Empirical Keying of Biographical Data: Cross-Validity as a Function of Scaling Procedure and Sample Size

In recent years, the military has devoted considerable effort to the develop- ment of empirically keyed biodata instruments for use in selection. Although studies using empirical keying procedures are common in the personnel selection literature, relatively few studies have compared these procedures. Using data collected from Naval Academy midshipmen, we compared nine empirical keying procedures: vertical percent (five strategies), horizontal percent, mean criterion, phi coefficient, and rare response. For each keying procedure, five different sample sizes were used to determine the minimum sample size needed to obtain stable results. For the three largest samples, all of the criterion-based methods yielded scales with significant cross-validities. Among these methods, two vertical percent strategies generally produced the most valid scales for the four largest samples. Without exception, the cross-validities for the only noncriterion-based method (rare response) failed to reach significance. The effects of unit versus differential weighting and scale length versus item-alternative validity are discussed.     

Size of the Mueller-Lyer illusion as a function of its dimensions: Theory and data

In tests with naive subjects, it was found that: the apparent length of a test shaft (1) increases with angle of wing to shaft to a maximum of about 160° (wings out), and (2) is an inverted-U function of wing length, with maximum when wing length equals shaft length; (3) all effects are approximately proportional to shaft length; and (4) the angle exerts its effect within a small region near the tip of the shaft, the region extending about one-seventh the shaft length. The effects apparently do not result from simple distortion of the retinal image, but some may result from assimilation or confusion in coding image into lengths, and some effects apparently arise as lengths are combined into judgments. The new data are shown to agree in quantitative detail with results collected from 1896 to the present.     

Investigating the Constrained Action Hypothesis: A Movement Coordination and Coordination Variability Approach

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of focus of attention cues on movement coordination and coordination variability in the lower extremity. Twenty participants performed the standing long jump under both internal and external focus of attention conditions. A modified vector coding technique was used to evaluate the influence of attentional focus cues on lower extremity coordination patterns and coordination variability during the jumps. Participants jumped significantly further under an external focus of attention condition compared with an internal focus of attention condition (p = .035, effect size = .29). Focus of attention also influenced coordination between the ankle and knee, F(6, 19) = 2.87, p = .012, effect size = .388, with participants primarily using their knees under the internal focus of attention, and using both their ankles and knees under the external focus of attention. Attentional focus cues did not influence ankle-knee, F(1, 19) = 0.02, p = .98, effect size = .02, or hip-knee, F(1, 19) = 5.00, p = .49, effect size = .16, coordination variability. Results suggest that while attentional focus may not directly influence movement coordination condition, there is still a change in movement strategy resulting in greater jump distances following an external focus of attention.     

Dispersion in Cognitive Ability as a Function of Age: A Longitudinal Study of an Elderly Community Sample

This longitudinal study investigated whether age is associated with increased dispersion among major domains of cognitive ability. Three samples were examined: the full sample of 760 elderly community dwellers aged 70 years and older who were tested in 1990; a subset of the original sample who died between testing occasions; and the sample of 426 who survived with full data sets in 1994 (followed up for a mean 3.5 years). Dispersion, as measured by the within-individual standard deviation of ability scores and by the within-individual deviations from crystallized intelligence for speed, memory and spatial functioning, was significantly correlated with age in all three samples at Wave 1 and at Wave 2 (for the longitudinal sample). The rate at which dispersion increased was not significantly correlated with age. In a more detailed analysis of the 426 survivors, dispersion as a function of age was similar for demented persons within this sample, those without dementia, those with poor and excellent educational levels, and those with a physical disability. Activities of daily living was a predictor of larger-than-average changes in dispersion – but not age, education, or activity. Greater dispersion was associated with faster deterioration in memory and speed performance. Contrary to some recent reports, there was evidence for greater within-individual variability among cognitive domains in older individuals.     

艾滋病传播的调查与质性研究——以一个西北少数民族聚居地区为例

运用民族学学科“田野调查”的方法,展开对甘肃省LX州的一个西北少数民族聚居镇——A镇,艾滋病传播的实证研究。论文首先探讨了A镇艾滋病传播的背景与途径;试图从这些访谈实例中,探讨这些艾滋病病毒感染者HIV和艾滋病病人AIDS及其家属面对艾滋病传播的不同文化适应,总结与概括A镇艾滋病传播与社会、文化、经济等因素之间的内在关联与影响。     

校正的Bootstrap方法对概化理论方差分量及其变异量估计的改善

Bootstrap方法是一种有放回的再抽样方法, 可用于概化理论的方差分量及其变异量估计。用Monte Carlo技术模拟四种分布数据, 分别是正态分布、二项分布、多项分布和偏态分布数据。基于p×i设计, 探讨校正的Bootstrap方法相对于未校正的Bootstrap方法, 是否改善了概化理论估计四种模拟分布数据的方差分量及其变异量。结果表明：跨越四种分布数据, 从整体到局部, 不论是“点估计”还是“变异量”估计, 校正的Bootstrap方法都要优于未校正的Bootstrap方法, 校正的Bootstrap方法改善了概化理论方差分量及其变异量估计。     

心率变异性与人格的神经质之间关系研究

本研究探讨心率变异性（HRV）特征在高水平应激条件下对神经质水平的区分力。研究选取200名被试以大五人格量表测量情绪稳定性,实施了应激诱发实验,利用光体积扫描传感器采集被试者HRV指标;利用LASSO回归分析筛选参数构建对神经质的预测模型。结果显示：模型的预测数据与神经质得分高低显著正相关;不同阶段内预测数据与神经质得分显著正相关;两两比较中实验条件阶段与其他阶段预测值差异显著。研究表明,在高应激条件下,HRV是人格神经质较好的预测指标。     

Accounting for Parcel-Allocation Variability in Practice: Combining Sources of Uncertainty and Choosing the Number of Allocations

Item parceling remains widely used under conditions that can lead to parcel-allocation variability in results. Hence, researchers may be interested in quantifying and accounting for parcel-allocation variability within sample. To do so in practice, three key issues need to be addressed. First, how can we combine sources of uncertainty arising from sampling variability and parcel-allocation variability when drawing inferences about parameters in structural equation models? Second, on what basis can we choose the number of repeated item-to-parcel allocations within sample? Third, how can we diagnose and report proportions of total variability per estimate arising due to parcel-allocation variability versus sampling variability? This article addresses these three methodological issues. Developments are illustrated using simulated and empirical examples, and software for implementing them is provided.     

Corralling the Ingroup: Deviant Derogation and Perception of Group Variability

ABSTRACT

Two experiments investigated the relationship between the evaluation of a deviant group member and the perceived group variability among participants with varying degrees of ingroup identification. In Experiment 1 (N?=?79) ingroup identification was negatively associated with perceived ingroup variability following the presentation of a deviant ingroup member. This relationship was mediated by ratings of the deviant: the stronger the identification, the more negatively the deviant was evaluated, and the more homogeneous the ingroup was perceived. These effects were replicated in Experiment 2 (N?=?169), which also showed that there was no association between ingroup identification and the representation of the outgroup following exposure to a deviant outgroup member. The findings suggest that deviant derogation may serve to isolate undesirable members from the rest of the ingroup and protect the group's identity.     

A Test of Bowen Theory: Emotional Reactivity and Psychological Distress in a Clinical Sample

Even if rarely discussed in the current systemic literature, “reframing” remains a key concept and technique in systemic family therapy. With reference to Baudelaire's poem entitled “The Frame,” we attempt to highlight and revisit reframing attitudes and interventions in clinical practice with families.     

状态焦虑与转换功能：注意控制理论在运动员群体中适用性的检验

通过3个平行实验探讨了状态焦虑对转换功能的影响,检验了注意控制理论在运动领域的适用性。3个实验采用不同范式的More-Odd shifting任务测量转换功能,其结果呈现一致的趋势：在大学生群体中,高状态焦虑降低了加工效能,而对正确率影响不大;而在运动员群体中,高状态焦虑对加工效能和正确率都影响不大。本研究得出结论：注意控制理论关于状态焦虑影响转换功能的假设可能在不同群体中有不同的适用性,适用于大学生,但不适用于运动员。     

Declines in Major League Batting Performance as a Function of Game Pressure: A Drive Theory Analysis1

Zajonc's (1965) drive theory explanation argues that greater arousal tends to impair performance on difficult tasks. The hypothesis that arousal generated by “pressure situations” during major league baseball games would hinder batting performance—a difficult task—was tested by examining such performance during the 1989 season. Six “pressure situations” were identified, some occurring during the late innings of close games and others occurring throughout the game when there were two outs. Two measures of batting performance (batting average and slugging average) were employed. Results indicated broad support for the hypothesis. Reasons for this pattern are discussed, as are possible alternative explanations for these findings.     

Attention Problems as a Mediator of the Relation between Executive Function and Social Problems in a Child and Adolescent Outpatient Sample

Social functioning is critical for the successful navigation of everyday life for children, adolescents, and adults. Recent theories have postulated a neuropsychological basis for social functioning with particularly strong links with the executive functioning (EF) system. The current study examined attention problems as a mediator between EF (e.g., working memory, planning, and response inhibition) and social functioning in a child and adolescent outpatient sample. Participants were 218 children ages 6–16 (M = 10.23; SD = 2.52; 68.8 % males) who were referred to an outpatient clinic for psychoeducational assessment. Bias-corrected bootstrapping mediation analyses were used to examine the hypothesized models. The effects of working memory and planning (but not response inhibition) on social problems were mediated by attention problems in both teacher- and mother-reported models. These findings also held up in cross-source models (e.g., mother-reported attention problems as a mediator in a model predicting teacher-reported social problems). These findings have implications for dimensional models of social functioning and conceptual models for specific clinical populations (e.g., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder).     

Developmental Changes in Semantic Verbal Fluency: Analyses of Word Productivity as a Function of Time,Clustering, and Switching

We investigated age-related improvement in semantic category verbal fluency (VF) in 309 Dutch schoolchildren attending first to ninth grade. Quantitative analyses of number of correct responses as a function of time as well as qualitative analyses of clustering and switching were conducted. Overall, Dutch VF task performance, i.e., number of correct responses over 60 seconds, was not established before mid-adolescence. This is in line with previously published studies, using VF number of correct responses over 60 seconds as the main outcome measure and examining VF task performance across other cultures and languages (e.g., Italian, French, Hebrew). Next, mean cluster size, a measure of lexico-semantic knowledge, was not established until at least grade 3. In contrast, performance on the VF outcome measures “number of switches/clusters” was established at least 4 years later. Qualitative and quantitative Design Fluency (DF) outcome measures support the notion that the numbers of switches/clusters are valid measures of higher order cognitive functions, such as strategy use and cognitive flexibility. In line of this, VF number of correct responses during 16–60 seconds, a measure of controlled information processing, is established at least 2 years later (i.e., grades 7–8) than number of correct responses during the first 15 seconds time slide, a measure of automatic processing. Finally, environment, i.e., the level of parental education, primarily affected automatic and lexico-semantic knowledge. No effects of sex on VF performance were found. These data suggest that the alternative scoring methods of VF tasks can be used to acquire knowledge on development of lower and higher order cognitive functions in healthy children and the influence of the environment on it.     

Emotional Expression During Autobiographical Narratives as a Function of Aging: Support for the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

People communicate personal stories in very different ways. These variations in communication patterns may be affected by many variables, particularly age. Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST) predicts young adults are focused on information gathering to function in society, whereas older adults become increasingly motivated to regulate emotions and pursue emotionally salient yet stable goals and activities. What is not understood is whether communication patterns reflect this developmental transition. Younger and older adults (n = 120) completed negative and positive autobiographical narratives that were analyzed with a Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count Program. Results indicated that younger adults utilized more affective words in general, including more positive, negative, and anxious words during autobiographical narratives. In the positive autobiographical task, older adults used a higher percentage of “family” words, whereas in the negative autobiographical task, younger adults more frequently utilized “friend” words. In terms of pronoun use, there was evidence for increased second and third person pronouns among older adults. Results related to affective, social, and pronoun word use are largely supportive of SST. However, other important findings that were not predicted were noteworthy, including the finding that results varied as a function of narrative valence.     

Observed Variability and Values Matter: Toward a Better Understanding of Information Search and Decisions from Experience

The search for different options before making a consequential choice is a central aspect of many important decisions, such as mate selection or purchasing a house. Despite its importance, surprisingly little is known about how search and choice are affected by the observed and objective properties of the decision problem. Here, we analyze the effects of two key properties in a binary choice task: the options' observed and objective values, and the variability of payoffs. First, in a large public data set of a binary choice task, we investigate how the observed value and variability relate to decision‐makers' efforts and preferences during search. Furthermore, we test how these properties influence the chance of correctly identifying the objectively maximizing option, and how they affect choice. Second, we designed a novel experiment to systematically analyze the role of the objective difference between the options. We find that a larger objective difference between options increases the chance for correctly identifying the maximizing option, but it does not affect behavior during search and choice. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Explanatory Power of the General Theory of Crime: A Comparative Analysis of a General Population and Serious Offender Sample

The purpose of this study was to investigate—via direct comparison—the fundamental supposition that the general theory of crime should be valid for both criminal and analogous behavior in both an offender and a general population sample. The core constructs of the theory, namely the influence of parenting style on self-control and the relationship with different manifestations of deviance, were analyzed by comparing a sample of incarcerated sexual and violent offenders with a general population sample. The validity of the general theory could only be confirmed for the offender population.     

Serial and parallel processing in reading: Investigating the effects of parafoveal orthographic information on nonisolated word recognition

We present a novel lexical decision task and three boundary paradigm eye-tracking experiments that clarify the picture of parallel processing in word recognition in context. First, we show that lexical decision is facilitated by associated letter information to the left and right of the word, with no apparent hemispheric specificity. Second, we show that parafoveal preview of a repeat of word n at word n + 1 facilitates reading of word n relative to a control condition with an unrelated word at word n + 1. Third, using a version of the boundary paradigm that allowed for a regressive eye movement, we show no parafoveal “postview” effect on reading word n of repeating word n at word n – 1. Fourth, we repeat the second experiment but compare the effects of parafoveal previews consisting of a repeated word n with a transposed central bigram (e.g., caot for coat) and a substituted central bigram (e.g., ceit for coat), showing the latter to have a deleterious effect on processing word n, thereby demonstrating that the parafoveal preview effect is at least orthographic and not purely visual.     

数学学习困难儿童的编码加工特点:基于PASS理论的研究

同时加工和继时加工是PASS模型中的两类编码加工,二者在数学学习中发挥重要作用。使用基于PASS理论的认知评估系统（DN：CAS）单纯型数学困难、混合型数学困难和正常小学生进行两类编码加工的测评,比较研究发现,两类困难学生的两类编码加工水平均显著低于正常儿童,两类困难学生间的同时加工差异不显著,而混合型困难学生的继时加工水平显著低于单纯型困难学生。较低的同时加工水平似乎是两类数学困难的共同特征,继时加工水平的差异则似可作为单纯型与混合型困难的区分指标之一。     

Gender Discrimination as a Function of Stereotypic and Counterstereotypic Behavior: A Cross-Cultural Study

This study investigated gender discriminatory behavior of early adolescents from a cross-cultural perspective. One hundred sixty 7th-graders (80 Israeli Arabs and 80 Israeli Jews) were presented with two male candidates for class representative, one outstanding candidate with traditional feminine interests and characteristics, and the other an average candidate with masculine interests and characteristics. Participants were asked to rate the candidates on various measures such as their own election choice, others' election choice, their prediction of the candidate's likelihood of being elected, and their affinity and willingness to engage in activities with the candidate. The results showed that while both Arab and Jewish participants discriminated against the feminine candidate, the Arab participants discriminated to a much greater degree. The results emphasize the important role that culture plays in gender discriminatory behavior.