Objective, reliable and valid means of assessing the cognitive and psychosocial functionings of elderly persons are in demand for several reasons. Clinical needs for initial assessment, placement, and treatment monitoring are supplemented by the need for research tools for program evaluation and clinical trials. The set of behavior rating scales called the Multidimensional Observation Scale for Elderly Subjects (MOSES) was developed with these needs in mind. This paper describes the development of the MOSES scale and its rationale and norming on 2,391 residents of hospitals and residential settings. Internal consistency reliabilities in the .8 range and interrater reliabilities from .58 to .97 are reported. Validity correlations with the Zung Depression, Robertson Short Mental Status, Kingston Dementia, and the Physical and Mental Impairment-of-function Evaluation (PAMIE) scales were all satisfactory. The applications and advantages of the use of MOSES are discussed.
Three studies tested the hypothesis that differences in performance due to achievement-related motives are moderated by individuals' uncertainty orientation-the degree to which situations of certainty versus uncertainty are cognitively relevant. The validity of this hypothesis was investigated for three separate predictions derived from Atkinson and Raynor's (1974) theory of achievement motivation: (a) Differences in performance due to achievement-related motives are greatest in situations of intermediate difficulty; (b) differences in performance due to achievement-related motives are greatest on tasks that must be successfully completed in order to move on to further tasks (contingent path tasks); and (c) differences in course grades due to achievement-related motives are greatest among those individuals who perceive the course as instrumental to their future goals (a special case of the second prediction). As expected, all three theory-derived predictions were confirmed for uncertainty-oriented persons, but results were actually reversed for certainty-oriented persons. It is argued that the present formulation subsumes and integrates the exisiting cognitive and motivational interpretations of achievement behavior.
Data from four studies and an extensive review of the literature reveal a pervasive inconsistency in the behavior of those who obtain moderate scores on various motive measures. Such individuals tend to behave at a higher or lower level on a number of measures than do those classified as either high or low on the same motive measure. Furthermore, this tendency occurs regardless of the type of motive (achievement, affiliation, power, fear of failure), type of test (projective, self-rating), type of scale (ordinal, interval), sex of subject, sample, or dependent measure (e.g., eye contact, digit code substitution, complex math problems, group problem solving, industrial growth rate, leadership ability). It is argued that by ignoring this phenomenon both Type I and Type II errors are readily made. Resolution of the phenomenon, on the other hand, could lead to major practical and theoretical advances.
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