Estimation of the predictive power of the model in mixed‐effects meta‐regression: A simulation study

Several methods are available to estimate the total and residual amount of heterogeneity in meta‐analysis, leading to different alternatives when estimating the predictive power in mixed‐effects meta‐regression models using the formula proposed by Raudenbush (1994, 2009). In this paper, a simulation study was conducted to compare the performance of seven estimators of these parameters under various realistic scenarios in psychology and related fields. Our results suggest that the number of studies (k) exerts the most important influence on the accuracy of the results, and that precise estimates of the heterogeneity variances and the model predictive power can only be expected with at least 20 and 40 studies, respectively. Increases in the average within‐study sample size () also improved the results for all estimators. Some differences among the accuracy of the estimators were observed, especially under adverse (small k and ) conditions, while the results for the different methods tended to convergence for more optimal scenarios.     

The mark of adaptive memory in healthy and cognitively impaired older adults and elderly

The survival processing paradigm has recently drawn attention to the functional aspects of memory functioning. The survival effect, characterized by better memory performance when information is processed in a survival context, as compared with a variety of controls, is now well established in healthy populations. The main goal of this study was to test this paradigm in a group of cognitively impaired older adults and elderly; their data were compared to the data obtained in a group of healthy older adults and elderly. Seventeen cognitively impaired and 17 healthy participants performed a typical survival task using a blocked within‐subject design procedure and free recall as the memory test. The healthy older adults and elderly performed better on this memory task as well as on other tests included in a neuropsychological evaluation protocol. Importantly, both groups benefited from survival processing. These results provide further support for the power of survival processing, extending this phenomenon to cognitively impaired aging participants. The data also suggest that the survival effect is not simply a form of deep processing. Potential applied considerations are presented.     

Feeling the green? Value orientation as a moderator of emotional response to green electricity

Framing effects on emotional responses in a green electricity choice are investigated in a survey of a random sample of 655 Swedish residents. The results show that overall more positive and less negative emotions are experienced for a promotion frame (“choosing green electricity and paying more”) than for a prevention frame (“not choosing green electricity and paying less”). Value orientation is shown to moderate the framing effect in that for the promotion frame, individuals with a self‐transcendence value orientation show the most positive and least negative emotion, whereas for the prevention frame, individuals with a self‐enhancement value orientation show the most positive and least negative emotion. Emotional responses are further shown to mediate the relationship between value orientation and intention to purchase eco‐labeled electricity.     

Validity and Reliability of the French Versions of the Body Shape Questionnaire

The validity of the 34-item and shortened versions of the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) has been evaluated in various languages. To date, only the validity of the 34-item French BSQ scale has been tested in a nonclinical sample. This study assessed the reliability and validity of the 34-item French BSQ and 7 shortened versions in clinical and nonclinical samples. The 34-item French BSQ was administered to 159 obese women with and without binge eating disorders and to 1,169 female undergraduate students. The results suggested that the BSQ–8B was the best French BSQ to use in nonclinical and clinical samples.     

Dual Equivalent Two-valued Under-determined and Over-determined Interpretations for Łukasiewicz’s 3-valued Logic Ł3

?ukasiewicz three-valued logic ?3 is often understood as the set of all 3-valued valid formulas according to ?ukasiewicz’s 3-valued matrices. Following Wojcicki, in addition, we shall consider two alternative interpretations of ?3: “well-determined” ?3a and “truth-preserving” ?3b defined by two different consequence relations on the 3-valued matrices. The aim of this paper is to provide (by using Dunn semantics) dual equivalent two-valued under-determined and over-determined interpretations for ?3, ?3a and ?3b. The logic ?3 is axiomatized as an extension of Routley and Meyer’s basic positive logic following Brady’s strategy for axiomatizing many-valued logics by employing two-valued under-determined or over-determined interpretations. Finally, it is proved that “well determined” ?ukasiewicz logics are paraconsistent.     

The Medieval Octagon of Opposition for Sentences with Quantified Predicates

The traditional Square of Opposition consists of four sentence types. Two are universal and two particular; two are affirmative and two negative. Examples, where ‘S’ and ‘P’ designate the subject and the predicate, are: ‘every S is P’, ‘no S is P’, ‘some S is P’ and ‘some S is not P’. Taking the usual sentences of the square of opposition, quantifying over their predicates exhibits non-standard sentence forms. These sentences may be combined into non-standard Squares of Opposition (an Octagon in this case), and they reveal a new relationship not found in the usual Square. Medieval logicians termed ‘disparatae’ pairs of sentences like ‘every S is some P’ and ‘some S is every P’, which are neither subaltern nor contrary, neither contradictory nor subcontrary. Walter Redmond has designed a special language L to express the logical form of these sentences in a precise way. I will use this language to show how Squares of Opposition, standard and non-standard, form a complex network of relations which bring to light the subtleties contained in this traditional doctrine.