Masking misfit in confirmatory factor analysis by increasing unique variances: a cautionary note on the usefulness of cutoff values of fit indices

Fit indices are widely used in order to test the model fit for structural equation models. In a highly influential study, Hu and Bentler (1999) showed that certain cutoff values for these indices could be derived, which, over time, has led to the reification of these suggested thresholds as "golden rules" for establishing the fit or other aspects of structural equation models. The current study shows how differences in unique variances influence the value of the global chi-square model test and the most commonly used fit indices: Root-mean-square error of approximation, standardized root-mean-square residual, and the comparative fit index. Using data simulation, the authors illustrate how the value of the chi-square test, the root-mean-square error of approximation, and the standardized root-mean-square residual are decreased when unique variances are increased although model misspecification is present. For a broader understanding of the phenomenon, the authors used different sample sizes, number of observed variables per factor, and types of misspecification. A theoretical explanation is provided, and implications for the application of structural equation modeling are discussed.     

The failure of deactivating intentions: aftereffects of completed intentions in the repeated prospective memory cue paradigm

We used a newly developed experimental paradigm to investigate aftereffects of completed intentions on subsequent performance that required the maintenance and execution of new intentions. Participants performed an ongoing number categorization task and an additional prospective memory (PM) task, which required them to respond to PM cues that differed from standard stimuli in 1 particular visual feature. Although the feature defining the to-be-acted-upon PM cue changed in each block, the irrelevant PM cue of the previous PM task block was occasionally repeated in the subsequent block. In 4 experiments we found that performance in the ongoing task was substantially slowed for repeated PM cue trials compared to oddball trials, which also differed in a visual feature from standard stimuli but never served as PM cues. This aftereffect decreased as a function of delay after intention completion. These findings indicate that intentions can exhibit persisting activation even after they have been completed and may interfere with the execution of the new relevant task. Possible mechanisms and boundary conditions of this intention deactivation failure are discussed.     

Bias in the Reporting of Family History: Implications for Clinical Care

Family history of cancer is critical for identifying and managing patients at risk for cancer. However, the quality of family history data is dependent on the accuracy of patient self reporting. Therefore, the validity of family history reporting is crucial to the quality of clinical care. A retrospective review of family history data collected at a community hospital between 2005 and 2009 was performed in 43,257 women presenting for screening mammography. Reported numbers of breast, colon, prostate, lung, and ovarian cancer were compared in maternal relatives vs. paternal relatives and in first vs. second degree relatives. Significant reporting differences were found between maternal and paternal family history of cancer, in addition to degree of relative. The number of paternal family histories of cancer was significantly lower than that of maternal family histories of cancer. Similarly, the percentage of grandparents' family histories of cancer was significantly lower than the percentage of parents' family histories of cancer. This trend was found in all cancers except prostate cancer. Self-reported family history in the community setting is often influenced by both bloodline of the cancer history and the degree of relative affected. This is evident by the underreporting of paternal family histories of cancer, and also, though to a lesser extent, by degree. These discrepancies in reporting family history of cancer imply we need to take more care in collecting accurate family histories and also in the clinical management of individuals in relation to hereditary risk.     

Autism and 15q11-q13 disorders: behavioral, genetic, and pathophysiological issues

New insights into biological factors that underlie autism may be gained by comparing autism to other neurodevelopmental disorders that have autistic features and relatively well-delineated genetic etiologies or neurobiological findings. This review moves beyond global diagnoses of autism and instead uses an endophenotypic approach to compare specific clusters of autistic symptomatology to features of chromosome 15q11-q13 disorders. Paternally or maternally derived deficiencies of 15q11-q13 result in Prader-Willi or Angelman syndromes, and we first use a global approach to review potential autism susceptibility genes in the 15q11-q13 region. We then use a more trait-based approach to suggest possible ties between specific phenotypic characteristics of autism and Prader-Willi syndrome, namely savant-like skills. We conclude with insights from pathophysiological studies that implicate altered development of specific neuron types and circuits in the cerebral cortex as part of the pathophysiological processes associated with autism and mental retardation.     

Plagiarism Allegations Account for Most Retractions in Major Latin American/Caribbean Databases

This study focuses on retraction notices from two major Latin American/Caribbean indexing databases: SciELO and LILACS. SciELO includes open scientific journals published mostly in Latin America/the Caribbean, from which 10 % are also indexed by Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge Journal of Citation Reports (JCR). LILACS has a similar geographical coverage and includes dissertations and conference/symposia proceedings, but it is limited to publications in the health sciences. A search for retraction notices was performed in these two databases using the keywords “retracted”, “retraction” “withdrawal”, “withdrawn”, “removed” and “redress”. Documents were manually checked to identify those that actually referred to retractions, which were then analyzed and categorized according to the reasons alleged in the notices. Dates of publication/retraction and time to retraction were also recorded. Searching procedures were performed between June and December 2014. Thirty-one retraction notices were identified, fifteen of which were in JCR-indexed journals. “Plagiarism” was alleged in six retractions of this group. Among the non-JCR journals, retraction reasons were alleged in fourteen cases, twelve of which were attributed to “plagiarism”. The proportion of retracted articles for the SciELO database was approximately 0.005 %. The reasons alleged in retraction notices may be used as signposts to inform discussions in Latin America on plagiarism and research integrity. At the international level, these results suggest that the correction of the literature is becoming global and is not limited to mainstream international publications.     

Constitutivism About Practical Principles: Its Claims,Goals, Task and Failure

The aim of this paper is twofold: In its first part, we work out the key features of constitutivism as presented by Christine Korsgaard. This reconstruction serves to clarify which goals Korsgaard wants to achieve with her account and which of its central claims she has to defend in particular. In the second part, we discuss whether Korsgaard can vindicate constitutivism's most central claim. To do this, we analyse two important arguments - the argument from unavoidability and the argument from the abstract constitutive principle - that have been made in support of constitutivism. We show how both these arguments go amiss and conclude that at least for now, constitutivism's most central claim has not been successfully argued for.     

Rule-based and exemplar-based classification in artificial grammar learning

In this study, we examined the induction of syntactic rules, given the presentation of letter strings generated from a finite-state grammar. Our primary interest was whether application of abstracted syntax or analogy to remembered exemplars could serve as a basis for judgments of grammaticality of novel stimuli. The grammatical status of test items and their objective similarity to studied exemplars were manipulated independently to investigate whether rule-based or instance-based information was a more important determinant of classification performance. When group data were examined, the results indicated that both factors were equally important in influencing grammaticality judgments about novel letter strings. There were, however, large individual differences in the magnitude of grammatical status effects, with a subgroup of subjects clearly using a classification strategy other than analogy to remembered exemplars. The results offer qualified support for the hypothesis (Reber & Allen, 1978) that rule-based information can be implicitly abstracted given limited experience with richly structured stimulus domains, and these results are inconsistent with a strong version of the instance-based model of categorization.     

The relation between mirror self-image reactions and imitation in 14- and 18-month-old infants

Previous research suggests that sensitivity to aspects of the self and others develop in tandem. We tested 14- and 18-month-olds’ imitative abilities and mirror self-image reactions (i.e., testing behavior and passing the mark test). Results showed that 14-month-olds’ imitation was closely related to the occurrence of testing behavior in front of the mirror, where they checked whether they could control the movements of the mirror image. Eighteen-month-olds, however, no longer showed this relation. Furthermore, in 18-month-olds, we found a high association between imitation and passing the mark test. These correlations suggest that infants’ mirror self-image reactions and imitation share the ability to detect and produce visual-motor contingencies.     

The reliability of a model influences 14-month-olds’ imitation

Human infants have an enormous amount to learn from others to become full-fledged members of their culture. Thus, it is important that they learn from reliable, rather than unreliable, models. In two experiments, we investigated whether 14-month-olds (a) imitate instrumental actions and (b) adopt the individual preferences of a model differently depending on the model’s previous reliability. Infants were shown a series of videos in which a model acted on familiar objects either competently or incompetently. They then watched as the same model demonstrated a novel action on an object (imitation task) and preferentially chose one of two novel objects (preference task). Infants’ imitation of the novel action was influenced by the model’s previous reliability; they copied the action more often when the model had been reliable. However, their preference for one of the novel objects was not influenced by the model’s previous reliability. We conclude that already by 14 months of age, infants discriminate between reliable and unreliable models when learning novel actions.     

Animals and the Image of God in the Bible and Beyond

Abstract :  This article examines theological thought pertaining to the imago Dei doctrine in light of its relation to non-human animals within the framework of biblical, intertestamental Jewish, and early Christian writings. Evaluating theological understandings of human nature as they relate to and interact with theological and philosophical understandings of animals and animal nature, the author finds that the understandings of the image of God and dominion as they are ideally conceived in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures are significantly more closely related to the ideas of human-animal continuity, compassion, and responsibility than to human rationality or the human immaterial immortal soul (and the entailed implication of animals' lack thereof).