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

Abstract

Kinesthetic Aftereffect (KAE), once a promising personality index, has been abandoned by many investigators because of poor retest reliability and intermittent validity. In challenging this current consensus, we argue that (a) first-session KAE is valid; (b) poor retest reliability simply reflects later-session bias; (c) hence, multisession studies should not be used to assess validity without taking this bias into account. Those recent studies which failed to support KAE validity were each multisession in design. If our bias contention is correct, these studies should be ignored, and the claim of intermittent validity is thus rebutted. Reanalysis of the most recent major multisession, nonsupportive validity study indicates (a) Session 1 validity, (b) later-session bias, and (c) later-session valdiity when multisession scores are combined to avoid bias. Thus, KAE validly measures personality.