Date of Award

1-1-1985

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counseling Psychology & Community Services

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to construct four relatively independent subscales measuring psychological correlates of brain laterality, namely, control-spontaneity, anxiety, analytic-impressionistic cognition, and verbal-nonverbal cognition. The selected trait dimensions, and the items to tap them, were derived largely from Tucker's (1981) and Tucker and Williamson's (1984) discussions of asymmetric cognitive-attentional and affective processes and from Shapiro's (1965) clinical formulation of obsessive and hysteric personality styles.A Deductive-Inductive (Burisch, 1978, 1984) test construction strategy was used, involving both rational and statistical procedures. On the basis of rational judgment, a priori definitions of the four trait constructs were articulated and a large pool of 7-point rating scale items was developed. An analysis of internal consistency was conducted on results from two samples (N = 183 and N = 99), thereby reducing the original pool of 257 items to 99 items. Both samples consisted of student volunteers in undergraduate psychology courses at the University of North Dakota during Spring Semester, 1984.The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) was administered to assess the operation of response bias. Preliminary validation data were obtained by administering the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1963), the Hemispheric Preference Questionnaire (HPQ) (Zenhausern, 1978), the Trait Anxiety Scale (Spielberger, 1968), and the Inventory of Learning Processes (ILP) (Schmeck, Ribich, & Ramanaiah, 1977). Sex and handedness differences were also examined.The findings provide support for the use of rational judgment and content relevance in test construction procedures. Four satisfactorily independent, internally consistent, homogeneous, and discriminating subscales were developed. Stylistic responding was adequately suppressed. A correlational analysis of results on the subscales and the EPI, HPQ, and Trait Anxiety Scale provided preliminary validation of the trait constructs under investigation. Results on the ILP warrant further study. With the possible exception of anxiety, the findings are consistent with Tucker's neuropsychological model of asymmetric and interrelated cognitive and affective psychological dimensions. Evidence suggestive of a primary, underlying hysteric-obsessive psychological dimension was obtained.

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