The use of item scores and response times to detect examinees who may have benefited from item preknowledge

According to Wollack and Schoenig (2018, The Sage encyclopedia of educational research, measurement, and evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 260), benefiting from item preknowledge is one of the three broad types of test fraud that occur in educational assessments. We use tools from constrained statistical inference to suggest a new statistic that is based on item scores and response times and can be used to detect examinees who may have benefited from item preknowledge for the case when the set of compromised items is known. The asymptotic distribution of the new statistic under no preknowledge is proved to be a simple mixture of two χ² distributions. We perform a detailed simulation study to show that the Type I error rate of the new statistic is very close to the nominal level and that the power of the new statistic is satisfactory in comparison to that of the existing statistics for detecting item preknowledge based on both item scores and response times. We also include a real data example to demonstrate the usefulness of the suggested statistic.     

Reduced corticomotor excitability with cyclic passive movement: a study using transcranial magnetic stimulation

Human voluntary movement involves the integration of kinaesthetic information with efferent motor activity during the planning and execution stages of movement. While much is known of the inhibitory and excitatory effects resulting from activation of specific kinaesthetic sensory receptors, in the present study we employed cyclic passive movement of the index finger in order to activate a range of kinaesthetic receptors in a manner that was intended to correspond to how these receptors might be active during a comparable voluntary movement. We intended to identify how this passive movement protocol might affect the excitability of the corticomotor pathway. During 1 Hz cyclic passive movement of the index finger there was an approximately 60% reduction in the amplitude of the motor evoked response from the first dorsal interosseous muscle. The results of the present study demonstrate that passive movement can have a profound effect on the excitability of the corticomotor pathway.     

A Review of “Suicidal Intent” Within the Existing Suicide Literature

The results of a systematic literature review that investigated suicide intent are presented. Of the 44 relevant articles identified, 17 investigated the relationships between various suicide risk factors and suicide intent and 25 publications investigated the relationships between suicide intent and various suicide outcomes. Despite recent advancements in the definition and nomological validity of suicide intent, a high degree of variability in the empirical measurement and analysis of suicide intent was found. Such variability limits future research related to measuring suicidal risk and outcomes, reporting suicide intent, or the meaningful comparison of diagnostic approaches or treatments across multiple studies.     

Prediction of true test scores from observed item scores and ancillary data

In many educational tests which involve constructed responses, a traditional test score is obtained by adding together item scores obtained through holistic scoring by trained human raters. For example, this practice was used until 2008 in the case of GRE^®General Analytical Writing and until 2009 in the case of TOEFL^® iBT Writing. With use of natural language processing, it is possible to obtain additional information concerning item responses from computer programs such as e‐rater^®. In addition, available information relevant to examinee performance may include scores on related tests. We suggest application of standard results from classical test theory to the available data to obtain best linear predictors of true traditional test scores. In performing such analysis, we require estimation of variances and covariances of measurement errors, a task which can be quite difficult in the case of tests with limited numbers of items and with multiple measurements per item. As a consequence, a new estimation method is suggested based on samples of examinees who have taken an assessment more than once. Such samples are typically not random samples of the general population of examinees, so that we apply statistical adjustment methods to obtain the needed estimated variances and covariances of measurement errors. To examine practical implications of the suggested methods of analysis, applications are made to GRE General Analytical Writing and TOEFL iBT Writing. Results obtained indicate that substantial improvements are possible both in terms of reliability of scoring and in terms of assessment reliability.     

When Love and Violence Meet: Women's Agency and Transformative Politics in Rubaiyat Hossain's Meherjaan

In official and unofficial histories, and in cultural memorializations of the 1971 war for Bangladeshi independence, the treatment of women's experiences—more specifically the unresolved question of acknowledgment of and accountability to birangonas, “war heroines” (or rape survivors)—has met with stunning silence or erasure, on the one hand, or with narratives of abject victimhood, on the other. By contrast, the film Meherjaan (2011) revolves around the stories of four women during and after the war, and most centrally the relationship between a Bengali woman and a Pakistani soldier. In this article, I investigate the anxieties underlying the responses to Meherjaan, particularly in association with themes of trauma—its absence or omnipresence—to nonnormative gender frames of national sexuality, and the notion of loving the Other. Drawing from feminist theories of vulnerability, ethics, and love, I want to explore these themes at two levels: the political message the film transmits, and its aesthetic choices and affects. Finally, I want to comment on the potential of this film, as feminist art, in furthering a dialogue around healing and ethical memorialization in relation to 1971 in Bangladesh.     

A context-independent situational judgment test to measure prosocial implicit trait policy

Two studies developed and validated a context-independent situational judgment test (SJT) of prosocial implicit trait policy (ITP). The first study developed a SJT based on critical incidents about the prosocial behavior of physicians, lawyers, community service volunteers, and human factors engineers. In a sample of 396 undergraduates, scores obtained from this SJT were internally consistent and correlated significantly with other trait constructs related to prosocial ITP. In the second study with 134 undergraduates, the SJT was significantly correlated with relevant trait constructs and prosocial performance in role-plays simulating scenarios in which others needed help. These results show that a generic SJT developed from items that describe situations and actions specific to several occupations can predict behavior in situations unlike any that appear in its items.     

Evolution of grain-boundary character distribution during iterative processing of an austenitic stainless steel

The present article deals with the analysis of grain-boundary character distribution (GBCD) and microstructural characteristics after iterative processing of austenitic stainless steel, AISI 316L. The steel was subjected to iterative cold reduction and subsequent annealings. After an initial decrease in the fraction of Σ3 boundaries, the number of these increases in subsequent steps. The results relate the importance of iterative processing and the mechanism of obtaining a higher fraction of Σ3 boundaries.     

How does the legal framework protect victims of dowry and domestic violence in India? A critical review

This paper critically reviews the performance of two legal measures to curb violence, abuse, and exploitation of women particularly within the domestic space in India. In a time when we are increasingly arguing for women empowerment to augment the forces of social and alternative development, there is tremendous rise even in the officially claimed number of all types of crimes committed against women in general and particularly against wives in matrimonial homes. The Indian state has, however, enacted several laws during the last 60 years to address issues related to gender violence in a society dominated by patriarchal values and practices. But the legal framework, although important, appears to be grossly inadequate even today. A review of two relevant laws proves that mere passing of laws has failed to guarantee any reduction in the number of violence against women and girl child. They also do not provide assurance for improvement in justice delivery system in the Indian context. Much remains to be done to ensure gender justice and equality in a patriarchal society. Discussion here is based on government statistics, newspaper reports and field data collected from different locations in West Bengal during 2005–2010.     

Further Life Experiences Informing the Death and Adjustment Hypotheses

The meaning of life is never straight to us humans. At different turns of life, we perceive different meanings that are offered to us by our own lives. Near one’s death, professional disaster, enmity, family suffering, and fears for life all have their own dimensions. Nevertheless, when summing up, they seem to revolve around the same central themes again and again. In this article, we tried to offer the insights that we found from some very significant and traumatic events of our own lives through the spectacles of our theory—“Death and Adjustment Hypotheses.” Our life is always important; so is our peace and safety. But when we lose our values, we lose everything. It is often that we try to live through our offspring; however, it is our morality and humane values that can ultimately save them from the traumas of life and see them meaningfully through life and death as transcendental beings.