Hick's Law in a Stochastic Race Model with Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff

We present an analytic solution for a race model of n stochastic accumulators for multiple choice reaction time. We show that to maintain a constant level of accuracy, the response criterion needs to be increased approximately logarithmically with n, to compensate for the increase with n in the likelihood that an incorrect alternative will be most active after any fixed amount of time accumulating information. Assuming that participants monitor and maintain a constant level of performance can then explain the logarithmic dependency of the response latency on n as specified by Hick's law. Moreover, we show that for short time intervals, the Shannon information that observers extract from a stimulus, is predicted to increase linearly with processing time.     

Beyond the Score: Clinical Evaluation Through Formal Psychological Assessment

Questionnaires generate numerical scores, but endorsing different sets of items could produce the same score despite reflecting qualitatively different configurations of clinical features. Formal psychological assessment (FPA) attempts to overcome this by identifying the clinical features entailed by observed response patterns. This study illustrates an application of FPA to the cleaning subscale of a questionnaire assessing obsessive–compulsive symptoms and DSM–IV–TR diagnostic criteria for obsessive–compulsive disorder. A deterministic model of the items–criteria relationships was constructed by mapping each item to each diagnostic criterion. The resulting model was tested on a large community sample (N = 4,412). Results indicate that the theoretical model has adequate fit; item error rates and probabilities for each of the criteria are examined. Clinically relevant examples of the items–criteria relationships are discussed. Possible applications of FPA to personality assessment are also discussed, including long multidimensional questionnaires and questionnaires that use subtle item content.     

Estimation and visualization of confusability matrices from adaptive measurement data

We present a simple but effective method based on Luce’s choice axiom [Luce, R.D. (1959). Individual choice behavior: A theoretical analysis. New York: John Wiley & Sons] for consistent estimation of the pairwise confusabilities of items in a multiple-choice recognition task with arbitrarily chosen choice-sets. The method combines the exact (non-asymptotic) Bayesian way of assessing uncertainty with the unbiasedness emphasized in the classical frequentist approach.We apply the method to data collected using an adaptive computer game designed for prevention of reading disability. A player’s estimated confusability of phonemes (or more accurately, phoneme-grapheme connections) and larger units of language is visualized in an easily understood way with color cues and explicit indication of the accuracy of the estimates. Visualization of learning-related changes in the player’s performance is considered.The empirical validity of the choice axiom is evaluated using the game data itself. The axiom appears to hold reasonably well although a small systematic violation is observable for the smallest choice-set sizes.     

Emotional intelligence: A meta-analytic investigation of predictive validity and nomological net

This study used meta-analytic techniques to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and performance outcomes. A total of 69 independent studies were located that reported correlations between EI and performance or other variables such as general mental ability (GMA) and the Big Five factors of personality. Results indicated that, across criteria, EI had an operational validity of .23 (k=59, N=9522). Various moderating influences such as the EI measure used, dimensions of EI, scoring method and criterion were evaluated. EI correlated .22 with general mental ability (k=19, N=4158) and .23 (Agreeableness and Openness to Experience; k=14, N=3306) to .34 (Extraversion; k=19, N=3718) with the Big Five factors of personality. Results of various subgroup analyses are presented and implications and future directions are provided.     

Evaluating the robustness of repeated measures analyses: The case of small sample sizes and nonnormal data

Repeated measures analyses of variance are the method of choice in many studies from experimental psychology and the neurosciences. Data from these fields are often characterized by small sample sizes, high numbers of factor levels of the within-subjects factor(s), and nonnormally distributed response variables such as response times. For a design with a single within-subjects factor, we investigated Type I error control in univariate tests with corrected degrees of freedom, the multivariate approach, and a mixed-model (multilevel) approach (SAS PROC MIXED) with Kenward–Roger’s adjusted degrees of freedom. We simulated multivariate normal and nonnormal distributions with varied population variance–covariance structures (spherical and nonspherical), sample sizes (N), and numbers of factor levels (K). For normally distributed data, as expected, the univariate approach with Huynh–Feldt correction controlled the Type I error rate with only very few exceptions, even if samples sizes as low as three were combined with high numbers of factor levels. The multivariate approach also controlled the Type I error rate, but it requires N ≥ K. PROC MIXED often showed acceptable control of the Type I error rate for normal data, but it also produced several liberal or conservative results. For nonnormal data, all of the procedures showed clear deviations from the nominal Type I error rate in many conditions, even for sample sizes greater than 50. Thus, none of these approaches can be considered robust if the response variable is nonnormally distributed. The results indicate that both the variance heterogeneity and covariance heterogeneity of the population covariance matrices affect the error rates.     

Inferring the structure of latent class

Present optimization techniques in latent class analysis apply the expectation maximization algorithm or the Newton-Raphson algorithm for optimizing the parameter values of a prespecified model. These techniques can be used to find maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters, given the specified structure of the model, which is defined by the number of classes and, possibly, fixation and equality constraints. The model structure is usually chosen on theoretical grounds. A large variety of structurally different latent class models can be compared using goodness-of-fit indices of the chi-square family, Akaike’s information criterion, the Bayesian information criterion, and various other statistics. However, finding the optimal structure for a given goodness-of-fit index often requires a lengthy search in which all kinds of model structures are tested. Moreover, solutions may depend on the choice of initial values for the parameters. This article presents a new method by which one can simultaneously infer the model structure from the data and optimize the parameter values. The method consists of a genetic algorithm in which any goodness-of-fit index can be used as a fitness criterion. In a number of test cases in which data sets from the literature were used, it is shown that this method provides models that fit equally well as or better than the models suggested in the original articles.     

Matching-based hedonic scaling in the pigeon

Four slightly hungry pigeons chose between pairs of grains in a Findley concurrent choice procedure. For Condition I, choice involved hemp versus buckwheat; for Condition II, wheat versus buckwheat; and for Condition III, hemp versus wheat. In all conditions, frequency of reinforcement was arranged according to concurrent variable-interval variable-interval schedules. On the assumption that subjects matched their behavior and time distributions to those of reinforcer value, the choice functions obtained in Conditions I and II were transformed to yield estimates of values of hemp and wheat relative to buckwheat. These, in turn, provided predictions about behavior and time allocation in Condition III. In general, the predicted outcomes were close to those actually obtained. The results evidence the effectiveness of matching-based hedonic scales in the prediction of choice between qualitatively different reinforcers.     

Psychosocial therapies for children and adolescents: Overview and future directions

The assessment and psychosocial treatment of children must consider developmental phase and stage, developmental tasks, the nature of the disorder (does it affect a narrow sector or one developmental line or is there a broad disruption of development?) and biological contributions (including constitution, maturational rate, and factors such as the onset of puberty). Treatments can be distinguished along dimensions, including theoretical emphases, degrees of definition of the treatment, scope, the “patient” (child, family), duration, frequency of contacts, combination with other modalities, etc. Similarly, choice of treatment is based on many factors, including the clinician's expertise, availability of resources, wishes of parents, cost, etc. Future research should be grounded in a theory of child developmentas well as a theory of therapeutic action.Treatments should be well defined and currently practiced, provided by experts, and arise from realistic situations. The study of therapies bridges basic and applied research and provides data of profound relevance for theories of child development.     

Using person matching to predict career specialty choice

Person matching promotes career exploration and choice by linking persons to persons in occupations based on inventory profile score similarity. We examined the efficacy of the procedure for career specialty choice. Medical students (N = 196 women, 224 men) responded to the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) in their first year of training. After graduating and selecting a medical residency, members of a reference subgroup (n = 62) of the total sample were matched with members of a criterion subgroup (n = 358) based on 16PF score equivalencies determined by the D² statistic. Person matching predicted medical specialty choice 43-60% of the time. Using broader specialty group categories and adding criterion persons increased the number of specialty matches. Additional refinement and analysis should enhance the efficacy of this idiographic approach as an alternative to nomothetic P-E matching for career exploration. Future research should examine person matching in terms of consequential validity.     

Bayes factors: Prior sensitivity and model generalizability

Model selection is a central issue in mathematical psychology. One useful criterion for model selection is generalizability; that is, the chosen model should yield the best predictions for future data. Some researchers in psychology have proposed that the Bayes factor can be used for assessing model generalizability. An alternative method, known as the generalization criterion, has also been proposed for the same purpose. We argue that these two methods address different levels of model generalizability (local and global), and will often produce divergent conclusions. We illustrate this divergence by applying the Bayes factor and the generalization criterion to a comparison of retention functions. The application of alternative model selection criteria will also be demonstrated within the framework of model generalizability.     

Implicit commitment in theory choice

The proper evaluation of a theory’s virtues seems to require taking into account what the theory is indirectly or implicitly committed to, in addition to what it explicitly says. Most extant proposals for criteria of theory choice in the literature spell out the relevant notion of implicit commitment via some notion of entailment. I show that such criteria behave implausibly in application to theories that differ over matters of entailment. A recent defence by Howard Peacock of such a criterion against this objection is examined and rejected. I go on to a develop a better proposal on which, roughly speaking, a theory is counted committed to a claim if and only if its best fully explicit extension is explicitly committed to the claim. Such extensions in turn are evaluated by ordinary standards of theory choice adapted to the case of theories assumed to articulate their intended content in a fully explicit fashion.     

An optimal adjustment procedure to minimize experiment time in decisions with multiple alternatives

Decisions between multiple alternatives typically conform to Hick’s Law: Mean response time increases log-linearly with the number of choice alternatives. We recently demonstrated context effects in Hick’s Law, showing that patterns of response latency and choice accuracy were different for easy versus difficult blocks. The context effect explained previously observed discrepancies in error rate data and provided a new challenge for theoretical accounts of multialternative choice. In the present article, we propose a novel approach to modeling context effects that can be applied to any account that models the speed–accuracy trade-off. The core element of the approach is “optimality” in the way an experimental participant might define it: minimizing the total time spent in the experiment, without making too many errors. We show how this approach can be included in an existing Bayesian model of choice and highlight its ability to fit previous data as well as to predict novel empirical context effects. The model is shown to provide better quantitative fits than a more flexible heuristic account.     

The mediating influence of interpersonal problems on the intergenerational transmission of relationship aggression

Intergenerational patterns of relationship aggression have received considerable theoretical attention and empirical support. A developmental account of such effects suggests that childhood exposure to family violence leads to interpersonal problems that are subsequently manifested in aggressive dating relationships. The current study tested this hypothesis using structural equation modeling with data from a sample of female college students (N= 207). The theoretical model of interest, in which interpersonal problems with dominance, intrusiveness, and vindictiveness fully mediate the link between violence in the family of origin and participation in physically aggressive dating relationships, provided a very good fit to the data. This mediational model was preferable to alternative models that (a) included both direct and indirect influences of family‐of‐origin violence, (b) reversed the direction of effects by modeling interpersonal problems with dominance as a result of intimate partner aggression; and (c) modeled interpersonal problems with submissiveness as mediating intergenerational violence patterns. The findings implicate interpersonal problems with dominance as an important mediating factor in the developmental pathway linking family‐of‐origin violence to intimate partner violence in adulthood for young adult women.     

An integrated model of choices and response times in absolute identification

Recent theoretical developments in the field of absolute identification have stressed differences between relative and absolute processes, that is, whether stimulus magnitudes are judged relative to a shorter term context provided by recently presented stimuli or a longer term context provided by the entire set of stimuli. The authors developed a model (SAMBA: selective attention, mapping, and ballistic accumulation) that integrates shorter and longer term memory processes and accounts for both the choices made and the associated response time distributions, including sequential effects in each. The model's predictions arise as a consequence of its architecture and require estimation of only a few parameters with values that are consistent across numerous data sets. The authors show that SAMBA provides a quantitative account of benchmark choice phenomena in classical absolute identification experiments and in contemporary data involving both choice and response time.     

Short-term memory models for choice behavior

In this paper we consider the effect of imposing memory restrictions on the accumulator and random-walk models of choice behavior outlined by Audley (Psychological Review, 1960, 67, 1–15). Specifically, it is assumed that subjects apply criteria to the numbers of impulses received, and that if the criteria are not satisfied by the time w impulses have been received, then thereafter the criteria are only applied to w impulses, which could, for example, be the last w impulses received. Exact and approximate mathematical approaches and simulation techniques are presented in detail. The results obtained demonstrate that both the restricted accumulator and the restricted random-walk models can make qualitative predictions in line with much recent data.     

Language processing in bilinguals

The present study investigated the language processing strategies of three subgroups of adult bilinguals with different histories of language acquisition: infant bilinguals whose bilinguality dated from infancy; childhood bilinguals who became bilingual around 5 years of age; and adolescent bilinguals who had become bilingual at secondary school age only. All were completely balanced bilinguals in French and English at the time of testing. The experimental procedure, a language recognition task, required the subjects to indicate, by pressing a response button, whether each of a series of words, presented monaurally through earphones, was French or English. Concomitantly, left and right hemisphere EEG activity was monitored, with measures taken of latency to N₁, latency to P₂, and N₁-P₂ peak-to-peak amplitudes. Results indicated shorter latencies to N₁ in the left than in the right hemisphere for the infant and childhood bilinguals but shorter latencies in the right hemisphere for the adolescent bilinguals. Overall, the N₁ latency was shorter for the adolescent subgroup than for the two other subgroups. There were no RT differences. The findings appear to reflect strategy differences: The adolescent group seemed to rely more on a right hemisphere-based, possibly more gestalt-like or melodic strategy, while the early bilinguals relied more on a left hemisphere-based, possibly semantic or analytic type of strategy. The results are discussed in terms of previous research on bilingual subtypes and general forms of language processing among bilinguals.     

Cyclists' perception of cycling infrastructure – A Repertory Grid approach

Previous research indicate that cyclists prefer safe and comfortable infrastructure. However, concepts like safety or comfort may be understood and defined in different ways by different individuals. Moreover, these concepts are so broad that it is unclear to which specific characteristics of the traffic infrastructure they are linked. Therefore, the aim of this study is to inductively examine individual evaluation criteria that cyclists use to perceive and evaluate certain route attributes. Using the Repertory Grid technique, we elicited the personal constructs of 23 participants about given route attributes and asked them to rate every attribute on every construct. The constructs were categorized and clustered resulting in five evaluation criteria, namely Mental Comfort, Physical Comfort, Interaction, Environment, and Ease of Use. Both comfort clusters were rated the most relevant for route choice, but they strengthen the suggestion of two distinct aspects of comfort, one referring to mental stress, the other referring to physical effort. Furthermore, the analyses revealed Interaction as a relatively new route criterion which also raises a new view on the negative evaluation of motor traffic and expands the concept of stress. Regarding the evaluation of route attributes, a high traffic volume and cobbled stone were rated the most negative, whereas separated cycling facilities were evaluated as most positive. Findings of this study expand existing research by qualitative insights and provide a more detailed understanding of route criteria like comfort or safety. This can be used to enhance cycling facilities and to offer preferable infrastructure for cyclists.     

The effects of enhancing expressed vocational choice with career development measures to predict occupational field

The prediction of actual occupation from expressed vocational choice when enhanced by measures of career development is described. Subjects were those junior class members of a national study of student career development who were working more than half time 3 years later (N = 1994). Choices and occupations were both categorized into Holland-type job clusters, and selected scales from the Assessment of Career Development (ACD) were used. Weighted hit rates and coefficient kappa were computed. The criterion was occupation held 2 years after high school. The ACD scales taken separately and in combination did not contribute to the predictive accuracy of vocational choice. High-scoring students on the ACD were not better predictors of their future occupations than were low-scoring students.     

Recognition memory with little or no remembering: Implications for a detection model

Remembering and knowing are two states of awareness that reflect autonoetic and noetic consciousness. Recent extensions of signal detection theory have attempted to fitremember andknow responses, which measure these states of awareness, to a continuum of trace strength or familiarity. The model assumes there are two response criteria, a remembering criterion, which is more strict, and a recognition criterion, which is more lenient and leads to any positive recognition response. The most important prediction of this model is that bias-free estimates of memory should be the same whether derived from overall hit and false alarm rates or fromremember hit and false alarm rates. We describe evidence that disconfirms this prediction and discuss other findings that the model cannot accommodate.