Match assessment tool to research question: task-based measures for within-person change, questionnaires for stable between-person differences¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 associational), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Because the same adolescents showed curvilinear growth on the Stop Signal Task but no detectable growth on the parent-reported EATQ-R, the authors recommend that "questionnaire-based assessments may be most useful when the goal is to capture stable between-person individual differences," while task-based assessments are preferable for examining within-person changes from acute manipulations or developmental change over time. Tasks offer a larger score range, making them more sensitive to detecting change and individual differences in change.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Researchers must consider score variability and stability properties of each tool; questionnaire time frames (e.g., parent ratings over the past year) aggregate many observations and resist detecting small changes

Constraints¶

• Task performance reflects state factors on the assessment day (sleep, mood, caffeine); the authors note task-based fMRI performance is subject to similar state influences and reliability concerns

Target Learners¶

• adolescents ages 11–15

Target Learning Goals¶

• accurate measurement of self-regulation development

Claims¶

• Parent-reported inhibitory control (EATQ-R) shows no detectable growth from early to middle adolescence [+W]
• Task-based inhibitory control (Stop Signal Task) improves curvilinearly from ages 11 to 15, with growth slowing around middle adolescence [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Fosco, W. D., Hawk, L. W. Jr., Colder, C. R., Meisel, S. N., & Lengua, L. J. (2019). The development of inhibitory control in adolescence and prospective relations with delinquency. Journal of Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.08.008