Rasch's multiplicative poisson model with covariates

As a multivariate model of the number of events, Rasch's multiplicative Poisson model is extended such that the parameters for individuals in the prior gamma distribution have continuous covariates. The parameters for individuals are integrated out and the hyperparameters in the prior distribution are estimated by a numerical method separately from difficulty parameters that are treated as fixed parameters or random variables. In addition, a method is presented for estimating parameters in Rasch's model with missing values. The author is now affiliated with the Otara University of Commerce. The author is grateful to Yoshio Takane, Haruo Yanai, Eiji Muraki, the editor and referees for their careful readings and helpful suggestions on earlier versions of this paper. Part of this work was presented at the third European Congress of Psychology at Tampere, Finland in 1993.     

韦伯比的拟合公式

本文以神经生理学为基础,结合感官具有调节和比较两功能的实用性,建立起刺激在大脑皮层上引起感知效应Ｅ的数学模型：Ｅ＝Ｂｌｏｇ（１＋ｋＩ）,其中ｋ＝Ｉ￣（－ｂ）／ａ。从此出发,可推出中等以上刺激的差别阈判据：△ＥＭ＝恒量。将此判据推广到弱刺激,即得到差别阈的普适规律：△Ｉ／（Ｉ＋ａＩ￣ｂ）＝Ｎ,亦即韦伯定律的修订公式。从弱到强的广大刺激范围内,它都能与实验数据拟合良好。     

The application of the satir model of family therapy to the families in Hong Kong: A personal reflection

Practitioners in Hong Kong have shown an increasing interest in various family therapy approaches since the 1980s. This paper offers a critique of the major concepts and techniques of the Satir model applied to families in Hong Kong. Cultural considerations are examined in relation to the family structure and hierarchy, the Chinese self and self-esteem, communication patterns, and family rules. Implications for the application of the Satir model of family therapy in Hong Kong are discussed.     

目标设置过程的理性特征分析

本文运用个案研究方法 ,从人类理性的角度分析了企业在不同的生产经营条件下的目标设置方式 ,发现不确定性和目标难度对管理者的目标设置过程有很大的影响。在确定的 ,且任务较容易的情况下 ,目标设置是以一种与理性期望模型相一致的方式进行的 ,而在高度不确定的条件下 ,管理者则倾向于采用渐进适应的模式设置目标。对管理者的经营活动作进一步深入的分析发现 ,在高难度的任务目标情景中 ,决策者更多地从战略的层次 ,而不是从具体的层次上寻求实现目标的途径 ,从而提出了目标难度与实绩的“策略搜索层次”假设     

Psychology and mind-body segregation: Are we part of the problem?

Despite advances in behavioral medicine and health psychology, the health care system and medical education continue to show resistance to a truly biopsychosocial model of medical practice. Psychologists in medical settings have generally been identified as challenging the concept of mind-body duality and the segregation of biologic and psychosocial sciences in medicine. However, examples are presented of how psychologists contribute to and perpetuate mind-body segregation via exclusive theoretical conceptualizations, arbitrary definitions of professional behavior, and dogmatic constraints on the limits of psychology's field of knowledge.     

初中生友谊质量与孤独感的变化轨迹:一项多元潜变量增长模型分析

为考察初中生友谊质量与孤独感的变化轨迹及两者间的关系,采用关系网络问卷、孤独感量表对西安市的875名初中生（M=12.73±0.18;男生494名）进行三年追踪测量,使用多元潜变量增长模型进行分析。结果发现：（1）初中三年,中学生的友谊质量逐渐提高,孤独感水平逐渐下降;（2）初一时的友谊质量和孤独感水平存在显著的个体差异,初中三年期间二者的发展速度也存在个体差异;（3）初一时的友谊质量可显著预测初一时的孤独感水平（β=-1.77,p<0.001）及随后的发展速度（β=0.20,p<0.05）;（4）男生的孤独感水平初始值高于女生,友谊质量的初始值则低于女生;高SES个体孤独感的起始值高于低SES个体。本研究结果揭示了初中三年期间个体友谊质量与孤独感的动态变化关系及友谊质量对孤独感的预测作用,对改善青少年孤独感的现状有一定的现实指导意义。     

A rating formulation for ordered response categories

A rating response mechanism for ordered categories, which is related to the traditional threshold formulation but distinctively different from it, is formulated. In addition to the subject and item parameters two other sets of parameters, which can be interpreted in terms of thresholds on a latent continuum and discriminations at the thresholds, are obtained. These parameters are identified with the category coefficients and the scoring function of the Rasch model for polychotomous responses in which the latent trait is assumed uni-dimensional. In the case where the threshold discriminations are equal, the scoring of successive categories by the familiar assignment of successive integers is justified. In the case where distances between thresholds are also equal, a simple pattern of category coefficients is shown to follow.This work was conducted in part in the first half of 1977 while the author was on study leave at the Danish Institute for Educational Research. The Institute provided required research facilities while The University of Western Australia provided financial support.     

Tests of symmetry in three-way contingency tables

Three-dimensional contingency tables are analyzed, with one variable (e.g., sex) as a factor, and with a natural relation between the other variables (e.g. left and right eye vision). Models of special interest, like symmetry and proportional symmetry between the related variables, and homogeneity across the factor levels, are investigated. Maximum likelihood estimators of parameters and partitions of chi-square goodness-of-fit statistics are explicitly presented; the independence of certain models is noted, and an example is discussed.     

Robust estimation of ability in the Rasch model

Estimating ability parameters in latent trait models in general, and in the Rasch model in particular is almost always hampered by noise in the data. This noise can be caused by guessing, inattention to easy questions, and other factors which are unrelated to ability. In this study several alternative formulations which attempt to deal with these problems without a reparameterization are tested through a Monte Carlo simulation. It was found that although no one of the tested schemes is uniformly superior to all others, a modified jackknife stood out as the best one in general, it was also super efficient (more efficient than the asymptotically optimal estimator) for tests with forty or fewer items. It is proposed that this sort of jackknifing scheme for estimating ability be considered for practical work.This research was funded through a grant from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (78-NI-AX-0047) to the Bureau of Social Science Research, Howard Wainer, Principal Investigator. We would like to thank Ronald Mead, Anne Morgan and James Ramsay for kind, generous, and invaluable help at various stages of the project.