What is SIP-AP?
- The Social Information Processing Application (SIP-AP) is a self-administered web-based computer application that assesses social information processing skills in school-aged boys. This tool is helpful in identifying social cognitive deficits and in guiding interventions for children who are experiencing these deficits.
- When completing SIP-AP, boys view short video vignettes of children their age interacting with one another in everyday social situations.
Each video is filmed from the first person perspective
such that the target child is the victim of some form of mild aggression, but the
intent of the perpetrator is ambiguous.
The vignettes are followed by a series of questions designed to assess the child’s SIP skills such as hostile attributional biases, feelings of anger, revenge goals, aggressive strategies, outcome expectancies, outcome values, and self-efficacy for
aggression.
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What is included in the SIP-AP?
- The SIP-AP includes the SIP measure, developed, tested, and normed by iRT using
scientific standards, as well as an automatically generated interpretive report. A manual for
administering, scoring, and interpreting the SIP-AP is available for purchase, and
can be delivered via print through surface mail or downloadable.
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What is SIP-AP Custom?
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The SIP-AP Custom allows you to select videotaped vignettes from a web library
to use as stimuli for a custom assessment of social information processing skills.
You may select items and responses from a library of SIP assessment questions or you
may create your own items and response scales. Please contact us if you would like
to use your own video or audio files in a fully customized assessment which can be
easily integrated into the SEAL website.
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Why would I need SIP-AP Custom?
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The customized capability of SEAL allow for you to create a fully unique social
information processing assessment measure or a fully unique web-based assessment
of social emotional skills. You have complete control over the order of presentation
of items and you can create more than one assessment measure or battery. You may
create protocols for use in more than one study or more than one location. All data
can be collected using audio-computer-assisted self-interviewing (audio-CASI) methodology.
SEAL includes the functionality of allowing you to immediately download and independently
perform statistical analyses on all data collected from respondents. These features are
particularly useful for scientists who have the need for a unique study protocol to address
specific research questions.
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How is SIP-AP scored?
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An interpretive report is automatically generated after a child completes the SIP-AP assessment. The report contains information including normed scores for each SIP
construct. The report provides a detailed profile of the child and indicates if the target child is in the Acceptable or At Risk range for each SIP skill. This report can be used to guide intervention.
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What scientific framework does SIP-AP use?
- SIP-AP uses the Social Information Processing (SIP) model as the guiding framework for the tool. The SIP model by Crick and Dodge (1994) has contributed significantly to the literature on children’s social development and our understanding of aggressive behavior patterns. It includes the following mechanisms:
- (1) encoding of internal and external cues,
- (2) interpretation of these cues,
- (3) goal selection,
- (4) access to or construction of possible responses,
- (5) response decision processes, and
- (6) behavioral enactment of the chosen response.
- In addition, affective responses to each vignette are assessed.
- Each mechanism within the model provides information that improves the prediction of aggressive behavior (Dodge & Price, 1994). Crick and Dodge (1994) hypothesized that, over time, the social cognitive deficits seen in aggressive children will become more automatic as acquired processing patterns and tendencies become ingrained. Indeed, these authors suggest that early experiences may form the bases for neural paths, particularly during the first several years of life when synaptic pathways are rapidly developing. Over many years, given the same input and response patterns, the paths may become more efficient and more rigid. Thus, the need for early intervention in addressing the maladaptive social cognitions is imperative.
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Have norms been established for this tool?
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Yes, the SIP-AP program has established norms based on a sample of 269 children
from four states across the U.S. in urban, rural, and suburban communities.
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What age group is the tool for?
- SIP-AP is for ages 8-12 or grades 3-5.
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Can the SIP-AP be used with other groups of children and adolescents?
- Currently, the SIP-AP has only been tested on late elementary school-aged boys. Plans are underway to expand the vignettes and norms for the SIP-AP for use with children in preschool, early elementary school, and adolescence as well as with girls.
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How is the application administered?
- The application is a web-based, self-interviewing tool with fully integrated rich media files and is administered on a computer with internet access.
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How long does the program take to administer?
- The program takes children approximately 30 minutes to complete, on average.
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What are the key features of the program?
- There are many key features of SIP-AP including:
- The program requires very little child supervision since the SIP-AP includes audio files for all instructions and can be self-administered.
- The videos used in the program are filmed from the 1st person perspective so the child actually feels like they are in the social situations they watch.
- SIP-AP is the only web-based assessment tool that assesses multiple stages of the SIP model.
- The SIP-AP uses standardized video-recorded stimuli which has been proven most useful in assessing SIP skills because they reduce the likelihood that responses will be prejudiced by a respondent’s verbal ability (Dodge et al., 1984; Quay & Werry, 1986).
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What credentials are needed to order and use the program?
- To order the program, you must be a non-student member of the American Psychological Association (APA) or a similar professional association OR provide your educational information and submit a letter from your advisor or employer. For more information on what credentials you must provide to order SIP-AP click here.
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What is the cost of the program?
- Please contact Alison Parker or Janis Kupersmidt at SIP@irtinc.us for pricing.
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How do I order SIP-AP?
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What are the System Requirements for using the SIP-AP?
- Computer:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 or higher, with Intel Pentium II 450 MHz and 256MB of RAM, OR
- Macintosh PowerPC® G3 500MHz or Intel Core Duo 1.33GHz and 256MB of RAM, OR
- Linux 800 MHz with 512MB of RAM, 128MB of graphics memory
- Internet Browser:
- Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, OR
- Firefox 1.5 or higher, OR
- Opera 6 or higher, OR
- other
- (Optimized for Internet Explorer)
- Adobe Flash Player version 8 or higher
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- Broadband internet connection (1.5 Mbps or faster recommended)
- Recommended display resolution of 1024 x 768 (minimum)
- Speakers or Headphones
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