Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
College of Science, Northeastern University.
Psychol Assess. 2022 Apr;34(4):397-404. doi: 10.1037/pas0001063.
Conceptual flaws can undermine even rigorous test development efforts, especially in the broad empathy and social cognition domains, which are characterized by measure proliferation and inconsistently used construct terms. We discuss these issues, focusing on a new instrument of "mentalizing" as a case study. Across several studies, Clutterbuck et al. (2021a) developed the Four-Item Mentalising Index (FIMI). They described it as the first self-report measure of mentalizing ability and suggested that it offers substantial advances for research and assessment. As we demonstrate with conceptual arguments and empirical data, the FIMI embodies several major problems that are common in this area of research. Using the FIMI as a case study, we underline the importance for test developers of attending to the nonnegotiable necessity of discriminant validity analyses, the challenge of choosing appropriate convergent validity measures, and the difficulties of navigating the jingle-jangle jungle of empathy and social cognition construct terms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
概念性错误即使在严谨的测试开发工作中也可能会产生负面影响,尤其是在广泛的同理心和社会认知领域,这些领域的特点是测量方法的多样化以及不一致的结构术语使用。我们将讨论这些问题,并以一种新的“心理化”工具为例进行研究。在几项研究中,Clutterbuck 等人(2021a)开发了四项心理化指数(FIMI)。他们将其描述为心理化能力的第一个自我报告测量工具,并表示它为研究和评估提供了实质性的进展。正如我们通过概念性论证和实证数据所展示的那样,FIMI 体现了该研究领域中常见的几个主要问题。我们使用 FIMI 作为案例研究,强调了测试开发者关注判别有效性分析的必要性、选择适当的收敛有效性测量方法的挑战,以及在同理心和社会认知结构术语的“叮当响丛林”中导航的困难的重要性。