Estimating the impact of variable costs on SDy in complex situations

The inclusion of variable costs when estimating the standard deviation of job performance in dollars has been the basis for a number of highly important advances in utility analysis (e.g. Boudreau, 1983; Boudreau & Berger, 1985). However, no studies have shown the feasibility of incorporating variable costs in situations where multiple types of costs might require global estimation of variable costs. Results obtained from a nationwide sample of insurance personnel indicated that global estimates of variable costs were feasible to obtain in such complex situations but that those costs were not a fixed percentage of the value of job performance. Judges reported that the most important inputs of information into their estimates of the value of job performance in dollars were performance and output as well as initiative of the job holder. Surprisingly, salary related information was not reported as a relatively important input.The authors wish to thank Patricia G. Roth, Bart Osburn, and Jim Phillips for reviewing previous drafts of this work and contributing their valuable comments. The paper has improved as a result of their insights.     

An automated method of psychiatric treatment planning

Several procedures used to develop automated psychodiagnostic methods have been suceessful. This paper presents the next step toward a method of automating the treatment planning of psychiatric patients.     

A model-based standardization approach that separates true bias/DIF from group ability differences and detects test bias/DTF as well as item bias/DIF

A model-based modification (SIBTEST) of the standardization index based upon a multidimensional IRT bias modeling approach is presented that detects and estimates DIF or item bias simultaneously for several items. A distinction between DIF and bias is proposed. SIBTEST detects bias/DIF without the usual Type 1 error inflation due to group target ability differences. In simulations, SIBTEST performs comparably to Mantel-Haenszel for the one item case. SIBTEST investigates bias/DIF for several items at the test score level (multiple item DIF called differential test functioning: DTF), thereby allowing the study of test bias/DIF, in particular bias/DIF amplification or cancellation and the cognitive bases for bias/DIF.This research was partially supported by Office of Naval Research Cognitive and Neural Sciences Grant N0014-90-J-1940, 4421-548 and National Science Foundation Mathematics Grant NSF-DMS-91-01436. The research reported here is collaborative in every respect and the order of authorship is alphabetical. The assistance of Hsin-hung Li and Louis Roussos in conducting the simulation studies was of great help. Discussions with Terry Ackerman, Paul Holland, and Louis Roussos were very helpful.     

The role of trainee knowledge structures in aviation team environments

The importance of having well-developed knowledge structures to enhance complex team performance has been recently indicated in the training effectiveness literature. This work tested that proposition within an aviation team training setting. Results suggested that aviation team training improved the knowledge structures of those participants who received the training. Knowledge structure data also provided information related to the training that was not available from more traditional measures of learning. Finally, results obtained from the knowledge structure measures were consistent with performance results, suggesting that knowledge structure measures are a potentially valid predictor of performance.     

Group performance and interpersonal evaluations as determinants of egotistical attributions in groups1

Group members often try to claim personal credit for the successes of their group while avoiding blame for group failures. Two experiments examined the effects of evaluations from their fellows on such egotism in groups. In Experiment 1, 96 subjects participated in four-person, problem-solving groups, and, after completing the group tasks, rated the competency and worth of each of the other group members. Subjects then received bogus written feedback indicating that the group had either succeeded or failed, and that the other members had considered them: (a) the most competent member of the group, (b) the least competent, or (c) of average competence. Group performance and personal evaluations interacted in influencing subjects' perceptions of their personal performances, relative responsibility for the group performance, and potency within the group, generally supporting predictions derived from self-esteem and equity theory. Subjects claimed more responsibility for success than for failure only when they were favorably evaluated by their peers, and claimed the least responsibility for group success when they were unfavorably evaluated. The latter acceptance of negative peer evaluations was examined in Experiment 2, which manipulated the consensus of the evaluations given 76 high or low self-esteem subjects. Regardless of their self-esteem or the consensus of the evaluations, subjects again seemed to accept unfavorable evaluations. High self-esteem subjects did, though, rate their personal performance and relative responsibility higher than low self-esteem subjects.     

The effect of verb semantic class and verb frequency (entrenchment) on children's and adults' graded judgements of argument-structure overgeneralization errors

Participants (aged 5-6 yrs, 9-10 yrs and adults) rated (using a five-point scale) grammatical (intransitive) and overgeneralized (transitive causative)(1) uses of a high frequency, low frequency and novel intransitive verb from each of three semantic classes [Pinker, S. (1989a). Learnability and cognition: The acquisition of argument structure. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press]: "directed motion" (fall, tumble), "going out of existence" (disappear, vanish) and "semivoluntary expression of emotion" (laugh, giggle). In support of Pinker's semantic verb class hypothesis, participants' preference for grammatical over overgeneralized uses of novel (and English) verbs increased between 5-6 yrs and 9-10 yrs, and was greatest for the latter class, which is associated with the lowest degree of direct external causation (the prototypical meaning of the transitive causative construction). In support of Braine and Brooks's [Braine, M.D.S., & Brooks, P.J. (1995). Verb argument strucure and the problem of avoiding an overgeneral grammar. In M. Tomasello & W. E. Merriman (Eds.), Beyond names for things: Young children's acquisition of verbs (pp. 352-376). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum] entrenchment hypothesis, all participants showed the greatest preference for grammatical over ungrammatical uses of high frequency verbs, with this preference smaller for low frequency verbs, and smaller again for novel verbs. We conclude that both the formation of semantic verb classes and entrenchment play a role in children's retreat from argument-structure overgeneralization errors.     

Comparison of decision learning models using the generalization criterion method

It is a hallmark of a good model to make accurate a priori predictions to new conditions ( Busemeyer & Wang, 2000 ). This study compared 8 decision learning models with respect to their generalizability. Participants performed 2 tasks (the Iowa Gambling Task and the Soochow Gambling Task), and each model made a priori predictions by estimating the parameters for each participant from 1 task and using those same parameters to predict on the other task. Three methods were used to evaluate the models at the individual level of analysis. The first method used a post hoc fit criterion, the second method used a generalization criterion for short-term predictions, and the third method again used a generalization criterion for long-term predictions. The results suggest that the models with the prospect utility function can make generalizable predictions to new conditions, and different learning models are needed for making short-versus long-term predictions on simple gambling tasks.     

For-profit/nonprofit differences in center-based child care quality: Results from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

In secondary analyses of National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development data, multiple indicators of quality (caregiver wages and turnover; child/staff ratio; caregiver education and professionalism; positive caregiving) were compared between child care centers by sector (for-profit/nonprofit) and subsector (for-profit independent/chain, nonprofit church/nonchurch) at multiple points from infancy through prekindergarten. Nonprofit centers evidenced higher caregiver wages and education at most ages and better quality child/staff ratios, turnover, caregiver professionalism, and positive caregiving for toddlers and preschoolers. Subsector differences in preschool classrooms were more complex. In general, quality was higher in nonprofit non-religiously affiliated centers, intermediate in nonprofit religiously affiliated and for-profit independent centers, and lower in for-profit chains, but differences were not found on every indicator or between every group. Further, for-profit chain status predicted lower quality positive caregiving, controlling for family characteristics, staff, and structural quality, at 54 months, but not 36 months. Results support and extend prior research by controlling for family characteristics. Policy implications regarding supply- and demand-side quality-improvement strategies that address market competition and parent choice across subsectors are discussed.     

Salience,Imagination, and Moral Luck

One key desideratum of a theory of blame is that it be able to explain why we typically have differing blaming responses in cases involving significant degrees of luck. T.M. Scanlon has proposed a relational account of blame, and he has argued that his account succeeds in this regard and that this success makes his view preferable to reactive attitude accounts of blame. In this paper, I aim to show that Scanlon's view is open to a different kind of luck-based objection. I then offer a way of understanding moral luck cases which allows for a plausible explanation of our differential blaming responses by appealing to the salience of certain relevant features of the action in question.     

Training Genetic Counsellors to Deliver an Innovative Therapeutic Intervention: their Views and Experience of Facilitating Multi-Family Discussion Groups

Innovations in clinical genetics have increased diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of inherited genetic conditions (IGCs). This has led to an increased number of families seeking genetic testing and / or genetic counselling and increased the clinical load for genetic counsellors (GCs). Keeping pace with biomedical discoveries, interventions are required to support families to understand, communicate and cope with their Inherited Genetic Condition. The Socio-Psychological Research in Genomics (SPRinG) collaborative have developed a new intervention, based on multi-family discussion groups (MFDGs), to support families affected by IGCs and train GCs in its delivery. A potential challenge to implementing the intervention was whether GCs were willing and able to undergo the training to deliver the MFDG. In analysing three multi-perspective interviews with GCs, this paper evaluates the training received. Findings suggests that MFDGs are a potential valuable resource in supporting families to communicate genetic risk information and can enhance family function and emotional well-being. Furthermore, we demonstrate that it is feasible to train GCs in the delivery of the intervention and that it has the potential to be integrated into clinical practice. Its longer term implementation into routine clinical practice however relies on changes in both organisation of clinical genetics services and genetic counsellors’ professional development.