Problem-Solving in the Nursing Home Environment: Age and Experience Differences in Emotional Reactions and Responses

This study examined age differences in the perception of problems occurring in a nursing home. A predominantly female sample (N = 120) varying in age and in exposure to nursing homes watched videotaped vignettes depicting a woman experiencing problems in a nursing home. For each vignette, research participants reported how they thought the protagonist felt, how she should respond, and how confident they would feel to respond similarly if faced with the same situation. Age, more than experience, was related to differences in perceptions, with older adults reporting that the protagonist felt sad more often than did younger adults, who perceived the protagonist as feeling angry. Younger age was associated with more action-oriented coping strategies. No age differences emerged for how well the participants felt they could handle the situation. Results suggest that nursing home employees differ from the residents in both their perceptions of the problems and recommended strategies used to deal with the problem.     

A comparison of generalized and modified sample biserial correlation estimators

In a recent paper, Bedrick derived the asymptotic distribution of Lord's modified sample biserial correlation estimator and studied its efficiency for bivariate normal populations. We present a more detailed examination of the properties of Lord's estimator and several competitors, including Brogden's estimator. We show that Lord's estimator is more efficient for three nonnormal distributions than a generalization of Pearson's sample biserial estimator. In addition, Lord's estimator is reasonably efficient relative to the maximum likelihood estimator for these distributions. These conclusions are consistent with Bedrick's results for the bivariate normal distribution. We also study the small sample bias and variance of Lord's estimator, and the coverage properties of several confidence interval estimates.The author would like to thank the referees for several suggestions that improved the paper.     

The Importance of Item Selection in "Knew-It-All-Along" Studies of General Knowledge

This study was designed to investigate the effects of item sampling on hindsight bias in experiments using general knowledge material. The results show that the use of random versus traditional experimenter-selected item samples can have different effects on hindsight bias. In a within-subjects study almost twice as many items in a random sample were connected with a reversed effect rather than with a traditional hindsight bias. The same items that resulted in overconfidence in foresight lead to a higher degree of hindsight bias than others. The results suggest that earlier findings of unusually large hindsight effects with general knowledge tasks may be explained by the selection of items used. No hindsight effect was found on confidence scores in a within-subjects design, but was obtained in a between-subjects design. Results suggest that the use of a within-subjects design itself can moderate hindsight bias by familiarizing subjects with the task. The study shows the importance of two conditions for decreasing the hindsight bias: (1) The use of randomly sampled items, and (2) The use of a within-subjects procedure. When these conditions were met, the "knew-it-all-along effect" was completely eliminated.     

Frequency of measurement and data utilization as factors in standardized behavioral assessment of academic skill

A study was conducted to investigate the effects on students' spelling achievement of variations in teacher assessment procedures. Teachers measured student spelling performance at a constant level of task difficulty using different measurement frequencies and different rules to interpret the data. Each teacher wrote two consecutive 3-week goals for improved spelling performance for two sets of 100 spelling words and then measured student performance either daily or weekly by dictating randomly selected words from each 100-word list. Teachers were trained to apply either a predetermined set of decision rules or their own judgment to the data to decide if the spelling program they had implemented for the student was effective. Ineffective programs were changed or modified. Results indicated that daily measurement was significantly more effective than weekly measurement in increasing spelling achievement and that, under certain conditions, decision rules were more effective than teacher judgment in determining when to make program changes or modifications.This research was conducted pursuant to Contract 300-77-0491 between the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (now called Special Education Programs) and the University of Minnesota Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities.     

个体自信度对双人决策的影响

群体决策是重要的社会现象, 个体自信度在群体决策中发挥了重要作用。本文开展了不同难度和信息交流方式下的双人决策实验, 通过分析自信度和个体决策以及决策调整行为的关系, 研究了个体自信度的交流对双人决策的影响。实验结果表明, 个体的自信度与选择的正确率高度正相关; 双人决策过程是个体根据对方的自信度和选择来不断调整自己的选择最终达成一致的过程, 并通过交互过程提高双人决策的正确率; 实验中双人决策的质量明显优于“自信度分享模型”和“更自信者主导决策模型”的预期结果, 表明群体决策不是通过分享自信度进行的贝叶斯优化整合过程, 也不是由更自信的个体完全主导的过程。     

Rank‐based permutation approaches for non‐parametric factorial designs

Inference methods for null hypotheses formulated in terms of distribution functions in general non‐parametric factorial designs are studied. The methods can be applied to continuous, ordinal or even ordered categorical data in a unified way, and are based only on ranks. In this set‐up Wald‐type statistics and ANOVA‐type statistics are the current state of the art. The first method is asymptotically exact but a rather liberal statistical testing procedure for small to moderate sample size, while the latter is only an approximation which does not possess the correct asymptotic α level under the null. To bridge these gaps, a novel permutation approach is proposed which can be seen as a flexible generalization of the Kruskal–Wallis test to all kinds of factorial designs with independent observations. It is proven that the permutation principle is asymptotically correct while keeping its finite exactness property when data are exchangeable. The results of extensive simulation studies foster these theoretical findings. A real data set exemplifies its applicability.     

青年学生自信问卷的编制

自信是指对自己的信任,对自己身体、心理和社会性的信任,表现为有信心,不怀疑。为了编制青年学生自信问卷,首先采用开放式问卷对130名大学生和高中学生进行了调查,内容分析表明青年学生自信包含五类行为,在此基础上编制了青年学生自信预试问卷。391份有效问卷的探索性因素分析表明,青年学生自信问卷测查的是个五因素结构,包括才智自信、人际自信、品质自信、应对自信和成就自信。为了进一步检验青年学生自信问卷的构想效度,并考察其效标效度,1084名青年学生完成了该问卷和五项效标的测查。验证性因素分析支持青年学生自信问卷的结构,结合信度分析和多元回归分析的结果,表明青年学生自信问卷具有较好的信度与效度。     

Confidence judgments in real classroom settings: monitoring performance in different types of tests

During testing, students have a valuable opportunity to exercise and improve their self-regulatory skills. However, the extent to which they profit from those experiences may vary according to some personal, test-related, and environmental factors. This study investigated the effects of metacognitive skills and test types on students' test performances, confidence judgments, and on the accuracy of those judgments. A sample of 129 psychology undergraduate students (50 men and 79 women, mean age = 18.9 years) were categorized according to their metacognitive skills (high vs average vs low) and had their test performances and monitoring processes in two different types of tests (i.e., multiple-choice and short-answer tests) compared throughout one academic term. Their test preparation practices, along with their attributional and regulatory processes during test-taking, were also compared by using open-ended questions. The results showed that: (1) high-metacognitive students presented more effective test preparation practices, better test performances, and superior attributional, regulatory, and monitoring processes than their counterparts; (2) differences in performance and judgment accuracy were significantly larger in the short-answer tests than in the multiple-choice tests; and (3) over time, students' performances and confidence levels varied in specific patterns according to the type of test being taken. The results are discussed, focusing on the educational implications of the interactions observed and on how they may determine what students can learn from test-taking experiences. In addition, based on the results obtained, specific suggestions on how to increase the metacognitive awareness of university students through instruction and on how to improve their academic assessment are provided.     

The value of RCT evidence depends on the quality of statistical analysis

The authors examined statistical practices in 193 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychological therapies published in prominent psychology and psychiatry journals during 1999-2003. Statistical significance tests were used in 99% of RCTs, 84% discussed clinical significance, but only 46% considered-even minimally-statistical power, 31% interpreted effect size and only 2% interpreted confidence intervals. In a second study, 42 respondents to an email survey of the authors of RCTs analyzed in the first study indicated they consider it very important to know the magnitude and clinical importance of the effect, in addition to whether a treatment effect exists. The present authors conclude that published RCTs focus on statistical significance tests ("Is there an effect or difference?"), and neglect other important questions: "How large is the effect?" and "Is the effect clinically important?" They advocate improved statistical reporting of RCTs especially by reporting and interpreting clinical significance, effect sizes and confidence intervals.