Kinesthetic aftereffect and personality: a case study of issues involved in construct validation

Area of Science:

• Psychological assessment
• Personality psychology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Kinesthetic Aftereffect (KAE) was once a promising personality index but faced abandonment due to concerns about retest reliability and validity.
• Previous multisession studies have reported poor reliability and intermittent validity, leading to a consensus against KAE's utility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To challenge the current consensus by re-evaluating the validity of Kinesthetic Aftereffect (KAE).
• To propose that poor retest reliability is due to later-session bias, not inherent invalidity.
• To argue for the necessity of accounting for session bias in multisession KAE studies.

Main Methods:

• Reanalysis of a major multisession study that previously found no support for KAE validity.
• Statistical examination to identify and account for potential later-session bias in KAE measurements.

Main Results:

• First-session KAE measurements demonstrated validity.
• Later-session measurements exhibited significant bias, explaining the poor retest reliability.
• When multisession scores were combined to mitigate bias, KAE demonstrated validity in later sessions.

Conclusions:

• Kinesthetic Aftereffect (KAE) is a valid measure of personality.
• The apparent poor reliability and validity in prior studies are attributable to unaddressed later-session bias.
• Methodological adjustments, accounting for session bias, are crucial for accurate KAE assessment.