When is the Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney procedure a test of location? Implications for effect-size measures

The Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney procedure is invariant under monotone transformations but its use as a test of location or shift is said not to be so. It tests location only under the shift model, the assumption of parallel cumulative distribution functions (cdfs). We show that infinitely many monotone transformations of the measured variable produce parallel cdfs, so long as the original cdfs intersect nowhere or everywhere. Thus there are infinitely many effect sizes measured as shifts of medians, invalidating the notion that there is one true shift parameter and thereby rendering any single estimate dubious. Measuring effect size using the probability of superiority alleviates this difficulty.     

ON THE BENEFITS OF PHILOSOPHY AS A WAY OF LIFE IN A GENERAL INTRODUCTORY COURSE

Philosophy as a way of life (PWOL) places investigations of value, meaning, and the good life at the center of philosophical investigation, especially of one’s own life. This essay argues that PWOL is compatible with general introductory philosophy courses, further arguing that PWOL-based general introductions have several philosophical and pedagogical benefits. These include the ease with which high-impact practices, situated skill development, and students’ ability to “think like a disciplinarian” may be incorporated into such courses, relative to more traditional introductory courses, as well as the demonstration of philosophy’s value to students by explicitly tying philosophical investigation to students’ own lives.     

Indicators of Affect Dynamics: Structure,Reliability, and Personality Correlates

Researchers are increasingly interested in the affect dynamics of individuals for describing and explaining personality and psychopathology. Recently, the incremental validity of more complex indicators of affect dynamics (IADs; e.g. autoregression) has been called into question (Dejonckheere et al., 2019), with evidence accumulating that these might convey little unique information beyond mean level and general variability of emotions. Our study extends the evidence for the construct validity of IADs by investigating their redundancy and uniqueness, split-half reliability based on indices from odd-numbered and even-numbered days, and association with big five personality traits. We used three diverse samples that assessed daily and momentary emotions, including community participants, individuals with personality pathology, and their significant others (total N = 1192, total number of occasions = 51 278). Mean and variability of affects had high reliability and distinct nomological patterns to big five personality traits. In contrast, more complex IADs exhibited substantial redundancies with mean level and general variability of emotions. When partialing out these redundancies by using residual variables, some of the more complex IADs had acceptable reliability, but only a few of these showed incremental associations with big five personality traits, indicating that IADs have limited validity using the current assessment practices. © 2020 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology     

The Participation and Motivations of Grant Peer Reviewers: A Comprehensive Survey

Science and Engineering Ethics - Scientific peer reviewers play an integral role in the grant selection process, yet very little has been reported on the levels of participation or the motivations...     

Framing and Group Decision-Making: Do Cognitive Changes Parallel Preference Changes?

Subjects had their initial frames of reference concerning a decision problem (Asian Disease problem; Tversky & Kahneman, 1981, Science,211, 453–458) manipulated in order to compose four-person groups containing members with different frames of reference. Three different group compositions (number of members with "gain-oriented" vs "loss-oriented" frames) were used: three gain-oriented and one loss oriented (3–1), two gain-oriented and two loss-oriented (2–2), and one gain-oriented and three loss-oriented (1–3). Results indicated a postgroup discussion choice shift toward the risk alternative in the 2–2 and the 1–3 composition conditions. However, changes in members′ frames of reference were unrelated to preference changes. Group composition also affected group decision processes. Implications for future theory and research in small group decision-making are discussed.     

Delayed-onset sensitization emerges after dishabituation in developing Aplysia.

A recent study of the development of nonassociative learning in the siphon withdrawal reflex of Aplysia showed that dishabituation (facilitation of an habituated response) and sensitization (facilitation of a nonhabituated response) emerge according to different developmental timetables: dishabituation precedes sensitization by approximately 60 days (Rankin & Carew, 1988). Both forms of facilitation of the reflex were observed within 90 s of an electrical shock to the tail. However, more recent work by Marcus and colleagues (1988) in adult animals revealed that sensitization can have a delayed onset of 20-30 min after a strong tail shock. Since the developmental study of Rankin and Carew (1988) only tested the reflex for 10 min after tail shock, it is possible that sensitization was in fact present at earlier developmental stages, but was undetected. To examine this question, in the present study we utilized a longer (40-50 min) post-shock observation period to determine whether delayed-onset sensitization is exhibited in juvenile Aplysia, and if so, when it is expressed during development. In our first experiment, we found that Early Stage 12 juveniles (80-95 days after metamorphosis) showed significant delayed-onset sensitization 30-50 min after a strong tail shock. In a second experiment, we found that delayed-onset sensitization was absent in Stage 11 animals (20-70 days after metamorphosis). Thus delayed-onset sensitization emerges in Early Stage 12. The fact that the birthdate of delayed-onset sensitization is at least 30 days after that of dishabituation (Rankin & Carew, 1987, 1988) supports the hypothesis that these two forms of nonassociative learning may have at least partly different underlying mechanisms.     

Mediating factors in chick social pecking: II. effects of exposure to movement

Unfamiliarity with movement may lead isolated chicks to respond aggressively when tested with live, moving conspecifics. This hypothesis was tested by comparing the number and locus of pecks by isolated chicks to a stationary or moving model of a chick, and to a live chick. In a second test of the hypothesis chicks that viewed a moving object during isolation and chicks isolated without movement were tested with a live con-specific and their number and locus of pecks were compared. Neither experiment supported the hypothesis. Movement alone failed to excite aggressive pecks and prior experience with movement failed to suppress aggressive pecks. In the first experiment imlated chicks treated the live testmate more aggressively than the moving or stationary model. In the second experiment aggressive pecking of chicks was unaffected by prior experience with movement, These fmdmgs do not support the hypothesis that movement excites aggression in isolated chicks. Nonetheless the results focus attention on the generally neglected problem of emotional and motivational states produced by isolation.     

An evaluation of contingency strength and response suppression

Typically, functional analyses of severe problem behavior have been conducted in two ways: (a) The target response is reinforced immediately after it occurs, or (b) the target response is reinforced on some schedule thought to mimic a naturally occurring schedule. We evaluated the effects of contingency strength in reducing levels of problem behavior with 2 participants who had been diagnosed with developmental disabilities. Results showed that under a neutral contingency, one in which the probability of reinforcement for aggression was equal to the probability of reinforcement for the nonoccurrence of aggression, rates of aggression were suppressed to low levels for both participants.