Norms, convergent validity, test-retest reliability, and practice effects for verbal fluency overall performance, clustering, and switching in Spanish-speaking children.

OBJECTIVE: We conducted two empirical studies (in a cross-sectional and a longitudinal design) with the aim at establishing normative data (including norms for strategy use [i.e., clustering and switching strategies] and performance over time), and examining the convergent validity, the test-retest reliability (3-4 wks interval) and the changes in performance with practice (1 year interval) of the different verbal fluency (VF) quantitative and qualitative scores in Spanish-speaking children and adolescents. METHOD: In S1 (n = 620 6- to 15-year-old Spanish-speaking children and adolescents), MANCOVA and Pearson's correlations were employed. In S2 (n = 148 6- to 12-year-old Spanish-speaking children), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), paired t-tests, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were used. RESULTS: S1 results showed an age effect on all VF measures (quantitative and qualitative). The number of switches/clusters was more related to total word productivity and to executive functions (EF) than the mean cluster size. In S2, a significant increase in phonological VF performance was observed on number of switches and word productivity scores from baseline (Time 1) to repeat testing at Time 2. Practice effects were observed at Time 3 on all measures except for semantic and phonological mean cluster size. Test-retest reliability coefficients at Time 2 for number of clusters and switches, but not for mean cluster size, fell in the moderate range, ranging from ICCs .61 to ICCs .81. Test-retest reliability coefficients for total word productivity were higher (ICCs above .80) and stronger when testing as a unity with CFA methods (ϕ=.94, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: These data may be relevant for informing the neuropsychological assessment of spontaneous cognitive flexibility in children with typical development (TD) and those with developmental or acquired disorders.

Convergent validity, academic correlates and age- and SES-based normative data for the d2 Test of attention in children.

The d2, test of attention is one of the most used neuropsychological tests to measure attention in clinical and research settings. To date, no studies have examined neither its convergent and divergent validity in children nor its relationship with academic skills at school age. The aims of the present study were: (1) to examine the convergent and divergent validity of the d2 Test in a non-clinical pediatric population, (2) to explore the relationship between d2 task performance and academic skills (i.e., math, reading and writing abilities) and (3) to develop normative data for Spanish-speaking children (n = 360 8- to 12-year-old children) stratified by age and socioeconomic status (SES). Pearson's correlation and Structural Equation Models (SEM) were used to analyze the d2 Test validity and its relationship with academic skills. A between-subjects factorial MANOVA was used to examine differences among SES (Middle, Low), age (8-10, 11-12), and sex (male, female). Findings revealed a significant relationship between d2 task performance and all attention and executive functions (EF) measures under analysis providing evidence of good convergent validity. Furthermore, SEM results showed that attention has direct effects on math and reading and writing skills. Finally, our study confirms the influence of age and SES on d2 task performance and provides normative data for middle- and low-SES children. These results have important implications for the assessment of attention functions in clinical and research settings in children with typical and atypical development.

The Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory (CHEXI) Parent and Teacher Form: Factor Structure and Cognitive Correlates in Spanish-speaking Children from Argentina.

The aims of the present study were: (1) to explore the CHEXI factor structure parent (n = 183) and teacher (n = 206) forms in Spanish-speaking children aged 6 to 11  years, (2) to analyze the relationship between parent- and teacher-rated data and performance-based measures of EF (including working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility tasks) and academic achievement and (3) to examine the association between parents and teachers reports. Confirmatory Factor analysis (CFA) showed that the two-factor model including (1) Working memory and (2) Inhibition best fit the data. McDonald's Omega coefficient was adequate for both the total parents (ω = .98). and teachers' (ω = .98) scales. In addition, low and selective associations were found between performance and rater-based assessments. However, stronger associations were observed between CHEXI and academic performance with differences according to the informant (parents vs. teachers). Finally, low correlations were found between parents and teachers reports. Taken together, our results suggest that the CHEXI is a reliable measure to assess EF in Argentinean Spanish-speaking children, supporting existing evidence that proposes that ratings and performance-based measures would assess different underlying mental constructs. Clinical and educational implications for considering both perspectives during neuropsychological assessment, further including parent- and teacher-rated reports are discussed.

Adaptación y validación del Inventario de Estilos de Pensamiento de Sternberg (TSI) en la provincia de Entre Ríos - Argentina / Adaptation and validation of the Sternberg's Thinking Styles Inventory (TSI) in the province of the Entre Ríos - Argentina

Teniendo en cuenta el escaso material de estudios realizados en Argentina sobre los estilos de pensamiento desde la propuesta de Sternberg, así como los resultados de algunas investigaciones que ponen de manifiesto que el Inventario de Estilos de Pensamiento mide una estructura diferente a la propuesta por el autor, el objetivo de este trabajo fue adaptar y validar el Inventario de Estilos de Pensamiento de Sternberg (1999) en estudiantes universitarios de la Provincia de Entre Ríos (Argentina). Después de realizar la traducción del inventario y un estudio piloto, se seleccionaron 350 alumnos por medio de un muestreo no probabilístico intencional. En primer lugar se analizó el poder discriminativo de los ítemes con la prueba t de Student. Para estudiar la validez, se realizó un Análisis Factorial con el método de Ejes Principales, rotación oblicua (Oblimin). A partir de la matriz anti-imagen se evaluó la correlación múltiple de cada ítem con el resto del test. Por último, se exploró la estructura subyacente del instrumento analizando los factores obtenidos. Se observó una redistribución de los ítemes dando lugar a una estructura factorial diferente a la propuesta por el autor. El inventario evaluaría el estilo de pensamiento a través de tres factores: (1) Estilo Creativo, (2) Estilo Conservador y (3) Estilo Social - Individual. En relación a la confiabilidad, se estudió la consistencia interna mediante el coeficiente alpha de Cronbach y se obtuvo un valor general de .93. También se calculó la confiabilidad de cada factor por separado, obteniendo resultados aceptables. La versión del Inventario de Estilos de Pensamiento resultante de esta investigación es un instrumento confiable y válido para la muestra estudiada, quedando conformado por 92 ítemes, que evalúan los estilos de pensamiento por medio de tres factores.

The thinking style is defined as a preferred way of thinking, or using and applying intellectual abilities. The model of mental self-government proposed by Sternberg (1999) identifies 13 intellectual styles that are grouped in five dimensions: function, form, level, setting, and tendency. Bearing in mind that there is insufficient material in Spanish related to thinking styles as well as little research carried out in Argentina, and that psychological assessments should not be used outside the context for which they were created (Richaud de Minzi, Lemos & Oros, 2004), the aim of this research was to study the psychometric properties of the instrument and adapt it, if necessary, to a population of young university adults in the Province of Entre Ríos (República Argentina). Additionally, some researches indifferent countries have shown results that do not coincide with the original model proposed by the author, showing two, three or four factors that group thinking styles. This research used the 104-item Thinking Styles Inventory of Sternberg and Wagner (1991), which was created to assess self-government styles in students through 13 scales: legislative, judicial, executive, monarchic, hierarchical, oligarchic, anarchic, global, local, internal, external, liberal, and conservative. After translating the inventory and having it evaluated by referees to study the items that were ambiguous to understand, the TSI was firstly applied to a pilot sample of 50, with informed consent. Since no understanding problem was observed, the instrument was administered to 350 selected university students in the Province of Entre Ríos. To evaluate the discriminative power of the items, the criteria of contrasting groups was used, analyzing with a Student's t test of difference in mean, if students with higher scores in each thinking style (25% of the students) showed significant differences in the way they responded to each item in comparison to those with lower scores (bottom 25% of the students). Of the total of 104 items, 101 were discriminated (p = .000). Secondly, a factorial analysis was carried out using the principal axis method, oblique rotation (Oblimin). Based on the anti-image matrix, multiple correlations of each items in relation to the rest of the test was assessed. A redistribution of the items was observed, creating a factor structure different from the one proposed by the authors of the original scale. The resulting instrument would evaluate thinking style through three factors and two facets: (1) Creative Style, (2) Conservative Style, and (3) Social - Individual Style. People with Creative Style are characterized by doing things their way; they establish their own rules and decide by themselves what they will do and how they will do it. They prefer problems which are not structured or planned beforehand; they minimize changes; they are flexible and open when facing different situations. People with Conservative Style follow existing procedures and rules; they minimize changes, avoid ambiguous situations and prefer structured, concrete, specific and relatively predicable situations. People with Social - Individual Style seem to include two facets: one individual and another social. The social aspect is characterized by people who are extroverted, social and oriented to others; they tend to look for relationships with others and or team work. On the other hand, the individual aspect is characterized by people who prefer to work alone without having to consult with others; they center on a task. Similarly, the reliability of the test was analyzed, from the point of view of the internal consistency, through Cronbach's alpha coefficient, with a general result of .93. The reliability of each subscale was calculated separately, the Creative Style scored .90, the Conservative Style scored .88 and the Social -Individual Style scored .69. The final Inventory of Thinking Styles resulting from this research is a reliable and valid instrument for the studied sample, consisting of 92 items which evaluate thinking styles from three factors.