title: Validation of the comprehensive inventory of mindfulness experiences using Rasch methodology

authors: Wilkinson, Samuel

subjects: Mindfulness

abstract: Although mindfulness has now been studied for multiple decades, the field of psychometric research has yet to agree upon the optimal way to measure the mindfulness construct. Prior research has identified eight distinct aspects of mindfulness, which were not adequately captured by any available measures until the development of the Comprehensive Inventory of Mindfulness Experiences (CHIME). The CHIME contains 37 items and has demonstrated excellent psychometric properties in both the German and Dutch languages, but an English version for adults has not been validated to date. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the psychometric characteristics of the translated English CHIME scale using Rasch 
methodology. The current study utilized the unrestricted Partial Credit Rasch model to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the English CHIME. The sample included 620 participants from the general population. The validity of the English CHIME was examined by correlating its scores with various measures of mindfulness and psychological functioning. Initial Rasch analysis of the English CHIME showed poor model fit, local dependency, and evidence against the assumption of unidimensionality. Several minor modifications, which involved creating Super-Items, were required to achieve good fit to the Rasch model (ꭕ²45)=31.99, p=0.93). The modified scale displayed evidence of unidimensionality, invariance across personal factors, and ahigh reliability (PSI=0.92). The developed Rasch algorithm permitted the transformation of ordinal responses into interval scale scores, increasing the English CHIME’s precision of measurement. The English CHIME’s external validity was established by moderate–high correlations with other measures of mindfulness and various measures of psychological functioning. The results of this study provide evidence for the validity of the English CHIME scale, which can be used to assess the overarching construct of mindfulness.

text: Validation of the comprehensive inventory of mindfulness experiences using Rasch methodology Although mindfulness has now been studied for multiple decades, the field of psychometric research has yet to agree upon the optimal way to measure the mindfulness construct. Prior research has identified eight distinct aspects of mindfulness, which were not adequately captured by any available measures until the development of the Comprehensive Inventory of Mindfulness Experiences (CHIME). The CHIME contains 37 items and has demonstrated excellent psychometric properties in both the German and Dutch languages, but an English version for adults has not been validated to date. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the psychometric characteristics of the translated English CHIME scale using Rasch 
methodology. The current study utilized the unrestricted Partial Credit Rasch model to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the English CHIME. The sample included 620 participants from the general population. The validity of the English CHIME was examined by correlating its scores with various measures of mindfulness and psychological functioning. Initial Rasch analysis of the English CHIME showed poor model fit, local dependency, and evidence against the assumption of unidimensionality. Several minor modifications, which involved creating Super-Items, were required to achieve good fit to the Rasch model (ꭕ²45)=31.99, p=0.93). The modified scale displayed evidence of unidimensionality, invariance across personal factors, and ahigh reliability (PSI=0.92). The developed Rasch algorithm permitted the transformation of ordinal responses into interval scale scores, increasing the English CHIME’s precision of measurement. The English CHIME’s external validity was established by moderate–high correlations with other measures of mindfulness and various measures of psychological functioning. The results of this study provide evidence for the validity of the English CHIME scale, which can be used to assess the overarching construct of mindfulness.

year: 2022

title: Geomorphology of the Kaikoura area

authors: Chandra, Satish

abstract: The major physiographic units in the Kaikoura area are the Peninsula Block, Beach Ridges and Raised Beaches, Hard Rock Areas and the Alluvial Fans. Erosion of the Seaward Kaikoura Mountains and the transfer of the debris to the sea by fan streams have contributed to coastline pro gradation so that a former offshore island, now called the Kaikoura Peninsula, has been joined to the mainland. On the piedmont alluvial plain between the mountains and the sea Otiran Glacial Stage and Holocene fan deposits have covered up older fan surfaces. Stillstands during the tectonic uplift of the Peninsula Block when marine processes cut shore platforms and also higher stands of interglacial sea levels in the Late Pleistocene have contributed to the development of erosion surfaces. Along the coast beach ridges and raised beaches have developed during post-glacial times.

text: Geomorphology of the Kaikoura area The major physiographic units in the Kaikoura area are the Peninsula Block, Beach Ridges and Raised Beaches, Hard Rock Areas and the Alluvial Fans. Erosion of the Seaward Kaikoura Mountains and the transfer of the debris to the sea by fan streams have contributed to coastline pro gradation so that a former offshore island, now called the Kaikoura Peninsula, has been joined to the mainland. On the piedmont alluvial plain between the mountains and the sea Otiran Glacial Stage and Holocene fan deposits have covered up older fan surfaces. Stillstands during the tectonic uplift of the Peninsula Block when marine processes cut shore platforms and also higher stands of interglacial sea levels in the Late Pleistocene have contributed to the development of erosion surfaces. Along the coast beach ridges and raised beaches have developed during post-glacial times.

year: 1969

title: A late-Holocene and prehistoric record of environmental change from Lake Waikaremoana, New Zealand

authors: Newnham, Rewi M.

subjects: Palynology

abstract: Further evidence in support of a late pre-European (Polynesian) settlement of New Zealand is provided by an 1850-year-long tephropalynological record from a remote region in New Zealand's North Island. The earliest unequivocally anthropogenic forest clearance is estimated from sedimentation rates to have occurred c. 375 14C years BP (c. ad 1523–1631), although the radiocarbon chronology, shown by tephrochron ology to be erroneous due to hard-water effects, suggested this occurred c. 900 years earlier. Delineation of the anthropogenic era, and the distinction between human activity and other agents of environmental change in the pollen/spore diagram, are supported by cluster analysis and detrended correspondence analysis. Two distinct phases of forest clearance are evident during the pre-European era, reflecting local changes either in population pressure or settlement patterns. We note that the lull between the two phases of forest clearance coincides with the maximum of the ‘Little Ice Age’ within the period c. late ad 1600s to early 1800s.

text: A late-Holocene and prehistoric record of environmental change from Lake Waikaremoana, New Zealand Further evidence in support of a late pre-European (Polynesian) settlement of New Zealand is provided by an 1850-year-long tephropalynological record from a remote region in New Zealand's North Island. The earliest unequivocally anthropogenic forest clearance is estimated from sedimentation rates to have occurred c. 375 14C years BP (c. ad 1523–1631), although the radiocarbon chronology, shown by tephrochron ology to be erroneous due to hard-water effects, suggested this occurred c. 900 years earlier. Delineation of the anthropogenic era, and the distinction between human activity and other agents of environmental change in the pollen/spore diagram, are supported by cluster analysis and detrended correspondence analysis. Two distinct phases of forest clearance are evident during the pre-European era, reflecting local changes either in population pressure or settlement patterns. We note that the lull between the two phases of forest clearance coincides with the maximum of the ‘Little Ice Age’ within the period c. late ad 1600s to early 1800s.

year: 1998