Item Selection in Multidimensional Computerized Adaptive Testing—Gaining Information from Different Angles

Over the past thirty years, obtaining diagnostic information from examinees’ item responses has become an increasingly important feature of educational and psychological testing. The objective can be achieved by sequentially selecting multidimensional items to fit the class of latent traits being assessed, and therefore Multidimensional Computerized Adaptive Testing (MCAT) is one reasonable approach to such task. This study conducts a rigorous investigation on the relationships among four promising item selection methods: D-optimality, KL information index, continuous entropy, and mutual information. Some theoretical connections among the methods are demonstrated to show how information about the unknown vector θ can be gained from different perspectives. Two simulation studies were carried out to compare the performance of the four methods. The simulation results showed that mutual information not only improved the overall estimation accuracy but also yielded the smallest conditional mean squared error in most region of θ. In the end, the overlap rates were calculated to empirically show the similarity and difference among the four methods.     

Multifinality in implicit choice

This research examines the possibility that people's choices in the service of an explicit focal goal may also reflect their tendency to fulfill implicit background goals and in that sense are multifinal. We carried out 5 experimental studies to investigate this notion. In Experiment 1, a primed implicit goal affected individuals' choices even when those avowedly served an explicit "focal" goal. Experiment 2 replicated this finding with a different type of implicit goals. Experiment 3 found that primed implicit goals had no effect on choices where the options that served them undermined the explicit goal. Experiment 4 found that a primed implicit goal served by a multifinal option does not privilege it over a unifinal option if that goal had been already attained by a different means. Finally, Experiment 5, via 3 types of control groups, showed that choices were affected by both the explicit and implicit goals in isolation, and they shifted toward multifinality when these goals were conjointly present. The discussion considers the integrative potential of the multifinality framework and its implications for a variety of phenomena in the domain of motivated cognition.     

Attention doesn’t slide: spatiotopic updating after eye movements instantiates a new, discrete attentional locus

During natural vision, eye movements can drastically alter the retinotopic (eye-centered) coordinates of locations and objects, yet the spatiotopic (world-centered) percept remains stable. Maintaining visuospatial attention in spatiotopic coordinates requires updating of attentional representations following each eye movement. However, this updating is not instantaneous; attentional facilitation temporarily lingers at the previous retinotopic location after a saccade, a phenomenon known as the retinotopic attentional trace. At various times after a saccade, we probed attention at an intermediate location between the retinotopic and spatiotopic locations to determine whether a single locus of attentional facilitation slides progressively from the previous retinotopic location to the appropriate spatiotopic location, or whether retinotopic facilitation decays while a new, independent spatiotopic locus concurrently becomes active. Facilitation at the intermediate location was not significant at any time, suggesting that top-down attention can result in enhancement of discrete retinotopic and spatiotopic locations without passing through intermediate locations.     

Evaluating a metacognitive and planned happenstance career training course for taiwanese college students

This study used a pretest—posttest, nonequivalent control group, quasi experimental design to examine the effectiveness of a 12‐week, metacognitive and planned happenstance career training course for Taiwanese college students. The treatment groups significantly increased their career competencies in metacognitive, cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions over the comparison and nonequivalent control groups.     

Cultural Effects on English Language Teachers’ Judgments of Metaphoric Creativity: A Mixed‐Methods Approach

This study explored cultural influences on English language teachers’ judgments of English metaphors created by Taiwanese learners of English. Based on a mixed‐methods approach, it delved into the rating severity and implicit evaluation criteria of two cultural groups of teachers: Taiwanese and Americans. Ten Taiwanese teachers and 10 American teachers evaluated 120 novel metaphoric expressions using the Consensual Assessment Technique (Amabile, 1996). Creativity in context: Update to the social psychology of creativity. They further filled out a creativity evaluation survey, which was designed to bring to light what qualities within the metaphors influenced their judgments of metaphoric creativity. With the teachers’ ratings being analyzed by means of many‐facet Rasch measurement, this study first indicated that the American teachers were more severe raters than the Taiwanese teachers, but no significant difference was found between them. Analysis of the evaluation survey further demonstrated that both cultural groups shared largely similar evaluation criteria; yet, two contrasts emerged between them. Specifically, the American teachers seemed to favor metaphors that expressed the creator's thoughts; by contrast, the Taiwanese teachers preferred metaphors that relied on readers’ imagination to work out the meanings. These findings shed light on implications for teaching creativity in English L2 classrooms and assessing learners’ creative language artifacts in an English L2 context.     

Framing effects of per‐person versus aggregate prices in group meals

This research draws on regulatory focus theory and applies it to the context of price framing in group meals. Specifically, it examines the possibility that a per‐person framing of price (an aggregate price) may activate a promotion focus (prevention focus) in consumers. The results of five experiments show that participants (a) generated more promotion‐relevant (vs. prevention‐relevant) thoughts, (b) were more inclined to consume the group meal when a persistent focus on promotion (vs. prevention) was exhibited, (c) rated promotion‐focused (vs. prevention‐focused) messages more favorably, and (d) reported a higher intention to opt for an offer where the chance of obtaining a positive goal was enhanced, in response to a per‐person price rather than an aggregate price. Mediation analyses provide additional evidence for the notion that pursuit of promotion goals (prevention goals), which relate to obtaining value (avoiding loss) primed by a per‐person price (an aggregate price), had the effect of regulating one's choices. Managerial implications of the findings are discussed, followed by recommendations for future research.     

Fluid intelligence, memory span, and temperament difficulties predict academic performance of young adolescents

There are several candidate measures when asking which psychological construct significantly predicts academic performance. Hundreds of studies have addressed this issue by measuring intelligence, basic cognitive processes, or personality. However, the simultaneous consideration of a broad and varied array of measures is much less common. Here we consider several cognitive and personality measures concurrently to define latent factors representing six constructs of presumed interest: fluid intelligence, short-term memory, working memory, processing speed, controlled attention, and temperament difficulties. One hundred and thirty-five secondary school students were tested. Their academic performance was measured by average grades in the nine scholastic areas of their curriculum. The main finding shows that a latent factor defined by fluid intelligence and memory span along with a latent factor defined by impulsiveness, sensation seeking, and lack of fear account for an impressive figure of 60% of the variance in academic performance.     

5～7岁自闭症谱系障碍幼儿数感的特点

本研究采用《幼儿数感测评量表》对26名自闭症谱系障碍（autism spectrum disorders,ASD）幼儿、20名智力障碍幼儿及32名正常幼儿进行数感能力测评,并比较三组幼儿的数感特点。结果发现：（1）ASD幼儿的数感整体和各维度水平均显著低于正常幼儿,但与智力障碍幼儿相当;（2）三组幼儿数感各维度水平在5～7岁之间无明显变化;（3）三组幼儿在数量比较、数量估算和大小比较的能力水平均领先于其他维度,而类比推理和大小推理均相对落后。另外,ASD幼儿和智力障碍幼儿的体积比较与大小推理、类比推理的能力较为接近,而正常幼儿的体积比较能力显著优于大小推理和类比推理。研究表明5～7岁ASD幼儿的数感能力整体落后于同龄正常幼儿,且数感各维度的能力发展不均衡、不同步。本研究揭示了5～7岁ASD幼儿数感能力发展的特点及需求,可为制定相应数感干预方案、促进其数学学习提供参考。     

青少年公正世界信念的发展轨迹及其影响因素:一项多水平分析

为探讨青少年公正世界信念的发展轨迹及其影响因素,采用公正世界信念量表（BJW）、友谊质量量表（FQ）和网络社会支持量表（OSS）对来自河南省某3所高中的518名高一学生进行两年追踪调查。结果发现：（1）青少年一般公正世界信念高于个人公正世界信念;（2）青少年一般公正世界信念呈逐步下滑趋势,而个人公正世界信念的发展趋势则相对平稳;（3）友谊质量和网络社会支持均能分别解释个人公正世界信念和一般公正世界信念发展过程中的个体差异。研究结果揭示了青少年公正世界信念发展的轨迹,为引导青少年树立正确的世界观和人生观,培养积极的社会心态提供了有益建议。     

Attentional rubbernecking: Cognitive control and personality in emotion-induced blindness

Emotional stimuli often attract attention, but at what cost to the processing of other stimuli? Given the potential costs, to what degree can people override emotion-based attentional biases? In Experiment 1, participants searched for a single target within a rapid serial visual presentation of pictures; an irrelevant, emotionally negative or neutral picture preceded the target by either two or eight items. At the shorter lag, negative pictures spontaneously induced greater deficits in target processing than neutral pictures did. Thus, attentional biases to emotional information induced a temporary inability to process stimuli that people actively sought. Experiment 2 revealed that participants could reduce this effect through attentional strategy, but that the extent of this reduction was related to their level of the personality traitharm avoidance. Participants lower in harm avoidance were able to reduce emotioninduced blindness under conditions designed to facilitate the ignoring of the emotional stimuli. Those higher in harm avoidance were unable to do so.