Use of the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS) in Sport
in The Sport PsychologistClick name to view affiliation
Over the past 15 years the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS) has become increasingly popular in the sport psychology area. More recently, investigators factor-analyzing the six TAIS attentional scales and the information processing scale have raised serious questions about the independence of these measures. Specifically, they have suggested that the six attentional scales measured by the TAIS can be collapsed into two scales, one reflecting scanning (BET, BIT, INFP) and one reflecting the focusing of attention (NAR, OET, OIT). All of the studies reported on can be shown to have methodological flaws and to have drawn inappropriate conclusions from their analyses. Evidence is provided in the paper demonstrating the independence of the TAIS scales. Suggestions are made for avoiding the methodological and interpretive problems that have permeated the literature.
Robert M. Nideffer is President of Enhanced Performance Systems, 822 Boylston St., Box 67197, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167.
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