Face validity

A second objective is to produce behavioural changes in animals that are analogous to depression so that the model can be used to discover its neurobiological cause(s). This is a far more demanding problem and its success rests on satisfying at least three criteria (see Willner 1984) face validity (i.e. the behaviour looks like depression), construct validity (i.e. the causes and consequences of the behavioural change are the same as in depression) and predictive validity (i.e. the behaviour is reliably prevented only by drugs which have antidepressant effects in humans). 

There are three generally accepted criteria for validating animal models for human psychiatric disorders face validity, construct validity, and predictive validity. Face validity refers to the outward appearance of the model, i.e. does the animal s behavior adequately reflect the human behavior being modeled In this dimension, anxiety models have a clear advantage over other psychiatric models it is usually quite apparent if an animal is frightened, whereas it is a much more difficult to assess whether an animal is displaying psychotic-like or depressive-like behavior, for example. 

Select indicators with clinical or face validity that are positively correlated in a mixed sample. 

The ideal animal model for any human chnical condition must fulfill three criteria (McKinney and Bunney 1969) (1) pharmacological treatments known to be effective in patients should induce comparable effects in the animal model (predictive validity) (2) the responses or symptoms observed in patients should be the same in the animal model (face validity) (3) the imderlying rationale should be the same in both humans and animal models (construct validity). In other words, the ideal animal model for anxiety has to respond to treatment with anxiolytics such as benzodiazepines with reduced anxiety it has to display defense behavior when confronted with a threatening stimulus the mechanisms underlying anxiety as well as the psychological causes must be identical. 

Repeated ECS enhances apomorphine and other dopamine agonist-induced hyperactivity and stereotypy [Grahame-Smith et al. 1978 A. R. Green 1984 Modigh 1989]. Although apomorphine-stimulated behavior is not a face valid model for depression, ECS sensitizes apomorphine-stimulated behavior very... 

If there were consensus on all of these matters—and there is—you would have, at least, to concede that half of the objectivity battle—that of reliability and with if face validity—was won. Otherwise you would be forced to hypothesize that the consensus about formal properties was illusory and that the subjects (including me ) were just making up stories to satisfy expectations. This argument invites a reductio ad absurdum rejection. What motive could possibly be satisfied in this way And how could all of the subjects know what was expected of them, as the very notion of formal properties is recent and the specification of them an ongoing project Many people don t even understand what the term means when it is explained to them. 

Parrott, A.C., Performance tests in human psychopharmacology (2) content validity, criterion validity, and face validity, Hum. Psychopharmacol. Clin. Exp., 6, 91, 1991. 

Much attention has been garnered by principles of communication that professionals are advised to follow. Well-known examples are seven principles articulated for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accept and involve the public as a legitimate partner (see our Chapter 4) plan carefully and evaluate efforts (Chapter 4) listen to the public s specific concerns (Chapter 4) be honest, frank, and open coordinate and collaborate with other credible sources meet the needs of the media and speak clearly and with compassion (Covello and Allen 1988). Those and related principles have face validity and often practical utility despite their apparent obviousness and abstractness. For example, treating your constituents as though they are ignorant, hysterical, self-interested, or ideologically... 

The Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT) was developed as an alternative, physiologically based test of sleepiness (1). The test was designed for use with patients whose sleepiness during the day might adversely affect performance or safety. Reasoning on the basis of face validity, a person who has little difficulty with falling asleep inappropriately should be able to stay awake in a quiet, sedentary situation such as during MWT trails. Beyond the procedure s face validity, there are other rationales for the use of the MWT, as discussed below. 

Prior to cluster analysis, these re-scaled travel experience variables were initially evaluated to determine which ones were relevant in differentiating travel experience levels. Using self-perception of travel experience level as the independent variable, the other 7 travel experience variables were subject to Kruskal-Wallis analysis. This procedure attempted to establish a face validity for using the specified variables to describe travel experience by relating them to the respondents own perception of their travel experience. Kruskal-Wallis analysis, which is the non-parametric equivalent of one-way ANOVA, tests whether several independent samples are from the same population (SPSS Inc., 1999). This test was selected as the correct procedure since heavily skewed data were involved and the Kruskal-Wallis is suitable for this situation (Diekhoff, 1992). The results are presented in Table 3.7. 

Social exploration is a natural behavioral phenomenon which occurs when animals are confronted with one another. The behavior is not induced by the experimenter but occurs spontaneously. Such a method possesses therefore a certain face validity in that it appears to resemble memories for social encounters as they occur in man. 

Another variant to social recognition, is an object recognition task (Castagne et al. 2004), where exposure to a juvenile rat is replaced by exposure to familiar or unfamiliar inanimate objects. Object recognition tests are less subject to olfactory cues and baseline values can be more stable as the objects can be placed in fixed positions at the start of a session, but also lose part of their initial face validity. 

The non-precipitated withdrawal procedure represents a first screen for possible induction of drug dependence and has been shown to be sensitive to withdrawal effects with a variety of dependence-inducing agents including amphetamines, cocaine, opioids and benzodiazepines. It therefore possesses face validity. On the other hand, it is remarkably difficult, under the conditions of the protocol described, to show signs of withdrawal after treatment with agents such as nicotine... 

In this chapter the aim is to get a better insight in the actual state-of-the-art in process industry (and some other industrial sectors, for purposes of comparison). At the same time it will serve as a (face-) validity check of the ideas on the design and implementation of NMMS s. 

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