Statistical inferences about true scores

Formulas are derived for unbiased sample estimators of any raw or central moment of the frequency distribution of true scores. A general method is developed for obtaining from each examinee's observed score a least squares estimate of his true score.This research was carried out under contract Nonr-2214(00) with the Office of Naval Research, Department of the Navy.     

Randomly parallel tests and Lyerly's basic assumption for the Kuder-Richardson formula (21)

The K-R (21) formula can be derived without recourse to the undesirable assumption that the test items are all indistinguishable.     

Notes on a problem of multiple classification

A solution is developed in implicit form for the problem of assigningN men ton jobs, the proportion of men to be assigned to each job being specified in advance.The author wishes to thank Dr. Hubert Brogden and Dr. Paul Horst for their helpful discussion and criticism.     

Profiles of mod revivalists: a case study of a reemerging adolescent group

This exploratory study examined the characteristics and interpersonal relations of a relatively small group of adolescents who identified themselves as members of a revived "mod movement." In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 members (45%) of this peer group in order to: identify the main features of the members, determine their similarity to earlier British mods, and assess gains from group affiliation. Results suggested that adolescents who joined this unique and somewhat extreme group were more similar than dissimilar to their contemporaries in their efforts to establish an identity and be accepted as individuals. Implications for interacting with members of such adolescent groups, and suggestions for future research are presented.     

Personal and Professional Development for Judges: The Institute for Faculty Excellence

This interview study describes the role that participation in the Institute for Faculty Excellence in Judicial Education (IFEJE) played in the personal and professional development of four judges. Judicial education is a relatively new field of adult and continuing professional education. There is limited literature devoted to this area of study outside of the arena of substantive legal or judging topics. Interviews served as the primary data source for this study along with program evaluations, photographs, and e-mail correspondence from Institute participants. The findings revealed that the combined safe environment, challenges, and support participants experienced at the Institute and learning about adult learning helped them: feel less isolated in their work; stretch their normal work boundaries resulting in the completion of projects for which they had great passion; and benefited them as judges, supervisors, teachers, and in other social relationships.     

Chronic stress, cognitive functioning and mental health

This review aims to discuss the evidence supporting the link between chronic stress, cognitive function and mental health. Over the years, the associations between these concepts have been investigated in different populations. This review summarizes the findings that have emerged from older populations as well as from populations suffering from pathological aging, namely Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease. Although older adults are an interesting population to study in terms of chronic stress, other stress-related diseases can occur throughout the lifespan. The second section covers some of these stress-related diseases that have recently received a great deal of attention, namely burnout, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Given that chronic stress contributes to the development of certain pathologies by accelerating and/or exacerbating pre-existing vulnerabilities that vary from one individual to the other, the final section summarizes data obtained on potential variables contributing to the association between chronic stress and cognition.     

Biserial estimates of correlation

Brogden's coefficient of selective efficiency and Clemans' are more efficient than biserialr when the correlation is high. Some empirical sampling studies are reported comparing the standard errors of these statistics.     

Explanations versus applications: the explanatory power of valuable beliefs

People hold beliefs that vary not only in their perceived truth, but also in their value to the believer--their meaning, relevance, and importance. We argue that a belief's value is determined, at least in part, by its explanatory power. Highly valuable beliefs are those that can uniquely explain and organize a diverse set of observations. Less valuable beliefs, in contrast, are those that can be explained by other observations, or that explain and organize few observations. The results of three experiments are consistent with these hypotheses. These experiments demonstrate that applying either scientific or religious beliefs to explain other observations increases the perceived value of those beliefs, whereas generating explanations for the existence of beliefs decreases their perceived value. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for people's resistance to explaining their own beliefs, for the perceived value of science and religion, and for culture wars between people holding opposing beliefs.     

Reference-frame misalignment and cardinal direction judgments: group differences and strategies

In 3 experiments, the authors examined how misalignment of egocentric and exocentric reference frames affects cardinal direction judgments. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated large differences in the accuracy and speed with which 104 less experienced and 7 experienced navigators made cardinal direction judgments. Reference-frame misalignment was associated with large performance decrements. The extent of these decrements diminished as ability and experience increased: however, even experienced navigators showed decrements when reference frames were misaligned. In Experiment 3, the authors used 55 college students to examine the individual subtasks of a common strategy for cardinal direction judgments and to isolate the effects of reference-frame misalignment to a particular subtask of this strategy. The tasks and strategies studied in this article can be applied in the development of navigational training and interfaces.