Table 3.

Examples of items omitted during cognitive interviewing based on: participant think aloud and interviewer probing.

Sample omitted items (with intended diagnostic domain)	Reason for omission
I felt the presence of evil around me. (Psychotic disorders–religious or persecutory delusion )	Responses from participant think aloud and interviewer probing indicated that participants interpreted the item as meaning there were “bad people” (a bad element) around them, which led to a higher base rate of endorsement than was expected.
People said I did not show emotions. (Psychotic disorders-affective flattening )	Participants stated that people did not say this.