title: Applying Generalisability Theory to examine the distinction between state and trait in the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)

authors: Forrest, Sarah Jane

subjects: Generalisability Theory

abstract: Accurate distinction between state and trait anxiety is necessary for monitoring of individual anxiety levels over time and developing effective interventions to reduce anxiety, which is especially important in the current COVID-19 pandemic situation increasing anxiety of the world population. The widely used State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) with 78,600 Google scholar citations to date, was specifically designed to measure both state and trait anxiety. However, ability of the STAI to accurately distinguish between the two and the overall reliability and generalisability of its assessment scores were not rigorously investigated using appropriate methodology. Generalisability theory (G-theory) is increasingly used as the most robust method to distinguish between state and trait and establish the overall reliability while accounting for specific error sources in the assessment of psychological conditions.

G-theory was applied to the 40-item STAI completed by 139 participants on three occasions separated by two-week intervals. Both subscales of the STAI demonstrated excellent reliability in measuring trait anxiety with high generalizability of scores across occasions (G=0.84-0.92) but fail to distinguish state from trait. This means that the state subscale of the STAI is not suitable to detect changes over time and reliably measure state anxiety. A minor amount of error variance identified in the STAI subscales were mainly attributed to interaction between person and occasion, which reflected state anxiety, and interaction between person, item and occasion. Dynamic aspects of anxiety were identified in both subscales including feelings of satisfaction, nervousness, feeling pleasant, restlessness, perceived failure, lack of calmness, feeling insecure, feeling inadequate and sensitivity to disappointments. This study derived a sensitive state anxiety scale using G-theory that includes items the most sensitive to state changes. State anxiety can be measured with higher accuracy by using the proposed short state scale without modifications of the original STAI format. Dynamic aspects of anxiety identified using G-theory, are more amendable, and proposed as the primary target of interventions aiming at effectively reducing anxiety. Further enhancement of state anxiety measurement informed by G- theory is warranted. Overall, this study contributed to enhanced assessment of state and trait anxiety and informs psychological interventions aiming at more effective reduction of
anxiety.

text: Applying Generalisability Theory to examine the distinction between state and trait in the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) Accurate distinction between state and trait anxiety is necessary for monitoring of individual anxiety levels over time and developing effective interventions to reduce anxiety, which is especially important in the current COVID-19 pandemic situation increasing anxiety of the world population. The widely used State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) with 78,600 Google scholar citations to date, was specifically designed to measure both state and trait anxiety. However, ability of the STAI to accurately distinguish between the two and the overall reliability and generalisability of its assessment scores were not rigorously investigated using appropriate methodology. Generalisability theory (G-theory) is increasingly used as the most robust method to distinguish between state and trait and establish the overall reliability while accounting for specific error sources in the assessment of psychological conditions.

G-theory was applied to the 40-item STAI completed by 139 participants on three occasions separated by two-week intervals. Both subscales of the STAI demonstrated excellent reliability in measuring trait anxiety with high generalizability of scores across occasions (G=0.84-0.92) but fail to distinguish state from trait. This means that the state subscale of the STAI is not suitable to detect changes over time and reliably measure state anxiety. A minor amount of error variance identified in the STAI subscales were mainly attributed to interaction between person and occasion, which reflected state anxiety, and interaction between person, item and occasion. Dynamic aspects of anxiety were identified in both subscales including feelings of satisfaction, nervousness, feeling pleasant, restlessness, perceived failure, lack of calmness, feeling insecure, feeling inadequate and sensitivity to disappointments. This study derived a sensitive state anxiety scale using G-theory that includes items the most sensitive to state changes. State anxiety can be measured with higher accuracy by using the proposed short state scale without modifications of the original STAI format. Dynamic aspects of anxiety identified using G-theory, are more amendable, and proposed as the primary target of interventions aiming at effectively reducing anxiety. Further enhancement of state anxiety measurement informed by G- theory is warranted. Overall, this study contributed to enhanced assessment of state and trait anxiety and informs psychological interventions aiming at more effective reduction of
anxiety.

year: 2020

title: Breast cancer talk: A cross-linguistic study of lexical verbs occurring with generic pronoun ‘you’

authors: Malik, Sara

subjects: corpus linguistics

abstract: Breast cancer discourse is increasingly studied within medical humanities, reflecting a broader interest in illness narratives and patient-centered storytelling (DeShazer, 2005; Frank, 1995). Using a cognitive, usage-based approach, we explore how New Zealand (NZ) English and Pakistani (PK) Urdu speakers use language, particularly metaphor, speech acts, pronouns and verbs to express their cancer experiences on YouTube. This paper focuses on one aspect: the use of lexical verbs following generic second-person pronouns, analysing their semantic patterns which offer insight into how speakers construe illness. Drawing on Payne’s (2011) verb categories and expanding Durst-Andersen et al.’s (2013) classification of
state verbs, this study explores the range and types of verbs in both datasets. The data includes 46 narratives from NZ and 36 from PK, posted between 2011 and 2023 by organisations such as the NZ Breast Cancer Foundation and Pink Ribbon Pakistan. These videos were transcribed using Whisper AI and filtered to include only patients’ discourse, then organised into eight narrative topics. A mixed-method approach was used: quantitative analysis with AntConc extracted keyword-in-context (KWIC) instances of you, followed by qualitative analysis to identify generic uses of you and the types of verbs that follow it. The study investigates (a) shared and distinct lexical verbs across datasets, and (b) insights from the most frequent verbs. Preliminary findings show that most verb types are similar across both datasets, with action and state verbs being the most frequently used. Building on Stirling and Manderson’s (2011) findings about the use of generic you pronoun in Australian English, we report that speakers of both NZ English and PK Urdu similarly use generic you, along with state verbs to foster empathy and action verbs to convey credibility and authority in illness narratives. We argue that pronoun-verb pairings function as strategic tools for positioning cancer experiences within speaker narratives.

text: Breast cancer talk: A cross-linguistic study of lexical verbs occurring with generic pronoun ‘you’ Breast cancer discourse is increasingly studied within medical humanities, reflecting a broader interest in illness narratives and patient-centered storytelling (DeShazer, 2005; Frank, 1995). Using a cognitive, usage-based approach, we explore how New Zealand (NZ) English and Pakistani (PK) Urdu speakers use language, particularly metaphor, speech acts, pronouns and verbs to express their cancer experiences on YouTube. This paper focuses on one aspect: the use of lexical verbs following generic second-person pronouns, analysing their semantic patterns which offer insight into how speakers construe illness. Drawing on Payne’s (2011) verb categories and expanding Durst-Andersen et al.’s (2013) classification of
state verbs, this study explores the range and types of verbs in both datasets. The data includes 46 narratives from NZ and 36 from PK, posted between 2011 and 2023 by organisations such as the NZ Breast Cancer Foundation and Pink Ribbon Pakistan. These videos were transcribed using Whisper AI and filtered to include only patients’ discourse, then organised into eight narrative topics. A mixed-method approach was used: quantitative analysis with AntConc extracted keyword-in-context (KWIC) instances of you, followed by qualitative analysis to identify generic uses of you and the types of verbs that follow it. The study investigates (a) shared and distinct lexical verbs across datasets, and (b) insights from the most frequent verbs. Preliminary findings show that most verb types are similar across both datasets, with action and state verbs being the most frequently used. Building on Stirling and Manderson’s (2011) findings about the use of generic you pronoun in Australian English, we report that speakers of both NZ English and PK Urdu similarly use generic you, along with state verbs to foster empathy and action verbs to convey credibility and authority in illness narratives. We argue that pronoun-verb pairings function as strategic tools for positioning cancer experiences within speaker narratives.

year: 2025

title: Teaching te reo Māori as a second language in primary schools: two case studies.

authors: Hill, Richard Kenneth

subjects: second languages

abstract: The provision of second language education in New Zealand primary schools has been, until recently, a rare addition to programmes. Its wider implementation in New Zealand primary schools has always been limited by low numbers of fluent bilingual teachers, and a perception that in a predominantly English speaking country such as New Zealand there is no need to teach additional languages in primary schools. The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) provides the first opportunity to formally include second language education in primary schools, and to establish the learning of second languages as a worthwhile pursuit in New Zealand. However, the success of such a policy change will depend on the ability of the Ministry of Education and course providers to upskill teachers in their ability to speak additional languages and teach them. This article reports on the outcomes of a Ministry-funded project designed to strengthen the second language teaching approaches of upper primary school teachers who teach te reo Maori. It provides case studies of two of the teachers who completed this course, and finds that while there are clear benefits to be derived from such teacher professional development courses, these courses need to focus on long-term objectives and be channelled to those teachers and students who stand to benefit the most from professional development courses.

text: Teaching te reo Māori as a second language in primary schools: two case studies. The provision of second language education in New Zealand primary schools has been, until recently, a rare addition to programmes. Its wider implementation in New Zealand primary schools has always been limited by low numbers of fluent bilingual teachers, and a perception that in a predominantly English speaking country such as New Zealand there is no need to teach additional languages in primary schools. The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) provides the first opportunity to formally include second language education in primary schools, and to establish the learning of second languages as a worthwhile pursuit in New Zealand. However, the success of such a policy change will depend on the ability of the Ministry of Education and course providers to upskill teachers in their ability to speak additional languages and teach them. This article reports on the outcomes of a Ministry-funded project designed to strengthen the second language teaching approaches of upper primary school teachers who teach te reo Maori. It provides case studies of two of the teachers who completed this course, and finds that while there are clear benefits to be derived from such teacher professional development courses, these courses need to focus on long-term objectives and be channelled to those teachers and students who stand to benefit the most from professional development courses.

year: 2010