Nesselroade and Molenaar's Measurement Concerns and Proposals: An Introduction

In this special section Nesselroade and Molenaar (N & M) propose a provocative new approach to measurement invariance. When measures are collected repeatedly over time (e.g., daily diary studies), a potentially unique measurement model relating the items to the underlying construct can be created for each individual. If hypothesized causal paths specified between constructs (e.g., frustration → aggression) can be constrained to be equal across the individuals, a model with idiographic measurement of the constructs, but with nomothetic structural relationships can be specified. Three commentaries react to N & M's proposal. Revelle and Wilt challenge the priority given by N & M to unique individual measurement structures, arguing that between subjects differences in structural relationships are empirically important and meaningful. Markus's uses David Hume's framework to raise philosophy of science challenges for N & M's approach. Maydeu-Olivares challenges the incremental validity of N & M's approach, arguing that N & M's approach is unlikely to improve the prediction of between subjects criteria. Finally, N & M present a rejoinder to the three commentaries.     

Whammies and double whammies: The effect of length on nonword reading

In the work presented here, the length effect in nonword reading aloud was investigated in order to assess whether that effect is driven by the number of letters in a string or by the number of graphemes in a string. Simulation work with the Dual-Route Cascaded (DRC) model (e.g., Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins, & Haller, 1993; Coltheart & Rastle, 1994) uncovered a surprising finding regarding the length effect; the same result was obtained in an experiment with human subjects. The results are discussed in terms of the DRC model, with particular reference to serial processing and interphoneme inhibition, two properties critical to understanding the effect reported here.     

MDFT account of decision making under time pressure

In this paper, decision making under time pressure for multiattribute choice alternatives in a risky environment is investigated. A model, multiattribute decision field theory (MDFT), is introduced that describes both the dynamic and the stochastic nature of decision making and accounts for the observed changes in choice probabilities, including preference reversals as a function of time limit. An experiment in which five different time limits were imposed on the decision maker is presented to test the predictions of the model. It is shown that MDFT is able to account for the complex decision behavior observed in the data. Furthermore, MDFT is compared with the predictions of decision field theory (Busemeyer & Townsend, 1993; Roe, Busemeyer, & Townsend, 2001).     

Does a pear growl? Interference from semantic properties of orthographic neighbors

In this study, we investigated whether semantic properties of a word’s orthographic neighbors are activated during visual word recognition. In two experiments, words were presented with a property that was not true for the word itself. We manipulated whether the property was true for an orthographic neighbor of the word. Our results showed that rejection of the property was slower and less accurate when the property was true for a neighbor than when the property was not true for a neighbor. These findings indicate that semantic information is activated before orthographic processing is finished. The present results are problematic for the links model (Forster, 2006; Forster & Hector, 2002) that was recently proposed in order to bring form-first models of visual word recognition into line with previously reported findings (Forster & Hector, 2002; Pecher, Zeelenberg, & Wagenmakers, 2005; Rodd, 2004).     

Optical Specification of Time-to-Contact for a Spectator

In the article, we provide an account of the informational basis underlying judgments of time-to-contract (TTC) under the conditions examined in Kim, Effken, and Carello (1998), in which observers watched collisions between 2 objects from various vantage points, over varying collision paths, and with additional observer movement. First, we examine the informational candidates proposed by Bootsma and his colleagues (e.g., Bootsma & Oudejans, 1993) and by Tresilian (1990). Simulation results showed that these models do not accurately describe TTc for such varying conditions. We present an alternative model, emphasizing the advantages of body scaling. Our model applied this scaling to the vertical gap between edges of the opposing surfaces of each object. Because all model terms are expressed in eyeheight units, distortions that occurred in the other models due to polar injection are eliminated. The proposed model provided veridical estimates of TTC for straight-line collision cases over a variety of viewing angles and with the addition of observer movement, but not for collisions along circular paths, in which the model only approximated TTC values.     

Perceiving a calling and well-being: Motivation and access to opportunity as moderators

The current study examined moderator variables that may accentuate the effect of perceiving a calling on well-being amongst a large and diverse sample of working adults (N = 746). Drawing from Self Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000) and the Psychology of Working Theory (PWT: Duffy, Blustein, Diemer, & Autin, 2016), perceiving a calling was hypothesized to have greater effects on wellbeing for individuals with greater calling motivation and access to vocational opportunity, as assessed by income and work volition. Three moderated, multiple mediator models using structural equation modeling were run to test these hypotheses. Specifically, life meaning and living a calling were positioned as mediator variables in the relation of perceiving a calling to life satisfaction and the paths from perceiving a calling to the mediators were proposed to be significantly moderated. Calling motivation was found to be a significant moderator for both paths, supporting propositions of SDT. As the motivation to pursue one's calling increased, the direct effects on life meaning and living a calling and the indirect effects on life satisfaction were stronger. Income was also found to be a significant moderator, supporting propositions of the PWT, but only in the relation of perceiving a calling to living a calling. It was proposed that work volition—a variable related to the perception of vocational opportunity—may be better positioned as correlate of calling variables versus a moderator variable affecting the impact of having a calling. Practical implications are discussed.     

Integrating person and situation perspectives on work satisfaction: A social-cognitive view

Social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) was originally designed to help explain interest development, choice, and performance in career and educational domains. These three aspects of career/academic development were presented in distinct but overlapping segmental models. This article presents a fourth social cognitive model aimed at understanding satisfaction experienced in vocational and educational pursuits. The model posits paths whereby core social cognitive variables (e.g., self-efficacy, goals) function jointly with personality/affective trait and contextual variables that have been linked to job satisfaction. We consider the model’s implications for forging an understanding of satisfaction that bridges the often disparate perspectives of organizational and vocational psychology.     

Stochastic independence in the recognition/identification paradigm

Abstract

Experiments in which subjects study a set of items and then take two successive tests, a recognition test followed by a test of implicit retrieval of the same items (e.g. Tulving, Schacter, & Stark, 1982), have typically yielded data showing stochastic independence between the tests. Ostergaard (1992) has suggested that the procedure for assessing such independence should include an evaluation of the data against a model that assumes maximal dependence between the components of the test attributable to the study episode. In applying his Maximum Memory Dependence model to the published data, however, Ostergaard inexplicably used test-primed data for baseline measures, rather than non-primed data, and erroneously concluded that there was no clear evidence for independence. In this article, we show that when the standard baseline measures are used, the results of many experiments demonstrate stochastic independence.     

Masculinity,Femininity, and Multiple Regression: Comment on Zeldow,Daugherty, and Clark's "Masculinity,Femininity, and Psychosocial Adjustment in Medical Students: A 2-Year Follow-Up"

Inappropriate applications and interpretations of multiple regression analyses by Zeldow and his associates (Zeldow, Clark, & Daugherty, 1985; Zeldow, Daugherty, & Clark, 1987) are discussed as are several general interpretive and statistical issue. To perform and interpret multiple regressors, several characteristics of this statistical approach must be taken into account. Of critical importance is the order in which variables are entered, the choice of regression approaches, the direction of an effect upon entering the model, and the manner in which the interpretation of interaction effects varies as a function of the presence or absence of main effects. Because Zeldow et al. (1985, 1987) did not consider these factors, their regression analyses were not run as stated and are difficult to interpret. Five hypothetical outcomes in androgyny research and an example involving actual data are presented.     

Honeybee methodology, cognition, and theory: recording local directional decisions in interpatch foraging and interpreting their theoretical relevance

Investigations made into the cognitive decision making of honeybees (Apis mellifera) traveling from one flower patch to another flower patch (interpatch foraging) are few. To facilitate such research, we present methods to artificially emulate interpatch foraging and quantify the immediate decision making of honeybees (within 50 cm) choosing to fly an interpatch path. These “Interpatch Methods” are validated, applied, and shown to produce novel information for the field of honeybee spatial cognition. Generally, we demonstrate that a single foraging cohort of honeybees is shown to be capable of making decisions based upon different sets of learned cues, in the exact same context. Specifically, both terminal beacon orientation cues and compass navigation cues can guide the cognitive decision making of interpatch foraging honeybees; our bees chose both cues equally. Finally, the theoretical importance of decision making for interpatch paths is compared with the other foraging paths (outward and homing) with respect to the information available to recruited foragers and scout foragers. We conclude that the ability to analyze interpatch foraging is critical for a more complete understanding of honeybee foraging cognition and that our methods are capable of providing that understanding.     

From eye movement to cognition: Toward a general framework of inference comment on Liechty et al., 2003

Liechty, Pieters & Wedel (2003) developed a hidden Markov Model (HMM) to identify the states of an attentional process in an advertisement viewing task. This work is significant because it demonstrates the benefits of stochastic modeling and Bayesian estimation in making inferences about cognitive processes based on eye movement data. One limitation of the proposed approach is that attention is conceptualized as an autonomous random process that is affected neither by the overall layout of the stimulus nor by the visual information perceived during the current fixation. An alternative model based on the input-output hidden Markov model (IOHMM; Bengio, 1999) is suggested as an extension of the HMM. The need for further studies that validate the HMM classification results is also discussed.     

Going beyond ethnoracial discrimination and social support in accounting for psychological adjustment: Evidence for the importance of hope as a positive psychological construct in multiethnoracial adults

ABSTRACT

In the present study, we examined the role of ethnoracial discrimination, social support (viz., family & friends), and hope (viz., agency & pathways) in accounting for negative psychological adjustment (viz., worry & depressive symptoms) and positive psychological adjustment (viz., vitality & life satisfaction) in a sample of 203 (164 females & 39 males) multiethnoracial adults. Results of conducting a series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that beyond ethnoracial discrimination and social support, the inclusion of hope was found to augment the prediction model of psychological adjustment. Within the hope set, agency was found to be uniquely associated with adjustment. Pathways was found to be uniquely associated with positive indices of psychological adjustment. The present findings are the first to highlight the significance of hope in multiethnoracial adults. Some implications of the present findings for understanding psychological adjustment in multiethnoracial adults are discussed.     

Gibbon travel paths are goal oriented

Remembering locations of food resources is critical for animal survival. Gibbons are territorial primates which regularly travel through small and stable home ranges in search of preferred, limited and patchily distributed resources (primarily ripe fruit). They are predicted to profit from an ability to memorize the spatial characteristics of their home range and may increase their foraging efficiency by using a ‘cognitive map’ either with Euclidean or with topological properties. We collected ranging and feeding data from 11 gibbon groups (Hylobates lar) to test their navigation skills and to better understand gibbons’ ‘spatial intelligence’. We calculated the locations at which significant travel direction changes occurred using the change-point direction test and found that these locations primarily coincided with preferred fruit sources. Within the limits of biologically realistic visibility distances observed, gibbon travel paths were more efficient in detecting known preferred food sources than a heuristic travel model based on straight travel paths in random directions. Because consecutive travel change-points were far from the gibbons’ sight, planned movement between preferred food sources was the most parsimonious explanation for the observed travel patterns. Gibbon travel appears to connect preferred food sources as expected under the assumption of a good mental representation of the most relevant sources in a large-scale space.     

On additivity of duration reproduction functions

In the present paper properties of theoretical response functions in the duration reproduction task (drt) are studied. If the drt response is to be interpreted as the measure of a temporal duration elapsed in the past, the reproduction function (rf) must be additively measuring. The additivity property is defined for bivariate rfs, taking into account the delay between retention and reproduction. The requirement that an rf be additively measuring leads to a system of two functional equations, which are solved by (i) linear functions of time, or (ii) functions of the form yielded by the ‘dual klepsydra model’ of duration reproduction [Wackermann, J., & Ehm, W. (2006). The klepsydra model of internal time representation and time reproduction. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 239, 482-493]. This result supports the outstanding rôle of the ‘klepsydraic reproduction function’ (krf) in models of internal representation and reproduction of temporal durations.     

Predicting the job and life satisfaction of Italian teachers: Test of a social cognitive model

This study tested a social cognitive model of work and life satisfaction (Lent & Brown, 2006, 2008) in a sample of 235 Italian school teachers. The model offered good overall fit to the data, though not all individual path coefficients were significant. Three of five predictors (favorable work conditions, efficacy-relevant supports, and positive affectivity) produced significant, direct paths to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction, progress at personal work goals, and positive affectivity were predictive of teachers' life satisfaction. Task self-efficacy was related indirectly both to job satisfaction (via work conditions) and life satisfaction (via goal progress). Implications of the findings for future research and efforts to promote teachers' job satisfaction are discussed.     

How to use the diffusion model: Parameter recovery of three methods: EZ, fast-dm, and DMAT

Parameter recovery of three different implementations of the Ratcliff diffusion model was investigated: the EZ model (Wagenmakers, van der Maas, & Grasman, 2007), fast-dm (Voss & Voss, 2007), and DMAT (Vandekerckhove & Tuerlinckx, 2007). Their capacity to recover both the mean structure and individual differences in parameter values was explored. The three methods were applied to simulated data generated by the diffusion model, by the leaky, competing accumulator (LCA) model (Usher & McClelland, 2001) and by the linear ballistic accumulator (LBA) model (Brown & Heathcote, 2008). Results show that EZ and DMAT are better capable than fast-dm in recovering experimental effects on parameters. EZ was best in recovering individual differences in parameter values. When data were generated by the LCA model, the diffusion model estimates obtained with all three methods correlated well with corresponding LCA model parameters. No such one-on-one correspondence could be established between parameters of the LBA model and the diffusion model.     

The tune in-and-out model: A random walk and its application to a presidential election survey

The stochastic model for the evolution of preferences proposed by Falmagne, Regenwetter, and Grofman [1997. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 41, 129-143] and tested by Regenwetter, Falmagne, and Grofman [1999. Psychological Review, 106, 362-384], as well as the alternative Thurstonian model of Böckenholt [Falmagne, J.-C., Regenwetter, M., & Grofman, B. (1997). A stochastic model for the evolution of preferences. In A. A. J. Marley (Ed.), Choice, decision and measurement: Essays in honor of R. Duncan Luce (pp. 113-131). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.], gave a good statistical account of attitudinal panel data from the 1992 US presidential election. We show, however, that both models have the defect of underestimating the number of respondents who did not change their order of preference for the candidates across different polls. We present a generalization of Falmagne et al.'s model based on the idea that some individuals may become momentarily impervious to all matters related to the campaign and ‘tune out.’ This behavior could be triggered by some personal reason or by some external event related to the campaign. Like the original model, the resulting model is a random walk, but on an augmented set of states. A respondent in a ‘live’ state behaves as in the previous model, except when receiving a ‘tune-out’ token, which effectively freezes the respondent's preference state until it is reversed by a ‘tune-in’ token. We describe and successfully test the new model on the same 1992 National Election Study panel data as those used by Böckenholt (2002) and Regenwetter et al. (1999).     

Gender Identity Development and Career Decision-Making Process among High School Learners

Previous studies reveal an inconsistent picture of identity formation for both genders. This study investigated gender differences in identity formation (identity statuses) and career decision-making process among Black South African high school learners. A sample of 156 Grade 12 learners (males = 60, females = 96; mean age = 17.7) participated in the study. Participants completed the Revised Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (Bennion & Adams, 1986) and the Study Choice Task Inventory (Germeijs & Verschueren, 2006). Males and females were similar in identity formation and career decision-making process. Given that nowadays females are encouraged to consider both stereotypically female plus male paths of career development, gender appears to play less influential role in career decision making.     

Considering Development in Developmental Disorders

Various theorists have argued for the importance of a developmental approach to studying typical development (Karmiloff-Smith, 1998; Lerner, 1996; Lerner & Hood, 1986; Masten & Cicchetti, 2010; Overton, 2014; Overton & Lerner, 2012, 2014), and there are reasons to believe that this issue is even more critical to the study of atypical development (Thomas, 2016; Thomas et al., 2009). In this article, we bring together perspectives from a variety of theorists to outline the importance of conceptualizing both typical and atypical development as a not-necessarily-linear, interconnected, and multifaceted set of individual trajectories embedded in real-world contexts (Karmiloff-Smith, 1998; Masten & Cicchetti, 2010; Overton & Lerner, 2012). Using examples from studies of atypical brain and behavior, we describe 6 lenses that can be applied to developmental research.