Empirically indistinguishable multidimensional IRT and locally dependent unidimensional item response models

Multidimensionality is a core concept in the measurement and analysis of psychological data. In personality assessment, for example, constructs are mostly theoretically defined as unidimensional, yet responses collected from the real world are almost always determined by multiple factors. Significant research efforts have concentrated on the use of simulated studies to evaluate the robustness of unidimensional item response models when applied to multidimensional data with a dominant dimension. In contrast, in the present paper, I report the result from a theoretical investigation that a multidimensional item response model is empirically indistinguishable from a locally dependent unidimensional model, of which the single dimension represents the actual construct of interest. A practical implication of this result is that multidimensional response data do not automatically require the use of multidimensional models. Circumstances under which the alternative approach of locally dependent unidimensional models may be useful are discussed.     

Scale Alignment in the Between-Item Multidimensional Partial Credit Model

In between-item multidimensional item response models, it is often desirable to compare individual latent trait estimates across dimensions. These comparisons are only justified if the model dimensions are scaled relative to each other. Traditionally, this scaling is done using approaches such as standardization—fixing the latent mean and standard deviation to 0 and 1 for all dimensions. However, approaches such as standardization do not guarantee that Rasch model properties hold across dimensions. Specifically, for between-item multidimensional Rasch family models, the unique ordering of items holds within dimensions, but not across dimensions. Previously, Feuerstahler and Wilson described the concept of scale alignment, which aims to enforce the unique ordering of items across dimensions by linearly transforming item parameters within dimensions. In this article, we extend the concept of scale alignment to the between-item multidimensional partial credit model and to models fit using incomplete data. We illustrate this method in the context of the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS), a multidimensional survey of kindergarten readiness used in the state of Illinois. We also present simulation results that demonstrate the effectiveness of scale alignment in the context of polytomous item response models and missing data.     

Predicting alienation in a sample of Nigerian Igbo subjects

Seeman in 1959 suggested that alienation is a multidimensional concept. Using two aspects of Seeman's concept of alienation, powerlessness and social alienation, and two concepts derived from Lachar's 1978 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Cookbook, emotional and self-alienation, the present work was undertaken to ascertain which concept will more likely predict feelings of alienation. A stepwise multiple regression showed that among 160 Nigerian (Igbo) subjects the feeling of powerlessness predicted alienation more than did the other concept.     

论自我同一性概念的整合

自我同一性是西方心理学一个重要的概念,但至今没有一个普遍接受的定义。通过对自我同一性概念内涵不一得归因分析,指出了整合自我同一性概念应关注的几个范畴,进而提出自我同一性是一个与自我、人格的发展有密切关系的多层次、多维度的心理学概念。本质上,它是指人格发展的连续性、成熟性和统合感,它包含三个层面的内涵：(1)最基本的层面,即ego-idernity;(2)个人同一性;(3)社会同一性。     

the promise of quality of life

Little has been written in the career development literature about quality of life, even though this concept is implied in all counselor interventions. In this article, the author suggests that the broad and subjective nature of quality of life, rather than a liability, is its very strength. Quality of life is presented as an important holistic concept that emphasizes a multidimensional awareness of the web of relationships within which career development is performed. The practical implications of quality of life for career development are discussed.     

失败恐惧研究述评

失败恐惧（Fear of Failure,简写为FF）作为一种消极的情绪体验,近年来越来越多地受到研究者的关注。文章主要介绍了失败恐惧概念结构的演变、测量工具由单维到多维的发展过程、失败恐惧特质形成和预防的心理动力学探讨以及多维测量工具在失败恐惧干预方法中的作用。在此基础上,文章对未来研究进行了展望,比如失败恐惧是否存在跨文化、跨领域的差异,我国经济转型时期失败恐惧研究具有怎样的现实意义等     

Linear separability in superordinate natural language concepts

Two experiments are reported in which linear separability was investigated in superordinate natural language concept pairs (e.g., toiletry-sewing gear). Representations of the exemplars of semantically related concept pairs were derived in two to five dimensions using multidimensional scaling (MDS) of similarities based on possession of the concept features. Next, category membership, obtained from an exemplar generation study (in Experiment 1) and from a forced-choice classification task (in Experiment 2) was predicted from the coordinates of the MDS representation using log linear analysis. The results showed that all natural kind concept pairs were perfectly linearly separable, whereas artifact concept pairs showed several violations. Clear linear separability of natural language concept pairs is in line with independent cue models. The violations in the artifact pairs, however, yield clear evidence against the independent cue models.     

Generativity and Political Participation in Old Age: A Mixed Method Study of Spanish Elders Involved in Political Organisations

This study has dual aims. First, it aims to explore the relationship between generativity and political participation, a neglected aspect of civic participation. Second, using different dimensions of generativity in a mixed methods study, it also aims to contribute to the theoretical and methodological literature on generativity as a multidimensional concept relevant to later life. This Spanish study involved a large survey utilising three different measures of generativity—generative concern, generative goals, and perceived cultural demands—to look for differences between older people actively engaged in political organisations and a comparison group. Results showed that older people from the two groups differed on all dimensions of generativity. Participants in political organisations showed significantly higher scores on generative concern, reported more generative goals in the present and future, and noted more perceived generative demands than comparison individuals. Overall, our findings suggest that generativity plays a key role in political engagement in later life, and, further, that our understanding of generativity in later life gains from a multidimensional assessment of the concept.     

Applying Research Domain Criteria to the study of emotion dysregulation in infancy and early childhood

Emotion regulation is a principal task of early development. The failure to develop effective emotion regulation skills is associated with behavioural, academic, psychological and socioemotional difficulties. Although researchers have studied emotion regulation for decades, work on emotion dysregulation—defined as the inability to maintain emotional control, engage with the environment or recover from distress in a developmentally appropriate manner—is rare and there are discrepancies in its conceptualisation among very young samples. While some scientists refer to emotion dysregulation as if it were a discrete concept, it may be more accurately depicted as a multidimensional system of developmental processes. The National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) is a framework that allows researchers to track dysfunction across multiple areas of analysis and may be an ideal system for exploring the multidimensional nature of infant emotion dysregulation. In this paper, we draw on empirical studies to describe how the RDoC framework can be used to support studies of emotion dysregulation in infancy. This proposed model can also serve as a roadmap for future researchers to follow to generate the evidence base for a multidimensional conceptualisation of infant emotion dysregulation and its underlying mechanisms.     

军事单位团队凝聚力的理论研究及应用

军事单位团队凝聚力是与作战效能紧密相关的因素。文章首先回顾了其理论的发展脉络,指出团队凝聚力是一个多维度的加工分类系统,继而介绍了常用的研究手段和测量方法,最后提出了应用性的建议和对未来研究的展望     

A Multidimensional Analysis of Preferences for Sales Positions

Abstract

Recruiting college students for the sales- force is especially difficult because the results of previous research suggest that students have negative perceptions of selling. A weakness of prior research, however, is that selling has generally been operationalized as a unidimensional concept. This paper reports the results of a study that sought to address this limitation by conducting a multidimensional analysis of seven different sales positions.     

Career development theory

Super's theory of vocational development, initially formulated in the 1950s, has led to a number of important research programmes, focusing particularly on the concept of vocational maturity. The major findings of these studies are surveyed in this paper. They suggest that vocational maturity is a development characteristic which increases with age, is multidimensional in nature, develops at different rates in different individuals, and can help in the pre-diction of occupational satisfaction, occupational success, and career success.     

The Earth is flat when personally significant experiences with the sphericity of the Earth are absent

Participants with personal and without personal experiences with the Earth as a sphere estimated large-scale distances between six cities located on different continents. Cognitive distances were submitted to a specific multidimensional scaling algorithm in the 3D Euclidean space with the constraint that all cities had to lie on the same sphere. A simulation was run that calculated respective 3D configurations of the city positions for a wide range of radii of the proposed sphere. People who had personally experienced the Earth as a sphere, at least once in their lifetime, showed a clear optimal solution of the multidimensional scaling (MDS) routine with a mean radius deviating only 8% from the actual radius of the Earth. In contrast, the calculated configurations for people without any personal experience with the Earth as a sphere were compatible with a cognitive concept of a flat Earth.     

Determining the dimensionality in spatial representations of semantic concepts

When multidimensional scaling solutions are used to study semantic concepts, the dimensionality of the optimal configuration has to be determined. Several strategies have been proposed to choose the appropriate dimensionality. In the present paper, the traditional dimensionality choice criteria were evaluated and compared to a method based on the prediction of an external criterion. Two studies were conducted in which typicality of an exemplar within a semantic concept was predicted from its distance to the concept centroid. In contrast to the low-dimensional solutions selected by the traditional methods, predictions of an external criterion improved with additional dimensions up till dimensionalities that were much higher than what is common in the literature. This suggests that traditional methods underestimate the richness of semantic concepts as revealed in spatial representations derived from similarity measures.     

The validity and devolution of a concept: student alienation.

This study examined the correspondence between conceptual and empirical dimensions of student alienation. Responses from 2,056 secondary school students were analyzed using a multivariate technique, smallest space analysis. Except for a few items, there was a basic correspondence between a multidimensional conceptualization of alienation and empirical dimensions articulated by students. Such a correspondence for both intermediate and high school students serves to strengthen confidence in the concept of multidimensional alienation specific to the school context.     

"I'm attached, and I'm a good guy/gal!": how character attachment influences pro- and anti-social motivations to play massively multiplayer online role-playing games

One's feelings of intimacy and connectedness with distal, fictional media characters are referred to as parasocial interactions. Video games have challenged this concept, as the distance between game players and characters is greatly reduced, if not completely removed, in virtual environments. Games encourage the internalization and psychological merging of a player's and a character's mind, a multidimensional concept known as character attachment (CA). Data from our study suggest that dimensions of CA are useful in understanding both pro- and anti-social gaming motivations. Pro-social gamers feel a greater sense of control over their characters, while anti-social gamers are more likely to suspend their disbelief of the game environment and not take responsibility for their virtual actions. Pro-social gaming was more prevalent in older gamers, and younger male game characters were motivated by anti-social reasons.     

Sequential estimation in multidimensional scaling

The concept of sequential estimation is introduced in multidimensional scaling (MDS). The sequential estimation method developed in this paper refers to continually updating estimates of a configuration as new observations are added. This method has a number of advantages, such as a locally optimal design of the experiment can be easily constructed, and dynamic experimentation is made possible. Using artificial data, the performance of our sequential method is illustrated.We are indebted to anonymous reviewers for their suggestions. In addition, we thank Dr. Frank Critchley for his helpful comments on our Q/S algorithm.     

Information system development: From user participation to contingent interaction among involved parties

Abstract

Over the last few decades many social scientists have pointed to the importance of user participation in information system development (SD). In study A the opinions of 314 Dutch system developers on this issue were examined. The conclusion is that the majority rate the value of user participation highly. However, these data confront us with three important problems. First, we cannot be sure that the stated preferences of system developers are reflected in their actual behaviour. Second, system developers may give a different meaning to the concept “user participation” than social scientists. Third, “user participation” does not necessarily imply “user influence” on SD. Moreover, the empirical relationship between user participation and the effectiveness of SD remains unclear. In our opinion this can be attributed both to the multidimensional nature of the former concept and to the contingency of this relationship to the context of SD. Therefore, in study B, we developed a multidimensional contingency model to study the interaction among parties in SD instead of the study of user participation. In this explorative study no linear relationship between the effectiveness of SD and the interaction between users and system developers was found. Instead, effective SD seemed to require a fit between the context of SD and the interactions with and among users.     

Incongruent Perceptions Among Nurses and Patients: A Qualitative Study of Patient's Dignity in Iran

Dignity is the most fundamental right of every human being, patients in particular. Despite being a fairly disputed concept, dignity is a multidimensional issue, the interpretation of which is affected by a multitude of factors. Semistructured interviews and observation data from 35 patients, their companions, and nurses were performed to highlight their views with regard to patients’ dignity in health care centers. Although findings reveal that nearly all patients felt that their dignity had been violated, there is a considerable difference between participants’ viewpoints of dignity. Interactions among participants can increase their awareness of dignity and may lead to its maintenance.