The latent four-zone structure in classroom seating space

The purpose of this study was to extract a latent space structure of classrooms from students seating preferences, and to determine whether classroom division on the basis of latent space structure is useful in predicting actual seating behaviors. The actual seating positions of 151 female junior college students were observed in classrooms once a week for one semester; then students were asked to estimate their seating preference among 49 seating positions in an imaginary classroom. Students did have different preferences for seating positions. A factor analysis suggested that classroom seating space should be divided into four zones: rear, front, center, and sides. A multiple discriminant analysis suggested that the seating positions that students actually took reflected a four-zone structure. Classroom division based on the four-zone structure proved useful in understanding students' seating behaviors.     

Social Achievement Goals and Social Adjustment in Adolescence: A Multiple‐Goal Perspective

Adolescents approach social situations with different social achievement goals (i.e., social development goals, demonstration‐approach goals, and demonstration‐avoid goals). Applying a latent profile analysis (LPA), a person‐centered approach, this study identified four groups of adolescents with distinct social goal profiles: approach‐oriented, undifferentiated high, demonstration‐oriented, and undifferentiated low. Observed differences in various indicators of social adjustment, including social anxiety, friendship quality, prosocial behavior as well as aggressive behavior, indicated that the approach‐oriented and undifferentiated high profiles showed most adaptive outcomes, whereas the demonstration‐oriented and undifferentiated low profiles showed maladaptive patterns of social outcomes. Profiles with high levels of social development goals showed the most adaptive social outcomes regardless of the level of demonstration‐oriented goals (i.e., demonstration‐approach and demonstration‐avoid goals). These findings suggest that focusing on high‐quality relationships and developing social competence leads to adequately contending with social challenges, and it provides protection against the negative effects of demonstration‐oriented social goals.     

Cognitive emotion regulation strategies among Chinese adolescents having unprotected sex: a latent profile analysis

The association between cognitive emotion regulation strategy use and adolescents’ risk behavior has long been emphasized. To identify coping profiles of Chinese adolescents having unprotected sex and to examine the characteristics and associations among those subgroups, 541 adolescents (age, 14–19 years) were screened from secondary schools in 10 Chinese cities. By latent profile analysis (LPA), the participants were identified into three latent profiles: the low reaction profile (LRP, N = 70), the medium reaction profile (MRP, N = 369), and the high reaction profile (HRP, N = 102) based on nine subscales of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). By one-way analysis of variance, chi-square tests, and multivariate logistic regression analysis, we found that: the HRP has the highest level of using eight strategies and the lowest unprotected sex, meanwhile the LRP has the lowest level of using nine strategies and the highest unprotected sex among three groups (both p < .05). The low response coping was more prevalent among boys and younger students. It indicates that more active cognitive coping, using both adaptive and maladaptive strategies, may associate with less unprotected sex. The programs of enhancing active copying may be targeted in interventions aiming to reduce adolescent unprotected sex.     

Shopping destination choice in Tehran: An integrated choice and latent variable approach

Integrated choice and latent variable (ICLV) models are increasingly considered in many fields as a means to gain a deeper understanding into the decision process of individuals as well as to potentially improve predictive ability. Literature has shown that the application of ICLV in context of shopping destination choice has not been conducted yet. This study uses data collected from the city of Tehran, Iran on shopping destination choice of 812 individuals. Then these attitudinal questions are used for the development of latent variables regarding the attitude and lifestyle of the participants. By including one latent variable (LV) reflecting the attitudes of clothing and lifestyle’s of grocery travelers the structural model reveals a sample distribution of this LV conditional on fundamental socio-economic characteristics. The results of our latent variable model clearly confirm that personal attitude toward clothing shopping center and lifestyle indeed impact destination choice. The results show that our experiment and the expanded hybrid choice model (HCM) allow appropriately identifying and investigating the effects of mixtures of latent attitudes on the intention shopping destination choice.     

Identifying Students at Risk: An Examination of Computer-Adaptive Measures and Latent Class Growth Analysis

Multitiered systems of support depend on screening technology to identify students at risk. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of a computer-adaptive test and latent class growth analysis (LCGA) to identify students at risk in reading with focus on the use of this methodology to characterize student performance in screening. Participants included 3,699 students in Grades 3–5. Three time points of administration (fall, winter, and spring) of the computer-adaptive reading measure were selected. LCGA results indicated 6–7 classes, depending on grade, informed by level and growth in student performance that significantly predicted failure on the statewide test administered at the end of the year. The lowest-performing classes had failure rates above 90% across all grades. The results indicate that identifying homogeneous groups of learners through LCGA may be valuable as an approach to determining students who need additional instruction. Practical implications and future directions are discussed.     

新时代青少年早期文化价值观的发展轨迹：同伴接纳的作用

采用问卷法和同伴提名法对1244名四年级学生进行为期三年的三次追踪,使用线性潜增长模型建模,检验四到六年级学生个体和集体取向价值观的变化趋势,并考察同伴接纳对两类文化价值观发展的影响及性别差异。结果显示：（1）青少年早期个体取向价值观呈线性上升趋势,起始水平存在显著个体差异,而变化速度不存在显著个体差异,起始水平和变化速度之间不存在显著关联;集体取向价值观呈线性上升趋势,起始水平及变化速度都存在显著个体差异,起始水平和变化速度之间存在显著负相关;（2）个体取向价值观的起始水平和变化速度都不存在显著性别差异;女生的集体取向价值观起始水平显著高于男生,而变化速度不存在显著性别差异;（3）较高的同伴接纳对特定时间点上个体和集体取向价值观的上升具有显著促进作用。     

复杂目标实现过程中进展感知与努力的因果关系：基于潜在差分模型的分析

长期、多任务复杂目标实现过程中,个体如何依据过往进展来调节未来努力付诸程度,一直是工业与组织心理学中有争议的话题之一。本研究以创业活动作为研究背景,以PESD数据库中215名创业者为研究对象,构建潜在差分模型对连续5年的创业进展感知与创业努力的客观数据进行分析。结果显示,进展感知和努力间呈现互动式因果关系：前一期努力程度能够预测下一期进展感知的增加,但前一期进展感知却使得下一期努力程度减弱。     

纵向数据的中介效应分析

目前中介效应检验主要是基于截面数据,但许多时候截面数据的中介分析不适合进行因果推断,因而需要收集历时性的纵向数据,进行纵向数据的中介分析。评介了基于交叉滞后面板模型、多层线性模型和潜变量增长模型的纵向数据的中介分析方法及其四个发展。第一,中介效应随时间变化,如连续时间模型、多层时变系数模型。第二,中介效应随个体变化,如随机效应的交叉滞后面板模型和多层自回归模型。第三,中介模型的整合,如交叉滞后面板模型与多层线性模型整合为多层自回归模型。第四,中介检验方法的发展,建议使用Monte Carlo、Bootstrap和贝叶斯法进行纵向数据的中介分析。总结出一个纵向数据的中介分析流程并给出相应的Mplus程序。随后展望了纵向数据的中介分析的拓展方向。