A theory of cheating

The theory of motivated cheating postulates that test takers may cheat when they do not know an answer. With probabilityk, an “observer” is unsure of an answer and will copy from a nearby “target” with probabilityc. The corresponding parameters for the target may be entirely unrelated to those of the observer. Thus, the undesirable feature of bidirectionality of parameters found in correlational techniques is not an inherent feature of this theory of cheating. Predictions are derived, and estimates ofk andc are proposed. Statistically large values of c suggest that an observer was copying from a target. High values ofc for both the observer and the target suggest collusion. The theory is applied to a 40-item five-choice test taken by students in an introductory psychology section. From the full paired comparison matrix of target × observer parameter estimates, the method identifies 2 students who were probably in collusion.     

Incorporating the size principle into an ensemble of back-propagating neurons

As researchers try to move from cybernetics to neural reality, it is time to look at the match between the back propagation strategy and the functional parameters of neurons. Traditionally, the “bias value” in the back propagation activation function has served a mathematical rather than a biological function. By incorporating a production system into the activation logic at the hidden layer, we are able to arrive at a conditional bias value that approximates the function of thresholds in biological neurons.     

Experimental Personality Designs: Analyzing Categorical by Continuous Variable Interactions

Theories hypothesizing interactions between a categorical and one or more continuous variables are common in personality research. Traditionally, such hypotheses have been tested using nonoptimal adaptations of analysis of variance (ANOVA). This article describes an alternative multiple regression-based approach that has greater power and protects against spurious conclusions concerning the impact of individual predictors on the outcome in the presence of interactions. We discuss the structuring of the regression equation, the selection of a coding system for the categorical variable, and the importance of centering the continuous variable. We present in detail the interpretation of the effects of both individual predictors and their interactions as a function of the coding system selected for the categorical variable. We illustrate two- and three-dimensional graphical displays of the results and present methods for conducting post hoc tests following a significant interaction. The application of multiple regression techniques is illustrated through the analysis of two data sets. We show how multiple regression can produce all of the information provided by traditional but less optimal ANOVA procedures.     

Category typicality effects in episodic memory: Testing models of distinctiveness

Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee Category typicality effects were investigated within the context of three models of distinctiveness: a univariate model, a fixed-multifeature model, and a weighted-multifeature model. High-typical, medium-typical, and atypical targets were embedded in lists containing a background set of mediumto high-typicality items. Atypical items were more poorly recalled than were medium- and high-typical items independently of list structure. In recognition, subjects who studied high-typical items had difficulty discriminating between high-typical items that were and were not presented as part of the list. However, item typicality had little effect on the recognition performance of subjects who did not study high-typical items. These findings were consistent with the weighted-multifeature model of distinctiveness.     

Ken and Barbie at life size

There has been considerable discussion in both the scientific literature and general media concerning the appropriateness of the body shape and proportions of the Ken and Barbie dolls, the most popular dolls in modern history. The greatest concern has been of the possible influence that these, and other cultural ideals for body shape, may have on young children. However, these concerns have been based entirely on the subjective interpretation of how one perceives the body dimensions of the dolls relative to an adult size. We therefore used our skills in anthropometry and the rules of allometry to scale the dolls to an adult height to determine the dimensions that these dolls would assume at this adjusted size. These were compared to actual proportions of several representative adult groups of predominantly Anglo-Australian males and females. The critics have been justified in their opinions since both Barbie and Ken are thin relative to the reference samples. Barbie's mean girth z-score relative to a reference cross-section of the young adult population was –4.2. This indicates that the probability for such a body shape is less than 1 in 100,000. Ken is more realistic at about 1 in 50.Special thanks to Melissa Clough, Brendon Dews, Loretta Downie, Judy Morris, and Kim Birchall.     

Religiosity and social desirability: impression management and self-deceptive positivity

The first aim of the present study was to replicate previous research, which has investigated the association between scores on the Francis Scale of Attitudes towards Christianity (FSAC) (Francis & Stubbs, 1987) and scores on Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R Short Scale) (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1991). Further evidence is presented that higher religiosity is associated with lower scores on the psychoticism scale. The main aim of the present study, however, was to investigate the association between social desirability and religiosity. Although no association was found between religiosity and Lie scale scores in the present study, there is debate over what the Lie scale is actually measuring and so we also included, among other measures, the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR: Paulhus, 1988), which consists of two subscales, self deceptive positivity and impression management. It was found that although religiosity was not associated with self-deception it was associated with impression management.     

Denial and self-denigration in the draw-a-person profiles of alcoholics

The present study attempts to cross-validate earlier findings that alcoholics tend to use more denial and are more demeaning of their characters than controls on the objective-projective Apperceptive Personality Test. One hundred nonalcoholic, nonpatient controls were matched to 100 outpatient alcoholics on age, race, and social class. All subjects were given the objective-projective Draw A Person Questionnaire, which was scored for 14 scales. As hypothesized and consistent with the earlier findings, alcoholics used more denial and were more often demeaning of their drawn characters than were controls. These and other exploratory findings are discussed.     

Efficacy of delayed auditory feedback for treating cluttering: Two case studies

Two clutterers were treated with similar preplanned delayed auditory feedback (DAF) procedures, using probe samples in which the DAF was not present to measure treatment efficacy. Whereas both clients met established fluency criteria during treatment, both clutterers had difficulty transferring gains to probe sessions—one more than the other. Differences in results of DAF treatment are discussed from the perspectives of differences in cluttering severity, coexisting disorders, and supplementary clinical techniques.