Pseudo maximum likelihood estimation and a test for misspecification in mean and covariance structure models

Using the theory of pseudo maximum likelihood estimation the asymptotic covariance matrix of maximum likelihood estimates for mean and covariance structure models is given for the case where the variables are not multivariate normal. This asymptotic covariance matrix is consistently estimated without the computation of the empirical fourth order moment matrix. Using quasi-maximum likelihood theory a Hausman misspecification test is developed. This test is sensitive to misspecification caused by errors that are correlated with the independent variables. This misspecification cannot be detected by the test statistics currently used in covariance structure analysis.For helpful comments on a previous draft of the paper we are indebted to Kenneth A. Bollen, Ulrich L. Küsters, Michael E. Sobel and the anonymous reviewers of Psychometrika. For partial research support, the first author wishes to thank the Department of Sociology at the University of Arizona, where he was a visiting professor during the fall semester 1987.     

Power of the likelihood ratio test in covariance structure analysis

A procedure for computing the power of the likelihood ratio test used in the context of covariance structure analysis is derived. The procedure uses statistics associated with the standard output of the computer programs commonly used and assumes that a specific alternative value of the parameter vector is specified. Using the noncentral Chi-square distribution, the power of the test is approximated by the asymptotic one for a sequence of local alternatives. The procedure is illustrated by an example. A Monte Carlo experiment also shows how good the approximation is for a specific case.This research was made possible by a grant from the Dutch Organization for Advancement of Pure Research (ZWO). The authors also like to acknowledge the helpful comments and suggestions from the editor and anonymous reviewers.     

Assessing structure building in college classrooms at scale

Structure building refers to the way in which people construct meaning from incoming information by creating a foundation of mental nodes, mapping incoming information to the foundational structure, and shifting to a new structure when necessary. Structure building ability has been shown to moderate learning both in laboratory-based and classroom-based research (e.g., use of outlines for effective note-taking and course final grades, respectively). However, measurement of structure building can be resource intensive. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate a shortened, scalable measure of structure building (developed by a textbook publisher) in a real-world context. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that this tool, embedded in the online ancillary materials accompanying a textbook, can be used to measure a variable that is relevant to students' learning in introductory psychology courses.     

Structure factorielle et qualités psychométriques de la version française du questionnaire d’auto-description pour adultes (adult self-report) d’Achenbach et Rescorla

Because of the frequent comorbidities, clinicians need to get a comprehensive picture of the behavioral and emotional problems presented by their patients, but structured interviews allowing for such a survey are time consuming and sometimes tedious, and no French language self-report questionnaire is currently available. The aim of the present study was to verify the factorial structure and some psychometric properties of the French version of the Achenbach and Rescorla's (2003) adult self-report (ASR), which is designed to assess 120 behavioral and emotional problems. We collected ASR forms completed by 905 students enrolled in a university having schools of humanities, social sciences, sports, laws and economics (699 women, 669 students in psychology, 862 aged 18–35 years). The confirmatory factor analyses yielded the expected eight-factor structure (RMSEA = .037; CFI = .931). The internal consistency was similar to the original, and the test-retest reliability was satisfactory. French subjects, especially men, scored higher than their American counterparts on several scales, but the effect sizes were small to medium. French women and men's scores differed only on the Rule-Breaking Behavior scale, with men scoring higher; however, students in psychology, whichever was their gender, scored higher than other students on scales measuring internalizing problems and attention problems. Despite some limitations, the main of which is that all participants were students from the same university, these results speak in favor of the use of the French adult self-report in both research and clinical practice.     

Effects of achievement contexts on the meaning structure of emotion words

Little is known about the impact of context on the meaning of emotion words. In the present study, we used a semantic profiling instrument (GRID) to investigate features representing five emotion components (appraisal, bodily reaction, expression, action tendencies, and feeling) of 11 emotion words in situational contexts involving success or failure. We compared these to the data from an earlier study in which participants evaluated the typicality of features out of context. Profile analyses identified features for which typicality changed as a function of context for all emotion words, except contentment, with appraisal features being most frequently affected. Those context effects occurred for both hypothesised basic and non-basic emotion words. Moreover, both data sets revealed a four-dimensional structure. The four dimensions were largely similar (valence, power, arousal, and novelty). The results suggest that context may not change the underlying dimensionality but affects facets of the meaning of emotion words.     

Driving anger and its relationship with aggressive driving among Chinese drivers

Driving anger poses a serious threat to road safety. Increasing attention is being paid on this issue, with driving anger usually measured by a 14-item version of the Driving Anger Scale (short DAS). However, driving anger problem in China has received limited research attention and there is no corresponding Chinese version of the short DAS. This study adapted the short DAS for use with Chinese drivers and investigated the relationship between driving anger and aggressive driving with an Internet-based survey conducted to a sample of Chinese drivers. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis results showed that a three-factor DAS structure provided a good fit to the data obtained, with the three subscales used being hostile gesture, safety-blocking and arrival-blocking. The hostile gesture subscale and arrival-blocking subscale were positive predictors while the safety-blocking subscale was a negative predictor of aggressive driving. In China, the overall driving anger was lower but its association with aggressive driving was stronger, than that in western countries. These findings provide important insights into causes and consequences of driving anger for the development of effective strategies to reduce driving anger and to enhance road safety.     

面孔重复启动效应:知觉结构和语义表征的贡献

以30名大学生为被试,探讨了熟悉和陌生的正倒立面孔对重复启动效应的影响,以此考察知觉结构和语义表征对面孔重复启动的贡献.结果表明:(1)熟悉面孔的重复启动既存在知觉启动也存在语义启动,而不熟悉面孔仅仅存在知觉启动.(2)知觉结构和语义表征对启动效应的贡献是联合的,而不是分离的;在熟悉面孔中,语义表征对重复启动的贡献大于知觉结构的贡献.(3)知觉结构和语义表征对重复启动的贡献与加工阶段有关.知觉结构在初始阶段起作用,随后作用逐渐减弱;而语义表征存在于信息加工的整个过程.     

“If only I had” versus “If only I had not”: Mental deletions,mental additions,and perceptions of meaning in life events

ABSTRACT

The present research investigated the relationship between meaning perceptions and the structure of counterfactual thoughts. In Study 1, participants reflected on how turning points in their lives could have turned out otherwise. Those who were instructed to engage in subtractive (e.g. If only I had not done X…”) counterfactual thinking (SCT) about those turning points subsequently reported higher meaning perceptions than did those who engaged in additive (e.g. ‘If only I had done X…’) counterfactual thinking (ACT). In Study 2, participants who reflected upon life events from the perspective of understanding the past (versus preparing for the future) tended to engage in more SCT than ACT. Finally, in Study 3, participants engaged in more SCT than ACT about life events whose meaning was perceived as certain (as opposed to uncertain) – presumably to maintain their pre-existing sense of meaning. Implications for the study of counterfactual thinking and meaning are discussed.     

Timing in cognition and EEG brain dynamics: discreteness versus continuity

This article provides an overview of recent developments in solving the timing problem (discreteness vs. continuity) in cognitive neuroscience. Both theoretical and empirical studies have been considered, with an emphasis on the framework of operational architectonics (OA) of brain functioning (Fingelkurts and Fingelkurts in Brain Mind 2:291-29, 2001; Neurosci Biobehav Rev 28:827-836, 2005). This framework explores the temporal structure of information flow and interarea interactions within the network of functional neuronal populations by examining topographic sharp transition processes in the scalp EEG, on the millisecond scale. We conclude, based on the OA framework, that brain functioning is best conceptualized in terms of continuity-discreteness unity which is also the characteristic property of cognition. At the end we emphasize where one might productively proceed for the future research.     

The relationship between miscellaneous symptoms and major symptom factors in obsessive-compulsive disorder

The diverse symptomatology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is being increasingly regarded as reducible to a few symptom dimensions. However, prevailing factor-analytically derived models of symptom structure omit a number of the well-recognized “miscellaneous” symptoms of OCD. This study sought to determine whether miscellaneous OCD symptoms, ascertained by the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale symptom checklist, could be differentially and reliably predicted by four symptom factors (obsessions and checking, symmetry and ordering, contamination and cleaning, and hoarding) in two independent groups of individuals with OCD (n = 381 and n = 107). Logistic regression analyses were used to determine the association of each of the miscellaneous symptoms with the symptom factors; then a single confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the model of associations in the smaller sample. Sixteen (89%) of the 18 symptoms examined were reliably predicted by one (11 items) or two (5 items) of the factors, with obsessions and checking and symmetry and ordering emerging as foremost predictors. The expanded four-factor model showed good fit with data from the second sample. Results are conceptually meaningful, but suggest the inadequacy of groupings based solely upon overt behaviors. These findings may aid clinical understanding of OCD and be of value to studies using symptom factors to guide investigation of its causes and correlates.