Improved bounds for optimal intervals in weakly constrained regression problems

The solution of weakly constrained regression problems typically requires the iterative search, in a given interval, of a point where a certain function has a zero derivative. This note deals with improved bounds for the interval to be searched.     

The stability and clinical significance of distress: A rejoinder to pepper and coyne

Past research has established that some individuals with high Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores at one time point have scores that are lower at a second time point. Recently, we provided evidence indicating that the temporal instability of certain BDI scores may be due partly to the regression to the mean phenomenon. Pepper and Coyne (1996) question this statistical interpretation; they argue that distress among students is unstable for substantive reasons. In the current paper, we reaffirm our view that statistical and measurement factors may account, in part, for changes in BDI scores over time. Given this possibility, inferences about distress or depression as a latent construct in student samples are not warranted if these inferences are based on the administration of a single instrument such as the BDI; any conclusions about distress as a psychological construct must be qualified by acknowledging the possible roles of error and method variance. Clearly, empirical research is needed in order to obtain a better understanding of the nature of distress as a latent variable, especially in light of evidence which indicates that subthreshold levels of depression have a high degree of clinical significance.     

北京市老年人的生活满意度及其影响因素

利用“北京市老龄化多维纵向研究”１９９２年调查资料,分析北京市城乡散居老人２５４３例６０岁以上老年人,对婚姻、子女关系、生活、经济、健康、住房、休闲安排、医疗八个方面的满意程度,并由八个方面的满意度综合计算了总体生活满意度。结果显示北京市老年人的总体生活满意度及八项分类的满意度在中上水平。多元回归分析表明,与总体生活满意度有显著性相关因素有１７个,居于前五位的是健康自评、家庭和睦、经济够用程度、心境和受教育水平。     

视觉诱发电位与老年人智力和记忆力相关性研究的多因素逐步回归分析

以年龄在55—79岁的正常人(男40人,女34人,平均年龄64.34±5.67岁)为被试,做视觉诱发电位(VEP),并测试韦氏智力测验的11项分值及智力商数、临床记忆测验的5项分测验及记忆商数、测量血压和头颅CT的脑萎缩程度,根据眼底动脉硬化表现和神经体征确定脑动脉硬化的程度.将上述资料数字化输入计算机进行多因素逐步回归分析。结果表明,智力和记忆力分别与视觉诱发电位的某些指标变量有关,与脑动脉硬化程度有关,与收缩压相关性较大,与舒张压相关性不大,与生理性脑萎缩程度关系不大。还探讨了推测老年人智力和记忆力的计算公式。     

银屑病发病的心理社会因素及危险因素间关系的探讨——非条件Logistic回归分析和通径分析

本文对97例寻常型银屑病患者以及71例皮肤科对照组患者进行了成组病例对照性研究。相对危险度分析从36个研究因素中筛选出14项可疑危险因素;非条件Logistic回归分析提示其中8项因素有明显的致病意义;结合专业知识,对这8项危险因素进行通径分析。研究结果表明,银屑病发病是多因素综合作用的结果,心理社会危险因素通过直接或/和间接(联合)作用,影响致病过程。经通径图将各因素的作用大小、作用形式及协同作用关系较直观地描绘出来。     

A monotonically convergent algorithm for factals

Takane, Young, and de Leeuw proposed a procedure called FACTALS for the analysis of variables of mixed measurement levels (numerical, ordinal, or nominal). Mooijaart pointed out that their algorithm does not necessarily converge, and Nevels proposed a new algorithm for the case of nominal variables. In the present paper it is shown that Nevels' procedure is incorrect, and a new procedure for handling nominal variables is proposed. In addition, a procedure for handling ordinal variables is proposed. Using these results, a monotonically convergent algorithm is constructed for FACTALS of any mixture of variables.The authors are obliged to Jos ten Berge for stimulating comments on an earlier version of this paper. The research of H. A. L. Kiers has been made possible by a fellowship of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The research of Y. Takane has been supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, grant number A6394, and by the McGill-IBM Cooperative Grant.     

Joint consistency of nonparametric item characteristic curve and ability estimation

The simultaneous and nonparametric estimation of latent abilities and item characteristic curves is considered. The asymptotic properties of ordinal ability estimation and kernel smoothed nonparametric item characteristic curve estimation are investigated under very general assumptions on the underlying item response theory model as both the test length and the sample size increase. A large deviation probability inequality is stated for ordinal ability estimation. The mean squared error of kernel smoothed item characteristic curve estimates is studied and a strong consistency result is obtained showing that the worst case error in the item characteristic curve estimates over all items and ability levels converges to zero with probability equal to one.     

A bayesian alternative to least squares and equal weighting coefficients in regression

This paper details a Bayesian alternative to the use of least squares and equal weighting coefficients in regression. An equal weight prior distribution for the linear regression parameters is described with regard to the conditional normal regression model, and resulting posterior distributions for these parameters are detailed. Some interesting connections between this Bayesian procedure and several other methods for estimating optimal weighting coefficients are discussed. In addition, results are presented of a Monte Carlo investigation which compared the effectiveness of the Bayesian procedure relative to least squares, equal weight, ridge, and Bayesian exchangeability estimations.     

教育和心理研究中的多层线性模型

多层线性模型是分析具有层次结构数据的一种新型统计分析技术,与传统统计方法相比,具有模型假设与实际更吻合、结果解释更合理等特点。近年来这一方法的应用逐渐在社会科学的研究中受到重视。文章从多层线性模型的基本假设入手,较系统地介绍了模型参数估计和假设检验的方法,并通过一个具体例子将这一方法与传统回归分析方法相比,进一步说明了多层线性模型在分析具有层次结构数据时的优点。     

Pentheus rather than Oedipus: On perversion,survival and analytic ‘presencing’1

Following an introductory review of the main developments in the psychoanalytic thinking on perversion, the author focuses on her own understanding of perversion and its treatment, based on the psychoanalytic treatment of patients with severe sexual perversions. This paper uses the term ‘autotomy’ (borrowed from the fi eld of biology) to describe perversion formation as an ‘autotomous’ defence solution involving massive dissociative splitting in the service of psychic survival within a violent, traumatic early childhood situation; thus, a compulsively enacted ‘desire for ritualised trauma’ ensues. The specifi c nature of the perverse scenario embodies the specifi c experiential core quality of the traumatic situation. It is an actual repetition in the present of the imprint of a past destructive experience which is pre‐arranged and stage‐managed; it thus encounters haunting scenes of dread or psychic annihilation while, at the same time, controlling, sanitising and disavowing them. Hence, the world of severe perversion is no longer oedipal, but rather the world of Pentheus, Euripides's most tragic hero‐a world dominated by a mixture of a mother's madness, devourment, destruction and rituals of desire. According to this view, the (diffi cult) psychoanalytic treatment of perversion focuses on patient‐analyst interconnectedness‐brought about by the analyst's ‘givenness to being present’ or ‘presencing’‐at a deep, primary level of contact and impact (the emphasis being on the ontological dimension of experience). This evolving therapeutic entity creates and actualises a new, alternative experiential‐emotional reality within the pervert's alienated world, eventually generating a change in the perverse essence. The author illustrate this approach with three clinical vignettes.