Having viewed some of the highly edited videotaped material of Terri Schiavo and having seen other patients in a persistent vegetative state, I am not surprised that family members and others unfamiliar with this condition would interpret some of her apparent alertness and movement as meaningful.
A Likert Scale is a type of psychometric scale frequently used in psychology questionnaires. It was developed by and named after organizational psychologist Rensis Likert. Self-report inventories are one of the most widely used tools in psychological research.
References1 Likert R. A technique for the measurement of attitudes. Arch Psychology.1932;22(140):55.2 Carifio L, Perla R. Resolving the 50-year debate around using and misusingLikert scales. Med Educ. 2008;42(12):1150â1152.3 Jamieson S. Likert scales: how to (ab)use them.