Few Gender Differences Exist Between Women and Men with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is generally considered to be a women's health issue, but the illness occurs also in men. The research objective of this study was to determine if illness patterns and functional status differed between the sexes. Because our own data showed that women with CFS have significantly more comorbid fibromyalgia or multiple chemical sensitivity than men, we eliminated patients with these comorbid conditions from our evaluation. Women with CFS were quite similar to men with CFS in terms of demographics, psychiatric status, functional status, and assessments of disability. Women reported more infectious/flu-like symptoms (represented by a factor derived from factor analysis) than men, but these differences were insignificant after controlling for other variables. Cluster analysis revealed that women were more likely than men to fall in the cluster characterized by symptom severity. Differences found were those of degree rather than of type; strikingly different illness patterns—suggestive of different pathophysiological processes between the sexes—were not found.     

The effect of product type on value linkages in the means‐end chain: implications for theory and method

Means‐end chain (MEC) theory proposes that consumer motivation can only be understood in terms of the hierarchical linkages between attributes, consequences and values. Other researchers have suggested a much more immediate impact of values on motivation. Seeking to explain these conflicting views, this research suggests and empirically tests the proposition that the role of values in consumer motivation differs by product type and also tests that the linkages are not affected by individual differences in the need for cognition. A sample of 191 consumers indicated their motivation to consume utilitarian and non‐utilitarian products using an adapted association pattern matrix technique. Responses were analysed using mixed‐design ANOVAs with planned comparisons. Results indicate significant differences related to product type in the role of values in consumer motivation. Limitations, implications for MEC theory and future research are discussed. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications Ltd.     

认知诊断测验蓝图的设计

通常认为由属性和项目关联阵（即Q矩阵）的列对应的项目充任认知诊断测验中行为样本,其实这种做法不能有效防止理想反应模式的误判。如在测验之前便可确定欲测之属性及层级关系,找到可达阵,可证明可达阵的各个列对应的项目类在认知诊断测验中必不可少,否则在理想反应模式下就一定有一些被试会被误判。本文给出充分必要Q矩阵的概念,以区别Tatsuoka(1995,2009) 讨论过的充分Q矩阵概念。充分必要Q矩阵才能有效指导测验的编制。     

The Relationship between Local Identification,Urban Disorder Sensitivity,and Prejudice Toward Immigrants: The Role of Autochthony

Autochthony is the belief that a place belongs to those who were born there and that they are more entitled. Autochthony and local identification can foster sensitivity to any source of disorder that threatens local stability. The aims of this study were to determine whether: (a) local identification is associated with a higher level of sensitivity to urban disorder and a higher level of prejudice toward immigrants; (b) higher city identifiers use autochthony (entitlement for first comers) as a justification for both of these attitudes. A self‐report questionnaire was administered to 254 adult residents of Turin, Italy. Local identification was found related to autochthony and to urban disorder sensitivity, autochthony was positively associated with both urban disorder sensitivity and prejudice toward immigrants and it mediated the relationship between local identification and prejudice.     

Combining two separate series into a single ordering: Testing the local and global distinctiveness theories with absolute and relative judgments

This study examined the differential effects of an absolute versus a relative judgment task on the retrieval of the border-position items after the combining of two separate serial lists. Under the absolute judgment condition (Experiment 1), the border-position items showed a local distinctiveness effect (faster judgment on these items than on the neighboring items), consistent with the prediction of the local distinctiveness theory of order memory, but not under the relative judgment condition (Experiment 2). The absence of the local distinctiveness effect under the relative judgment condition was consistent with the prediction of the global distinctiveness theory that a midseries item cannot be remembered better than its neighbors. The causes of the differential effects of the two judgment tasks were discussed.     

基于属性掌握概率的认知诊断计算机化自适应测验选题策略

在认知诊断计算机化自适应测验(CD-CAT)中, 被试对每个属性的掌握概率更直接地反映了被试能力的当前估计值。因此, 基于被试的属性掌握概率来构建选题策略, 选择最能改变被试属性掌握概率的题目作为下一个测验项目, 这应该是一个值得尝试的方案。本文借鉴已有相关研究的数据生成模式进行探索, 模拟实验结果表明：假设属性间相互独立,在定长(长度为16)、变长(长度为16或后验属性掌握模式概率达到0.8)以及短测验(长度分别为4、6、8、10)的情况下, 基于属性掌握概率的选题策略PPWKL和PHKL有较好的分类准确率, 在题目曝光率, 题库使用均匀性等方面也有较好的表现; 与研究较多的PWKL、HKL等策略相比, 也略有优势; 当属性间存在不同程度的相关时, 在定长、变长以及较短的测验条件下, 基于PHKL和MI的测验对知识状态估计精度较好, 基于PPWKL和PHKL的测验综合表现占优。     

Time manages interference in visual short-term memory

Emerging evidence suggests that age-related declines in memory may reflect a failure in pattern separation, a process that is believed to reduce the encoding overlap between similar stimulus representations during memory encoding. Indeed, behavioural pattern separation may be indexed by a visual continuous recognition task in which items are presented in sequence and observers report for each whether it is novel, previously viewed (old), or whether it shares features with a previously viewed item (similar). In comparison to young adults, older adults show a decreased pattern separation when the number of items between “old” and “similar” items is increased. Yet the mechanisms of forgetting underpinning this type of recognition task are yet to be explored in a cognitively homogenous group, with careful control over the parameters of the task, including elapsing time (a critical variable in models of forgetting). By extending the inter-item intervals, number of intervening items and overall decay interval, we observed in a young adult sample (N?=?35, M_age?=?19.56 years) that the critical factor governing performance was inter-item interval. We argue that tasks using behavioural continuous recognition to index pattern separation in immediate memory will benefit from generous inter-item spacing, offering protection from inter-item interference.