On Association Coefficients for 2×2 Tables and Properties That Do Not Depend on the Marginal Distributions

We discuss properties that association coefficients may have in general, e.g., zero value under statistical independence, and we examine coefficients for 2×2 tables with respect to these properties. Furthermore, we study a family of coefficients that are linear transformations of the observed proportion of agreement given the marginal probabilities. This family includes the phi coefficient and Cohen’s kappa. The main result is that the linear transformations that set the value under independence at zero and the maximum value at unity, transform all coefficients in this family into the same underlying coefficient. This coefficient happens to be Loevinger’s H.     

Tables of d’ for detection and localization

A detection and localization (DAL) procedure (Hershman and Lichtenstein, 1967) is one in which at most one of k noisy observation intervals contains a signal. The observer must detect the signal (if present) and locate it in the proper interval. Tables are given for the extraction of d’ values from the percentage of correct responses made in such experiments.     

Kruskal's polynomial for 2×2×2 arrays and a generalization to 2×n×n arrays

A remarkable difference between the concept of rank for matrices and that for three-way arrays has to do with the occurrence of non-maximal rank. The set ofn×n matrices that have a rank less thann has zero volume. Kruskal pointed out that a 2×2×2 array has rank three or less, and that the subsets of those 2×2×2 arrays for which the rank is two or three both have positive volume. These subsets can be distinguished by the roots of a certain polynomial. The present paper generalizes Kruskal's results to 2×n×n arrays. Incidentally, it is shown that twon ×n matrices can be diagonalized simultaneously with positive probability.The author is obliged to Joe Kruskal and Henk Kiers for commenting on an earlier draft, and to Tom Wansbeek for raising stimulating questions.     

Perfectionism and emotion regulation in coaches: A test of the 2 × 2 model of dispositional perfectionism

The manner in which coaches regulate their emotions has implications for their performance and well-being. Drawing on research that has found perfectionism to predict emotion regulation in other settings, this study adopted the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism to examine whether subtypes of perfectionism among coaches were associated with variation in the use of emotion regulation strategies. Coaches (N = 238, M age = 23.92, SD = 10.32) from various sports completed measures of perfectionism (personal standards and evaluative concerns) and emotion regulation strategies (expressive suppression, cognitive reappraisal, and control of anger directed inwards and outwards). Moderated hierarchical regression provided mixed support for the 2 × 2 model. As expected, pure personal standards perfectionism (high standards/low concerns) was generally associated with the highest capacity for emotion regulation and pure evaluative concerns perfectionism (low standards/high concerns) with the lowest. Unexpectedly, mixed perfectionism (high standards/high concerns) was associated with the highest level of expressive suppression, suggesting that in some instances standards might exacerbate rather than attenuate concerns.     

Explicit candecomp/parafac solutions for a contrived 2 × 2 × 2 array of rank three

Kruskal, Harshman and Lundy have contrived a special 2 × 2 × 2 array to examine formal properties of degenerate Candecomp/Parafac solutions. It is shown that for this array the Candecomp/Parafac loss has an infimum of 1. In addition, the array will be used to challenge the tradition of fitting Indscal and related models by means of the Candecomp/Parafac process.     

Implications of Item Keying and Item Valence for the Investigation of Construct Dimensionality

Factor analysis and nomological network analysis are commonly used as complementary procedures in the investigation of the dimensionality of constructs (e.g., self-esteem, job satisfaction). Although it has been demonstrated that factor analyses are often biased toward a two-dimensional solution for measures including regular- and reverse-keyed items, less attention has been paid to the implications for nomological network analyses. We propose, and demonstrate empirically in two studies, that item keying is confounded with item valence (i.e., favorability of item content), and that item valence can bias the results of both factor analysis and nomological network analysis toward a two-dimensional interpretation. We also demonstrate that the valence effect is related to, but distinguishable from, social desirability response bias. We caution that the practice of excluding reverse-keyed items to achieve unidimensionality can lead to distortion in correlations among constructs, and we offer alternative remedies to the valence problem.     

The Missing Data Assumptions of the NEAT Design and their Implications for Test Equating

The Non-Equivalent groups with Anchor Test (NEAT) design involves missing data that are missing by design. Three nonlinear observed score equating methods used with a NEAT design are the frequency estimation equipercentile equating (FEEE), the chain equipercentile equating (CEE), and the item-response-theory observed-score-equating (IRT OSE). These three methods each make different assumptions about the missing data in the NEAT design. The FEEE method assumes that the conditional distribution of the test score given the anchor test score is the same in the two examinee groups. The CEE method assumes that the equipercentile functions equating the test score to the anchor test score are the same in the two examinee groups. The IRT OSE method assumes that the IRT model employed fits the data adequately, and the items in the tests and the anchor test do not exhibit differential item functioning across the two examinee groups. This paper first describes the missing data assumptions of the three equating methods. Then it describes how the missing data in the NEAT design can be filled in a manner that is coherent with the assumptions made by each of these equating methods. Implications on equating are also discussed.     

Why 2×2=5 looks so wrong: On the odd-even rule in product verification

Subjects judged whether the proposed product for two multipliers was true or false. Each equation could be judged as plausible or implausible because a product must be even if any of its multipliers is even; otherwise, it must be odd. A proposed product that violates the required odd-even status of the product—that is, deviates from the correct product, whether odd or even, by an odd value (e.g., splits of ±l, ±3, ±5)—can be rejected as false before normal processing is completed (i.e., before the correct product is retrieved and compared with the proposed product). Subjects were indeed faster and more accurate in rejecting a split of +1 or +3 than a split of +2 or +4, and this effect increased as the number of even multipliers in the pair increased. Subjects did not use the odd-even rule when either multiplier was 0 or 1 (Experiment 2), perhaps because other rules are available to bypass normal processing in those cases. A similar odd-even rule is used in sum verification (Krueger &Hallford), and use of the odd-even rules may help to explain why oddness and evenness are such salient features of numbers as abstract concepts (Shepard, Kilpatric, & Cunningham).     

On the general form of Stevens’ law for loudness and softness

The loudness of a 1000-Hz tone at weak sound pressures and its softness at intense ones were scaled by the method of magnitude estimation. Estimates of loudness plotted as a function of sound pressure on double logarithmic coordinates showed the well-documented steepening near threshold. A similar steepening occurred in the softness function at high intensities. Stevens’ law, which is linear on these coordinates, could be recovered either by translating the pressure scale to a new origin, or by translating the response scale. Translations of the response scale were preferred because they produced functions in which loudness and softness were reciprocally related, whereas transformations of the stimulus made the softness function almost three times as steep as the loudness function.     

Correction to: “Offensiphobia” is a Red Herring: On the Problem of Censorship and Academic Freedom

The Journal of Ethics -     

On Separable Tests,Correlated Priors,and Paradoxical Results in Multidimensional Item Response Theory

This paper presents a study of the impact of prior structure on paradoxical results in multidimensional item response theory. Paradoxical results refer to the possibility that an incorrect response could be beneficial to an examinee. We demonstrate that when three or more ability dimensions are being used, paradoxical results can be induced by using priors in which all abilities are positively correlated where they would not occur if the abilities were modeled as being independent. In the case of separable tests, we demonstrate the mathematical causes of paradoxical results, develop a computationally feasible means to check whether they can occur in any given test, and demonstrate a class of prior covariance matrices that can be guaranteed to avoid them.     

On the Role of Mental Health Activities for Teachers’ Work and Life

Everyday behavior is getting increasingly attention, both in the prevention of mental impairment and the promotion of mental health – within and beyond the work context. The present study aimed to identify the importance of mental health activities for well-being and positive functioning of teachers, while taking affectivity into account. Teachers are confronted with various stressors, and identifying predictors of teachers’ well-being and positive functioning is important, not only for teachers’ personal health, but also for their students’ well-being and achievement. Based on the Broaden and Build (B&B) theory and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we assumed that (1) the practice of mental health activities is associated with well-being (i.e., positive mental health) and positive functioning (i.e., healthy and unhealthy work-related behavior and experiences), and that (2) mental health activities mediate the association between affectivity and the respective outcomes. These assumptions were tested in a sample of 326 German teachers (75% female, age: M = 44, SD = 11.85). The practice of mental health activities was associated with more positive mental health, more healthy work-related behavior and experiences, and less unhealthy work-related behavior and experiences. Moreover, mental health activities partly explained the relationship between affectivity and the respective outcomes. The present findings indicate the potential of mental health activities for mental health promotion in teachers but future studies are recommended in order to establish causal effects.

     

On Blass Translation for Leśniewski’s Propositional Ontology and Modal Logics

Studia Logica - In this paper, we shall give another proof of the faithfulness of Blass translation (for short, B-translation) of the propositional fragment $$\mathbf{L}_1$$ of...     

Can Nanotechnology Be Just? On Nanotechnology and the Emerging Movement for Global Justice

Because of the overly market-oriented way in which technological development is carried out, there is a great amount of hubris in regard to how scientific and technological achievements are used in society. There is a tendency to exaggerate the potential commercial benefits and willfully neglect the social, cultural, and environmental consequences of most, if not all innovations, especially in new fields such as nanotechnology. At the same time, there are very few opportunities, or sites, for ensuring that nanotechnology is used justly and fairly, or for that matter, contribute to alleviating any of the wide variety of injustices that exist in the world. Most of the public authorities responsible for the development and application of science and technology are uninterested and unwilling to “assess” the implications of nanotechnology, and there are few, if any spaces in the broader culture for assessment to take place. Within the various “social movements” that are, in one way or another, concerned with issues of global justice, there is as yet little interest in nanotechnology. By examining the relations between nanotechnology and the emerging movement for global justice this article attempts to understand the enormous gap between the potential for science and technology to do good and the actual ways in science and technology get developed, and what, if anything, might be done to help close the gap in relation to nanotechnology, so that it might better be able to contribute to global justice.     

Correction to: Speculative Fiction and the Political Economy of Healthcare: Chang-Rae Lee’s On Such a Full Sea

Journal of Medical Humanities - Due to an editing error, this article was initially published with an incorrect title. The correct title is reflected above. The original article has been corrected.