In this study, self-reports of 34 individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) were compared with proxy ratings from family and providers. Correlations between the ratings of individuals with DD and the proxy raters were low, as were the correlations between family members and providers. In all scales except "cognition," the individual with DD…

Examines the tendency of observers to make less reliable recordings of behavorial events when a calibrating observer is absent. Using four different multicategory systems, 26 experienced observers coded 200 hours of videotaped family interactions. Concludes that observers lapse into a less attentive "set" prior to coding without a…

Four experienced stuttering researchers viewed videodisks of spontaneous speech from chronic stutterers and attempted to locate the precise onset and offset of individual stuttering events. Results showed interjudge disagreements that challenge the reliability and validity of onset and offset judgments. Highly agreed stuttering events were…

Eighteen adolescents and adults with severe/profound intellectual disability were rated by two staff members using the Motivation Assessment Scale to identify variables maintaining their aggressive behaviors. Analysis of interrater reliability indicated that for some individuals the scale may not represent a feasible alternative to more formal…

Reliability analysis of the Motivation Assessment Scale was conducted on subscales completed by staff members working with 47 institutionalized adults with severe to profound mental retardation and self-injurious behavior problems. Internal consistency was found to be superior to interrater reliability. The instrument's internal consistency…

An examination of the extent to which scores on the Stuttering Severity Instrument (SSI) for Children and Adults, Third Edition, accurately reflect 10 judges' observations of stuttering behaviors found that SSI scores obscured the wide range of judges' raw counts and did not accurately reflect the observational data from which they were derived.…

This study tested the interrater reliability of the Modified Ashworth Scale in measuring upper and lower limb spasticity in 34 hemiplegic adult patients examined by 2 physiotherapists and 2 doctors. Findings indicated satisfactory reliability for upper limb spasticity but less satisfactory results for lower limb spasticity. (DB)

Development of the Stereotyped Behavior Scale for adolescents and adults with mental retardation is described. Use with 600 individuals resulted in refinement and a 26-item scale with an internal consistency alpha of 0.88, test-retest reliability of p=0.90, and interrater reliability of p=0.76. (DB)

Reports reliability and validity data on the Unpleasant Events Schedule, a measure of frequency and aversiveness of stressful life events during one month. Nine rational, empirical, and factorial scales were developed and were retained as mutually independent, internally reliable, and tapping dimensions of clinical interest. (NRB)

The study examined the test-retest reliability in unaided and aided sound-field thresholds and the functional gain values derived from these measurements in 24 hearing-impaired adults. Test-retest standard deviations were slightly larger for functional gain than for unaided thresholds. (Author/DB)

In a national survey of 2,963 professional women, the Trauma Symptom Checklist was found to be reliable and to display predictive validity in regard to childhood sexual victimization. Women who reported a sexual abuse history scored significantly higher than did women with no such history on each of the six subscales. (Author/DB)

In this study, 30 judges identified disfluency types they perceived in audiovisually recorded speech stimuli, first individually and then with a partner. Although intrapair and interpair agreement was higher in the partner than the individual condition, agreement for occurrences still averaged below 50 percent. Findings suggest caution in use of…

This study examined intrajudge and interjudge agreement for the Lidcombe Behavioral Data Language (LBDL), a behaviorally based stuttering taxonomy. Ten experienced speech language pathologists and 10 undergraduates applied the LBDL to stuttered speech on two occasions. Intrajudge agreement was high for both groups, but only the experienced judges…

Using data collected through telephone interviews with a national sample of adults, this study searched for evidence as to whether interviewers have stronger effects on the responses given to a wide range of questions by older people than on the responses of younger people. Responses to 30 items for which significant interviewer effects had…

Assessed Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised test-retest stability for 21 psychiatric and neurological patients. Test-retest interval ranged from 2-144 weeks (x=38 weeks). Subtest stability coefficients were highly significant, yet range of gain or loss for any single individual was comparatively large. Gain or loss was associated strongly…