Bias in the Use of Standard American Norms with Spanish Translations of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised.

Although most clinicians would readily agree that there is a need for Spanish translations and normative samples of major psychological tests because of the large number of individuals within the United States whose primary language is Spanish, there are in fact few well normed tests applicable to the Spanish-speaking client in the U.S. As a result, many clinicians administer cognitive tests normed on English-speaking American populations translated into Spanish, then interpret the test results using the standard American norms. The argument is generally made that such a procedure is a reasonable approximation and when cautiously interpreted can be useful. The present study investigated the impact of this practice by using the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) on Spanish-speaking adults. A group of 50 normal Hispanic Americans aged 25 to 34 years were administered the WMS-R translated into Spanish. Results showed that using English-language standard norms resulted in Spanish-speaking normal individuals getting scores an average of 1 standard deviation below average. These findings were present not only for verbal but for nonverbal tests as well. Based on these results we strongly argue against the clinical practice of using translations of English language tests without renorming and running new validity tests

Behavioral Control of Exercise in Sedentary Adults: Studies 1 Through 6

Conducted 6 experiments with 143 healthy sedentary adults who had been unsuccessful in starting or maintaining an exercise regimen to identify behavioral and cognitive procedures that would enhance Ss\u27 adherence to a 3 day/wk exercise (walking/jogging) program. Procedures evaluated included feedback and praise during exercise, various goal-setting strategies, lottery reinforcement, cognitive strategies during the exercise, and relapse-prevention training. Class attendance, exercise program adherence, and fitness data were collected, and self-reported 3-mo follow-up data were also obtained. Results suggest the importance of social support, feedback, and praise during exercise; flexibility in exercise-goal setting; and distraction-based cognitive strategies. Findings are integrated and discussed in terms of the importance and difficulties of shaping and maintaining exercise behaviors