Confirmatory factor analysis of the behavior rating inventory of executive function in a neuro-pediatric sample and its application to mental disorders

The construct validity of the 9-scale version of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) parent form was examined in a clinical sample of children and adolescents with neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders (N = 281). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor model separating the inhibitory behavioral control dimension from the emotional control and metacognitive problem-solving dimensions. The Metacognitive factor was also related to a diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) after controlling for age, gender, IQ, adaptive functioning, and a conventional behavioral rating scale, which included inattention-hyperactivity symptoms. The Emotional Regulation factor was related to a diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder. Correlational analyses indicated that child comorbid emotional and behavioral problems may exacerbate parental BRIEF reporting. Accordingly, when assessing executive function among children with neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders, the BRIEF should be complemented with assessments of mental health problems.     

Formalising the informal?: Dynamic social order, bottom-up social control, and spontaneous normative relations

The right framework for studying normative issues in infosociety and MAS is that of deliberate or spontaneous social order, and intended or unintended, centralised or decentralised forms of social control. For effectively supporting human cooperation it is necessary to “incorporate” social and normative knowledge in intelligent technology; computers should deal with—and thus partially “understand”—permissions, obligations, power, roles, commitments, trust, etc. Here only one facet of this problem is considered: the spontaneous and decentralised norm creation, and normative monitoring and intervention. Cognitive aspects of spontaneous conventions, implicit commitments, tacit agreements, and the bottom-up issuing and spreading of norms are discussed. The transition from “face to face” normative relationships to some stronger constraints on agents' action, and to institutions and authority, and the possibility of a consequent increase of trust, are explored. In particular, I focus on the transition from two party trust, right, permission, and commitment, to three party relationships, where some witness or some enforcing authority is introduced. In this perspective of ‘formalising the informal’, i.e., the interpersonal unofficial normative matter, I discuss (also in order to stress dangers of computer-based formalisation and enforcement of rules) the important phenomenon of functional (collaborative) systematic violation of rules in organisation and cooperation, and the possible emergence of a “convention to violate”.     

创造力测评中的评分者效应

创造力测评中的评分者效应(rater effects)是指在创造性测评过程中, 由于评分者参与而对测评结果造成的影响.评分者效应本质上源于评分者内在认知加工的不同, 具体体现在其评分结果的差异.本文首先概述了评分者认知的相关研究, 以及评分者,创作者,社会文化因素对测评的影响.其次在评分结果层面梳理了评分者一致性信度的指标及其局限, 以及测验概化理论和多面Rasch模型在量化,控制该效应中的应用.最后基于当前研究仍存在的问题, 指出了未来可能的研究方向, 包括深化评分者认知研究,整合不同层面评分者效应的研究, 以及拓展创造力测评方法和技术等.     

多源评价的特点与内在机制

多源评价在国外企业中的运用已日益成熟, 但在我国还停留在探索与发展阶段。基于已有的研究发现, 围绕评价过程、评价源及被评价者三方面对多源评价的特点及内在机制进行了探讨与分析。从评价过程看, 其评价目的具有多重性, 评价形式注重匿名性, 且评价结果的合理应用非常重要; 从评价源看, 不同评价源间的评价一致性较低, 且易造成晕轮效应和宽大效应; 从被评价者来看, 个体对多源评价结果的反应, 受到个性特征、反馈信号及自我-他人评价间差距等因素影响。研究也发现, 多源评价所带来的绩效改进结果具有不稳定性。基于此, 如何提高多源评价过程的有效性与准确性, 改善评价者对评价结果的反应, 以及如何对多源评价结果进行有效汇总等是未来值得研究的重要内容。     

Getting closer: Synchronous interpersonal multisensory stimulation increases closeness and attraction toward an opposite-sex other in female participants

Experiencing tactile facial stimulation while seeing synchronous stimulations delivered to another’s face induces enfacement, i.e. the subjective experience of ownership over the other's face. The synchronous Interpersonal Multisensory Stimulation (IMS) procedure leading to enfacement induces changes beyond the bodily sense of self, such as increased feeling of closeness between self and other. However, evidence for such an influence of IMS on higher-level self-other representations remains limited. Moreover, research has been restricted to settings involving a same-sex other. The current study tested, in female participants, whether IMS could promote social closeness and attraction toward an opposite-sex other. Across two experiments, enfacement with an opposite-sex face was successfully obtained. Synchronous (vs. asynchronous) IMS yielded greater closeness with the other and induced greater Liking and Attraction scores. These novel findings add further evidence to the existence of a link between body representation and social cognition. Implications for interpersonal attraction are discussed.     

Why are moderators of self-other agreement difficult to establish?

Agreement between the self and other rated personality profiles was studied in two samples involving 11,096 speakers of two languages, Dutch and Estonian, who completed two different personality questionnaires, the NEO-PI-3 and HEXACO-PI-R. An outstanding agreement was achieved in the most occasions: in only 4–6% of dyadic pairs was the correlation between two randomly paired profiles higher than the actually observed correlation between true pairs. As in previous studies, we found that age and sex of participants and length of acquaintance had no significant effect on the level of self-other agreement. However, intimate knowledge helped married and unmarried couples in both samples be more accurate in their personality judgments; family members, in turn, had knowledge that made them more accurate than two people who were just acquaintances or friends. We believe that these outcomes can be explained by the contention that the judgment of another’s personality is a relatively simple task, which is accomplishable for most people most of the time. In other words, because judging another person’s personality is an easy task, we are not able to determine “good targets,” “good judges,” or “good traits.” Perhaps it is only “good information” which determines the closeness of the target-judge relationship, and which has a small but reliable impact on the level of self-other agreement. This explains why it is so difficult to find individual differences in the ability to judge another person’s personality.     

Effect of Quality Characteristics of Peer Raters on Rating Errors in Peer Assessment

Little research has been done on the effects of peer raters’ quality characteristics on peer rating qualities. This study aims to address this gap and investigate the effects of key variables related to peer raters’ qualities, including content knowledge, previous rating experience, training on rating tasks, and rating motivation. In an experiment where training and motivation interventions were manipulated, 24 classes with 838 high school students were randomly assigned to study conditions. Inter-rater error, intra-rater error and criterion error indices for peer ratings on four selected essays were analyzed using hierarchical linear models. Results indicated that peer raters’ content knowledge, previous rating experience, and rating motivation were associated with rating errors. This study also found some significant interactions between peer raters’ quality characteristics. Implications for in-person and online peer assessments as well as future directions are discussed.