The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is a psychological inventory based on a 4-point Likert scale and consists of 40 questions on a self-report basis. The STAI measures two types of anxiety - state anxiety, or anxiety about an event, and trait anxiety, or anxiety level as a personal characteristic. Higher scores are positively correlated with higher levels of anxiety. Its most current revision is Form Y and it is offered in 12 languages. [1]
It was developed by psychologists, Charles Spielberger, R.L. Gorsuch, and R.E. Lushene. Their goal in creating the inventory was to create a set of questions that could be applied towards assessing different types of anxiety. This would be a new development because all other questionnaires focused on one type of anxiety at the time.
Spielberger also created other questionnaires, like the STAI, that assessed other emotions. These are the State-Trait Anger Scale (STAS), State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC).
The STAI can be utilized across a range of socio-economic statuses and requires a sixth grade reading level. It is used in diagnoses, in both clinical and other medical settings, as well as in research and differentiating between anxiety and depression.
GHQ
The GHQ12 is a measure of current mental health. It
focuses on two major areas – the inability to carry out
normal functions and the appearance of new and
distressing experiences.
Originally developed as a 60-item instrument, a range
of shortened versions of the questionnaire including
the GHQ-30, GHQ-28, GHQ-20 and GHQ-12 are now
available. The questionnaire asks whether the
respondent has experienced a particular symptom or
behaviour recently. Each item is rated on a four-point
scale.
Psychometric properties:
Internal consistency has been reported in a range of
studies using Cronbach’s Alpha, with correlations
ranging from 0.77 to -0.93.
The 12 item version has been shown to be as
effective as the 30 item version.
Digit span
MEMORY SPAN
In psychology and neuroscience, memory span is the longest list of items that a person can repeat back in correct order immediately after presentation on 50% of all trials. Items may include words, numbers, or letters. The task is known as digit span when numbers are used. Memory span is a common measure of short-term memory. It is also a component of cognitive ability tests such as the WAIS. Backward memory span is a more challenging variation which involves recalling items in reverse order.
The Digit span test of the WAIS – R (Wechsler 1981) asks subjects to repeat digits. The length of the digit sequence is increased across trials until there has been a failure across two consecutive trials of a particular length. The average number of digits that normal adults can repeat is five to seven. In the Digit Span forward test is often described as attest of attention. Yet performance on this test is strongly associated with short term memory, Working Memory and the language requirement of repetition. Performance is dependent on the ability to hold a sting of items in mind for a short period of time until a response is requested. In the Digit span Backward test subjects are asked to repeat digits in reverse. This test requires attentional focus and controlled effort.
MEMORY SPAN
In psychology and neuroscience, memory span is the longest list of items that a person can repeat back in correct order immediately after presentation on 50% of all trials. Items may include words, numbers, or letters. The task is known as digit span when numbers are used. Memory span is a common measure of short-term memory. It is also a component of cognitive ability tests such as the WAIS. Backward memory span is a more challenging variation which involves recalling items in reverse order.
Ebbinghaus was determined to show that higher mental processes could actually be studied using experimentation, which was in opposition in the popular held thought of the time. To control for most potentially confounding variables, Ebbinghaus wanted to use simple acoustic encoding and maintenance rehearsal for which a list of words could have been used. As learning would be affected by prior knowledge and understanding, he needed something that could be easily memorized but which had no prior cognitive associations. Easily formable associations with regular words would interfere with his results, so he used items that would later be called “nonsense syllables” (also known as the CVC trigram). A nonsense syllable is a consonant-vowel-consonant combination, where the consonant does not repeat and the syllable does not have prior meaning. BOL (sounds like ‘Ball’) and DOT (already a word) would then not be allowed. However, syllables such as DAX, BOK, and YAT would all be acceptable (though Ebbinghaus left no examples) . After eliminating the meaning-laden syllables, Ebbinghaus ended up with 2,300 resultant syllables.[3] Once he had created his collection of syllables, he would pull out a number of random syllables from a box and then write them down in a notebook. Then, to the regular sound of a metronome, and with the same voice inflection, he would read out the syllables, and attempt torecall them at the end of the procedure. One investigation alone required 15,000 recitations.
It was later determined that humans impose meaning even on nonsense syllables to make them more meaningful. The nonsense syllable PED (which is the first three letters of the word ‘pedal’) turns out to be less nonsensical than a syllable such as KOJ; the syllables are said to differ in association value.[6] It appears that Ebbinghaus recognized this, and only referred to the strings of syllables as “nonsense” in that the syllables might less likely have a specific meaning and that no attempt to make associations with them for easier retrieval.[3]
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