low Self-Directedness) were each strongly associated with higher stereotypy, negative affect balance (low positive affect and high negative affect), and subjective cognitive lapses compared to their contrast groups. Discussion. Multidimensional TCI profiles are strongly related to individual differences in schizotypy and self-reported regulation of affect and cognition. The Greek translation of the TCI-R is psychometrically sound and useful for clinical assessment and research.

A Developmental Examination of the Psychometric Properties and Predictive Utility of a Revised Psychological Self-Concept Measure for Preschool-Aged Children

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Rongfang; Lang, Sarah N.; Schoppe-Sullivan, Sarah J.

2015-01-01

Accurate assessment of psychological self-concept in early childhood relies on the development of psychometrically sound instruments. From a developmental perspective, the current study revised an existing measure of young children's psychological self-concepts, the Child Self-View Questionnaire (CSVQ, Eder, 1990), and examined its psychometric properties using a sample of preschool-aged children assessed at approximately 4 years old with a follow-up at age 5 (N = 111). The item compositions of lower-order dimensions were revised, leading to improved internal consistency. Factor Analysis revealed three latent psychological self-concept factors (i.e., Sociability, Control, and Assurance) from the lower-order dimensions. Measurement invariance by gender was supported for Sociability and Assurance, not for Control. Test-retest reliability was supported by stability of the psychological self-concept measurement model during the preschool years, although some evidence of increasing differentiation was obtained. Validity of children's scores on the three latent psychological self-concept factors was tested by investigating their concurrent associations with teacher-reported behavioral adjustment on the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale – Short Form (SCBE-SF, LaFreniere & Dumas, 1996). Children who perceived themselves as higher in Sociability at 5 years old displayed less internalizing behavior and more social competence; boys who perceived themselves as higher in Control at age 4 exhibited lower externalizing behavior; children higher in Assurance had greater social competence at age 4, but displayed more externalizing behavior at age 5. Implications relevant to the utility of the revised psychological self-concept measure are discussed. PMID:26098231

A developmental examination of the psychometric properties and predictive utility of a revised psychological self-concept measure for preschool-age children.

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Rongfang; Lang, Sarah N; Schoppe-Sullivan, Sarah J

2016-02-01

Accurate assessment of psychological self-concept in early childhood relies on the development of psychometrically sound instruments. From a developmental perspective, the current study revised an existing measure of young children's psychological self-concepts, the Child Self-View Questionnaire (CSVQ; Eder, 1990), and examined its psychometric properties using a sample of preschool-age children assessed at approximately 4 years old with a follow-up at age 5 (N = 111). The item compositions of lower order dimensions were revised, leading to improved internal consistency. Factor analysis revealed 3 latent psychological self-concept factors (i.e., sociability, control, and assurance) from the lower order dimensions. Measurement invariance by gender was supported for sociability and assurance, not for control. Test-retest reliability was supported by stability of the psychological self-concept measurement model during the preschool years, although some evidence of increasing differentiation was obtained. Validity of children's scores on the 3 latent psychological self-concept factors was tested by investigating their concurrent associations with teacher-reported behavioral adjustment on the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale-Short Form (SCBE-SF; LaFreniere & Dumas, 1996). Children who perceived themselves as higher in sociability at 5 years old displayed less internalizing behavior and more social competence; boys who perceived themselves as higher in control at age 4 exhibited lower externalizing behavior; children higher in assurance had greater social competence at age 4, but displayed more externalizing behavior at age 5. Implications relevant to the utility of the revised psychological self-concept measure are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

33 CFR 334.410 - Albemarle Sound, Pamlico Sound, and adjacent waters, NC; danger zones for naval aircraft operations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Albemarle Sound, Pamlico Sound... AND RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.410 Albemarle Sound, Pamlico Sound, and adjacent waters, NC; danger zones for naval aircraft operations. (a) Target areas—(1) North Landing River (Currituck Sound...

Psychometric properties of the Turkish versions of the Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT) and the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10) in the prison setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Evren, Cuneyt; Ogel, Kultegin; Evren, Bilge; Bozkurt, Muge

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate psychometric properties of the Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT) and the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10) in prisoners with (n = 124) or without (n = 78) drug use disorder. Participants were evaluated with the DUDIT, the DAST-10, and the Addiction Profile Index-Short (API-S). The DUDIT and the DAST-10 were found to be psychometrically sound drug abuse screening measures with high convergent validity when compared with each other (r = 0.86), and API-S (r = 0.88 and r = 0.84, respectively), and to have a Cronbach's α of 0.93 and 0.87, respectively. In addition, a single component accounted for 58.28% of total variance for DUDIT, whereas this was 47.10% for DAST-10. The DUDIT had sensitivity and specificity scores of 0.95 and 0.79, respectively, when using the optimal cut-off score of 10, whereas these scores were 0.88 and 0.74 for the DAST-10 when using the optimal cut-off score of 4. Additionally, both the DUDIT and the DAST-10 showed good discriminant validity as they differentiated prisoners with drug use disorder from those without. Findings support the Turkish versions of both the DUDIT and the DAST-10 as reliable and valid drug abuse screening instruments that measure unidimensional constructs.

Simulation of Sound Waves Using the Lattice Boltzmann Method for Fluid Flow: Benchmark Cases for Outdoor Sound Propagation.

Science.gov (United States)

Salomons, Erik M; Lohman, Walter J A; Zhou, Han

2016-01-01

Propagation of sound waves in air can be considered as a special case of fluid dynamics. Consequently, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for fluid flow can be used for simulating sound propagation. In this article application of the LBM to sound propagation is illustrated for various cases: free-field propagation, propagation over porous and non-porous ground, propagation over a noise barrier, and propagation in an atmosphere with wind. LBM results are compared with solutions of the equations of acoustics. It is found that the LBM works well for sound waves, but dissipation of sound waves with the LBM is generally much larger than real dissipation of sound waves in air. To circumvent this problem it is proposed here to use the LBM for assessing the excess sound level, i.e. the difference between the sound level and the free-field sound level. The effect of dissipation on the excess sound level is much smaller than the effect on the sound level, so the LBM can be used to estimate the excess sound level for a non-dissipative atmosphere, which is a useful quantity in atmospheric acoustics. To reduce dissipation in an LBM simulation two approaches are considered: i) reduction of the kinematic viscosity and ii) reduction of the lattice spacing.

Genes, Culture and Conservatism - A Psychometric-Genetic Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schwabe, Inga; Jonker, Willem; van den Berg, Stéphanie Martine

2016-01-01

The Wilson−Patterson conservatism scale was psychometrically evaluated using homogeneity analysis and item response theory models. Results showed that this scale actually measures two different aspects in people: on the one hand people vary in their agreement with either conservative or liberal

Psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Aim: To determine the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) in Nairobi public secondary school children, Kenya. Method: Concurrent self-administration of the MASC and Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) to students in Nairobi public secondary schools. Results: The MASC ...

Genes, culture and conservatism : A psychometric-genetic approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schwabe, I.; Jonker, Wilfried; Van Den Berg, Stéphanie M.

2016-01-01

The Wilson-Patterson conservatism scale was psychometrically evaluated using homogeneity analysis and item response theory models. Results showed that this scale actually measures two different aspects in people: on the one hand people vary in their agreement with either conservative or liberal

Sounding out the logo shot

OpenAIRE

Nicolai Jørgensgaard Graakjær

2013-01-01

This article focuses on how sound in combination with visuals (i.e. ‘branding by’) may possibly affect the signifying potentials (i.e. ‘branding effect’) of products and corporate brands (i.e. ‘branding of’) during logo shots in television commercials (i.e. ‘branding through’). This particular focus adds both to the understanding of sound in television commercials and to the understanding of sound brands. The article firstly presents a typology of sounds. Secondly, this typology is applied...

Sound intensity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Crocker, Malcolm J.; Jacobsen, Finn

1998-01-01

This chapter is an overview, intended for readers with no special knowledge about this particular topic. The chapter deals with all aspects of sound intensity and its measurement from the fundamental theoretical background to practical applications of the measurement technique.......This chapter is an overview, intended for readers with no special knowledge about this particular topic. The chapter deals with all aspects of sound intensity and its measurement from the fundamental theoretical background to practical applications of the measurement technique....

Sound Intensity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Crocker, M.J.; Jacobsen, Finn

1997-01-01

This chapter is an overview, intended for readers with no special knowledge about this particular topic. The chapter deals with all aspects of sound intensity and its measurement from the fundamental theoretical background to practical applications of the measurement technique.......This chapter is an overview, intended for readers with no special knowledge about this particular topic. The chapter deals with all aspects of sound intensity and its measurement from the fundamental theoretical background to practical applications of the measurement technique....

SoleSound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zanotto, Damiano; Turchet, Luca; Boggs, Emily Marie

2014-01-01

This paper introduces the design of SoleSound, a wearable system designed to deliver ecological, audio-tactile, underfoot feedback. The device, which primarily targets clinical applications, uses an audio-tactile footstep synthesis engine informed by the readings of pressure and inertial sensors...... embedded in the footwear to integrate enhanced feedback modalities into the authors' previously developed instrumented footwear. The synthesis models currently implemented in the SoleSound simulate different ground surface interactions. Unlike similar devices, the system presented here is fully portable...

Sound engineering for diesel engines; Sound Engineering an Dieselmotoren

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Enderich, A.; Fischer, R. [MAHLE Filtersysteme GmbH, Stuttgart (Germany)

2006-07-01

The strong acceptance for vehicles powered by turbo-charged diesel engines encourages several manufacturers to think about sportive diesel concepts. The approach of suppressing unpleasant noise by the application of distinctive insulation steps is not adequate to satisfy sportive needs. The acoustics cannot follow the engine's performance. This report documents, that it is possible to give diesel-powered vehicles a sportive sound characteristic by using an advanced MAHLE motor-sound-system with a pressure-resistant membrane and an integrated load controlled flap. With this the specific acoustic disadvantages of the diesel engine, like the ''diesel knock'' or a rough engine running can be masked. However, by the application of a motor-sound-system you must not negate the original character of the diesel engine concept, but accentuate its strong torque characteristic in the middle engine speed range. (orig.)

Psychometric evaluation of the Social Interaction Phobia Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Reilly, Alison R; Carleton, R Nicholas; Weeks, Justin W

2012-01-01

The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of a novel measure of social anxiety symptoms, the Social Interaction Phobia Scale (SIPS), as a stand-alone item set, using an undergraduate sample (N=512). The 14-item SIPS has three subscales assessing Social Interaction Anxiety, Fear of Overt Evaluation, and Fear of Attracting Attention. Confirmatory factor analyses replicated the three-factor structure for the SIPS originally reported by Carleton et al. All SIPS scores demonstrated good internal consistency. The convergent validity of the SIPS was supported by strong and positive correlations between all SIPS scores and measures of social anxiety and fear of evaluation; the finding that the relationships between all SIPS scores and a social anxiety measure were stronger than relationships between all SIPS scores and measures of other constructs supported the discriminant validity of the SIPS. Results suggest that the SIPS possesses excellent psychometric properties.

Sonic mediations: body, sound, technology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Birdsall, C.; Enns, A.

2008-01-01

Sonic Mediations: Body, Sound, Technology is a collection of original essays that represents an invaluable contribution to the burgeoning field of sound studies. While sound is often posited as having a bridging function, as a passive in-between, this volume invites readers to rethink the concept of

System for actively reducing sound

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berkhoff, Arthur P.

2005-01-01

A system for actively reducing sound from a primary noise source, such as traffic noise, comprising: a loudspeaker connector for connecting to at least one loudspeaker for generating anti-sound for reducing said noisy sound; a microphone connector for connecting to at least a first microphone placed

Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Mental Vulnerability Questionnaire in Undergraduate Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Sequeira, Carlos Alberto da Cruz; Barbosa, Elsa Natalina Mendes; Nogueira, Maria José Carvalho; Sampaio, Francisco Miguel Correia

2017-10-01

Translate, adapt the language, and assess the psychometric properties of the Mental Vulnerability Questionnaire (MVQ) in a Portuguese population sample of young adults. A psychometric validation study was performed. The sample comprised 166 undergraduate students. Factor analysis was applied to extract three indicators. The MVQ showed divergent validity with the Positive Mental Health Questionnaire (p Mental Health Inventory including five items (p mental vulnerability. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Psychometric properties of Sternberg love scale | Askarpour ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Introduction: The aim of study was to evaluate the psychometric indices Sternberg love scale on married men and women in Iranian society. Methods: The study type is correlation (factor analysis). In this research factor analysis was used that is an exploratory and confirmatory technique to study the structure of a set of data, ...

Psychometric Consequences of Subpopulation Item Parameter Drift

Science.gov (United States)

Huggins-Manley, Anne Corinne

2017-01-01

This study defines subpopulation item parameter drift (SIPD) as a change in item parameters over time that is dependent on subpopulations of examinees, and hypothesizes that the presence of SIPD in anchor items is associated with bias and/or lack of invariance in three psychometric outcomes. Results show that SIPD in anchor items is associated…

Decay of Iconic Memory Traces Is Related to Psychometric Intelligence: A Fixed-Links Modeling Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Robert; Rammsayer, Thomas H.; Schweizer, Karl; Troche, Stefan J.

2010-01-01

Several memory processes have been examined regarding their relation to psychometric intelligence with the exception of sensory memory. This study examined the relation between decay of iconic memory traces, measured with a partial-report task, and psychometric intelligence, assessed with the Berlin Intelligence Structure test, in 111…

Measuring the 'complexity'of sound

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Sounds in the natural environment form an important class of biologically relevant nonstationary signals. We propose a dynamic spectral measure to characterize the spectral dynamics of such non-stationary sound signals and classify them based on rate of change of spectral dynamics. We categorize sounds with slowly ...

Chinese Version of Psychometric Evaluation of Self-Reflection and Insight Scale on Taiwanese Nursing Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Shu-Yueh; Lai, Chen-Chun; Chang, Hui-Mei; Hsu, Hui-Chen; Pai, Hsiang-Chu

2016-12-01

Self-reflection (also known as reflection) is an internal process that is difficult to perceive or assess. An instrument that is able to measure self-reflection may serve as a resource for educators to assess the learning process of students and to tailor education approaches to student needs. The aim of this study was to translate the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale (SRIS) into Chinese and evaluate its psychometric properties for use with Taiwanese nursing students. For this cross-sectional study, nursing students were recruited from two nursing schools in southern Taiwan in two phases: Phase 1, which included 361 fourth-year students, and Phase 2, which included 703 fifth-year students. Data were collected in December 2012 and May 2013 using the Chinese version of the SRIS (SRIS-C), Taiwan Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory, and the Perceived Identity as a Nurse Questionnaire, which was developed by the author. In Phase 1, exploratory factor analysis was used to explore the factor structure of the SRIS-C in the fourth-year student participants. In Phase 2, confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine the fitness of the model for the fifth-year student participants. Eight items were deleted from the original SRIS to create the SRIS-C. Thus, the Chinese-version measure had 12 items and two factors (self-reflection and insight) that fit the data well. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the total scale and its two subscales were .79, .87, and .83, respectively. The 3-week test-retest reliability was .74. SRIS-C scores correlated significantly with scores on the Taiwan Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory and the Perceived Identity as a Nurse Questionnaire, indicating good convergent validity for the SRIS-C. The current study showed that the SRIS-C has sound psychometric properties. This instrument provides nurse educators with information that may be used to evaluate the self-reflection and insight of students and to develop interventions to

Controlling sound with acoustic metamaterials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cummer, Steven A. ; Christensen, Johan; Alù, Andrea

2016-01-01

Acoustic metamaterials can manipulate and control sound waves in ways that are not possible in conventional materials. Metamaterials with zero, or even negative, refractive index for sound offer new possibilities for acoustic imaging and for the control of sound at subwavelength scales....... The combination of transformation acoustics theory and highly anisotropic acoustic metamaterials enables precise control over the deformation of sound fields, which can be used, for example, to hide or cloak objects from incident acoustic energy. Active acoustic metamaterials use external control to create......-scale metamaterial structures and converting laboratory experiments into useful devices. In this Review, we outline the designs and properties of materials with unusual acoustic parameters (for example, negative refractive index), discuss examples of extreme manipulation of sound and, finally, provide an overview...

Improving the psychometric properties of the Mooney problem ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study aims to examine the psychometric characteristics of Mooney Problem Checklist (MPCL) items using the Rasch measurement model framework in the context of polytechnics. The MPCL with eleven dimensions was administered to 252 respondents who were selected from seven polytechnic institutions in Malaysia ...

Measurement properties of the CLOX Executive Clock Drawing Task in an inpatient stroke rehabilitation setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuverza-Chavarria, Virginia; Tsanadis, John

2011-05-01

The goal of this study was to explore the psychometric properties of the CLOX Executive Clock Drawing Task (Royall, Cordes, & Polk, 1998) in persons who had sustained a stroke and were receiving inpatient rehabilitation. Rasch modeling was utilized to examine the psychometric properties of the CLOX. Separate analyses were conducted for the free draw (CLOX 1) and copy (CLOX 2) portions of the measure to investigate each presentation mode independently. The sample consisted of 66 inpatient adults who had sustained a stroke. CLOX 1 met most Rasch model expectations for item fit, unidimensionality, test reliability, and sample targeting. CLOX 2 was less psychometrically sound and contained two items with significant misfit. CLOX 2 demonstrated a significant ceiling effect that resulted in poor sample targeting. CLOX 1 is a psychometrically sound screening instrument for assessing persons with stroke receiving inpatient rehabilitation. In addition to the psychometric weaknesses of CLOX 2, its interpretive yield is minimal and clinicians may consider omitting it. Recommendations are made for using the Rasch item-person maps in clinical practice.

Psychometric Properties of “Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences”: Review and Meta-analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Mark, Winifred; Toulopoulou, Timothea

2016-01-01

The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) has been used extensively as a measurement for psychosis proneness in clinical and research settings. However, no prior review and meta-analysis have comprehensively examined psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of CAPE scores across different studies. To study CAPE’s internal reliability—ie, how well scale items correlate with one another—111 studies were reviewed. Of these, 18 reported unique internal reliability coefficients using data at hand, which were aggregated in a meta-analysis. Furthermore, to confirm the number and nature of factors tapped by CAPE, 17 factor analytic studies were reviewed and subjected to meta-analysis in cases of discrepancy. Results suggested that CAPE scores were psychometrically reliable—ie, scores obtained could be attributed to true score variance. Our review of factor analytic studies supported a 3-factor model for CAPE consisting of “Positive”, “Negative”, and “Depressive” subscales; and a tripartite structure for the Negative dimension consisting of “Social withdrawal”, “Affective flattening”, and “Avolition” subdimensions. Meta-analysis of factor analytic studies of the Positive dimension revealed a tridimensional structure consisting of “Bizarre experiences”, “Delusional ideations”, and “Perceptual anomalies”. Information on reliability and validity of CAPE scores is important for ensuring accurate measurement of the psychosis proneness phenotype, which in turn facilitates early detection and intervention for psychotic disorders. Apart from enhancing the understanding of psychometric properties of CAPE scores, our review revealed questionable reporting practices possibly reflecting insufficient understanding regarding the significance of psychometric properties. We recommend increased focus on psychometrics in psychology programmes and clinical journals. PMID:26150674

Sound intensity as a function of sound insulation partition

OpenAIRE

Cvetkovic , S.; Prascevic , R.

1994-01-01

In the modern engineering practice, the sound insulation of the partitions is the synthesis of the theory and of the experience acquired in the procedure of the field and of the laboratory measurement. The science and research public treat the sound insulation in the context of the emission and propagation of the acoustic energy in the media with the different acoustics impedance. In this paper, starting from the essence of physical concept of the intensity as the energy vector, the authors g...

Cross-cultural psychometric assessment of the VAGUS insight into psychosis scale - Spanish version.

Science.gov (United States)

de León, Patricia Ponce; Gerretsen, Philip; Shah, Parita; Saracco-Alvarez, Ricardo; Graff-Guerrero, Ariel; Fresán, Ana

2018-01-01

Impaired insight into illness, a core feature of schizophrenia with negative clinical implications, is a multidimensional phenomenon existing on a continuum. However, the degree to which illness perception in distinct cultures influences the appraisal of insight into illness in schizophrenia remains unclear. As such, we aimed to determine if the psychometric properties of the VAGUS insight into psychosis scale (www.vagusonline.com), which was originally assessed in English speaking Canadians, were similar in a sample of Latino Mexican Spanish speaking patients with schizophrenia. To accomplish this, the VAGUS - Self-Report (SR) version was translated from English to Spanish and psychometrically evaluated in 95 participants. The Spanish version of the VAGUS-SR was internally consistent (ᾳ = 0.713), and demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity with the subscales of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Factor analysis identified two components of insight, congruent with two of the components of the English version of the VAGUS-SR. In conclusion, the VAGUS-SR is a brief, novel, and valid measure of insight into illness in schizophrenia, which demonstrated similar psychometric properties in two culturally and linguistically distinct samples with schizophrenia. Future studies should assess whether the VAGUS demonstrates similar psychometric properties in non-Western cultures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Heart Sound Localization and Reduction in Tracheal Sounds by Gabor Time-Frequency Masking

OpenAIRE

SAATCI, Esra; Akan, Aydın

2018-01-01

Background and aim: Respiratorysounds, i.e. tracheal and lung sounds, have been of great interest due to theirdiagnostic values as well as the potential of their use in the estimation ofthe respiratory dynamics (mainly airflow). Thus the aim of the study is topresent a new method to filter the heart sound interference from the trachealsounds. Materials and methods: Trachealsounds and airflow signals were collected by using an accelerometer from 10 healthysubjects. Tracheal sounds were then pr...

Interactive physically-based sound simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Raghuvanshi, Nikunj

The realization of interactive, immersive virtual worlds requires the ability to present a realistic audio experience that convincingly compliments their visual rendering. Physical simulation is a natural way to achieve such realism, enabling deeply immersive virtual worlds. However, physically-based sound simulation is very computationally expensive owing to the high-frequency, transient oscillations underlying audible sounds. The increasing computational power of desktop computers has served to reduce the gap between required and available computation, and it has become possible to bridge this gap further by using a combination of algorithmic improvements that exploit the physical, as well as perceptual properties of audible sounds. My thesis is a step in this direction. My dissertation concentrates on developing real-time techniques for both sub-problems of sound simulation: synthesis and propagation. Sound synthesis is concerned with generating the sounds produced by objects due to elastic surface vibrations upon interaction with the environment, such as collisions. I present novel techniques that exploit human auditory perception to simulate scenes with hundreds of sounding objects undergoing impact and rolling in real time. Sound propagation is the complementary problem of modeling the high-order scattering and diffraction of sound in an environment as it travels from source to listener. I discuss my work on a novel numerical acoustic simulator (ARD) that is hundred times faster and consumes ten times less memory than a high-accuracy finite-difference technique, allowing acoustic simulations on previously-intractable spaces, such as a cathedral, on a desktop computer. Lastly, I present my work on interactive sound propagation that leverages my ARD simulator to render the acoustics of arbitrary static scenes for multiple moving sources and listener in real time, while accounting for scene-dependent effects such as low-pass filtering and smooth attenuation

27 CFR 9.151 - Puget Sound.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Puget Sound. 9.151 Section... Sound. (a) Name. The name of the viticultural area described in this section is “Puget Sound.” (b) Approved maps. The appropriate maps for determining the boundary of the Puget Sound viticultural area are...

How Pleasant Sounds Promote and Annoying Sounds Impede Health : A Cognitive Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Andringa, Tjeerd C.; Lanser, J. Jolie L.

2013-01-01

This theoretical paper addresses the cognitive functions via which quiet and in general pleasurable sounds promote and annoying sounds impede health. The article comprises a literature analysis and an interpretation of how the bidirectional influence of appraising the environment and the feelings of

Of Sound Mind: Mental Distress and Sound in Twentieth-Century Media Culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Birdsall, C.; Siewert, S.

2013-01-01

This article seeks to specify the representation of mental disturbance in sound media during the twentieth century. It engages perspectives on societal and technological change across the twentieth century as crucial for aesthetic strategies developed in radio and sound film production. The analysis

Sounds scary? Lack of habituation following the presentation of novel sounds.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tine A Biedenweg

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Animals typically show less habituation to biologically meaningful sounds than to novel signals. We might therefore expect that acoustic deterrents should be based on natural sounds. METHODOLOGY: We investigated responses by western grey kangaroos (Macropus fulignosus towards playback of natural sounds (alarm foot stomps and Australian raven (Corvus coronoides calls and artificial sounds (faux snake hiss and bull whip crack. We then increased rate of presentation to examine whether animals would habituate. Finally, we varied frequency of playback to investigate optimal rates of delivery. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Nine behaviors clustered into five Principal Components. PC factors 1 and 2 (animals alert or looking, or hopping and moving out of area accounted for 36% of variance. PC factor 3 (eating cessation, taking flight, movement out of area accounted for 13% of variance. Factors 4 and 5 (relaxing, grooming and walking; 12 and 11% of variation, respectively discontinued upon playback. The whip crack was most evocative; eating was reduced from 75% of time spent prior to playback to 6% following playback (post alarm stomp: 32%, raven call: 49%, hiss: 75%. Additionally, 24% of individuals took flight and moved out of area (50 m radius in response to the whip crack (foot stomp: 0%, raven call: 8% and 4%, hiss: 6%. Increasing rate of presentation (12x/min ×2 min caused 71% of animals to move out of the area. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The bull whip crack, an artificial sound, was as effective as the alarm stomp at eliciting aversive behaviors. Kangaroos did not fully habituate despite hearing the signal up to 20x/min. Highest rates of playback did not elicit the greatest responses, suggesting that 'more is not always better'. Ultimately, by utilizing both artificial and biological sounds, predictability may be masked or offset, so that habituation is delayed and more effective deterrents may be produced.

Sound localization and occupational noise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro de Lemos Menezes

2014-02-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of occupational noise on sound localization in different spatial planes and frequencies among normal hearing firefighters. METHOD: A total of 29 adults with pure-tone hearing thresholds below 25 dB took part in the study. The participants were divided into a group of 19 firefighters exposed to occupational noise and a control group of 10 adults who were not exposed to such noise. All subjects were assigned a sound localization task involving 117 stimuli from 13 sound sources that were spatially distributed in horizontal, vertical, midsagittal and transverse planes. The three stimuli, which were square waves with fundamental frequencies of 500, 2,000 and 4,000 Hz, were presented at a sound level of 70 dB and were randomly repeated three times from each sound source. The angle between the speaker's axis in the same plane was 45°, and the distance to the subject was 1 m. RESULT: The results demonstrate that the sound localization ability of the firefighters was significantly lower (p<0.01 than that of the control group. CONCLUSION: Exposure to occupational noise, even when not resulting in hearing loss, may lead to a diminished ability to locate a sound source.

Multilevel Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Teacher My Class Inventory-Short Form

Science.gov (United States)

Villares, Elizabeth; Mariani, Melissa; Sink, Christopher A.; Colvin, Kimberly

2016-01-01

Researchers analyzed data from elementary teachers (N = 233) to further establish the psychometric soundness of the Teacher My Class Inventory-Short Form. Supporting previous psychometric research, confirmatory factor analyses findings supported the factorial validity of the hypothesized five-factor solution. Internal reliability estimates were…

Addressing Measurement Issues Related to Bullying Involvement

Science.gov (United States)

Casper, Deborah M.; Meter, Diana J.; Card, Noel A.

2015-01-01

In this article, we address measurement issues related to select aspects of bullying involvement with the goal of moving psychometrically sound measurement practices toward applied bullying research. We first provide a nontechnical introduction to psychometric considerations in measuring bullying involvement, highlighting the importance of…

A Psychometric Review of Measures Assessing Discrimination Against Sexual Minorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Morrison, Todd G; Bishop, C J; Morrison, Melanie A; Parker-Taneo, Kandice

2016-08-01

Discrimination against sexual minorities is widespread and has deleterious consequences on victims' psychological and physical wellbeing. However, a review of the psychometric properties of instruments measuring lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) discrimination has not been conducted. The results of this review, which involved evaluating 162 articles, reveal that most have suboptimal psychometric properties. Specifically, myriad scales possess questionable content validity as (1) items are not created in collaboration with sexual minorities; (2) measures possess a small number of items and, thus, may not sufficiently represent the domain of interest; and (3) scales are "adapted" from measures designed to examine race- and gender-based discrimination. Additional limitations include (1) summed scores are computed, often in the absence of scale score reliability metrics; (2) summed scores operate from the questionable assumption that diverse forms of discrimination are necessarily interrelated; (3) the dimensionality of instruments presumed to consist of subscales is seldom tested; (4) tests of criterion-related validity are routinely omitted; and (5) formal tests of measures' construct validity are seldom provided, necessitating that one infer validity based on the results obtained. The absence of "gold standard" measures, the attendant difficulty in formulating a coherent picture of this body of research, and suggestions for psychometric improvements are noted.

Psychometric validation of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (SCL-90) subscales for depression, anxiety, and interpersonal sensitivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech, P; Bille, J; Møller, S B

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: The psychometric validity of many subscales of the 90-item Hopkins Symptom Checklist (SCL-90) remains largely unknown. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the "Hamilton-subscales" for depression (SCL-D16), anxiety (SCL-A14), their 6......-item core-measures (SCL-D6 and SCL-A6), the anxiety symptom scale (SCL-ASS8) and the interpersonal sensitivity scale (IPS5). METHODS: The psychometric properties of the SCL-D16, SCL-A14, SCL-D6, SCL-A6, SCL-ASS8, and the IPS5 were evaluated based on SCL-90 ratings from 850 day patients from a Danish...... SCL-90 subscales were identified. Using these scales it is possible to perform a psychometrically valid evaluation of psychiatric patients regarding the severity of depression (HAM-D6), specific anxiety (SCL-ASS8) and interpersonal sensitivity (IPS5)....

The effect of sound speed profile on shallow water shipping sound maps

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sertlek, H.Ö.; Binnerts, B.; Ainslie, M.A.

2016-01-01

Sound mapping over large areas can be computationally expensive because of the large number of sources and large source-receiver separations involved. In order to facilitate computation, a simplifying assumption sometimes made is to neglect the sound speed gradient in shallow water. The accuracy of

Normalization of the psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Aim: To construct normal values for the tests of the psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score (PHES) and evaluate the prevalence of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) among Turkish patients with liver cirrhosis. Materials and Methods: One hundred and eighty-five healthy subjects and sixty patients with liver ...

Evaluation of Psychometric Properties of the Malay Version ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Evaluation of Psychometric Properties of the Malay Version Perceived Stress Scale in Two Occupational Settings In Malaysia. ... Statistical analysis was carried out using statistical package for the social sciences version 16 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA) software. Results: Analysis yielded two factor structure of the Malay version ...

Developing and psychometric of an instrument for reproductive ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Due to the socio-cultural characteristics of Iranian adult men and lack of standardized questionnaires to assess their reproductive health associated with sexually transmitted diseases and HIV / AIDS, this study is done with the goal of development and psychometrics of a valid relevant instrument. Method: A ...

Sound wave transmission (image)

Science.gov (United States)

When sounds waves reach the ear, they are translated into nerve impulses. These impulses then travel to the brain where they are interpreted by the brain as sound. The hearing mechanisms within the inner ear, can ...

Sound & The Society

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schulze, Holger

2014-01-01

How are those sounds you hear right now socially constructed and evaluated, how are they architecturally conceptualized and how dependant on urban planning, industrial developments and political decisions are they really? How is your ability to hear intertwined with social interactions and their ...... and their professional design? And how is listening and sounding a deeply social activity – constructing our way of living together in cities as well as in apartment houses? A radio feature with Nina Backmann, Jochen Bonz, Stefan Krebs, Esther Schelander & Holger Schulze......How are those sounds you hear right now socially constructed and evaluated, how are they architecturally conceptualized and how dependant on urban planning, industrial developments and political decisions are they really? How is your ability to hear intertwined with social interactions...

Predicting outdoor sound

CERN Document Server

Attenborough, Keith; Horoshenkov, Kirill

2014-01-01

1. Introduction  2. The Propagation of Sound Near Ground Surfaces in a Homogeneous Medium  3. Predicting the Acoustical Properties of Outdoor Ground Surfaces  4. Measurements of the Acoustical Properties of Ground Surfaces and Comparisons with Models  5. Predicting Effects of Source Characteristics on Outdoor Sound  6. Predictions, Approximations and Empirical Results for Ground Effect Excluding Meteorological Effects  7. Influence of Source Motion on Ground Effect and Diffraction  8. Predicting Effects of Mixed Impedance Ground  9. Predicting the Performance of Outdoor Noise Barriers  10. Predicting Effects of Vegetation, Trees and Turbulence  11. Analytical Approximations including Ground Effect, Refraction and Turbulence  12. Prediction Schemes  13. Predicting Sound in an Urban Environment.

A psychometric evaluation of the PedsQL™ Family Impact Module in parents of children with sickle cell disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hoffmann Raymond G

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Caring for a child with a chronic condition, such as sickle cell disease, can have a significant impact on parents and families. In order to provide comprehensive care and support to these families, psychometrically sound instruments are needed as an initial step in measuring the impact of chronic diseases on parents and families. We sought to evaluate the psychometric properties of the PedsQL™ Family Impact Module in populations of children with and without sickle cell disease. In addition, we sought to determine the correlation between parent's well being and their proxy report of their child's health-related quality of life (HRQL. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of parents of children with and without sickle cell disease who presented to an urban hospital-based sickle cell disease clinic and an urban primary care clinic. We assessed the HRQL and family functioning of both groups of parents utilizing the PedsQL™ Family Impact Module. The reliability, validity and factor structure of the instrument were determined and scores from the instrument were correlated with scores from parent-proxy report of their child's HRQL using the PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales. Results Parents of 170 children completed the module (97 parents of children with sickle cell disease and 73 parents of children without sickle cell disease. The Family Impact Module had high ceiling effects but was reliable (Cronbach's alpha > 0.80 in all scales. The empirical factor structure was generally consistent with the theoretical factor structure and supported construct validity. The Family Impact Module discriminated between parents of children with severe sickle cell disease from parents of children with mild disease or no disease in the areas of communication and worry. There were no significant differences across any of the subscales between parents of children with mild sickle cell disease and those with no disease. Parents with higher

Sounds of Web Advertising

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jessen, Iben Bredahl; Graakjær, Nicolai Jørgensgaard

2010-01-01

Sound seems to be a neglected issue in the study of web ads. Web advertising is predominantly regarded as visual phenomena–commercial messages, as for instance banner ads that we watch, read, and eventually click on–but only rarely as something that we listen to. The present chapter presents...... an overview of the auditory dimensions in web advertising: Which kinds of sounds do we hear in web ads? What are the conditions and functions of sound in web ads? Moreover, the chapter proposes a theoretical framework in order to analyse the communicative functions of sound in web advertising. The main...... argument is that an understanding of the auditory dimensions in web advertising must include a reflection on the hypertextual settings of the web ad as well as a perspective on how users engage with web content....

The Aesthetic Experience of Sound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Breinbjerg, Morten

2005-01-01

to react on. In an ecological understanding of hearing our detection of audible information affords us ways of responding to our environment. In my paper I will address both these ways of using sound in relation to computer games. Since a game player is responsible for the unfolding of the game, his......The use of sound in (3D) computer games basically falls in two. Sound is used as an element in the design of the set and as a narrative. As set design sound stages the nature of the environment, it brings it to life. As a narrative it brings us information that we can choose to or perhaps need...... exploration of the virtual space laid out before him is pertinent. In this mood of exploration sound is important and heavily contributing to the aesthetic of the experience....

Principles of underwater sound

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Urick, Robert J

1983-01-01

... the immediately useful help they need for sonar problem solving. Its coverage is broad-ranging from the basic concepts of sound in the sea to making performance predictions in such applications as depth sounding, fish finding, and submarine detection...

Sounding the field: recent works in sound studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Boon, Tim

2015-09-01

For sound studies, the publication of a 593-page handbook, not to mention the establishment of at least one society - the European Sound Studies Association - might seem to signify the emergence of a new academic discipline. Certainly, the books under consideration here, alongside many others, testify to an intensification of concern with the aural dimensions of culture. Some of this work comes from HPS and STS, some from musicology and cultural studies. But all of it should concern members of our disciplines, as it represents a long-overdue foregrounding of the aural in how we think about the intersections of science, technology and culture.

Sound Clocks and Sonic Relativity

Science.gov (United States)

Todd, Scott L.; Menicucci, Nicolas C.

2017-10-01

Sound propagation within certain non-relativistic condensed matter models obeys a relativistic wave equation despite such systems admitting entirely non-relativistic descriptions. A natural question that arises upon consideration of this is, "do devices exist that will experience the relativity in these systems?" We describe a thought experiment in which `acoustic observers' possess devices called sound clocks that can be connected to form chains. Careful investigation shows that appropriately constructed chains of stationary and moving sound clocks are perceived by observers on the other chain as undergoing the relativistic phenomena of length contraction and time dilation by the Lorentz factor, γ , with c the speed of sound. Sound clocks within moving chains actually tick less frequently than stationary ones and must be separated by a shorter distance than when stationary to satisfy simultaneity conditions. Stationary sound clocks appear to be length contracted and time dilated to moving observers due to their misunderstanding of their own state of motion with respect to the laboratory. Observers restricted to using sound clocks describe a universe kinematically consistent with the theory of special relativity, despite the preferred frame of their universe in the laboratory. Such devices show promise in further probing analogue relativity models, for example in investigating phenomena that require careful consideration of the proper time elapsed for observers.

Non-Wovens as Sound Reducers

Science.gov (United States)

Belakova, D.; Seile, A.; Kukle, S.; Plamus, T.

2018-04-01

Within the present study, the effect of hemp (40 wt%) and polyactide (60 wt%), non-woven surface density, thickness and number of fibre web layers on the sound absorption coefficient and the sound transmission loss in the frequency range from 50 to 5000 Hz is analysed. The sound insulation properties of the experimental samples have been determined, compared to the ones in practical use, and the possible use of material has been defined. Non-woven materials are ideally suited for use in acoustic insulation products because the arrangement of fibres produces a porous material structure, which leads to a greater interaction between sound waves and fibre structure. Of all the tested samples (A, B and D), the non-woven variant B exceeded the surface density of sample A by 1.22 times and 1.15 times that of sample D. By placing non-wovens one above the other in 2 layers, it is possible to increase the absorption coefficient of the material, which depending on the frequency corresponds to C, D, and E sound absorption classes. Sample A demonstrates the best sound absorption of all the three samples in the frequency range from 250 to 2000 Hz. In the test frequency range from 50 to 5000 Hz, the sound transmission loss varies from 0.76 (Sample D at 63 Hz) to 3.90 (Sample B at 5000 Hz).

An evaluation of the HM prison service "thinking skills programme" using psychometric assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Gobbett, Matthew J; Sellen, Joselyn L

2014-04-01

The most widely implemented offending behaviour programme in the United Kingdom was Enhanced Thinking Skills (ETS), a cognitive-behavioural group intervention that aimed to develop participant's general cognitive skills. A new offending behaviour programme has been developed to replace ETS: the Thinking Skills Programme (TSP). This study reports an evaluation of the effectiveness of TSP using psychometric assessments. Phasing of the two programmes created an opportunity to compare the two programmes consecutively. Forty participants, 20 from each programme, completed a range of psychometric measures to examine cognition, attitudes, and thinking styles. Analysis of pre- and post-programme psychometric results indicated that participants of TSP demonstrated improvements on 14 of the 15 scales, 9 of which were statistically significant. Effect sizes between pre-post results were generally greater for TSP than ETS, demonstrating that TSP had a more positive impact on the thinking styles and attitudes of participants than the ETS programme.

Sounds of Space

Science.gov (United States)

Gurnett, D. A.

2005-12-01

Starting in the early 1960s, spacecraft-borne plasma wave instruments revealed that space is filled with an astonishing variety of radio and plasma wave sounds, which have come to be called "sounds of space." For over forty years these sounds have been collected and played to a wide variety of audiences, often as the result of press conferences or press releases involving various NASA projects for which the University of Iowa has provided plasma wave instruments. This activity has led to many interviews on local and national radio programs, and occasionally on programs haviang world-wide coverage, such as the BBC. As a result of this media coverage, we have been approached many times by composers requesting copies of our space sounds for use in their various projects, many of which involve electronic synthesis of music. One of these collaborations led to "Sun Rings," which is a musical event produced by the Kronos Quartet that has played to large audiences all over the world. With the availability of modern computer graphic techniques we have recently been attempting to integrate some of these sound of space into an educational audio/video web site that illustrates the scientific principles involved in the origin of space plasma waves. Typically I try to emphasize that a substantial gas pressure exists everywhere in space in the form of an ionized gas called a plasma, and that this plasma can lead to a wide variety of wave phenomenon. Examples of some of this audio/video material will be presented.

A psychometric evaluation of the digital logic concept inventory

Science.gov (United States)

Herman, Geoffrey L.; Zilles, Craig; Loui, Michael C.

2014-10-01

Concept inventories hold tremendous promise for promoting the rigorous evaluation of teaching methods that might remedy common student misconceptions and promote deep learning. The measurements from concept inventories can be trusted only if the concept inventories are evaluated both by expert feedback and statistical scrutiny (psychometric evaluation). Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory provide two psychometric frameworks for evaluating the quality of assessment tools. We discuss how these theories can be applied to assessment tools generally and then apply them to the Digital Logic Concept Inventory (DLCI). We demonstrate that the DLCI is sufficiently reliable for research purposes when used in its entirety and as a post-course assessment of students' conceptual understanding of digital logic. The DLCI can also discriminate between students across a wide range of ability levels, providing the most information about weaker students' ability levels.

Motor assessment instruments and psychometric procedures: A systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pâmella de Medeiros

2017-03-01

Full Text Available It was our objective to identify the psychometric elements to an epistemological reflection through a systematic review of cross-cultural validation procedures of TGMD-2 batteries, MABC-2 and KTK. Searches were carried out by two evaluators independently without year and language restrictions in six databases: Web of Science, Science Direct, Lilacs, Scopus, Pubmed and The ScientificElectronic Library Online - SciELO. The key words used were: "MABC", "TGMD" and "KTK" all of them combined with the word "validity". There was a total of 734 articles, of which, after the exclusion criteria, remained only 11 studies. It was found that there are differences between the authors in relation to the psychometric factors taken into account in cross-cultural validation. So that there was a lack of unanimity of the validation criteria of all studies in this field.

A biologically inspired psychometric function for accuracy of visual identification as a function of exposure duration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Anders; Andersen, Tobias

, all of these having a temporal offset included, as well as the ex-Gaussian, and finally a new psychometric function, motivated from single-neuron studies by (Albrecht, Geisler, Frazor & Crane, 2002). The new psychometric function stands out by having a nonmonotonous hazard rate which is initially...

Sound Synthesis and Evaluation of Interactive Footsteps and Environmental Sounds Rendering for Virtual Reality Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordahl, Rolf; Turchet, Luca; Serafin, Stefania

2011-01-01

We propose a system that affords real-time sound synthesis of footsteps on different materials. The system is based on microphones, which detect real footstep sounds from subjects, from which the ground reaction force (GRF) is estimated. Such GRF is used to control a sound synthesis engine based ...... a soundscape significantly improves the recognition of the simulated environment....

Validity, Reliability, and the Questionable Role of Psychometrics in Plastic Surgery

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Summary: This report examines the meaning of validity and reliability and the role of psychometrics in plastic surgery. Study titles increasingly include the word “valid” to support the authors’ claims. Studies by other investigators may be labeled “not validated.” Validity simply refers to the ability of a device to measure what it intends to measure. Validity is not an intrinsic test property. It is a relative term most credibly assigned by the independent user. Similarly, the word “reliable” is subject to interpretation. In psychometrics, its meaning is synonymous with “reproducible.” The definitions of valid and reliable are analogous to accuracy and precision. Reliability (both the reliability of the data and the consistency of measurements) is a prerequisite for validity. Outcome measures in plastic surgery are intended to be surveys, not tests. The role of psychometric modeling in plastic surgery is unclear, and this discipline introduces difficult jargon that can discourage investigators. Standard statistical tests suffice. The unambiguous term “reproducible” is preferred when discussing data consistency. Study design and methodology are essential considerations when assessing a study’s validity. PMID:25289354

Validity, Reliability, and the Questionable Role of Psychometrics in Plastic Surgery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Swanson, MD

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Summary: This report examines the meaning of validity and reliability and the role of psychometrics in plastic surgery. Study titles increasingly include the word “valid” to support the authors’ claims. Studies by other investigators may be labeled “not validated.” Validity simply refers to the ability of a device to measure what it intends to measure. Validity is not an intrinsic test property. It is a relative term most credibly assigned by the independent user. Similarly, the word “reliable” is subject to interpretation. In psychometrics, its meaning is synonymous with “reproducible.” The definitions of valid and reliable are analogous to accuracy and precision. Reliability (both the reliability of the data and the consistency of measurements is a prerequisite for validity. Outcome measures in plastic surgery are intended to be surveys, not tests. The role of psychometric modeling in plastic surgery is unclear, and this discipline introduces difficult jargon that can discourage investigators. Standard statistical tests suffice. The unambiguous term “reproducible” is preferred when discussing data consistency. Study design and methodology are essential considerations when assessing a study’s validity.

Assessment of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (with emphasis on computerized psychometric tests).

Science.gov (United States)

Kappus, Matthew R; Bajaj, Jasmohan S

2012-02-01

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is associated with a high risk of development of overt hepatic encephalopathy, impaired quality of life, and driving accidents. The detection of MHE requires specialized testing because it cannot, by definition, be diagnosed on standard clinical examination. Psychometric and neurophysiologic techniques are often used to test for MHE. Paper-pencil psychometric batteries and computerized tests have proved useful in diagnosing MHE and predicting its outcomes. Neurophysiologic tests also provide useful information. The diagnosis of MHE is an important issue for clinicians and patients alike. Testing strategies depend on the normative data available, patient comfort, and local expertise. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using therapeutic sound with progressive audiologic tinnitus management.

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, James A; Zaugg, Tara L; Myers, Paula J; Schechter, Martin A

2008-09-01

Management of tinnitus generally involves educational counseling, stress reduction, and/or the use of therapeutic sound. This article focuses on therapeutic sound, which can involve three objectives: (a) producing a sense of relief from tinnitus-associated stress (using soothing sound); (b) passively diverting attention away from tinnitus by reducing contrast between tinnitus and the acoustic environment (using background sound); and (c) actively diverting attention away from tinnitus (using interesting sound). Each of these goals can be accomplished using three different types of sound-broadly categorized as environmental sound, music, and speech-resulting in nine combinations of uses of sound and types of sound to manage tinnitus. The authors explain the uses and types of sound, how they can be combined, and how the different combinations are used with Progressive Audiologic Tinnitus Management. They also describe how sound is used with other sound-based methods of tinnitus management (Tinnitus Masking, Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, and Neuromonics).

Letter-Sound Knowledge: Exploring Gender Differences in Children When They Start School Regarding Knowledge of Large Letters, Small Letters, Sound Large Letters, and Sound Small Letters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hermundur Sigmundsson

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study explored whether there is a gender difference in letter-sound knowledge when children start at school. 485 children aged 5–6 years completed assessment of letter-sound knowledge, i.e., large letters; sound of large letters; small letters; sound of small letters. The findings indicate a significant difference between girls and boys in all four factors tested in this study in favor of the girls. There are still no clear explanations to the basis of a presumed gender difference in letter-sound knowledge. That the findings have origin in neuro-biological factors cannot be excluded, however, the fact that girls probably have been exposed to more language experience/stimulation compared to boys, lends support to explanations derived from environmental aspects.

By the sound of it. An ERP investigation of human action sound processing in 7-month-old infants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Geangu

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Recent evidence suggests that human adults perceive human action sounds as a distinct category from human vocalizations, environmental, and mechanical sounds, activating different neural networks (Engel et al., 2009; Lewis et al., 2011. Yet, little is known about the development of such specialization. Using event-related potentials (ERP, this study investigated neural correlates of 7-month-olds’ processing of human action (HA sounds in comparison to human vocalizations (HV, environmental (ENV, and mechanical (MEC sounds. Relative to the other categories, HA sounds led to increased positive amplitudes between 470 and 570 ms post-stimulus onset at left anterior temporal locations, while HV led to increased negative amplitudes at the more posterior temporal locations in both hemispheres. Collectively, human produced sounds (HA + HV led to significantly different response profiles compared to non-living sound sources (ENV + MEC at parietal and frontal locations in both hemispheres. Overall, by 7 months of age human action sounds are being differentially processed in the brain, consistent with a dichotomy for processing living versus non-living things. This provides novel evidence regarding the typical categorical processing of socially relevant sounds.

Sound as Popular Culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The wide-ranging texts in this book take as their premise the idea that sound is a subject through which popular culture can be analyzed in an innovative way. From an infant’s gurgles over a baby monitor to the roar of the crowd in a stadium to the sub-bass frequencies produced by sound systems...... in the disco era, sound—not necessarily aestheticized as music—is inextricably part of the many domains of popular culture. Expanding the view taken by many scholars of cultural studies, the contributors consider cultural practices concerning sound not merely as semiotic or signifying processes but as material......, physical, perceptual, and sensory processes that integrate a multitude of cultural traditions and forms of knowledge. The chapters discuss conceptual issues as well as terminologies and research methods; analyze historical and contemporary case studies of listening in various sound cultures; and consider...

Fourth sound in relativistic superfluidity theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vil'chinskij, S.I.; Fomin, P.I.

1995-01-01

The Lorentz-covariant equations describing propagation of the fourth sound in the relativistic theory of superfluidity are derived. The expressions for the velocity of the fourth sound are obtained. The character of oscillation in sound is determined

The science of sound recording

CERN Document Server

Kadis, Jay

2012-01-01

The Science of Sound Recording will provide you with more than just an introduction to sound and recording, it will allow you to dive right into some of the technical areas that often appear overwhelming to anyone without an electrical engineering or physics background.  The Science of Sound Recording helps you build a basic foundation of scientific principles, explaining how recording really works. Packed with valuable must know information, illustrations and examples of 'worked through' equations this book introduces the theory behind sound recording practices in a logical and prac

Nuclear sound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wambach, J.

1991-01-01

Nuclei, like more familiar mechanical systems, undergo simple vibrational motion. Among these vibrations, sound modes are of particular interest since they reveal important information on the effective interactions among the constituents and, through extrapolation, on the bulk behaviour of nuclear and neutron matter. Sound wave propagation in nuclei shows strong quantum effects familiar from other quantum systems. Microscopic theory suggests that the restoring forces are caused by the complex structure of the many-Fermion wavefunction and, in some cases, have no classical analogue. The damping of the vibrational amplitude is strongly influenced by phase coherence among the particles participating in the motion. (author)

The Schizotypic Syndrome Questionnaire (SSQ): Psychometrics, validation and norms.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kampen, D.

2006-01-01

This paper examines the psychometric properties (reliability and factor structure) and validity (relationship with various self-report measures and SPEM dysfunction) of the SSQ or Schizotypic Syndrome Questionnaire, a 108-item inventory for the measurement of 12 prodromal or schizotypic symptoms

Psychometric Properties of a Protection Motivation Theory-based Questionnaire to Assess Self-Medication in a Sample of Elderly Iranians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasser Hatamzadeh

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The existence of standard tools is one of the basic needs of scientists of healthy behavior for predicting health-related behaviors. The aim of the present study was to design a psychometrically sound instrument to measure the protection motivation theory constructs regarding self-medication for elderly Iranians. Methods: The study was conducted in spring 2016. The sample consisted of 196 Iranians between the ages of 60 and 74. The study took place in Ahvaz, Iran.  The instrument included perceived susceptibility, severity, response costs, response efficacy, self-efficacy, rewards, and fear constructs. The qualitative component of the study, which consisted of interviews with experts and a systematic review of the literature, provided the data to write the items for the instrument, followed by determining the content validity. Principal components analysis with Oblique rotation was performed to extract correlated constructs. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO and Bartlett's tests were performed to examine the suitability of the data for factor analysis. Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha was used to estimate the internal consistency of the scales. Results: The KMO test statistic of 0.90 revealed the sampling adequacy for doing factor analysis and Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant (p < 0.001. Seven constructs were extracted based on Eigenvalues of ≥ 1.00 and factor loadings of ≥ 0.40. Cronbach’s α for the constructs, namely, perceived susceptibility, severity, response costs, response efficacy, self-efficacy, rewards and fear were 0.84, 0.86, 0.81, 0.82, 0.88, 0.89, and 0.85, respectively.  The seven constructs accounted for 69.41% of the variation. Conclusion: The developed scales for measuring the protection motivation theory constructs regarding self-medication have acceptable psychometric properties among elderly Iranians.

Assessing leadership decision-making styles: psychometric properties of the Leadership Judgement Indicator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faraci P

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Palmira Faraci,1 Michael Lock,2 Robert Wheeler2 1Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, University of Enna “Kore”, Enna, Italy; 2Formula 4 Leadership Limited, Nottingham, UK Abstract: This study aimed to validate the Italian version of the Leadership Judgement Indicator, an unconventional instrument devoted to measurement of leaders' judgments and preferred styles, ie, directive, consultative, consensual, or delegative, when dealing with a range of decision-making scenarios. After forward-translation and back-translation, its psychometric properties were estimated for 299 managers at various levels, who were asked to put themselves in the position of leader and to rate the appropriateness of certain ways of responding to challenge. Differences between several groups of managers, ranked in order of seniority, provided evidence for discriminant validity. Internal consistency was adequate. The findings show that the Italian adaptation of the Leadership Judgement Indicator has promising psychometric qualities, suggesting its suitability for use to improve outcomes in both organizational and selection settings. Keywords: Leadership Judgement Indicator, decision-making, situational test, scenarios, psychometric properties

Students' Learning of a Generalized Theory of Sound Transmission from a Teaching-Learning Sequence about Sound, Hearing and Health

Science.gov (United States)

West, Eva; Wallin, Anita

2013-04-01

Learning abstract concepts such as sound often involves an ontological shift because to conceptualize sound transmission as a process of motion demands abandoning sound transmission as a transfer of matter. Thus, for students to be able to grasp and use a generalized model of sound transmission poses great challenges for them. This study involved 199 students aged 10-14. Their views about sound transmission were investigated before and after teaching by comparing their written answers about sound transfer in different media. The teaching was built on a research-based teaching-learning sequence (TLS), which was developed within a framework of design research. The analysis involved interpreting students' underlying theories of sound transmission, including the different conceptual categories that were found in their answers. The results indicated a shift in students' understandings from the use of a theory of matter before the intervention to embracing a theory of process afterwards. The described pattern was found in all groups of students irrespective of age. Thus, teaching about sound and sound transmission is fruitful already at the ages of 10-11. However, the older the students, the more advanced is their understanding of the process of motion. In conclusion, the use of a TLS about sound, hearing and auditory health promotes students' conceptualization of sound transmission as a process in all grades. The results also imply some crucial points in teaching and learning about the scientific content of sound.

Digitizing a sound archive

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cone, Louise

2017-01-01

Danish and international artists. His methodology left us with a large collection of unique and inspirational time-based media sound artworks that have, until very recently, been inaccessible. Existing on an array of different media formats, such as open reel tapes, 8-track and 4 track cassettes, VHS......In 1990 an artist by the name of William Louis Sørensen was hired by the National Gallery of Denmark to collect important works of art – made from sound. His job was to acquire sound art, but also recordings that captured rare artistic occurrences, music, performances and happenings from both...

Psychometric properties of the Greek TCI-R and its clinical correlates: schizotypy and the self-regulation of affective and cognitive functioning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stella G. Giakoumaki

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background. The revised Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R measures Cloninger’s psychobiological model of personality. The average effects of individual temperament and character traits have been associated with schizotypy and with impaired regulation of affect and cognition. We extended prior research by testing predictions about the association of specific multidimensional configurations of temperament and character traits on schizotypy, affect balance, and self-perceived cognitive functioning. Method. A well-educated sample of native Greeks (N = 483, completed a new Greek translation of the TCI-R, as well as the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ, the Positive/Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ. The factor structure of the TCI-R was examined with exploratory and confirmatory tests. Associations between reported measures were examined with correlational and regression analyses. Results. The TCI-R had good psychometric properties as expected from studies in other countries. As predicted, specific configurations of temperament and character were associated with schizotypy, negative affect balance, and cognitive lapses. The “Borderline/Explosive temperament” (high Novelty Seeking, high Harm Avoidance, low Reward Dependence, “Schizotypal/Disorganized character” (low Self-directedness, low Cooperativeness, high Self-transcendence, and “Low Ego Strength/Fragile” profile (high Harm Avoidance, low Persistence, low Self-Directedness were each strongly associated with higher stereotypy, negative affect balance (low positive affect and high negative affect, and subjective cognitive lapses compared to their contrast groups. Discussion. Multidimensional TCI profiles are strongly related to individual differences in schizotypy and self-reported regulation of affect and cognition. The Greek translation of the TCI-R is psychometrically sound and useful for clinical assessment and

Parallel-plate third sound waveguides with fixed and variable plate spacings for the study of fifth sound in superfluid helium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jelatis, G.J.

1983-01-01

Third sound in superfluid helium four films has been investigated using two parallel-plate waveguides. These investigations led to the observation of fifth sound, a new mode of sound propagation. Both waveguides consisted of two parallel pieces of vitreous quartz. The sound speed was obtained by measuring the time-of-flight of pulsed third sound over a known distance. Investigations from 1.0-1.7K were possible with the use of superconducting bolometers, which measure the temperature component of the third sound wave. Observations were initially made with a waveguide having a plate separation fixed at five microns. Adiabatic third sound was measured in the geometry. Isothermal third sound was also observed, using the usual, single-substrate technique. Fifth sound speeds, calculated from the two-fluid theory of helium and the speeds of the two forms of third sound, agreed in size and temperature dependence with theoretical predictions. Nevertheless, only equivocal observations of fifth sound were made. As a result, the film-substrate interaction was examined, and estimates of the Kapitza conductance were made. Assuming the dominance of the effects of this conductance over those due to the ECEs led to a new expression for fifth sound. A reanalysis of the initial data was made, which contained no adjustable parameters. The observation of fifth sound was seen to be consistent with the existence of an anomalously low boundary conductance

Psychometric properties of the motor diagnostics in the German football talent identification and development programme.

Science.gov (United States)

HÖner, Oliver; Votteler, Andreas; Schmid, Markus; Schultz, Florian; Roth, Klaus

2015-01-01

The utilisation of motor performance tests for talent identification in youth sports is discussed intensively in talent research. This article examines the reliability, differential stability and validity of the motor diagnostics conducted nationwide by the German football talent identification and development programme and provides reference values for a standardised interpretation of the diagnostics results. Highly selected players (the top 4% of their age groups, U12-U15) took part in the diagnostics at 17 measurement points between spring 2004 and spring 2012 (N = 68,158). The heterogeneous test battery measured speed abilities and football-specific technical skills (sprint, agility, dribbling, ball control, shooting, juggling). For all measurement points, the overall score and the speed tests showed high internal consistency, high test-retest reliability and satisfying differential stability. The diagnostics demonstrated satisfying factorial-related validity with plausible and stable loadings on the two empirical factors "speed" and "technical skills". The score, and the technical skills dribbling and juggling, differentiated the most among players of different performance levels and thus showed the highest criterion-related validity. Satisfactory psychometric properties for the diagnostics are an important prerequisite for a scientifically sound rating of players' actual motor performance and for the future examination of the prognostic validity for success in adulthood.

Disruptive behavior scale for adolescents (DISBA): development and psychometric properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Karimy, Mahmood; Fakhri, Ahmad; Vali, Esmaeel; Vali, Farzaneh; Veiga, Feliciano H; Stein, L A R; Araban, Marzieh

2018-01-01

Growing evidence indicates that if disruptive behavior is left unidentified and untreated, a significant proportion of these problems will persist and may develop into problems linked with delinquency, substance abuse, and violence. Research is needed to develop valid and reliable measures of disruptive behavior to assist recognition and impact of treatments on disruptive behavior. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a scale for disruptive behavior in adolescents. Six hundred high school students (50% girls), ages ranged 15-18 years old, selected through multi stage random sampling. Psychometrics of the disruptive behavior scale for adolescents (DISBA) (Persian version) was assessed through content validity, explanatory factor analysis (EFA) using Varimax rotation and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The reliability of this scale was assessed via internal consistency and test-retest reliability. EFA revealed four factors accounting for 59% of observed variance. The final 29-item scale contained four factors: (1) aggressive school behavior, (2) classroom defiant behavior, (3) unimportance of school, and (4) defiance to school authorities. Furthermore, CFA produced a sufficient Goodness of Fit Index > 0.90. Test-retest and internal consistency reliabilities were acceptable at 0.85 and 0.89, respectively. The findings from this study suggest that the Iranian version of DISBA questionnaire has content validity. Further studies are needed to evaluate stronger psychometric properties for DISBA.

The Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory: Measurement Invariance and Psychometric Properties among Portuguese Youths

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Pechorro

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI among a mixed-gender sample of 782 Portuguese youth (M = 15.87 years; SD = 1.72, in a school context. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the expected three-factor first-order structure. Cross-gender measurement invariance and cross-sample measurement invariance using a forensic sample of institutionalized males were also confirmed. The Portuguese version of the YPI demonstrated generally adequate psychometric properties of internal consistency, mean inter-item correlation, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and criterion-related validity of statistically significant associations with conduct disorder symptoms, alcohol abuse, drug use, and unprotected sex. In terms of known-groups validity, males scored higher than females, and males from the school sample scored lower than institutionalized males. The use of the YPI among the Portuguese male and female youth population is psychometrically justified, and it can be a useful measure to identify adolescents with high levels of psychopathic traits.

Psychometric Properties of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 in Older Primary Care Patients

OpenAIRE

Gloster, Andrew T.; Rhoades, Howard M.; Novy, Diane; Klotsche, Jens; Senior, Ashley; Kunik, Mark; Wilson, Nancy; Stanley, Melinda A.

2008-01-01

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) was designed to efficiently measure the core symptoms of anxiety and depression and has demonstrated positive psychometric properties in adult samples of anxiety and depression patients and student samples. Despite these findings, the psychometric properties of the DASS remain untested in older adults, for whom the identification of efficient measures of these constructs is especially important.

Sound propagation in cities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Salomons, E.; Polinder, H.; Lohman, W.; Zhou, H.; Borst, H.

2009-01-01

A new engineering model for sound propagation in cities is presented. The model is based on numerical and experimental studies of sound propagation between street canyons. Multiple reflections in the source canyon and the receiver canyon are taken into account in an efficient way, while weak

Hamiltonian Algorithm Sound Synthesis

OpenAIRE

大矢, 健一

2013-01-01

Hamiltonian Algorithm (HA) is an algorithm for searching solutions is optimization problems. This paper introduces a sound synthesis technique using Hamiltonian Algorithm and shows a simple example. "Hamiltonian Algorithm Sound Synthesis" uses phase transition effect in HA. Because of this transition effect, totally new waveforms are produced.

Exploring Noise: Sound Pollution.

Science.gov (United States)

Rillo, Thomas J.

1979-01-01

Part one of a three-part series about noise pollution and its effects on humans. This section presents the background information for teachers who are preparing a unit on sound. The next issues will offer learning activities for measuring the effects of sound and some references. (SA)

Psychometric Assessment of Stereoscopic Head-Mounted Displays

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-29

Journal Article 3. DATES COVERED (From – To) Jan 2015 - Dec 2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE PSYCHOMETRIC ASSESSMENT OF STEREOSCOPIC HEAD- MOUNTED DISPLAYS...to render an immersive three-dimensional constructive environment. The purpose of this effort was to quantify the impact of aircrew vision on an...simulated tasks requiring precise depth discrimination. This work will provide an example validation method for future stereoscopic virtual immersive

Photoacoustic Sounds from Meteors.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spalding, Richard E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Tencer, John [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sweatt, William C. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Hogan, Roy E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Boslough, Mark B. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Spurny, Pavel [Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (ASCR), Prague (Czech Republic)

2015-03-01

High-speed photometric observations of meteor fireballs have shown that they often produce high-amplitude light oscillations with frequency components in the kHz range, and in some cases exhibit strong millisecond flares. We built a light source with similar characteristics and illuminated various materials in the laboratory, generating audible sounds. Models suggest that light oscillations and pulses can radiatively heat dielectric materials, which in turn conductively heats the surrounding air on millisecond timescales. The sound waves can be heard if the illuminated material is sufficiently close to the observer’s ears. The mechanism described herein may explain many reports of meteors that appear to be audible while they are concurrently visible in the sky and too far away for sound to have propagated to the observer. This photoacoustic (PA) explanation provides an alternative to electrophonic (EP) sounds hypothesized to arise from electromagnetic coupling of plasma oscillation in the meteor wake to natural antennas in the vicinity of an observer.

Urban Sound Interfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Breinbjerg, Morten

2012-01-01

This paper draws on the theories of Michel de Certeau and Gaston Bachelard to discuss how media architecture, in the form of urban sound interfaces, can help us perceive the complexity of the spaces we inhabit, by exploring the history and the narratives of the places in which we live. In this pa......This paper draws on the theories of Michel de Certeau and Gaston Bachelard to discuss how media architecture, in the form of urban sound interfaces, can help us perceive the complexity of the spaces we inhabit, by exploring the history and the narratives of the places in which we live....... In this paper, three sound works are discussed in relation to the iPod, which is considered as a more private way to explore urban environments, and as a way to control the individual perception of urban spaces....

Development and Initial Psychometrics of Counseling Supervisor's Behavior Questionnaire

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ahram; Park, Eun Hye; Byeon, Eunji; Lee, Sang Min

2016-01-01

This study describes the development and psychometric properties of the Counseling Supervisor's Behavior Questionnaire, designed to assess the specific behaviors of supervisors, which can be observed by supervisees during supervision sessions. Factor structure, construct and concurrent validity, and internal consistency reliability of the…

Psychometric properties of the postpartum depression screening scale beyond the postpartum period.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogeli, Jo M; Hooker, Stephanie A; Everhart, Kevin D; Kaplan, Peter S

2018-04-01

Accurate postpartum depression screening measures are needed to identify mothers with depressive symptoms both in the postpartum period and beyond. Because it had not been tested beyond the immediate postpartum period, the reliability and validity of the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS) and its sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value for diagnoses of major depressive disorder (MDD) were assessed in a diverse community sample of 238 mothers of 4- to 15-month-old infants. Mothers (N = 238; M age = 30.2, SD = 5.3) attended a lab session and completed the PDSS, the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and a structured clinical interview (SCID) to diagnose MDD. The reliability, validity, specificity, sensitivity, and predictive value of the PDSS to identify maternal depression were assessed. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the construct validity of five but not seven content subscales. The PDSS total and subscale scores demonstrated acceptable to high reliability (α = 0.68-0.95). Discriminant function analysis showed the scale correctly provided diagnostic classification at a rate higher than chance alone. Sensitivity and specificity for major depressive disorder (MDD) diagnosis were good and comparable to those of the BDI-II. Even in mothers who were somewhat more diverse and had older infants than those in the original normative study, the PDSS appears to be a psychometrically sound screener for identifying depressed mothers in the 15 months after childbirth. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Sound field separation with sound pressure and particle velocity measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fernandez Grande, Efren; Jacobsen, Finn; Leclère, Quentin

2012-01-01

separation techniques make it possible to distinguish between outgoing and incoming waves from the two sides, and thus NAH can be applied. In this paper, a separation method based on the measurement of the particle velocity in two layers and another method based on the measurement of the pressure...... and the velocity in a single layer are proposed. The two methods use an equivalent source formulation with separate transfer matrices for the outgoing and incoming waves, so that the sound from the two sides of the array can be modeled independently. A weighting scheme is proposed to account for the distance......In conventional near-field acoustic holography (NAH) it is not possible to distinguish between sound from the two sides of the array, thus, it is a requirement that all the sources are confined to only one side and radiate into a free field. When this requirement cannot be fulfilled, sound field...

Electromagnetic sounding of the Earth's interior

CERN Document Server

Spichak, Viacheslav V

2015-01-01

Electromagnetic Sounding of the Earth's Interior 2nd edition provides a comprehensive up-to-date collection of contributions, covering methodological, computational and practical aspects of Electromagnetic sounding of the Earth by different techniques at global, regional and local scales. Moreover, it contains new developments such as the concept of self-consistent tasks of geophysics and , 3-D interpretation of the TEM sounding which, so far, have not all been covered by one book. Electromagnetic Sounding of the Earth's Interior 2nd edition consists of three parts: I- EM sounding methods, II- Forward modelling and inversion techniques, and III - Data processing, analysis, modelling and interpretation. The new edition includes brand new chapters on Pulse and frequency electromagnetic sounding for hydrocarbon offshore exploration. Additionally all other chapters have been extensively updated to include new developments. Presents recently developed methodological findings of the earth's study, including seism...

21 CFR 876.4590 - Interlocking urethral sound.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Interlocking urethral sound. 876.4590 Section 876...) MEDICAL DEVICES GASTROENTEROLOGY-UROLOGY DEVICES Surgical Devices § 876.4590 Interlocking urethral sound. (a) Identification. An interlocking urethral sound is a device that consists of two metal sounds...

Manifesto: towards a clinically-oriented psychometrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Vickers, Andrew J; Chen, Ling Y

2017-04-26

New technologies to collect patient - reported outcomes have substantially solved the challenge of integrating a questionnaire in a busy clinical practice. At Memorial Sloan Kettering, we have been collecting patient reported outcomes electronically for many years. Our experience confirms the predicted benefits of obtaining patient reported outcomes but has also raised serious concerns about whether instruments developed for the research setting are appropriate for routine clinical use. We summarize four principles for a clinically - relevant psychometrics. First, minimize patient burden: the use of a large number of items for a single domain may be of interest for research but additional items have little clinical utility. Secondly, use simplified language: patients who do not have good language skills are typically excluded from research studies but will nonetheless present in clinical practice. Third, avoid dumb questions: many questionnaire items are inappropriate when applied to a more general population. Fourth, what works for the group may not work for the individual: group level statistics used to validate survey instruments can obscure problems when applied to a subgroup of patients. There is a need for a clinically-oriented psychometrics to help design, test, and evaluate questionnaires that would be used in routine practice. Developing statistical methods to optimize questionnaires will be highly challenging but needed to bring the potential of patient reported outcomes into widespread clinical use.

QuickEval: a web application for psychometric scaling experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Van Ngo, Khai; Storvik, Jehans J.; Dokkeberg, Christopher A.; Farup, Ivar; Pedersen, Marius

2015-01-01

QuickEval is a web application for carrying out psychometric scaling experiments. It offers the possibility of running controlled experiments in a laboratory, or large scale experiment over the web for people all over the world. It is a unique one of a kind web application, and it is a software needed in the image quality field. It is also, to the best of knowledge, the first software that supports the three most common scaling methods; paired comparison, rank order, and category judgement. It is also the first software to support rank order. Hopefully, a side effect of this newly created software is that it will lower the threshold to perform psychometric experiments, improve the quality of the experiments being carried out, make it easier to reproduce experiments, and increase research on image quality both in academia and industry. The web application is available at www.colourlab.no/quickeval.

Poetry Pages. Sound Effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Fina, Allan de

1992-01-01

Explains how elementary teachers can help students understand onomatopoeia, suggesting that they define onomatopoeia, share examples of it, read poems and have students discuss onomatopoeic words, act out common household sounds, write about sound effects, and create choral readings of onomatopoeic poems. Two appropriate poems are included. (SM)

Psychometrics of social cognitive measures for psychosis treatment research.

Science.gov (United States)

Davidson, Charlie A; Lesser, Rebecca; Parente, Lori T; Fiszdon, Joanna M

2018-03-01

Social cognition represents an important treatment target, closely linked to everyday social function. While a number of social cognitive interventions have recently been developed, measures used to evaluate these treatments are only beginning to receive psychometric scrutiny. Study goals were to replicate recently-published psychometrics for several social cognitive measures, and to provide information for additional social cognitive measures not included in recent reports. Forty-eight outpatients with psychotic-spectrum disorders completed measures of emotion perception, theory of mind, and attributional bias on two occasions, one month apart. Measures were tested for distributional characteristics, test-retest reliability, utility as a repeated measure, and relationship to symptoms and functioning. For a subgroup of participants, information about sensitivity to social cognitive treatment was also available. We replicated aspects of prior work, including largely favorable psychometric characteristics for the Bell-Lysaker Emotion Recognition Task, and promising but weaker characteristics for The Awareness of Social Inferences Test subscales and Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task. The Hinting Task had adequate test-retest statistics but a more pronounced ceiling effect. Ambiguous Intentions and Hostility Questionnaire data showed evidence of validity but were limited by inconsistency over time. Our results strongly support the Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale for future evaluation as a social cognitive treatment outcome measure. Its scores were adequately distributed, consistent over time, related to symptoms and functioning, and sensitive to treatment effects. Other relatively novel assessments of attributional bias and theory of mind showed some promise, although more work is needed. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A new psychometric questionnaire for reporting of somatosensory percepts

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, L. H.; McLeod, R. S.; Kiss, Z. H. T.

2018-02-01

Objective. There have been remarkable advances over the past decade in neural prostheses to restore lost motor function. However, restoration of somatosensory feedback, which is essential for fine motor control and user acceptance, has lagged behind. With an increasing interest in using electrical stimulation to restore somatosensory sensations within the peripheral (PNS) and central nervous systems (CNS), it is critical to characterize the percepts evoked by electrical stimulation in a standardized manner with a validated psychometric questionnaire. This will allow comparison of results from applications at various nervous system levels in multiple settings. Approach. We compiled a summary of published reports of somatosensory percepts that were elicited by electrical stimulation in humans and used these to develop a new psychometric questionnaire. Results. This new questionnaire was able to characterize subjective evoked sensations with good test-retest reliability (Spearman’s correlation coefficients ranging 0.716  ⩽  ρ  ⩽  1.000, p  ⩽  0.005) in 13 subjects receiving stimulation through neural implants in both the CNS and PNS. Furthermore, the new questionnaire captured more descriptors (M  =  2.65, SD  =  0.91) that would have been missed by being categorized as ‘other sensations’, using a previous questionnaire (M  =  1.40, SD  =  0.77, t(12)  =  -10.24, p  psychometric questionnaire will aid in establishing consistency and standardization of reporting in future studies of somatosensory neural prostheses.

Mobile sound: media art in hybrid spaces

OpenAIRE

Behrendt, Frauke

2010-01-01

The thesis explores the relationships between sound and mobility through an examination\\ud of sound art. The research engages with the intersection of sound, mobility and\\ud art through original empirical work and theoretically through a critical engagement with\\ud sound studies. In dialogue with the work of De Certeau, Lefebvre, Huhtamo and Habermas\\ud in terms of the poetics of walking, rhythms, media archeology and questions of\\ud publicness, I understand sound art as an experimental mobil...

Item-level psychometrics of the ADL instrument of the Korean National Survey on persons with physical disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Ickpyo; Lee, Mi Jung; Kim, Moon Young; Park, Hae Yean

2017-10-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the psychometrics of the 12 items of an instrument assessing activities of daily living (ADL) using an item response theory model. A total of 648 adults with physical disabilities and having difficulties in ADLs were retrieved from the 2014 Korean National Survey on People with Disabilities. The psychometric testing included factor analysis, internal consistency, precision, and differential item functioning (DIF) across categories including sex, older age, marital status, and physical impairment area. The sample had a mean age of 69.7 years old (SD = 13.7). The majority of the sample had lower extremity impairments (62.0%) and had at least 2.1 chronic conditions. The instrument demonstrated unidimensional construct and good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.95). The instrument precisely estimated person measures within a wide range of theta values (-2.22 logits  5.0%). Our findings indicate that the dressing item would need to be modified to improve its psychometrics. Overall, the ADL instrument demonstrates good psychometrics, and thus, it may be used as a standardized instrument for measuring disability in rehabilitation contexts. However, the findings are limited to adults with physical disabilities. Future studies should replicate psychometric testing for survey respondents with other disorders and for children.

Psychometric properties of a pictorial scale measuring correct condom use.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Qing; Li, Xiaoming; Stanton, Bonita; Wang, Bo

2011-02-01

This study was designed to assess the psychometric properties of a pictorial scale of correct condom use (PSCCU) using data from female sex workers (FSWs) in China. The psychometric properties assessed in this study include construct validity by correlations and known-group validation. The study sample included 396 FSWs in Guangxi, China. The results demonstrate adequate validity of the PSCCU among the study population. FSWs with a higher level of education scored significantly higher on the PSCCU than those with a lower level of education. FSWs who self-reported appropriate condom use with stable partners scored significantly higher on PSCCU than their counterparts. The PSCCU should provide HIV/STI prevention researchers and practitioners with a valid alternative assessment tool among high-risk populations, especially in resource-limited settings.

Development and psychometric validation of the verbal affective memory test

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Christian Gaden; Hjordt, Liv V; Stenbæk, Dea S

2015-01-01

. Furthermore, larger seasonal decreases in positive recall significantly predicted larger increases in depressive symptoms. Retest reliability was satisfactory, rs ≥ .77. In conclusion, VAMT-24 is more thoroughly developed and validated than existing verbal affective memory tests and showed satisfactory...... psychometric properties. VAMT-24 seems especially sensitive to measuring positive verbal recall bias, perhaps due to the application of common, non-taboo words. Based on the psychometric and clinical results, we recommend VAMT-24 for international translations and studies of affective memory.......We here present the development and validation of the Verbal Affective Memory Test-24 (VAMT-24). First, we ensured face validity by selecting 24 words reliably perceived as positive, negative or neutral, respectively, according to healthy Danish adults' valence ratings of 210 common and non...

Analysis of the Psychometric Properties of a Parental Alienation Scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paula Inez Cunha Gomide

Full Text Available Abstract The development of forensic evaluation scales is fundamental. This study's purpose was to explore the psychometric properties of a parental alienation scale. Forensic technicians completed 193 scales concerning parents involved in a lawsuit: 48 families with at least one parent indicated as the alienator (group A and 48 families with no parental alienation claim (group B. The scale consisted of five categories and 69 items: denying access to the child; derogatory comparisons; emotional manipulation; behavior of parent and child during assessment. The results show Cronbach's alpha = .965 and split-half = .745; KMO = .884 and Bartlett's sphericity test ( p < .001. Concurrent criterion validity applied to data showed that the scale is able to distinguish between the alienator and target parent. The results showed significant and consistent standards in the instrument's psychometric characteristics.

Sound source measurement by using a passive sound insulation and a statistical approach

Science.gov (United States)

Dragonetti, Raffaele; Di Filippo, Sabato; Mercogliano, Francesco; Romano, Rosario A.

2015-10-01

This paper describes a measurement technique developed by the authors that allows carrying out acoustic measurements inside noisy environments reducing background noise effects. The proposed method is based on the integration of a traditional passive noise insulation system with a statistical approach. The latter is applied to signals picked up by usual sensors (microphones and accelerometers) equipping the passive sound insulation system. The statistical approach allows improving of the sound insulation given only by the passive sound insulation system at low frequency. The developed measurement technique has been validated by means of numerical simulations and measurements carried out inside a real noisy environment. For the case-studies here reported, an average improvement of about 10 dB has been obtained in a frequency range up to about 250 Hz. Considerations on the lower sound pressure level that can be measured by applying the proposed method and the measurement error related to its application are reported as well.

Linguistic Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of Tamil Version ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Oral health has an impact on quality of life hence for research purpose validation of a Tamil version of General Oral Health Assessment Index would enable it to be used as a valuable tool among Tamil speaking population. Aim: In this study, we aimed to assess the psychometric properties of translated Tamil ...

Linguistic Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of Tamil Version ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

of a Tamil version of General Oral Health Assessment Index would enable it to be used as a valuable ... psychometric properties, so that it can be used as an efficient tool in identifying the impact of oral ... affects a person physically and psychologically thereby .... questions 3, 5, and 7 were negatively rephrased and choices.

Film sound in preservation and presentation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Campanini, S.

2014-01-01

What is the nature of film sound? How does it change through time? How can film sound be conceptually defined? To address these issues, this work assumes the perspective of film preservation and presentation practices, describing the preservation of early sound systems, as well as the presentation

Psychometric Characteristics of a Vocational Preference Inventory Short Form.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowman, Rodney L.; Schurman, Susan J.

1982-01-01

The psychometric properties of a revised version of Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory were assessed using federal government employees. Factor analyses, interscale correlations, measures of internal consistency, and criterion group profiles are presented. Evidence was supportive of the validity of the revised form. (Author/BW)

A Psychometric Evaluation of Super's Work Values Inventory--Revised

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Carrie H.; Betz, Nancy E.

2008-01-01

This study describes the psychometric evaluation of Super's Work Values Inventory--Revised (SWVI-R), an instrument comprised of 12 scales measuring the relative importance placed on the following work-related value dimensions: Achievement, Coworkers, Creativity, Income, Independence, Lifestyle, Mental Challenge, Prestige, Security, Supervision,…

Analyzing the Pattern of L1 Sounds on L2 Sounds Produced by Javanese Students of Stkip PGRI Jombang

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daning Hentasmaka

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The studyconcerns on an analysis on the tendency of first language (L1 sound patterning on second language (L2 sounds done by Javanese students.Focusing on the consonant sounds, the data were collected by recording students’ pronunciationof English words during the pronunciation test. The data then analysed through three activities: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/ verification. Theresult showedthatthe patterning of L1 sounds happened on L2 sounds especially on eleven consonant sounds: the fricatives [v, θ, ð, ʃ, ʒ], the voiceless stops [p, t, k], and the voiced stops [b, d, g].Thosepatterning case emergedmostlyduetothe difference in the existence of consonant sounds and rules of consonant distribution. Besides, one of the cases was caused by the difference in consonant clusters between L1 and L2

ANALYZING THE PATTERN OF L1 SOUNDS ON L2 SOUNDS PRODUCED BY JAVANESE STUDENTS OF STKIP PGRI JOMBANG

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daning Hentasmaka

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The studyconcerns on an analysis on the tendency of first language (L1 sound patterning on second language (L2 sounds done by Javanese students.Focusing on the consonant sounds, the data were collected by recording students’ pronunciationof English words during the pronunciation test. The data then analysed through three activities: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/ verification. Theresult showedthatthe patterning of L1 sounds happened on L2 sounds especially on eleven consonant sounds: the fricatives [v, θ, ð, ʃ, ʒ], the voiceless stops [p, t, k], and the voiced stops [b, d, g].Thosepatterning case emergedmostlyduetothe difference in the existence of consonant sounds and rules of consonant distribution. Besides, one of the cases was caused by the difference in consonant clusters between L1 and L2.

Instruments evaluating the quality of the clinical learning environment in nursing education: A systematic review of psychometric properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Mansutti, Irene; Saiani, Luisa; Grassetti, Luca; Palese, Alvisa

2017-03-01

The clinical learning environment is fundamental to nursing education paths, capable of affecting learning processes and outcomes. Several instruments have been developed in nursing education, aimed at evaluating the quality of the clinical learning environments; however, no systematic review of the psychometric properties and methodological quality of these studies has been performed to date. The aims of the study were: 1) to identify validated instruments evaluating the clinical learning environments in nursing education; 2) to evaluate critically the methodological quality of the psychometric property estimation used; and 3) to compare psychometric properties across the instruments available. A systematic review of the literature (using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines) and an evaluation of the methodological quality of psychometric properties (using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments guidelines). The Medline and CINAHL databases were searched. Eligible studies were those that satisfied the following criteria: a) validation studies of instruments evaluating the quality of clinical learning environments; b) in nursing education; c) published in English or Italian; d) before April 2016. The included studies were evaluated for the methodological quality of the psychometric properties measured and then compared in terms of both the psychometric properties and the methodological quality of the processes used. The search strategy yielded a total of 26 studies and eight clinical learning environment evaluation instruments. A variety of psychometric properties have been estimated for each instrument, with differing qualities in the methodology used. Concept and construct validity were poorly assessed in terms of their significance and rarely judged by the target population (nursing students). Some properties were rarely considered (e.g., reliability, measurement error

Opponent Coding of Sound Location (Azimuth) in Planum Temporale is Robust to Sound-Level Variations.

Science.gov (United States)

Derey, Kiki; Valente, Giancarlo; de Gelder, Beatrice; Formisano, Elia

2016-01-01

Coding of sound location in auditory cortex (AC) is only partially understood. Recent electrophysiological research suggests that neurons in mammalian auditory cortex are characterized by broad spatial tuning and a preference for the contralateral hemifield, that is, a nonuniform sampling of sound azimuth. Additionally, spatial selectivity decreases with increasing sound intensity. To accommodate these findings, it has been proposed that sound location is encoded by the integrated activity of neuronal populations with opposite hemifield tuning ("opponent channel model"). In this study, we investigated the validity of such a model in human AC with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a phase-encoding paradigm employing binaural stimuli recorded individually for each participant. In all subjects, we observed preferential fMRI responses to contralateral azimuth positions. Additionally, in most AC locations, spatial tuning was broad and not level invariant. We derived an opponent channel model of the fMRI responses by subtracting the activity of contralaterally tuned regions in bilateral planum temporale. This resulted in accurate decoding of sound azimuth location, which was unaffected by changes in sound level. Our data thus support opponent channel coding as a neural mechanism for representing acoustic azimuth in human AC. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

Data concerning the psychometric properties of the Behavioral Inhibition/Behavioral Activation Scales for the Portuguese population.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreira, Diana; Almeida, Fernando; Pinto, Marta; Segarra, Pilar; Barbosa, Fernando

2015-09-01

The behavioral inhibition/behavioral activation (BIS/BAS) scales (Carver & White, 1994), which allow rating the Gray's motivational systems, were translated and adapted into Portuguese. In this study, the authors present the procedure and the psychometric analyses of the Portuguese version of the scales, which included basic item and scales psychometric characteristics, as well as confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses. After the psychometric analyses provided evidence for the quality of the Portuguese version of the scales, the normative data was provided by age and school grade. The confirmatory factor analysis of the BIS/BAS scales that the authors performed did not demonstrate satisfactory fit for the 2- or 4-factor solution. The authors also tested the more recent 5-factor model, but the fit indices remained inadequate. As fit indices were not satisfactory they proceeded with an exploratory factor analysis to examine the structure of the Portuguese scales. These psychometric analyses provided evidence of a successful translation of the original scales. Therefore these scales can now be used in future research with Portuguese or Brazilian population. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

A Review of the Brief Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Huebner, E. Scott; Seligson, Julie L.; Valois, Robert F.; Suldo, Shannon M.

2006-01-01

There are few psychometrically sound measures of life satisfaction suitable for children and adolescents. The purpose of this paper is to describe the rationale, development, and psychometric properties of a brief multidimensional life satisfaction scale appropriate for use with children of ages 8-18. The paper summarizes extant studies of its…

Breaking the Sound Barrier

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Tom; Boehringer, Kim

2007-01-01

Students in a fourth-grade class participated in a series of dynamic sound learning centers followed by a dramatic capstone event--an exploration of the amazing Trashcan Whoosh Waves. It's a notoriously difficult subject to teach, but this hands-on, exploratory approach ignited student interest in sound, promoted language acquisition, and built…

Sound therapies for tinnitus management.

Science.gov (United States)

Jastreboff, Margaret M

2007-01-01

Many people with bothersome (suffering) tinnitus notice that their tinnitus changes in different acoustical surroundings, it is more intrusive in silence and less profound in the sound enriched environments. This observation led to the development of treatment methods for tinnitus utilizing sound. Many of these methods are still under investigation in respect to their specific protocol and effectiveness and only some have been objectively evaluated in clinical trials. This chapter will review therapies for tinnitus using sound stimulation.

Numerical Model on Sound-Solid Coupling in Human Ear and Study on Sound Pressure of Tympanic Membrane

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Yao Wen-juan

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Establishment of three-dimensional finite-element model of the whole auditory system includes external ear, middle ear, and inner ear. The sound-solid-liquid coupling frequency response analysis of the model was carried out. The correctness of the FE model was verified by comparing the vibration modes of tympanic membrane and stapes footplate with the experimental data. According to calculation results of the model, we make use of the least squares method to fit out the distribution of sound pressure of external auditory canal and obtain the sound pressure function on the tympanic membrane which varies with frequency. Using the sound pressure function, the pressure distribution on the tympanic membrane can be directly derived from the sound pressure at the external auditory canal opening. The sound pressure function can make the boundary conditions of the middle ear structure more accurate in the mechanical research and improve the previous boundary treatment which only applied uniform pressure acting to the tympanic membrane.

Sounds in one-dimensional superfluid helium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Um, C.I.; Kahng, W.H.; Whang, E.H.; Hong, S.K.; Oh, H.G.; George, T.F.

1989-01-01

The temperature variations of first-, second-, and third-sound velocity and attenuation coefficients in one-dimensional superfluid helium are evaluated explicitly for very low temperatures and frequencies (ω/sub s/tau 2 , and the ratio of second sound to first sound becomes unity as the temperature decreases to absolute zero

Conditioned sounds enhance visual processing.

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Fabrizio Leo

Full Text Available This psychophysics study investigated whether prior auditory conditioning influences how a sound interacts with visual perception. In the conditioning phase, subjects were presented with three pure tones ( =  conditioned stimuli, CS that were paired with positive, negative or neutral unconditioned stimuli. As unconditioned reinforcers we employed pictures (highly pleasant, unpleasant and neutral or monetary outcomes (+50 euro cents, -50 cents, 0 cents. In the subsequent visual selective attention paradigm, subjects were presented with near-threshold Gabors displayed in their left or right hemifield. Critically, the Gabors were presented in synchrony with one of the conditioned sounds. Subjects discriminated whether the Gabors were presented in their left or right hemifields. Participants determined the location more accurately when the Gabors were presented in synchrony with positive relative to neutral sounds irrespective of reinforcer type. Thus, previously rewarded relative to neutral sounds increased the bottom-up salience of the visual Gabors. Our results are the first demonstration that prior auditory conditioning is a potent mechanism to modulate the effect of sounds on visual perception.

Modern psychometric approaches to analysis of scales for health-related quality of life

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjorner, Jakob Bue; Bech, Per

2016-01-01

In recent years, much effort has been invested in the development of new instruments for assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). For many new instruments, modern psychometric methods, such as item response theory (IRT) models, have been used, either as supplemental to classical....... The models include Rasch models (Rasch 1980; Fischer and Molenaar 1995), other IRT models (Samejima 1969; van der Linden and Hambleton 1997), and factor analytic models for categorical data (Muthén 1984). “Modern” psychometric methods have actually a rather long history within psychiatric research (both...

Sensitivity and validity of psychometric tests for assessing driving impairment: effects of sleep deprivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jongen, Stefan; Perrier, Joy; Vuurman, Eric F; Ramaekers, Johannes G; Vermeeren, Annemiek

2015-01-01

To assess drug induced driving impairment, initial screening is needed. However, no consensus has been reached about which initial screening tools have to be used. The present study aims to determine the ability of a battery of psychometric tests to detect performance impairing effects of clinically relevant levels of drowsiness as induced by one night of sleep deprivation. Twenty four healthy volunteers participated in a 2-period crossover study in which the highway driving test was conducted twice: once after normal sleep and once after one night of sleep deprivation. The psychometric tests were conducted on 4 occasions: once after normal sleep (at 11 am) and three times during a single night of sleep deprivation (at 1 am, 5 am, and 11 am). On-the-road driving performance was significantly impaired after sleep deprivation, as measured by an increase in Standard Deviation of Lateral Position (SDLP) of 3.1 cm compared to performance after a normal night of sleep. At 5 am, performance in most psychometric tests showed significant impairment. As expected, largest effect sizes were found on performance in the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT). Large effects sizes were also found in the Divided Attention Test (DAT), the Attention Network Test (ANT), and the test for Useful Field of View (UFOV) at 5 and 11 am during sleep deprivation. Effects of sleep deprivation on SDLP correlated significantly with performance changes in the PVT and the DAT, but not with performance changes in the UFOV. From the psychometric tests used in this study, the PVT and DAT seem most promising for initial evaluation of drug impairment based on sensitivity and correlations with driving impairment. Further studies are needed to assess the sensitivity and validity of these psychometric tests after benchmark sedative drug use.

Sensitivity and validity of psychometric tests for assessing driving impairment: effects of sleep deprivation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Jongen

Full Text Available To assess drug induced driving impairment, initial screening is needed. However, no consensus has been reached about which initial screening tools have to be used. The present study aims to determine the ability of a battery of psychometric tests to detect performance impairing effects of clinically relevant levels of drowsiness as induced by one night of sleep deprivation.Twenty four healthy volunteers participated in a 2-period crossover study in which the highway driving test was conducted twice: once after normal sleep and once after one night of sleep deprivation. The psychometric tests were conducted on 4 occasions: once after normal sleep (at 11 am and three times during a single night of sleep deprivation (at 1 am, 5 am, and 11 am.On-the-road driving performance was significantly impaired after sleep deprivation, as measured by an increase in Standard Deviation of Lateral Position (SDLP of 3.1 cm compared to performance after a normal night of sleep. At 5 am, performance in most psychometric tests showed significant impairment. As expected, largest effect sizes were found on performance in the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT. Large effects sizes were also found in the Divided Attention Test (DAT, the Attention Network Test (ANT, and the test for Useful Field of View (UFOV at 5 and 11 am during sleep deprivation. Effects of sleep deprivation on SDLP correlated significantly with performance changes in the PVT and the DAT, but not with performance changes in the UFOV.From the psychometric tests used in this study, the PVT and DAT seem most promising for initial evaluation of drug impairment based on sensitivity and correlations with driving impairment. Further studies are needed to assess the sensitivity and validity of these psychometric tests after benchmark sedative drug use.

Robust segmentation and retrieval of environmental sounds

Science.gov (United States)

Wichern, Gordon

The proliferation of mobile computing has provided much of the world with the ability to record any sound of interest, or possibly every sound heard in a lifetime. The technology to continuously record the auditory world has applications in surveillance, biological monitoring of non-human animal sounds, and urban planning. Unfortunately, the ability to record anything has led to an audio data deluge, where there are more recordings than time to listen. Thus, access to these archives depends on efficient techniques for segmentation (determining where sound events begin and end), indexing (storing sufficient information with each event to distinguish it from other events), and retrieval (searching for and finding desired events). While many such techniques have been developed for speech and music sounds, the environmental and natural sounds that compose the majority of our aural world are often overlooked. The process of analyzing audio signals typically begins with the process of acoustic feature extraction where a frame of raw audio (e.g., 50 milliseconds) is converted into a feature vector summarizing the audio content. In this dissertation, a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) is used to monitor changes in acoustic features in order to determine the segmentation of continuously recorded audio signals. Experiments demonstrate effective segmentation performance on test sets of environmental sounds recorded in both indoor and outdoor environments. Once segmented, every sound event is indexed with a probabilistic model, summarizing the evolution of acoustic features over the course of the event. Indexed sound events are then retrieved from the database using different query modalities. Two important query types are sound queries (query-by-example) and semantic queries (query-by-text). By treating each sound event and semantic concept in the database as a node in an undirected graph, a hybrid (content/semantic) network structure is developed. This hybrid network can

Development and Psychometric Properties of the Homophobic Bullying Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Prati, Gabriele

2012-01-01

The study aimed to develop the Homophobic Bullying Scale and to investigate its psychometric properties. The items of the Homophobic Bullying Scale were created to measure high school students' bullying behaviors motivated by homophobia, including verbal bullying, relational bullying, physical bullying, property bullying, sexual harassment, and…

The Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale: Development and Psychometric Properties

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Brian D.; Balsis, Steve; Otilingam, Poorni G.; Hanson, Priya K.; Gatz, Margaret

2009-01-01

Purpose: This study provides preliminary evidence for the acceptability, reliability, and validity of the new Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS), a content and psychometric update to the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Test. Design and Methods: Traditional scale development methods were used to generate items and evaluate their psychometric…

Sound-Symbolism Boosts Novel Word Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Lockwood, Gwilym; Dingemanse, Mark; Hagoort, Peter

2016-01-01

The existence of sound-symbolism (or a non-arbitrary link between form and meaning) is well-attested. However, sound-symbolism has mostly been investigated with nonwords in forced choice tasks, neither of which are representative of natural language. This study uses ideophones, which are naturally occurring sound-symbolic words that depict sensory…

Second sound tracking system

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jihee; Ihas, Gary G.; Ekdahl, Dan

2017-10-01

It is common that a physical system resonates at a particular frequency, whose frequency depends on physical parameters which may change in time. Often, one would like to automatically track this signal as the frequency changes, measuring, for example, its amplitude. In scientific research, one would also like to utilize the standard methods, such as lock-in amplifiers, to improve the signal to noise ratio. We present a complete He ii second sound system that uses positive feedback to generate a sinusoidal signal of constant amplitude via automatic gain control. This signal is used to produce temperature/entropy waves (second sound) in superfluid helium-4 (He ii). A lock-in amplifier limits the oscillation to a desirable frequency and demodulates the received sound signal. Using this tracking system, a second sound signal probed turbulent decay in He ii. We present results showing that the tracking system is more reliable than those of a conventional fixed frequency method; there is less correlation with temperature (frequency) fluctuation when the tracking system is used.

Psychometric properties of the Thai Spiritual Well-Being Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaiviboontham, Suchira; Phinitkhajorndech, Noppawan; Hanucharurnkul, Somchit; Noipiang, Thaniya

2016-04-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the modified Thai Spiritual Well-Being Scale in patients with advanced cancer. This cross-sectional study was employed to investigate psychometric properties. Some 196 participants from three tertiary hospitals in Bangkok and suburban Thailand were asked to complete a Personal Information Questionnaire (PIQ), The Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS), and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS). Validity was determined by known-group, concurrent, and constructs validity. Reliability was estimated using internal consistency by Cronbach's α coefficients. Three factors were extracted: so-called existential well-being, religious well-being, and peacefulness accounted for 71.44% of total variance. The Cronbach's α coefficients for total SWB, EWB, RWB, and peacefulness were 0.96, 0.94, and 0.93, respectively. These findings indicate that the Thai SWBS is a valid and reliable instrument, and it presented one more factor than the original version.

Measuring Orthorexia Nervosa: Psychometric Limitations of the ORTO-15.

Science.gov (United States)

Roncero, María; Barrada, Juan Ramón; Perpiñá, Conxa

2017-09-20

Orthorexia nervosa has recently been defined as excessive preoccupation with healthy eating, causing significant nutritional deficiencies and social and personal impairments. The ORTO-15 is the most widely used instrument to evaluate orthorexia nervosa, although previous studies obtained inconsistent results about its psychometric properties, and there are no data on the Spanish version. Thus, the main objective of the present study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish adaptation of the ORTO-15. In order to cross-validate the results, two independent samples were used (Sample 1: n = 807, 74.1% women; Sample 2: n = 242, 63.2% women). The results did not support the original recoding and reversal of the items; thus, the original scores were maintained. The analysis of the internal structure showed that the best interpretable solution was unidimensional, and due to low loadings, four items were removed. The internal consistency (α = .74) and temporal stability (r = .92; p orthorexia nervosa.

The properties of self-report research measures: beyond psychometrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Blount, Claire; Evans, Chris; Birch, Sarah; Warren, Fiona; Norton, Kingsley

2002-06-01

Self-report measures pertinent for personality disorder are widely used and many are available. Their relative merits are usually assessed on nomothetic psychometrics and acceptability to users is neglected. We report reactions of lay, patient and professional groups to the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ-IV); Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III); the Borderline Syndrome Index (BSI); Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) and the Social Functioning Questionnaire (SFQ). These were sent to 148 professionals, ex-patients and lay people for comment. Thirty-six per cent were returned. Pattern-coding by three raters revealed problematic themes across all measures, including inappropriate length, vague items and language, cultural assumptions and slang, state-bias and response-set. Measures can be depressing and upsetting for some participants (both patients and non-patients), hence administration of measures should be sensitive. Treatment may make people more self-aware, which may compromise validity for outcome research. This evaluation raises issues and concerns, which are missed in traditional psychometric evaluation.

Underwater Sound Propagation from Marine Pile Driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Reyff, James A

2016-01-01

Pile driving occurs in a variety of nearshore environments that typically have very shallow-water depths. The propagation of pile-driving sound in water is complex, where sound is directly radiated from the pile as well as through the ground substrate. Piles driven in the ground near water bodies can produce considerable underwater sound energy. This paper presents examples of sound propagation through shallow-water environments. Some of these examples illustrate the substantial variation in sound amplitude over time that can be critical to understand when computing an acoustic-based safety zone for aquatic species.

Psychometric properties of the Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale in Mexican elderly women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Cristina Enríquez-Reyna

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: analyze and assess the psychometric properties of the subscales in the Spanish version of the Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale in an elderly population in the Northeast of Mexico. Method: methodological study. The sample consisted of 329 elderly associated with one of the five public centers for senior citizens in the metropolitan area of Northeast Mexico. The psychometric properties included the assessment of the Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the Kaiser Meyer Olkin coefficient, the inter-item correlation, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Results: in the principal components analysis, two components were identified based on the 43 items in the scale. The item-total correlation coefficient of the exercise benefits subscale was good. Nevertheless, the coefficient for the exercise barriers subscale revealed inconsistencies. The reliability and validity were acceptable. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the elimination of items improved the goodness of fit of the baseline scale, without affecting its validity or reliability. Conclusion: the Exercise Benefits/Barriers subscale presented satisfactory psychometric properties for the Mexican context. A 15-item short version is presented with factorial structure, validity and reliability similar to the complete scale.

Sound topology, duality, coherence and wave-mixing an introduction to the emerging new science of sound

CERN Document Server

Deymier, Pierre

2017-01-01

This book offers an essential introduction to the notions of sound wave topology, duality, coherence and wave-mixing, which constitute the emerging new science of sound. It includes general principles and specific examples that illuminate new non-conventional forms of sound (sound topology), unconventional quantum-like behavior of phonons (duality), radical linear and nonlinear phenomena associated with loss and its control (coherence), and exquisite effects that emerge from the interaction of sound with other physical and biological waves (wave mixing).  The book provides the reader with the foundations needed to master these complex notions through simple yet meaningful examples. General principles for unraveling and describing the topology of acoustic wave functions in the space of their Eigen values are presented. These principles are then applied to uncover intrinsic and extrinsic approaches to achieving non-conventional topologies by breaking the time revers al symmetry of acoustic waves. Symmetry brea...

Diffuse sound field: challenges and misconceptions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jeong, Cheol-Ho

2016-01-01

Diffuse sound field is a popular, yet widely misused concept. Although its definition is relatively well established, acousticians use this term for different meanings. The diffuse sound field is defined by a uniform sound pressure distribution (spatial diffusion or homogeneity) and uniform...... tremendously in different chambers because the chambers are non-diffuse in variously different ways. Therefore, good objective measures that can quantify the degree of diffusion and potentially indicate how to fix such problems in reverberation chambers are needed. Acousticians often blend the concept...... of mixing and diffuse sound field. Acousticians often refer diffuse reflections from surfaces to diffuseness in rooms, and vice versa. Subjective aspects of diffuseness have not been much investigated. Finally, ways to realize a diffuse sound field in a finite space are discussed....

Measuring patient engagement: development and psychometric properties of the Patient Health Engagement (PHE) Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Graffigna, Guendalina; Barello, Serena; Bonanomi, Andrea; Lozza, Edoardo

2015-01-01

Beyond the rhetorical call for increasing patients' engagement, policy makers recognize the urgency to have an evidence-based measure of patients' engagement and capture its effect when planning and implementing initiatives aimed at sustaining the engagement of consumers in their health. In this paper, authors describe the Patient Health Engagement Scale (PHE-scale), a measure of patient engagement that is grounded in rigorous conceptualization and appropriate psychometric methods. The scale was developed based on our previous conceptualization of patient engagement (the PHE-model). In particular, the items of the PHE-scale were developed based on the findings from the literature review and from interviews with chronic patients. Initial psychometric analysis was performed to pilot test a preliminary version of the items. The items were then refined and administered to a national sample of chronic patients (N = 382) to assess the measure's psychometric performance. A final phase of test-retest reliability was performed. The analysis showed that the PHE Scale has good psychometric properties with good correlation with concurrent measures and solid reliability. Having a valid and reliable measure to assess patient engagement is the first step in understanding patient engagement and its role in health care quality, outcomes, and cost containment. The PHE Scale shows a promising clinical relevance, indicating that it can be used to tailor intervention and assess changes after patient engagement interventions.

An Examination of Psychometric Properties of Positive Functional Attitudes Scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saide Umut ZEYBEK

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to investigate the applicability of Coping Attitudes Scale: Measure of Positive Attitudes in Depression (CAS among Turkish young adult community sample and determine the psychometric properties (validity and reliability of this scale. This study was conducted with 419 students attending different departments in Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Education in the spring semester of academic year of 2015-2016. Positive Functional Attitudes Scale, Beck Depression Scale, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Automatic Thoughts Scale, Positivity Scale and Developed Automatic Thoughts Scale.were used as data collection tools. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA were used for investigation of the psychometric properties of the PFAS. Also, criterion-related validity, test-retest validity, and internal consistency were used calculated. The CFA results showed that standardized item estimates of the CAS ranged between 0.45 and 0.47. Also the CFA results showed that the original factor structure of the PFAS confirmed on the Turkish sample. internal consistency was calculated using the total community sample’s PFAS score. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient ort he total scale (.93 was high. Test-retest results of the subscales were 0.76. The findings showed that factor structures of the PFAS’ life perspective, personal accomplishment, positive future, self-worth, coping with problems had psychometric quality in Turkish version. As a result of the study, the Turkish version of PFAS has good validity and reliability for young adult community sample. [JCBPR 2017; 6(2.000: 59-66

Questionnaire-based assessment of executive functioning: Psychometrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Castellanos, Irina; Kronenberger, William G; Pisoni, David B

2018-01-01

The psychometric properties of the Learning, Executive, and Attention Functioning (LEAF) scale were investigated in an outpatient clinical pediatric sample. As a part of clinical testing, the LEAF scale, which broadly measures neuropsychological abilities related to executive functioning and learning, was administered to parents of 118 children and adolescents referred for psychological testing at a pediatric psychology clinic; 85 teachers also completed LEAF scales to assess reliability across different raters and settings. Scores on neuropsychological tests of executive functioning and academic achievement were abstracted from charts. Psychometric analyses of the LEAF scale demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency, parent-teacher inter-rater reliability in the small to large effect size range, and test-retest reliability in the large effect size range, similar to values for other executive functioning checklists. Correlations between corresponding subscales on the LEAF and other behavior checklists were large, while most correlations with neuropsychological tests of executive functioning and achievement were significant but in the small to medium range. Results support the utility of the LEAF as a reliable and valid questionnaire-based assessment of delays and disturbances in executive functioning and learning. Applications and advantages of the LEAF and other questionnaire measures of executive functioning in clinical neuropsychology settings are discussed.

The Perfectionistic Self-Presentation Scale--Junior Form: Psychometric Properties and Association with Social Anxiety in Early Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Flett, Gordon L.; Coulter, Lisa-Marie; Hewitt, Paul L.

2012-01-01

This study assessed the psychometric characteristics and correlates of the Perfectionistic Self-Presentation Scale--Junior Form (PSPS-JR). The PSPS-JR was designed for use with children and adolescents, but its psychometric properties and applications among early adolescents have not been investigated. The PSPS-JR has three subscales assessing the…

WODA Technical Guidance on Underwater Sound from Dredging.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomsen, Frank; Borsani, Fabrizio; Clarke, Douglas; de Jong, Christ; de Wit, Pim; Goethals, Fredrik; Holtkamp, Martine; Martin, Elena San; Spadaro, Philip; van Raalte, Gerard; Victor, George Yesu Vedha; Jensen, Anders

2016-01-01

The World Organization of Dredging Associations (WODA) has identified underwater sound as an environmental issue that needs further consideration. A WODA Expert Group on Underwater Sound (WEGUS) prepared a guidance paper in 2013 on dredging sound, including a summary of potential impacts on aquatic biota and advice on underwater sound monitoring procedures. The paper follows a risk-based approach and provides guidance for standardization of acoustic terminology and methods for data collection and analysis. Furthermore, the literature on dredging-related sounds and the effects of dredging sounds on marine life is surveyed and guidance on the management of dredging-related sound risks is provided.

Detecting change in stochastic sound sequences.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin Skerritt-Davis

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Our ability to parse our acoustic environment relies on the brain's capacity to extract statistical regularities from surrounding sounds. Previous work in regularity extraction has predominantly focused on the brain's sensitivity to predictable patterns in sound sequences. However, natural sound environments are rarely completely predictable, often containing some level of randomness, yet the brain is able to effectively interpret its surroundings by extracting useful information from stochastic sounds. It has been previously shown that the brain is sensitive to the marginal lower-order statistics of sound sequences (i.e., mean and variance. In this work, we investigate the brain's sensitivity to higher-order statistics describing temporal dependencies between sound events through a series of change detection experiments, where listeners are asked to detect changes in randomness in the pitch of tone sequences. Behavioral data indicate listeners collect statistical estimates to process incoming sounds, and a perceptual model based on Bayesian inference shows a capacity in the brain to track higher-order statistics. Further analysis of individual subjects' behavior indicates an important role of perceptual constraints in listeners' ability to track these sensory statistics with high fidelity. In addition, the inference model facilitates analysis of neural electroencephalography (EEG responses, anchoring the analysis relative to the statistics of each stochastic stimulus. This reveals both a deviance response and a change-related disruption in phase of the stimulus-locked response that follow the higher-order statistics. These results shed light on the brain's ability to process stochastic sound sequences.

Directional sound radiation from substation transformers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maybee, N.

2009-01-01

This paper presented the results of a study in which acoustical measurements at two substations were analyzed to investigate the directional behaviour of typical arrays having 2 or 3 transformers. Substation transformers produce a characteristic humming sound that is caused primarily by vibration of the core at twice the frequency of the power supply. The humming noise radiates predominantly from the tank enclosing the core. The main components of the sound are harmonics of 120 Hz. Sound pressure level data were obtained for various directions and distances from the arrays, ranging from 0.5 m to over 100 m. The measured sound pressure levels of the transformer tones displayed substantial positive and negative excursions from the calculated average values for many distances and directions. The results support the concept that the directional effects are associated with constructive and destructive interference of tonal sound waves emanating from different parts of the array. Significant variations in the directional sound pattern can occur in the near field of a single transformer or an array, and the extent of the near field is significantly larger than the scale of the array. Based on typical dimensions for substation sites, the distance to the far field may be much beyond the substation boundary and beyond typical setbacks to the closest dwellings. As such, the directional sound radiation produced by transformer arrays introduces additional uncertainty in the prediction of substation sound levels at dwellings within a few hundred meters of a substation site. 4 refs., 4 figs.

On the sound absorption coefficient of porous asphalt pavements for oblique incident sound waves

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bezemer-Krijnen, Marieke; Wijnant, Ysbrand H.; de Boer, Andries; Bekke, Dirk; Davy, J.; Don, Ch.; McMinn, T.; Dowsett, L.; Broner, N.; Burgess, M.

2014-01-01

A rolling tyre will radiate noise in all directions. However, conventional measurement techniques for the sound absorption of surfaces only give the absorption coefficient for normal incidence. In this paper, a measurement technique is described with which it is possible to perform in situ sound

Neuroplasticity beyond sounds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reybrouck, Mark; Brattico, Elvira

2015-01-01

Capitalizing from neuroscience knowledge on how individuals are affected by the sound environment, we propose to adopt a cybernetic and ecological point of view on the musical aesthetic experience, which includes subprocesses, such as feature extraction and integration, early affective reactions...... and motor actions, style mastering and conceptualization, emotion and proprioception, evaluation and preference. In this perspective, the role of the listener/composer/performer is seen as that of an active "agent" coping in highly individual ways with the sounds. The findings concerning the neural...

The Psychometrics of the Mini-K.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, George B; Chen, Ching-Chen; Dai, Chia-Liang; Brubaker, Michael D; Nedelec, Joseph L

2017-01-01

Many published studies have employed the Mini-K to measure a single fast-slow life history dimension. However, the internal structure of the Mini-K has not been determined and it is not clear that a single higher order K-factor fits the data. It is also not clear that the Mini-K is measurement invariant across groups such as the sexes. To establish the construct validity of K as well as the broader usefulness of applying life history theory to humans, it is crucial that these psychometric issues are addressed as a part of measure validation efforts. Here we report on three studies that used latent variable modeling and data drawn from two college student samples ( ns = 361 and 300) to elucidate the psychometrics of the Mini-K. We found that (a) the Mini-K had a six dimensional first-order structure, (b) the K-factor provided a parsimonious explanation of the associations among the lower order factors at no significant cost to fit, (c) the Mini-K measured the same K-factor across the sexes, (d) K-factor means did not have the same meaning across the sexes and thus the first-order factors should be used in studies of mean sex differences, and finally, (e) the K-factor was only associated with environment and aspects of mating competition in females. Implications and future directions for life history research are discussed.

Psychometric Properties of the Satisfaction with Life Scale among Turkish University Students, Correctional Officers, and Elderly Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Durak, Mithat; Senol-Durak, Emre; Gencoz, Tulin

2010-01-01

This study aims to extensively examine the psychometric properties of adapted version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) in different Turkish samples. In order to test the psychometric properties of the SWLS three separate and independent samples are utilized in this study, namely university students (n = 547), correctional officers (n =…

Statistics of natural binaural sounds.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wiktor Młynarski

Full Text Available Binaural sound localization is usually considered a discrimination task, where interaural phase (IPD and level (ILD disparities at narrowly tuned frequency channels are utilized to identify a position of a sound source. In natural conditions however, binaural circuits are exposed to a stimulation by sound waves originating from multiple, often moving and overlapping sources. Therefore statistics of binaural cues depend on acoustic properties and the spatial configuration of the environment. Distribution of cues encountered naturally and their dependence on physical properties of an auditory scene have not been studied before. In the present work we analyzed statistics of naturally encountered binaural sounds. We performed binaural recordings of three auditory scenes with varying spatial configuration and analyzed empirical cue distributions from each scene. We have found that certain properties such as the spread of IPD distributions as well as an overall shape of ILD distributions do not vary strongly between different auditory scenes. Moreover, we found that ILD distributions vary much weaker across frequency channels and IPDs often attain much higher values, than can be predicted from head filtering properties. In order to understand the complexity of the binaural hearing task in the natural environment, sound waveforms were analyzed by performing Independent Component Analysis (ICA. Properties of learned basis functions indicate that in natural conditions soundwaves in each ear are predominantly generated by independent sources. This implies that the real-world sound localization must rely on mechanisms more complex than a mere cue extraction.

Statistics of natural binaural sounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Młynarski, Wiktor; Jost, Jürgen

2014-01-01

Binaural sound localization is usually considered a discrimination task, where interaural phase (IPD) and level (ILD) disparities at narrowly tuned frequency channels are utilized to identify a position of a sound source. In natural conditions however, binaural circuits are exposed to a stimulation by sound waves originating from multiple, often moving and overlapping sources. Therefore statistics of binaural cues depend on acoustic properties and the spatial configuration of the environment. Distribution of cues encountered naturally and their dependence on physical properties of an auditory scene have not been studied before. In the present work we analyzed statistics of naturally encountered binaural sounds. We performed binaural recordings of three auditory scenes with varying spatial configuration and analyzed empirical cue distributions from each scene. We have found that certain properties such as the spread of IPD distributions as well as an overall shape of ILD distributions do not vary strongly between different auditory scenes. Moreover, we found that ILD distributions vary much weaker across frequency channels and IPDs often attain much higher values, than can be predicted from head filtering properties. In order to understand the complexity of the binaural hearing task in the natural environment, sound waveforms were analyzed by performing Independent Component Analysis (ICA). Properties of learned basis functions indicate that in natural conditions soundwaves in each ear are predominantly generated by independent sources. This implies that the real-world sound localization must rely on mechanisms more complex than a mere cue extraction.

Basic Auditory Processing and Developmental Dyslexia in Chinese

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hsiao-Lan Sharon; Huss, Martina; Hamalainen, Jarmo A.; Goswami, Usha

2012-01-01

The present study explores the relationship between basic auditory processing of sound rise time, frequency, duration and intensity, phonological skills (onset-rime and tone awareness, sound blending, RAN, and phonological memory) and reading disability in Chinese. A series of psychometric, literacy, phonological, auditory, and character…

Moth hearing and sound communication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nakano, Ryo; Takanashi, Takuma; Surlykke, Annemarie

2015-01-01

Active echolocation enables bats to orient and hunt the night sky for insects. As a counter-measure against the severe predation pressure many nocturnal insects have evolved ears sensitive to ultrasonic bat calls. In moths bat-detection was the principal purpose of hearing, as evidenced by compar......Active echolocation enables bats to orient and hunt the night sky for insects. As a counter-measure against the severe predation pressure many nocturnal insects have evolved ears sensitive to ultrasonic bat calls. In moths bat-detection was the principal purpose of hearing, as evidenced...... by comparable hearing physiology with best sensitivity in the bat echolocation range, 20–60 kHz, across moths in spite of diverse ear morphology. Some eared moths subsequently developed sound-producing organs to warn/startle/jam attacking bats and/or to communicate intraspecifically with sound. Not only...... the sounds for interaction with bats, but also mating signals are within the frequency range where bats echolocate, indicating that sound communication developed after hearing by “sensory exploitation”. Recent findings on moth sound communication reveal that close-range (~ a few cm) communication with low...

Psychometric Properties of the Barriers to Treatment Participation Scale-Expectancies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nanninga, Marieke; Jansen, Danielle E. M. C.; Kazdin, Alan E.; Knorth, Erik J.; Reijneveld, Sijmen A.

Expectations concerning barriers to children's psychosocial care seem to be major drivers when seeking help, but validated questionnaires measuring expectations are not available. Therefore, this study examined the psychometric properties of the parent and adolescent versions of the Barriers to

Psychometric properties of the Oswestry disability index: Rasch analysis of responses in a work-disabled population.

Science.gov (United States)

Lochhead, Lois E; MacMillan, Peter D

2013-01-01

The Oswestry disability index (ODI) is the most widely used measure of perceived disability for low back conditions. It has been adopted without adaptation in functional capacity evaluation (FCE). Rigorous testing of the ODI with modern psychometric methods, in this setting, is warranted. To determine the psychometric properties of the ODI in FCE: unidimensionality; differential item functioning; item coverage and to identify poorly functioning items, allowing for improvement of these items and recalibration of the scale. Rasch analysis, specifically Masters' partial credit model, was conducted on data. 133 work-disabled individuals presenting for FCE in northern British Columbia, Canada. All items had one poorly functioning option. Items were rescaled from six categories to five, improving the psychometric properties of the ODI as a unidimensional (disability due to back pain) scale. Item difficulty range is sufficient for a population with mild to severe disability. Although two of the ten ODI items functioned marginally unsatisfactorily in the unrevised state, the 5-option revised ODI appears superior. Use in clinical settings across a broad spectrum of disability levels could help establish its psychometric properties. Health professionals should be aware that the ODI may perform differently depending on client population.

A Psychometric Evaluation of the Self-Presentational Efficacy Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Lamarche, Larkin; Gammage, Kimberley L.; Sullivan, Philip J.; Gabriel, David A.

2013-01-01

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Self-Presentational Efficacy Scale (SPES) developed by Gammage, Hall, and Martin Ginis (2004). University students (196 men and 269 women) completed the SPES and measures of social physique anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and physical activity. Participants also completed the SPES a…

The Juvenile Addiction Risk Rating: Development and Initial Psychometrics

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Michael; Newgent, Rebecca A.

2016-01-01

This article describes the development and psychometrics of the Juvenile Addiction Risk Rating. The Juvenile Addiction Risk Rating is a brief screening of addiction potential based on 10 risk factors predictive of youth alcohol and drug-related problems that assists examiners in more accurate treatment planning when self-report information is…

Psychometric Properties of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire-Preschool Revision

Science.gov (United States)

Clerkin, Suzanne M.; Marks, David J.; Policaro, Katia L.; Halperin, Jeffrey M.

2007-01-01

The psychometric properties of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire-Preschool Revision (APQ-PR) were explored in a sample of hyperactive-inattentive preschool children (N = 47) and nonimpaired controls (N = 113). A subset of parents completed the questionnaire on 2 occasions, approximately 1 year apart. Factor analysis revealed a 3-factor solution,…

Psychometric assessment of the short-form Child Perceptions Questionnaire: an international collaborative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomson, W M; Foster Page, L A; Robinson, P G; Do, L G; Traebert, J; Mohamed, A R; Turton, B J; McGrath, C; Bekes, K; Hirsch, C; Del Carmen Aguilar-Diaz, F; Marshman, Z; Benson, P E; Baker, S R

2016-12-01

gave similar findings. The CPQ 11-14 performed well cross-sectionally in the largest analysis of the scale in the literature to date, with robust and mostly consistent psychometric characteristics, albeit with two underlying factors (rather than the originally hypothesized four-factor structure). It appears to be a sound, robust measure which should be useful for research, practice and policy. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Simulation of sound waves using the Lattice Boltzmann Method for fluid flow: Benchmark cases for outdoor sound propagation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Salomons, E.M.; Lohman, W.J.A.; Zhou, H.

2016-01-01

Propagation of sound waves in air can be considered as a special case of fluid dynamics. Consequently, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for fluid flow can be used for simulating sound propagation. In this article application of the LBM to sound propagation is illustrated for various cases:

Psychometric properties of the NOMO 1.0 tested among adult powered-mobility users

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sund, Terje; Brandt, Åse; Anttila, Heidi

2017-01-01

(Participation Repertoire). PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate a range of psychometric properties of the NOMO 1.0 in a sample of adult powered mobility device (PMD) users. METHOD: Data collected from PMD users ( N = 248) in Denmark, Finland, and Norway as part of a larger study were analyzed using state...... scale and six components of the Frequency scale. IMPLICATIONS: The NOMO 1.0 should be used for research purposes and not for clinical practice. Better reliability should be established for the Need for Assistance and Ease/Difficulty scales prior to further psychometric testing to establish the validity...

Beacons of Sound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knakkergaard, Martin

2018-01-01

The chapter discusses expectations and imaginations vis-à-vis the concert hall of the twenty-first century. It outlines some of the central historical implications of western culture’s haven for sounding music. Based on the author’s study of the Icelandic concert-house Harpa, the chapter considers...... how these implications, together with the prime mover’s visions, have been transformed as private investors and politicians took over. The chapter furthermore investigates the objectives regarding musical sound and the far-reaching demands concerning acoustics that modern concert halls are required...

Sound & The Senses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schulze, Holger

2012-01-01

How are those sounds you hear right now technically generated and post-produced, how are they aesthetically conceptualized and how culturally dependant are they really? How is your ability to hear intertwined with all the other senses and their cultural, biographical and technological constructio...... over time? And how is listening and sounding a deeply social activity – constructing our way of living together in cities as well as in apartment houses? A radio feature with Jonathan Sterne, AGF a.k.a Antye Greie, Jens Gerrit Papenburg & Holger Schulze....

Psychometric properties of startle and corrugator response in NPU, affective picture viewing, and resting state tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaye, Jesse T; Bradford, Daniel E; Curtin, John J

2016-08-01

The current study provides a comprehensive evaluation of critical psychometric properties of commonly used psychophysiology laboratory tasks/measures within the NIMH RDoC. Participants (N = 128) completed the no-shock, predictable shock, unpredictable shock (NPU) task, affective picture viewing task, and resting state task at two study visits separated by 1 week. We examined potentiation/modulation scores in NPU (predictable or unpredictable shock vs. no-shock) and affective picture viewing tasks (pleasant or unpleasant vs. neutral pictures) for startle and corrugator responses with two commonly used quantification methods. We quantified startle potentiation/modulation scores with raw and standardized responses. We quantified corrugator potentiation/modulation in the time and frequency domains. We quantified general startle reactivity in the resting state task as the mean raw startle response during the task. For these three tasks, two measures, and two quantification methods, we evaluated effect size robustness and stability, internal consistency (i.e., split-half reliability), and 1-week temporal stability. The psychometric properties of startle potentiation in the NPU task were good, but concerns were noted for corrugator potentiation in this task. Some concerns also were noted for the psychometric properties of both startle and corrugator modulation in the affective picture viewing task, in particular, for pleasant picture modulation. Psychometric properties of general startle reactivity in the resting state task were good. Some salient differences in the psychometric properties of the NPU and affective picture viewing tasks were observed within and across quantification methods. © 2016 The Authors. Psychophysiology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Deterministic Approach to Detect Heart Sound Irregularities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Mengko

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A new method to detect heart sound that does not require machine learning is proposed. The heart sound is a time series event which is generated by the heart mechanical system. From the analysis of heart sound S-transform and the understanding of how heart works, it can be deducted that each heart sound component has unique properties in terms of timing, frequency, and amplitude. Based on these facts, a deterministic method can be designed to identify each heart sound components. The recorded heart sound then can be printed with each component correctly labeled. This greatly help the physician to diagnose the heart problem. The result shows that most known heart sounds were successfully detected. There are some murmur cases where the detection failed. This can be improved by adding more heuristics including setting some initial parameters such as noise threshold accurately, taking into account the recording equipment and also the environmental condition. It is expected that this method can be integrated into an electronic stethoscope biomedical system.

Sound For Animation And Virtual Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, James K.; Docter, Pete; Foster, Scott H.; Mangini, Mark; Myers, Tom; Wenzel, Elizabeth M.; Null, Cynthia (Technical Monitor)

1995-01-01

Sound is an integral part of the experience in computer animation and virtual reality. In this course, we will present some of the important technical issues in sound modeling, rendering, and synchronization as well as the "art" and business of sound that are being applied in animations, feature films, and virtual reality. The central theme is to bring leading researchers and practitioners from various disciplines to share their experiences in this interdisciplinary field. The course will give the participants an understanding of the problems and techniques involved in producing and synchronizing sounds, sound effects, dialogue, and music. The problem spans a number of domains including computer animation and virtual reality. Since sound has been an integral part of animations and films much longer than for computer-related domains, we have much to learn from traditional animation and film production. By bringing leading researchers and practitioners from a wide variety of disciplines, the course seeks to give the audience a rich mixture of experiences. It is expected that the audience will be able to apply what they have learned from this course in their research or production.

Analysis and Synthesis of Musical Instrument Sounds

Science.gov (United States)

Beauchamp, James W.

For synthesizing a wide variety of musical sounds, it is important to understand which acoustic properties of musical instrument sounds are related to specific perceptual features. Some properties are obvious: Amplitude and fundamental frequency easily control loudness and pitch. Other perceptual features are related to sound spectra and how they vary with time. For example, tonal "brightness" is strongly connected to the centroid or tilt of a spectrum. "Attack impact" (sometimes called "bite" or "attack sharpness") is strongly connected to spectral features during the first 20-100 ms of sound, as well as the rise time of the sound. Tonal "warmth" is connected to spectral features such as "incoherence" or "inharmonicity."

Psychometric analysis of subjective sedation scales used for critically ill paediatric patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Ge, Xiaohua; Zhang, Tingting; Zhou, Lingling

2018-01-01

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of subjective sedation scales using one psychometric scoring system to identify the appropriate scale that is most suitable for clinical care practice. A number of published sedation assessment scales for paediatric patients are currently used to attempt to achieve a moderate depth of sedation to avoid the undesirable effects caused by over- or undersedation. However, there has been no systematic review of these scales. We searched the Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, etc., to obtain relevant articles. The quality of the selected studies was evaluated according to the Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments checklist. Articles that had been published or were in press and discussed the psychometric properties of sedation scales were included. The population comprised critically ill infants and non-verbal children ranging in age from 0 to 18 years who underwent sedation in an intensive care unit. Data were independently extracted by two investigators using a standard data extraction checklist: 43 articles were included in this review, and 13 sedation scales were examined. The quality of the psychometric evidence for the Comfort Scale and Comfort Behaviour Scale was 'very good', with the Comfort Scale having a higher quality (total weighted scores, Comfort Scale = 17·3 and Comfort Behaviour Scale = 15·5). We suggest that the scales be systematically and comprehensively tested in terms of development method, reliability, validation, feasibility and correlation with clinical outcome. The Comfort Scale and Comfort Behaviour Scale are useful tools for measuring sedation in paediatric patients. Nursing staff should choose one subjective sedation scale that is suitable for assessing paediatric patients' depth of sedation. We recommend the Comfort Scale and Comfort Behaviour Scale as optimal choices if the clinical

Psychometric model for safety culture assessment in nuclear research facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nascimento, C.S. do, E-mail: claudio.souza@ctmsp.mar.mil.br [Centro Tecnológico da Marinha em São Paulo (CTMSP), Av. Professor Lineu Prestes 2468, 05508-000 São Paulo, SP (Brazil); Andrade, D.A., E-mail: delvonei@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN – SP), Av. Professor Lineu Prestes 2242, 05508-000 São Paulo, SP (Brazil); Mesquita, R.N. de, E-mail: rnavarro@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN – SP), Av. Professor Lineu Prestes 2242, 05508-000 São Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2017-04-01

Highlights: • A psychometric model to evaluate ‘safety climate’ at nuclear research facilities. • The model presented evidences of good psychometric qualities. • The model was applied to nuclear research facilities in Brazil. • Some ‘safety culture’ weaknesses were detected in the assessed organization. • A potential tool to develop safety management programs in nuclear facilities. - Abstract: A safe and reliable operation of nuclear power plants depends not only on technical performance, but also on the people and on the organization. Organizational factors have been recognized as the main causal mechanisms of accidents by research organizations through USA, Europe and Japan. Deficiencies related with these factors reveal weaknesses in the organization’s safety culture. A significant number of instruments to assess the safety culture based on psychometric models that evaluate safety climate through questionnaires, and which are based on reliability and validity evidences, have been published in health and ‘safety at work’ areas. However, there are few safety culture assessment instruments with these characteristics (reliability and validity) available on nuclear literature. Therefore, this work proposes an instrument to evaluate, with valid and reliable measures, the safety climate of nuclear research facilities. The instrument was developed based on methodological principles applied to research modeling and its psychometric properties were evaluated by a reliability analysis and validation of content, face and construct. The instrument was applied to an important nuclear research organization in Brazil. This organization comprises 4 research reactors and many nuclear laboratories. The survey results made possible a demographic characterization and the identification of some possible safety culture weaknesses and pointing out potential areas to be improved in the assessed organization. Good evidence of reliability with Cronbach's alpha

Psychometric model for safety culture assessment in nuclear research facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nascimento, C.S. do; Andrade, D.A.; Mesquita, R.N. de

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A psychometric model to evaluate ‘safety climate’ at nuclear research facilities. • The model presented evidences of good psychometric qualities. • The model was applied to nuclear research facilities in Brazil. • Some ‘safety culture’ weaknesses were detected in the assessed organization. • A potential tool to develop safety management programs in nuclear facilities. - Abstract: A safe and reliable operation of nuclear power plants depends not only on technical performance, but also on the people and on the organization. Organizational factors have been recognized as the main causal mechanisms of accidents by research organizations through USA, Europe and Japan. Deficiencies related with these factors reveal weaknesses in the organization’s safety culture. A significant number of instruments to assess the safety culture based on psychometric models that evaluate safety climate through questionnaires, and which are based on reliability and validity evidences, have been published in health and ‘safety at work’ areas. However, there are few safety culture assessment instruments with these characteristics (reliability and validity) available on nuclear literature. Therefore, this work proposes an instrument to evaluate, with valid and reliable measures, the safety climate of nuclear research facilities. The instrument was developed based on methodological principles applied to research modeling and its psychometric properties were evaluated by a reliability analysis and validation of content, face and construct. The instrument was applied to an important nuclear research organization in Brazil. This organization comprises 4 research reactors and many nuclear laboratories. The survey results made possible a demographic characterization and the identification of some possible safety culture weaknesses and pointing out potential areas to be improved in the assessed organization. Good evidence of reliability with Cronbach's alpha

Audio-visual interactions in product sound design

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Özcan, E.; Van Egmond, R.

2010-01-01

Consistent product experience requires congruity between product properties such as visual appearance and sound. Therefore, for designing appropriate product sounds by manipulating their spectral-temporal structure, product sounds should preferably not be considered in isolation but as an integral

Microflown based monopole sound sources for reciprocal measurements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bree, H.E. de; Basten, T.G.H.

2008-01-01

Monopole sound sources (i.e. omni directional sound sources with a known volume velocity) are essential for reciprocal measurements used in vehicle interior panel noise contribution analysis. Until recently, these monopole sound sources use a sound pressure transducer sensor as a reference sensor. A

Psychometric function for NU-6 word recognition in noise: effects of first language and dominant language.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Lu-Feng; Zaki, Nancy A

2014-01-01

The present study attempted to establish psychometric function in individuals whose first language is not English. Psychometric function was obtained for one of the most commonly used clinical tests, the Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6 (Tillman & Carhart 1966), so that findings could be directly applied to everyday clinical practice. Five groups of 14 normal-hearing, adult listeners differing in their first language and dominant language (English monolinguals, English- and Arabic-dominant Arabic-English bilinguals, and English- and Russian-dominant Russian-English bilinguals) participated. Both forms of the Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6 test (8 lists of 50 monosyllabic English words) were presented. The lists were randomly assigned to eight signal-to-noise ratios (-3 to 18 dB in 3 dB steps). Listeners responded verbally and in writing. Psychometric functions were derived via logistic regression and described by two parameters: the 50% correct performance level (θ) and the slope (k). Both English-dominant bilingual groups obtained psychometric functions comparable with monolinguals. The θ and k of the functions for these three groups of participants were consistent with the literature. Compared with these three groups, non-English-dominant bilinguals' functions grew significantly more gradually (i.e., a significantly higher θ and a significantly lower k). No differences in either θ or k were found between bilinguals with the same dominant language but different first languages. Bilinguals reporting themselves to be dominant in English generate monolingual-like psychometric functions. By contrast, a different set of psychometric properties describes the function of bilinguals dominant in their first language. Because first language did not appear to be a significant factor in determining bilinguals' functions, it is concluded that English learning history and English proficiency are more important variables than first language for

Pacific and Atlantic herring produce burst pulse sounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Ben; Batty, Robert S; Dill, Lawrence M

2004-02-07

The commercial importance of Pacific and Atlantic herring (Clupea pallasii and Clupea harengus) has ensured that much of their biology has received attention. However, their sound production remains poorly studied. We describe the sounds made by captive wild-caught herring. Pacific herring produce distinctive bursts of pulses, termed Fast Repetitive Tick (FRT) sounds. These trains of broadband pulses (1.7-22 kHz) lasted between 0.6 s and 7.6 s. Most were produced at night; feeding regime did not affect their frequency, and fish produced FRT sounds without direct access to the air. Digestive gas or gulped air transfer to the swim bladder, therefore, do not appear to be responsible for FRT sound generation. Atlantic herring also produce FRT sounds, and video analysis showed an association with bubble expulsion from the anal duct region (i.e. from the gut or swim bladder). To the best of the authors' knowledge, sound production by such means has not previously been described. The function(s) of these sounds are unknown, but as the per capita rates of sound production by fish at higher densities were greater, social mediation appears likely. These sounds may have consequences for our understanding of herring behaviour and the effects of noise pollution.

7 CFR 29.6036 - Sound.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Sound. 29.6036 Section 29.6036 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... INSPECTION Standards Definitions § 29.6036 Sound. Free of damage. (See Rule 4.) ...

CRISP-Psychometric Assessment of Postdivorce Stress/Adjustment in Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Aronson, David M.; Baum, Steven K.

A new psychometric instrument for measuring the impact of divorce on elementary school age children was developed: the Child's Report of the Impact of Separation by Parents (CRISP). This structured projective test was specifically designed to assess children's postdivorce stress/adjustment. An initial version of the CRISP was administered to 99…

Psychometric Properties of Maze Tasks in Middle School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Tolar, Tammy D.; Barth, Amy E.; Francis, David J.; Fletcher, Jack M.; Stuebing, Karla K.; Vaughn, Sharon

2012-01-01

Maze tasks have appealing properties as progress-monitoring tools, but there is a need for a thorough examination of the psychometric properties of Maze tasks among middle school students. We evaluated form effects, reliability, validity, and practice effects of Maze among students in Grades 6 through 8. We administered the same (familiar) and…

Misconceptions About Sound Among Engineering Students

Science.gov (United States)

Pejuan, Arcadi; Bohigas, Xavier; Jaén, Xavier; Periago, Cristina

2012-12-01

Our first objective was to detect misconceptions about the microscopic nature of sound among senior university students enrolled in different engineering programmes (from chemistry to telecommunications). We sought to determine how these misconceptions are expressed (qualitative aspect) and, only very secondarily, to gain a general idea of the extent to which they are held (quantitative aspect). Our second objective was to explore other misconceptions about wave aspects of sound. We have also considered the degree of consistency in the model of sound used by each student. Forty students answered a questionnaire including open-ended questions. Based on their free, spontaneous answers, the main results were as follows: a large majority of students answered most of the questions regarding the microscopic model of sound according to the scientifically accepted model; however, only a small number answered consistently. The main model misconception found was the notion that sound is propagated through the travelling of air particles, even in solids. Misconceptions and mental-model inconsistencies tended to depend on the engineering programme in which the student was enrolled. However, students in general were inconsistent also in applying their model of sound to individual sound properties. The main conclusion is that our students have not truly internalised the scientifically accepted model that they have allegedly learnt. This implies a need to design learning activities that take these findings into account in order to be truly efficient.

Infra-sound cancellation and mitigation in wind turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Boretti, Albert; Ordys, Andrew; Al Zubaidy, Sarim

2018-03-01

The infra-sound spectra recorded inside homes located even several kilometres far from wind turbine installations is characterized by large pressure fluctuation in the low frequency range. There is a significant body of literature suggesting inaudible sounds at low frequency are sensed by humans and affect the wellbeing through different mechanisms. These mechanisms include amplitude modulation of heard sounds, stimulating subconscious pathways, causing endolymphatic hydrops, and possibly potentiating noise-induced hearing loss. We suggest the study of infra-sound active cancellation and mitigation to address the low frequency noise issues. Loudspeakers generate pressure wave components of same amplitude and frequency but opposite phase of the recorded infra sound. They also produce pressure wave components within the audible range reducing the perception of the infra-sound to minimize the sensing of the residual infra sound.

Evaluative conditioning induces changes in sound valence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna C. Bolders

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Evaluative Conditioning (EC has hardly been tested in the auditory domain, but it is a potentially valuable research tool. In Experiment 1 we investigated whether the affective evaluation of short environmental sounds can be changed using affective words as unconditioned stimuli (US. Congruence effects on an affective priming task (APT for conditioned sounds demonstrated successful EC. Subjective ratings for sounds paired with negative words changed accordingly. In Experiment 2 we investigated whether the acquired valence remains stable after repeated presentation of the conditioned sound without the US or whether extinction occurs. The acquired affective value remained present, albeit weaker, even after 40 extinction trials. These results warrant the use of EC to study processing of short environmental sounds with acquired valence, even if this requires repeated stimulus presentations. This paves the way for studying processing of affective environmental sounds while effectively controlling low level-stimulus properties.

Neuroanatomic organization of sound memory in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Kraut, Michael A; Pitcock, Jeffery A; Calhoun, Vince; Li, Juan; Freeman, Thomas; Hart, John

2006-11-01

The neural interface between sensory perception and memory is a central issue in neuroscience, particularly initial memory organization following perceptual analyses. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify anatomic regions extracting initial auditory semantic memory information related to environmental sounds. Two distinct anatomic foci were detected in the right superior temporal gyrus when subjects identified sounds representing either animals or threatening items. Threatening animal stimuli elicited signal changes in both foci, suggesting a distributed neural representation. Our results demonstrate both category- and feature-specific responses to nonverbal sounds in early stages of extracting semantic memory information from these sounds. This organization allows for these category-feature detection nodes to extract early, semantic memory information for efficient processing of transient sound stimuli. Neural regions selective for threatening sounds are similar to those of nonhuman primates, demonstrating semantic memory organization for basic biological/survival primitives are present across species.

Sound Equipment Fabrication and Values in Nigerian Theatre ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The main points of this paper is to discover ways of fabricating sound and sound effects equipment for theatrical productions in Nigeria have become of essence since most educational theatres cannot afford western sound and sound effects equipment. Even when available, they are old fashioned, compared to the ...

Vitamin B12 deficiency: Characterization of psychometrics and MRI morphometrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Yen-Hsuan; Huang, Ching-Feng; Lo, Chung-Ping; Wang, Tzu-Lan; Tu, Min-Chien

2016-01-01

Vitamin B12 is essential for the integrity of the central nervous system. However, performances in different cognitive domains relevant to vitamin B12 deficiency remain to be detailed. To date, there have been limited studies that examined the relationships between cognitions and structural neuroimaging in a single cohort of low-vitamin B12 status. The present study aimed to depict psychometrics and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) morphometrics among patients with vitamin B12 deficiency, and to examine their inter-relations. We compared 34 consecutive patients with vitamin B12 deficiency (serum level ≤ 250 pg/ml) to 34 demographically matched controls by their cognitive performances and morphometric indices of brain MRI. The correlations between psychometrics and morphometrics were analyzed. The vitamin B12 deficiency group had lower scores than the controls on total scores of Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) and Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI) (both P psychometric and morphometric indices, pronounced correlations between bicaudate ratio and long-term memory, mental manipulation, orientation, language, and verbal fluency were noted (all P < 0.01). Vitamin B12 deficiency is associated with a global cognition decline with language, orientation, and mental manipulation selectively impaired. Preferential atrophy in frontal regions is the main neuroimaging feature. Although the frontal ratio highlights the relevant atrophy among patients, the bicaudate ratio might be the best index on the basis of its strong association with global cognition and related cognitive domains, implying dysfunction of fronto-subcortical circuits as the fundamental pathogenesis related to vitamin B12 deficiency.

Thinking The City Through Sound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kreutzfeldt, Jacob

2011-01-01

n Acoutic Territories. Sound Culture and Everyday Life Brandon LaBelle sets out to charts an urban topology through sound. Working his way through six acoustic territories: underground, home, sidewalk, street, shopping mall and sky/radio LaBelle investigates tensions and potentials inherent in mo...

Basic semantics of product sounds

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Özcan Vieira, E.; Van Egmond, R.

2012-01-01

Product experience is a result of sensory and semantic experiences with product properties. In this paper, we focus on the semantic attributes of product sounds and explore the basic components for product sound related semantics using a semantic differential paradigmand factor analysis. With two

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Undergraduate Clinical Education Environment Measure (UCEEM).

Science.gov (United States)

Strand, Pia; Sjöborg, Karolina; Stalmeijer, Renée; Wichmann-Hansen, Gitte; Jakobsson, Ulf; Edgren, Gudrun

2013-12-01

There is a paucity of instruments designed to evaluate the multiple dimensions of the workplace as an educational environment for undergraduate medical students. The aim was to develop and psychometrically evaluate an instrument to measure how undergraduate medical students perceive the clinical workplace environment, based on workplace learning theories and empirical findings. Development of the instrument relied on established standards including theoretical and empirical grounding, systematic item development and expert review at various stages to ensure content validity. Qualitative and quantitative methods were employed using a series of steps from conceptualization through psychometric analysis of scores in a Swedish medical student population. The final result was a 25-item instrument with two overarching dimensions, experiential learning and social participation, and four subscales that coincided well with theory and empirical findings: Opportunities to learn in and through work & quality of supervision; Preparedness for student entry; Workplace interaction patterns & student inclusion; and Equal treatment. Evidence from various sources supported content validity, construct validity and reliability of the instrument. The Undergraduate Clinical Education Environment Measure represents a valid, reliable and feasible multidimensional instrument for evaluation of the clinical workplace as a learning environment for undergraduate medical students. Further validation in different populations using various psychometric methods is needed.

Fourth sound of holographic superfluids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yarom, Amos

2009-01-01

We compute fourth sound for superfluids dual to a charged scalar and a gauge field in an AdS 4 background. For holographic superfluids with condensates that have a large scaling dimension (greater than approximately two), we find that fourth sound approaches first sound at low temperatures. For condensates that a have a small scaling dimension it exhibits non-conformal behavior at low temperatures which may be tied to the non-conformal behavior of the order parameter of the superfluid. We show that by introducing an appropriate scalar potential, conformal invariance can be enforced at low temperatures.

Cross-Modal Associations between Sounds and Drink Tastes/Textures: A Study with Spontaneous Production of Sound-Symbolic Words.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakamoto, Maki; Watanabe, Junji

2016-03-01

Many languages have a word class whose speech sounds are linked to sensory experiences. Several recent studies have demonstrated cross-modal associations (or correspondences) between sounds and gustatory sensations by asking participants to match predefined sound-symbolic words (e.g., "maluma/takete") with the taste/texture of foods. Here, we further explore cross-modal associations using the spontaneous production of words and semantic ratings of sensations. In the experiment, after drinking liquids, participants were asked to express their taste/texture using Japanese sound-symbolic words, and at the same time, to evaluate it in terms of criteria expressed by adjectives. Because the Japanese language has a large vocabulary of sound-symbolic words, and Japanese people frequently use them to describe taste/texture, analyzing a variety of Japanese sound-symbolic words spontaneously produced to express taste/textures might enable us to explore the mechanism of taste/texture categorization. A hierarchical cluster analysis based on the relationship between linguistic sounds and taste/texture evaluations revealed the structure of sensation categories. The results indicate that an emotional evaluation like pleasant/unpleasant is the primary cluster in gustation. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Toward a consensus definition of pathological video-gaming: a systematic review of psychometric assessment tools.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Daniel L; Haagsma, Maria C; Delfabbro, Paul H; Gradisar, Michael; Griffiths, Mark D

2013-04-01

Pathological video-gaming, or its proposed DSM-V classification of "Internet Use Disorder", is of increasing interest to scholars and practitioners in allied health disciplines. This systematic review was designed to evaluate the standards in pathological video-gaming instrumentation, according to Cicchetti (1994) and Groth-Marnat's (2009) criteria and guidelines for sound psychometric assessment. A total of 63 quantitative studies, including eighteen instruments and representing 58,415 participants, were evaluated. Results indicated that reviewed instrumentation may be broadly characterized as inconsistent. Strengths of available measures include: (i) short length and ease of scoring, (ii) excellent internal consistency and convergent validity, and (iii) potentially adequate data for development of standardized norms for adolescent populations. However, key limitations included: (a) inconsistent coverage of core addiction indicators, (b) varying cut-off scores to indicate clinical status, (c) a lack of a temporal dimension, (d) untested or inconsistent dimensionality, and (e) inadequate data on predictive validity and inter-rater reliability. An emerging consensus suggests that pathological video-gaming is commonly defined by (1) withdrawal, (2) loss of control, and (3) conflict. It is concluded that a unified approach to assessment of pathological video-gaming is needed. A synthesis of extant research efforts by meta-analysis may be difficult in the context of several divergent approaches to assessment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Fast Algorithm of Cartographic Sounding Selection

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

SUI Haigang; HUA Li; ZHAO Haitao; ZHANG Yongli

2005-01-01

An effective strategy and framework that adequately integrate the automated and manual processes for fast cartographic sounding selection is presented. The important submarine topographic features are extracted for important soundings selection, and an improved "influence circle" algorithm is introduced for sounding selection. For automatic configuration of soundings distribution pattern, a special algorithm considering multi-factors is employed. A semi-automatic method for solving the ambiguous conflicts is described. On the basis of the algorithms and strategies a system named HGIS for fast cartographic sounding selection is developed and applied in Chinese Marine Safety Administration Bureau (CMSAB). The application experiments show that the system is effective and reliable. At last some conclusions and the future work are given.

Counselor Competence, Performance Assessment, and Program Evaluation: Using Psychometric Instruments

Science.gov (United States)

Tate, Kevin A.; Bloom, Margaret L.; Tassara, Marcel H.; Caperton, William

2014-01-01

Psychometric instruments have been underutilized by counselor educators in performance assessment and program evaluation efforts. As such, we conducted a review of the literature that revealed 41 instruments fit for such efforts. We described and critiqued these instruments along four dimensions--"Target Domain," "Format,"…

Research and Implementation of Heart Sound Denoising

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Feng; Wang, Yutai; Wang, Yanxiang

Heart sound is one of the most important signals. However, the process of getting heart sound signal can be interfered with many factors outside. Heart sound is weak electric signal and even weak external noise may lead to the misjudgment of pathological and physiological information in this signal, thus causing the misjudgment of disease diagnosis. As a result, it is a key to remove the noise which is mixed with heart sound. In this paper, a more systematic research and analysis which is involved in heart sound denoising based on matlab has been made. The study of heart sound denoising based on matlab firstly use the powerful image processing function of matlab to transform heart sound signals with noise into the wavelet domain through wavelet transform and decomposition these signals in muli-level. Then for the detail coefficient, soft thresholding is made using wavelet transform thresholding to eliminate noise, so that a signal denoising is significantly improved. The reconstructed signals are gained with stepwise coefficient reconstruction for the processed detail coefficient. Lastly, 50HZ power frequency and 35 Hz mechanical and electrical interference signals are eliminated using a notch filter.

PULSAR.MAKING VISIBLE THE SOUND OF STARS

OpenAIRE

Lega, Ferran

2015-01-01

[EN] Pulsar, making visible the sound of stars is a comunication based on a sound Installation raised as a site-specific project to show the hidden abilities of sound to generate images and patterns on the matter, using the acoustic science of cymatics. The objective of this communication will show people how through abstract and intangible sounds from celestial orbs of cosmos (radio waves generated by electromagnetic pulses from the rotation of neutrón stars), we can create ar...

7 CFR 29.2298 - Sound.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Sound. 29.2298 Section 29.2298 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... INSPECTION Standards Official Standard Grades for Virginia Fire-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Type 21) § 29.2298 Sound...

Cognitive Control of Involuntary Distraction by Deviant Sounds

Science.gov (United States)

Parmentier, Fabrice B. R.; Hebrero, Maria

2013-01-01

It is well established that a task-irrelevant sound (deviant sound) departing from an otherwise repetitive sequence of sounds (standard sounds) elicits an involuntary capture of attention and orienting response toward the deviant stimulus, resulting in the lengthening of response times in an ongoing task. Some have argued that this type of…

Assessing organizational climate: psychometric properties of the CLIOR Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Peña-Suárez, Elsa; Muñiz, José; Campillo-Álvarez, Angela; Fonseca-Pedrero, Eduardo; García-Cueto, Eduardo

2013-02-01

Organizational climate is the set of perceptions shared by workers who occupy the same workplace. The main goal of this study is to develop a new organizational climate scale and to determine its psychometric properties. The sample consisted of 3,163 Health Service workers. A total of 88.7% of participants worked in hospitals, and 11.3% in primary care; 80% were women and 20% men, with a mean age of 51.9 years (SD= 6.28). The proposed scale consists of 50 Likert-type items, with an alpha coefficient of 0.97, and an essentially one-dimensional structure. The discrimination indexes of the items are greater than 0.40, and the items show no differential item functioning in relation to participants' sex. A short version of the scale was developed, made up of 15 items, with discrimination indexes higher than 0.40, an alpha coefficient of 0.94, and its structure was clearly one-dimensional. These results indicate that the new scale has adequate psychometric properties, allowing a reliable and valid assessment of organizational climate.

Eliciting Sound Memories.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Anna

2015-11-01

Sensory experiences are often considered triggers of memory, most famously a little French cake dipped in lime blossom tea. Sense memory can also be evoked in public history research through techniques of elicitation. In this article I reflect on different social science methods for eliciting sound memories such as the use of sonic prompts, emplaced interviewing, and sound walks. I include examples from my research on medical listening. The article considers the relevance of this work for the conduct of oral histories, arguing that such methods "break the frame," allowing room for collaborative research connections and insights into the otherwise unarticulatable.

Musical Sounds, Motor Resonance, and Detectable Agency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacques Launay

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the paradox that while human music making evolved and spread in an environment where it could only occur in groups, it is now often apparently an enjoyable asocial phenomenon. Here I argue that music is, by definition, sound that we believe has been in some way organized by a human agent, meaning that listening to any musical sounds can be a social experience. There are a number of distinct mechanisms by which we might associate musical sound with agency. While some of these mechanisms involve learning motor associations with that sound, it is also possible to have a more direct relationship from musical sound to agency, and the relative importance of these potentially independent mechanisms should be further explored. Overall, I conclude that the apparent paradox of solipsistic musical engagement is in fact unproblematic, because the way that we perceive and experience musical sounds is inherently social.

Hearing abilities and sound reception of broadband sounds in an adult Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus).

Science.gov (United States)

Mooney, T Aran; Yang, Wei-Cheng; Yu, Hsin-Yi; Ketten, Darlene R; Jen, I-Fan

2015-08-01

While odontocetes do not have an external pinna that guides sound to the middle ear, they are considered to receive sound through specialized regions of the head and lower jaw. Yet odontocetes differ in the shape of the lower jaw suggesting that hearing pathways may vary between species, potentially influencing hearing directionality and noise impacts. This work measured the audiogram and received sensitivity of a Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) in an effort to comparatively examine how this species receives sound. Jaw hearing thresholds were lowest (most sensitive) at two locations along the anterior, midline region of the lower jaw (the lower jaw tip and anterior part of the throat). Responses were similarly low along a more posterior region of the lower mandible, considered the area of best hearing in bottlenose dolphins. Left- and right-side differences were also noted suggesting possible left-right asymmetries in sound reception or differences in ear sensitivities. The results indicate best hearing pathways may vary between the Risso's dolphin and other odontocetes measured. This animal received sound well, supporting a proposed throat pathway. For Risso's dolphins in particular, good ventral hearing would support their acoustic ecology by facilitating echo-detection from their proposed downward oriented echolocation beam.

Visualizing Sound Directivity via Smartphone Sensors

OpenAIRE

Hawley, Scott H.; McClain Jr, Robert E.

2017-01-01

We present a fast, simple method for automated data acquisition and visualization of sound directivity, made convenient and accessible via a smartphone app, "Polar Pattern Plotter." The app synchronizes measurements of sound volume with the phone's angular orientation obtained from either compass, gyroscope or accelerometer sensors and produces a graph and exportable data file. It is generalizable to various sound sources and receivers via the use of an input-jack-adaptor to supplant the smar...

Effects of sounds of locomotion on speech perception

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matz Larsson

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Human locomotion typically creates noise, a possible consequence of which is the masking of sound signals originating in the surroundings. When walking side by side, people often subconsciously synchronize their steps. The neurophysiological and evolutionary background of this behavior is unclear. The present study investigated the potential of sound created by walking to mask perception of speech and compared the masking produced by walking in step with that produced by unsynchronized walking. The masking sound (footsteps on gravel and the target sound (speech were presented through the same speaker to 15 normal-hearing subjects. The original recorded walking sound was modified to mimic the sound of two individuals walking in pace or walking out of synchrony. The participants were instructed to adjust the sound level of the target sound until they could just comprehend the speech signal ("just follow conversation" or JFC level when presented simultaneously with synchronized or unsynchronized walking sound at 40 dBA, 50 dBA, 60 dBA, or 70 dBA. Synchronized walking sounds produced slightly less masking of speech than did unsynchronized sound. The median JFC threshold in the synchronized condition was 38.5 dBA, while the corresponding value for the unsynchronized condition was 41.2 dBA. Combined results at all sound pressure levels showed an improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR for synchronized footsteps; the median difference was 2.7 dB and the mean difference was 1.2 dB [P < 0.001, repeated-measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA]. The difference was significant for masker levels of 50 dBA and 60 dBA, but not for 40 dBA or 70 dBA. This study provides evidence that synchronized walking may reduce the masking potential of footsteps.

Light aircraft sound transmission studies - Noise reduction model

Science.gov (United States)

Atwal, Mahabir S.; Heitman, Karen E.; Crocker, Malcolm J.

1987-01-01

Experimental tests conducted on the fuselage of a single-engine Piper Cherokee light aircraft suggest that the cabin interior noise can be reduced by increasing the transmission loss of the dominant sound transmission paths and/or by increasing the cabin interior sound absorption. The validity of using a simple room equation model to predict the cabin interior sound-pressure level for different fuselage and exterior sound field conditions is also presented. The room equation model is based on the sound power flow balance for the cabin space and utilizes the measured transmitted sound intensity data. The room equation model predictions were considered good enough to be used for preliminary acoustical design studies.

THE SOUND OF CINEMA: TECHNOLOGY AND CREATIVITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Poznin Vitaly F.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Technology is a means of creating any product. However, in the onscreen art, it is one of the elements creating the art space of film. Considering the main stages of the development of cinematography, this article explores the influence of technology of sound recording on the creating a special artistic and physical space of film (the beginning of the use a sound in movies; the mastering the artistic means of an audiovisual work; the expansion of the spatial characteristics for the screen sound; and the sound in a modern cinema. Today, thanks to new technologies, the sound in a cinema forms a specific quasirealistic landscape, greatly enhancing the impact on the viewer of the virtual screen images.

A taste for words and sounds: a case of lexical-gustatory and sound-gustatory synesthesia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Colizoli, O.; Murre, J.M.J.; Rouw, R.

2013-01-01

Gustatory forms of synesthesia involve the automatic and consistent experience of tastes that are triggered by non-taste related inducers. We present a case of lexical-gustatory and sound-gustatory synesthesia within one individual, SC. Most words and a subset of non-linguistic sounds induce the

Parent Behavior Importance Questionnaire-Revised: Scale Development and Psychometric Characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Mowder, Barbara A.; Shamah, Renee

2011-01-01

This paper reports the scale development and psychometric characteristics of the Parent Behavior Importance Questionnaire-Revised (PBIQ-R). To develop this measure, 502 subject matter experts (SMEs) evaluated 91 parenting behaviors in terms of parenting behavior specificity (e.g., bonding, discipline), importance level, and appropriateness for…

Comparing adaptive procedures for estimating the psychometric function for an auditory gap detection task.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Yi

2013-05-01

A subject's sensitivity to a stimulus variation can be studied by estimating the psychometric function. Generally speaking, three parameters of the psychometric function are of interest: the performance threshold, the slope of the function, and the rate at which attention lapses occur. In the present study, three psychophysical procedures were used to estimate the three-parameter psychometric function for an auditory gap detection task. These were an up-down staircase (up-down) procedure, an entropy-based Bayesian (entropy) procedure, and an updated maximum-likelihood (UML) procedure. Data collected from four young, normal-hearing listeners showed that while all three procedures provided similar estimates of the threshold parameter, the up-down procedure performed slightly better in estimating the slope and lapse rate for 200 trials of data collection. When the lapse rate was increased by mixing in random responses for the three adaptive procedures, the larger lapse rate was especially detrimental to the efficiency of the up-down procedure, and the UML procedure provided better estimates of the threshold and slope than did the other two procedures.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Malay Satisfaction with Life Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Swami, Viren; Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas

2009-01-01

The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is one of the most widely used scales for the measurement of subjective well-being across the globe, but no satisfactory version exists for use among Malay-speaking populations. The present study reports on the translation of a new Malay SWLS and examines its psychometric properties in a community sample of…

Screening Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) in children: Outcomes from utilitarian versus specialist psychometrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Dovey, Terence M; Aldridge, Victoria K; Martin, Clarissa I; Wilken, Markus; Meyer, Caroline

2016-12-01

This study assessed the specificity and sensitivity of two commonly used psychometric methods to assess ARFID in children. To achieve this, a sample of 329 mothers and one father completed the Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale (BPFAS) and the Child Food Neophobia Scale (CFNS). A Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis indicated that both measures were able to successfully differentiate a known clinical sample from those of typically developing population. Although the BPFAS was more accurate at differentiating ARFID from the general population, the CFNS was acceptable and on some metrics better than its longer counterpart. The ability of a food neophobia scale to differentiate clinical and population samples, and detect gradation of food avoidance within the population sample, suggests that the multitude of psychometric measures available may be measuring similar constructs. Therefore, confidence can be expected in cross-site comparisons despite each using different psychometric measures of food avoidance in children. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Psychometric properties evaluation of a new ergonomics-related job factors questionnaire developed for nursing workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Coluci, Marina Zambon Orpinelli; Alexandre, Neusa Maria Costa

2014-11-01

The objectives of this study were to develop a questionnaire that evaluates the perception of nursing workers to job factors that may contribute to musculoskeletal symptoms, and to evaluate its psychometric properties. Internationally recommended methodology was followed: construction of domains, items and the instrument as a whole, content validity, and pre-test. Psychometric properties were evaluated among 370 nursing workers. Construct validity was analyzed by the factorial analysis, known-groups technique, and convergent validity. Reliability was assessed through internal consistency and stability. Results indicated satisfactory fit indices during confirmatory factor analysis, significant difference (p office workers, and moderate correlations between the new questionnaire and Numeric Pain Scale, SF-36 and WRFQ. Cronbach's alpha was close to 0.90 and ICC values ranged from 0.64 to 0.76. Therefore, results indicated that the new questionnaire had good psychometric properties for use in studies involving nursing workers. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

7 CFR 29.2550 - Sound.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Sound. 29.2550 Section 29.2550 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing...-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Types 22, 23, and Foreign Type 96) § 29.2550 Sound. Free of damage. [37 FR 13626...

7 CFR 29.3546 - Sound.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Sound. 29.3546 Section 29.3546 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Type 95) § 29.3546 Sound. Free of damage. [30 FR 9207, July 23, 1965. Redesignated at 49 FR 16759, Apr...

7 CFR 29.1058 - Sound.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Sound. 29.1058 Section 29.1058 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Type 92) § 29.1058 Sound. Free of damage. [42 FR 21092, Apr. 25, 1977. Redesignated at 47 FR 51721, Nov...

7 CFR 29.3056 - Sound.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Sound. 29.3056 Section 29.3056 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Sound. Free of damage. [24 FR 8771, Oct. 29, 1959. Redesignated at 47 FR 51722, Nov. 17, 1982, and at 49...

Sound Settlements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Peder Duelund; Hornyanszky, Elisabeth Dalholm; Larsen, Jacob Norvig

2013-01-01

Præsentation af projektresultater fra Interreg forskningen Sound Settlements om udvikling af bæredygtighed i det almene boligbyggerier i København, Malmø, Helsingborg og Lund samt europæiske eksempler på best practice...

Are current psychometric tools suitable for measuring outcomes of diabetes education?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eigenmann, C. A.; Colagiuri, R.; Skinner, T. C.

2009-01-01

Aims To critically appraise the suitability, validity, reliability, feasibility and sensitivity to change of available psychometric tools for measuring the education outcomes identified in the (Australian) National Consensus on Outcomes and Indicators for Diabetes Patient Education. Methods Poten...

Psychometric evaluation of the Danish and Swedish Satisfaction with Life Scale in first episode psychosis patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hochwälder, Jacek; Mattsson, Maria; Holmqvist, Ragnhild

2012-01-01

PURPOSE: To psychometrically evaluate the Satisfaction with Life Scale in two cohorts of first-episode psychosis patients in the Danish National Schizophrenia Project and in the Swedish Parachute Project. METHOD: Four properties of the Satisfaction with Life Scale were examined in the Danish cohort....... The dimensions were confirmed in the Swedish sample. CONCLUSION: The Satisfaction with Life Scale shows satisfactory psychometric properties and seems valid and useful among first-episode psychosis patients....

Improving Sound Systems by Electrical Means

OpenAIRE

Schneider, Henrik; Andersen, Michael A. E.; Knott, Arnold

2015-01-01

The availability and flexibility of audio services on various digital platforms have created a high demand for a large range of sound systems. The fundamental components of sound systems such as docking stations, sound bars and wireless mobile speakers consists of a power supply, amplifiers and transducers. Due to historical reasons the design of each of these components are commonly handled separately which are indeed limiting the full performance potential of such systems. To state some exa...

Juvenile Pacific Salmon in Puget Sound

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Fresh, Kurt L

2006-01-01

Puget sound salmon (genus Oncorhynchus) spawn in freshwater and feed, grow and mature in marine waters, During their transition from freshwater to saltwater, juvenile salmon occupy nearshore ecosystems in Puget Sound...

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Professional Practice Environment (PPE) scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Erickson, Jeanette Ives; Duffy, Mary E; Gibbons, M Patricia; Fitzmaurice, Joan; Ditomassi, Marianne; Jones, Dorothy

2004-01-01

To describe the Professional Practice Environment (PPE) scale, its conceptual development and psychometric evaluation, and its uses in measuring eight characteristics of the professional practice environment in an acute care setting. The 38-item PPE Scale was validated on a sample of 849 professional practice staff at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Psychometric analysis included: item analysis, principal components analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation and Kaiser normalization, and internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Eight components were shown, confirming the original conceptually derived model's structure and accounting for 61% of explained variance. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the eight PPE subscales ranged from .78 to .88. Findings showed the 38-item PPE Scale was reliable and valid for use in health outcomes research to examine the professional practice environment of staff working in acute care settings.

Physics of thermo-acoustic sound generation

Science.gov (United States)

Daschewski, M.; Boehm, R.; Prager, J.; Kreutzbruck, M.; Harrer, A.

2013-09-01

We present a generalized analytical model of thermo-acoustic sound generation based on the analysis of thermally induced energy density fluctuations and their propagation into the adjacent matter. The model provides exact analytical prediction of the sound pressure generated in fluids and solids; consequently, it can be applied to arbitrary thermal power sources such as thermophones, plasma firings, laser beams, and chemical reactions. Unlike existing approaches, our description also includes acoustic near-field effects and sound-field attenuation. Analytical results are compared with measurements of sound pressures generated by thermo-acoustic transducers in air for frequencies up to 1 MHz. The tested transducers consist of titanium and indium tin oxide coatings on quartz glass and polycarbonate substrates. The model reveals that thermo-acoustic efficiency increases linearly with the supplied thermal power and quadratically with thermal excitation frequency. Comparison of the efficiency of our thermo-acoustic transducers with those of piezoelectric-based airborne ultrasound transducers using impulse excitation showed comparable sound pressure values. The present results show that thermo-acoustic transducers can be applied as broadband, non-resonant, high-performance ultrasound sources.

The Early Years: Becoming Attuned to Sound

Science.gov (United States)

Ashbrook, Peggy

2014-01-01

Exploration of making and changing sounds is part of the first-grade performance expectation 1-PS4-1, "Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate" (NGSS Lead States 2013, p. 10; see Internet Resource). Early learning experiences build toward…

A Lexical Analysis of Environmental Sound Categories

Science.gov (United States)

Houix, Olivier; Lemaitre, Guillaume; Misdariis, Nicolas; Susini, Patrick; Urdapilleta, Isabel

2012-01-01

In this article we report on listener categorization of meaningful environmental sounds. A starting point for this study was the phenomenological taxonomy proposed by Gaver (1993b). In the first experimental study, 15 participants classified 60 environmental sounds and indicated the properties shared by the sounds in each class. In a second…

RASS sound speed profile (SSP) measurements for use in outdoor sound propagation models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bradley, S G [Physics Department, University of Auckland (New Zealand); Huenerbein, S v; Waddington, D [Research Institute for the Built and Human Environment, University of Salford (United Kingdom)], E-mail: s.vonhunerbein@salford.ac.uk

2008-05-01

The performance of outdoor sound propagation models depends to a great extent on meteorological input parameters. In an effort to improve speed and accuracy, model output synthetic sound speed profiles (SSP) are commonly used depending on meteorological classification schemes. In order to use SSP measured by RASS in outdoor sound propagation models, the complex profiles need to be simplified. In this paper we extend an investigation on the spatial and temporal characteristics of the meteorological data set required to yield adequate comparisons between models and field measurements, so that the models can be fairly judged. Vertical SSP from RASS, SODAR wind profiles as well as mast wind and temperature data from a flat terrain site and measured over a period of several months are used to evaluate applicability of the logarithmic approximation for a stability classification scheme proposed by the HARMONOISE working group.

RASS sound speed profile (SSP) measurements for use in outdoor sound propagation models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bradley, S G; Huenerbein, S v; Waddington, D

2008-01-01

The performance of outdoor sound propagation models depends to a great extent on meteorological input parameters. In an effort to improve speed and accuracy, model output synthetic sound speed profiles (SSP) are commonly used depending on meteorological classification schemes. In order to use SSP measured by RASS in outdoor sound propagation models, the complex profiles need to be simplified. In this paper we extend an investigation on the spatial and temporal characteristics of the meteorological data set required to yield adequate comparisons between models and field measurements, so that the models can be fairly judged. Vertical SSP from RASS, SODAR wind profiles as well as mast wind and temperature data from a flat terrain site and measured over a period of several months are used to evaluate applicability of the logarithmic approximation for a stability classification scheme proposed by the HARMONOISE working group

Measuring safety culture in Dutch primary care: psychometric characteristics of the SCOPE-PC questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Verbakel, Natasha J; Zwart, Dorien L M; Langelaan, Maaike; Verheij, Theo J M; Wagner, Cordula

2013-09-17

Patient safety has been a priority in primary healthcare in the last years. The prevailing culture is seen as an important condition for patient safety in practice and several tools to measure patient safety culture have therefore been developed. Although Dutch primary care consists of different professions, such as general practice, dental care, dietetics, physiotherapy and midwifery, a safety culture questionnaire was only available for general practices. The purpose of this study was to modify and validate this existing questionnaire to a generic questionnaire for all professions in Dutch primary care. A validated Dutch questionnaire for general practices was modified to make it usable for all Dutch primary care professions. Subsequently, this questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 2400 practices from eleven primary care professions. The instrument's factor structure, reliability and validity were examined using confirmatory and explorative factor analyses. 921 questionnaires were returned. Of these, 615 were eligible for factor analysis. The resulting SCOPE-PC questionnaire consisted of seven dimensions: 'open communication and learning from errors', 'handover and teamwork', 'adequate procedures and working conditions', 'patient safety management', 'support and fellowship', 'intention to report events' and 'organisational learning' with a total of 41 items. All dimensions had good reliability with Cronbach's alphas ranging from 0.70-0.90, and the questionnaire had a good construct validity. The SCOPE-PC questionnaire has sound psychometric characteristics for use by the different professions in Dutch primary care to gain insight in their safety culture.

Psychometric Analysis of Role Conflict and Ambiguity Scales in Academia

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Anwar; Yusoff, Rosman Bin Md.; Khan, Muhammad Muddassar; Yasir, Muhammad; Khan, Faisal

2014-01-01

A comprehensive Psychometric Analysis of Rizzo et al.'s (1970) Role Conflict & Ambiguity (RCA) scales were performed after its distribution among 600 academic staff working in six universities of Pakistan. The reliability analysis includes calculation of Cronbach Alpha Coefficients and Inter-Items statistics, whereas validity was determined by…

Psychometric Properties of the Revised Teachers' Attitude toward Inclusion Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Monsen, Jeremy J.; Ewing, Donna L.; Boyle, James

2015-01-01

This paper presents the psychometric properties of a questionnaire measure that updates and extends Larrivee and Cook's (1979) Opinions Relative to Mainstreaming Scale in terms of structure, terminology, and language. The revised scale was tested using a sample of 106 teachers based in inclusive mainstream schools. Using Principal Component…

Differential presence of anthropogenic compounds dissolved in the marine waters of Puget Sound, WA and Barkley Sound, BC.

Science.gov (United States)

Keil, Richard; Salemme, Keri; Forrest, Brittany; Neibauer, Jaqui; Logsdon, Miles

2011-11-01

Organic compounds were evaluated in March 2010 at 22 stations in Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island Canada and at 66 locations in Puget Sound. Of 37 compounds, 15 were xenobiotics, 8 were determined to have an anthropogenic imprint over natural sources, and 13 were presumed to be of natural or mixed origin. The three most frequently detected compounds were salicyclic acid, vanillin and thymol. The three most abundant compounds were diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), ethyl vanillin and benzaldehyde (∼600 n g L(-1) on average). Concentrations of xenobiotics were 10-100 times higher in Puget Sound relative to Barkley Sound. Three compound couplets are used to illustrate the influence of human activity on marine waters; vanillin and ethyl vanillin, salicylic acid and acetylsalicylic acid, and cinnamaldehyde and cinnamic acid. Ratios indicate that anthropogenic activities are the predominant source of these chemicals in Puget Sound. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Hurlbert Index of Sexual Assertiveness: a study of psychometric properties in a Spanish sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos-Iglesias, Pablo; Sierra, Juan Carlos

2010-08-01

The study analyzed psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the Hurlbert Index of Sexual Assertiveness in a Spanish sample of 400 men and 453 women who had had a partner for the last 6 mo. or longer at the time of the study. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested a two-factor solution with the factors Initiation and No shyness/Refusal. Internal consistency values for total scores were .87 and .83 for the factors, respectively. Convergent validity tests were also satisfactory. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the Spanish version of the scale has appropriate psychometric properties.

The Textile Form of Sound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bendixen, Cecilie

2010-01-01

The aim of this article is to shed light on a small part of the research taking place in the textile field. The article describes an ongoing PhD research project on textiles and sound and outlines the project's two main questions: how sound can be shaped by textiles and conversely how textiles can...

Measuring the 'complexity' of sound

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

cate that specialized regions of the brain analyse different types of sounds [1]. Music, ... The left panel of figure 1 shows examples of sound–pressure waveforms from the nat- ... which is shown in the right panels in the spectrographic representation using a 45 Hz .... Plot of SFM(t) vs. time for different environmental sounds.

Constraints on decay of environmental sound memory in adult rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakai, Masashi

2006-11-27

When adult rats are pretreated with a 48-h-long 'repetitive nonreinforced sound exposure', performance in two-sound discriminative operant conditioning transiently improves. We have already proven that this 'sound exposure-enhanced discrimination' is dependent upon enhancement of the perceptual capacity of the auditory cortex. This study investigated principles governing decay of sound exposure-enhanced discrimination decay. Sound exposure-enhanced discrimination disappeared within approximately 72 h if animals were deprived of environmental sounds after sound exposure, and that shortened to less than approximately 60 h if they were exposed to environmental sounds in the animal room. Sound-deprivation itself exerted no clear effects. These findings suggest that the memory of a passively exposed behaviorally irrelevant sound signal does not merely pass along the intrinsic lifetime but also gets deteriorated by other incoming signals.

Game Sound from Behind the Sofa

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garner, Tom Alexander

2013-01-01

The central concern of this thesis is upon the processes by which human beings perceive sound and experience emotions within a computer video gameplay context. The potential of quantitative sound parameters to evoke and modulate emotional experience is explored, working towards the development...... that provide additional support of the hypothetical frameworks: an ecological process of fear, a fear-related model of virtual and real acoustic ecologies, and an embodied virtual acoustic ecology framework. It is intended that this thesis will clearly support more effective and efficient sound design...... practices and also improve awareness of the capacity of sound to generate significant emotional experiences during computer video gameplay. It is further hoped that this thesis will elucidate the potential of biometrics/psychophysiology to allow game designers to better understand the player and to move...

33 CFR 67.20-10 - Sound signal.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Sound signal. 67.20-10 Section 67... AIDS TO NAVIGATION ON ARTIFICIAL ISLANDS AND FIXED STRUCTURES Class âAâ Requirements § 67.20-10 Sound signal. (a) The owner of a Class “A” structure shall: (1) Install a sound signal that has a rated range...