两种新的多维计算机化分类测验终止规则

计算机化分类测验(Computerized Classification Testing, CCT)由于具备分类的功能, 目前在职业资格考试、健康与护理问卷等以分类为目的的测验中得到广泛应用。作为CCT的重要组成部分, 终止规则不仅决定测验停止的条件而且直接影响分类准确率及测验效率。然而, 目前少有研究对多维CCT (Mulitidimensional CCT, MCCT)的终止规则进行探索。针对已有MCCT终止规则的不足, 提出两种新的MCCT终止规则(即基于马氏距离的多维序贯似然比规则Mahalanobis-SPRT和随机缩减的多维广义似然比规则M-SCGLR), 并开展模拟研究在不同实验条件下(比如, 不同的题库结构、能力维度间相关及分界函数)考查它们的表现。结果表明：(1)在使用补偿性分界函数的条件下, Mahalanobis-SPRT规则具有较高的分类精度和与同类方法相近的测验长度; (2)在几乎所有实验条件下, M-SCGLR规则不仅在测验精度上大幅优于已有的多维随机缩减规则, 而且具有较短的测验长度。     

认知固执导致持续应激的认知与神经机制

认知固执(Perseverative Cognition, PC)是一种重复或长期的消极认知表征,既能够使用量表测量,也可以通过实验诱发。认知固执会导致持续应激反应,进而影响个体的身心健康。其导致持续应激反应的认知机制体现在个体难以识别安全信号,高认知固执个体会表现出低心率变异性的显著特征;在脑机制方面主要表现为前额叶的抑制控制功能失调、杏仁核与前扣带回的病理性改变以及前额叶-杏仁核的连接减弱。未来研究应深入探讨认知固执的影响因素以及干预措施,同时需要进一步分析内隐认知固执的测量方式及其对个体的影响。     

问卷调查中被试不认真作答的控制与识别

问卷调查是心理与教育领域十分常见的数据收集方法, 而被试的不认真作答可能导致问卷数据失真。回顾已有研究发现:(a)不认真作答可以从外在作答模式和内在产生原因两个方向进行定义; (b)不认真作答的常见事前控制方法主要包括降低任务难度以及提高被试作答动机两大类; (c)事后识别方法主要包括嵌入识别量表、作答模式识别、反应时识别三大类。今后的研究中应基于作答机制的研究优化与开发控制方法, 检验作答识别方法的跨情境适用性并开发新方法, 并对局部不认真的识别与处理进行更深入的探讨。     

推理判断中偏差反应的加工机制：冲突探查失败，还是抑制失败？

通过控制自变量一致性（冲突、非冲突）与问题类型（基础比率问题、合取问题）,对推理判断中偏差反应的加工机制：冲突探查失败,还是抑制失败,进行验证。反应时、反应自信度的结果支持抑制失败说,被试对冲突的探查是成功的,偏差反应的产生是没能抑制占主导的直觉。而冲突探查大小（Conflict detection size）的结果表明冲突探查存在个体差异,有些被试对两种加工间的冲突探查过程完美无暇(Flawless detection),有些被试的冲突探查过程松散马虎(Lax detection),而且受到问题类型的影响。     

‘It’s bit of an eye opener’ – A qualitative study of women’s attitudes towards tanning,sun protection and a facial morphing intervention

Objective: Skin cancer is to a large degree behaviourally preventable, meaning that evidence-based interventions have scope to make a difference. Previous research indicates that appearance-based interventions such as facial morphing may be more effective than health-based interventions, and that it can personalise the issue of skin cancer.

Method: This study examined attitudes to UV exposure, as well as reactions to a facial morphing intervention, through interviews with 25 women aged 35 years and older.

Results: Thematic analysis revealed four themes; two regarding attitudes to UV exposure (confusion and contradiction, and change and continuity), and two relating to the facial morphing intervention (negative reactions to UV-exposed photo and positive outcomes of the intervention). Women experienced a number of barriers to adopting safer behaviour in the sun; their current attitudes to UV exposure had been shaped by available information sources throughout their ageing. They expressed negative evaluations of the UV photo, which fed directly into motivation to reduce UV exposure.

Conclusions: These results can be interpreted along the lines of goal-directed behaviour. This type of intervention has the potential to reduce UV exposure among this participant group, something that needs to be further investigated with randomised control trials.     

Being an optimist or a pessimist and its relationship with morning cortisol release and past life review in healthy older people

Objective: Investigate the relationship between optimism and pessimism and the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and past life review in healthy older people.

Design: 76 older volunteers summarised their lives, highlighting the most important events, impressions and experiences. Cortisol saliva samples were collected on two consecutive weekdays. High and low optimism and pessimism groups were computed by mean split.

Main Outcome Measures: Percentages of positive (PE) and negative events (NE) and positive (PCE) and negative cognitions and emotions (NCE) were obtained. Optimism and pessimism were measured with the Life Orientation Test Revised. The areas under the curve with respect to the ground and with respect to the increase were computed, with the latter understood as the CAR.

Results: The high pessimism group reported more NE and NCE and less PE and PCE (p’s < 0.041). No significant differences in CAR were found between high and low optimism and pessimism groups after removing suspected non-adherent participants (p’s > 0.116). Higher CAR was related to lower PCE, but higher NCE (both p < 0.008).

Conclusion: Pessimism seems to increase the focus on negative aspects of the past, which may lead to a worse perception of life in ageing, whereas optimism contributes to a healthier CAR.     

The dynamics of success and failure: how post-behaviour evaluations relate to subsequent exercise intentions and behaviour

Objective: Exercise behaviour change involves multiple experiences with success and failure. The Model of Action Phases (MAP) offers a dynamic account of how success and failure influence both immediate evaluations and future decisions and actions. However, predictions from the MAP have not been formally tested.

Design: A longitudinal daily diary study was used to examine how post-behaviour evaluations of exercise success and failure influence subsequent exercise intentions and behaviour. Participants (N = 104) set exercise goals, and then kept a daily online exercise diary for four weeks.

Main outcome measures: Participants self-reported exercise behaviour, affective response to exercise, self-evaluations after success or failure at following through on intentions to exercise, and intentions to exercise in the next week.

Results: Multilevel modelling revealed significant within- and between-participant relationships among post-behaviour evaluations, intentions and subsequent behaviour. Findings supported MAP-derived predictions about how success and failure at exercise are associated with feelings about exercise and the self, and inform subsequent exercise intentions and behaviour.

Conclusion: Positive post-behaviour evaluations of success or failure may stabilise positive intentions and aid maintenance of exercise behaviour. Implications of these MAP-based findings for intervention design are discussed.     

Can false memories prime alternative solutions to ambiguous problems?

Research has demonstrated that false memories are capable of priming and facilitating insight-based problem-solving tasks by increasing solution rates and decreasing solution times. The present research extended this finding by investigating whether false memories could be used to bias ambiguous insight-based problem-solving tasks in a similar manner. Compound remote associate task (CRAT) problems with two possible correct answers, a dominant and a non-dominant solution, were created and normed (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, participants were asked to solve these CRAT problems after they were given Deese/Roediger-McDermott lists whose critical lures were also the non-dominant solution to half of the corresponding CRATs. As predicted, when false memories served as primes, solution rates were higher and solution times were faster for non-dominant than dominant CRAT solutions. This biasing effect was only found when participants falsely recalled the critical lure, and was not found when participants did not falsely recall the critical lure, or when they were not primed. Results are discussed with regard to spreading activation models of solution competition in problem-solving tasks and current theories of false memory priming effects.     

A Polytomous Model of Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment for Graded Data

Pursuing the line of the difference models in IRT (Thissen &; Steinberg, 1986 Thissen, D., &; Steinberg, L. (1986). A taxonomy of item response models. Psychometrika, 51:567–577. doi:10.1007/BF02295596.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), this article proposed a new cognitive diagnostic model for graded/polytomous data based on the deterministic input, noisy, and gate (Haertel, 1989 Haertel, E. H. (1989). Using restricted latent class models to map the skill structure of achievement items. Journal of Educational Measurement, 26, 333–352. doi:10.1111/j.1745-3984.1989.tb00336.x.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Junker &; Sijtsma, 2001 Junker, B. W., &; Sijtsma, K. (2001). Cognitive assessment models with few assumptions, and connections with nonparametric item response theory. Applied Psychological Measurement, 25, 258–272. doi:10.1177/01466210122032064.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), which is named the DINA model for graded data (DINA-GD). We investigated the performance of a full Bayesian estimation of the proposed model. In the simulation, the classification accuracy and item recovery for the DINA-GD model were investigated. The results indicated that the proposed model had acceptable examinees' correct attribute classification rate and item parameter recovery. In addition, a real-data example was used to illustrate the application of this new model with the graded data or polytomously scored items.