Fitting and testing carroll's weighted unfolding model for preferences

A quadratic programming algorithm is presented for fitting Carroll's weighted unfolding model for preferences to known multidimensional scale values. The algorithm can be applied directly to pairwise preferences; it permits nonnegativity constraints on subject weights; and it provides a means of testing various preference model hypotheses. While basically metric, it can be combined with Kruskal's monotone regression to fit ordinal data. Monte Carlo results show that (a) adequacy of true preference recovery depends on the number of data points and the amount of error, and (b) the proportion of data variance accounted for by the model sometimes only approximately reflects true recovery.This study is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The author wishes to thank the members of his dissertation committee—Lawrence E. Jones, Chairman, Charles Lewis, Stephen Golding, Ledyard Tucker, and Nancy Wiggins—for their helpful comments.     

Creativity and Self-esteem in Adolescence: A Study of Their Domain-Specific,Multivariate Relationships

Although empirical investigations on the Creative Self have historically started with a focus on self-esteem, the literature on its relationship with creative performance remains thin and inconsistent, with estimated relationships ranging from moderate and negative, to strongly positive. Discrepancies may be explained by the domain-specificity of both creativity and self-esteem that have been widely overlooked in this line of work. Therefore, this study explores the multivariate relationships between creativity in three domains (Music, Literary-Verbal, Graphic) and self-esteem in seven domains (e.g., Academic, Emotional) among 170 adolescents. Creative productions were scored by four raters, and latent consensus in each domain captured using a multi-informant latent-consensus model in SEM. This model was further extended in a structural model reveling that (a) creativity is mainly domain-specific, and (b) the contribution of domain-specific self-esteem on domain-specific creativity greatly varies according to both the domains of creativity and self-esteem. Up to 30% of the variance in creative performance was explained by “domain-relevant” self-esteem facets, and a moderate contribution of creative self-esteem across creativity domains. Results are discussed in light of several important methodological directions for this line of work, as well as its implications for creativity-based interventions designed to support positive self-esteem development in adolescence.     

Assessing depressive symptoms with the Borg centiMax Scale® in a Swedish sample of patients and students

The Borg centiMax Scale, is a psychophysically composed general intensity ratio scale, which could enable more precise inter- and intraindividual comparisons of the intensity of depressive symptoms. In the present study, the properties of the centiMax scale were examined in 38 patients with clinical depression and 109 students. Additionally, preliminary centiMax cut-off scores for mild, moderate and severe depression were estimated. The psychometric properties of the centiMax were found to be satisfactory regarding internal consistency, convergent, discriminative and predictive validity. Moreover, the centiMax was demonstrated to provide meaningful comparisons of symptom intensity, which makes it possible to evaluate the relative importance of individual symptoms in a profile and make more precise comparisons within and between individuals. With regard to intraindividual comparisons, patients rated , for example, the intensity of feeling “guilt” twice as strong as feelings of “being punished,” and the intensity of “loss of pleasure” almost three times as strong as “being punished.” With regard to interindividual comparisons, patients rated e.g., the intensity of “being punished” as 12 times stronger than controls, and the intensity of “worthlessness” about nine times stronger. In conclusion, the centiMax was shown to be reliable and valid for assessing depressive symptoms. The centiMax with level anchored ratio data, appears to be highly advantageous as it permits rather precise values of symptom intensity for intra- and interindividual comparisons that could be useful in the diagnostic process and in treatment planning.     

Pitch distribution,melodic contour or both? Modeling makam schema with multidimensional scaling and self-organizing maps

Experienced listeners internalize musical tonal knowledge via statistical learning of pitch distributions as a result of exposure to musical environment. Cross-cultural studies of music cognition offer new perspectives to investigate the acquisition of tonal schema. Makam music is a rich musical system characterized by modal structures defined by micro-tonal pitch sets, and melodic progression patterns (aka seyir features). Makam schema is possibly acquired by internalizing the seyir in addition to pitch features. In the current study, we examined whether an ideal model of makam schema is built with multidimensional scaling analysis and with self-organizing maps (SOMs). We were interested in whether statistical information about seyir features, in addition to pitch distributions, would form an acceptable makam schema model. We qualitatively analyzed topographical organizations in the models to understand whether they reflect complex relations between makams. Multidimensional scaling analyses did not produce an acceptable model for makam schema. The SOM trained with pitch distributions provided an adequate model for makam schema. However, the SOM trained with both pitch distributions and seyir features was better in capturing the complex relations between makams. Further behavioral research is necessary to understand whether melodic progression patterns are intrinsic features of the tonal knowledge of the experienced listeners of makam music.     

Nonparametric IRT: Testing the bi-isotonicity of isotonic probabilistic models (ISOP)

Nonparametric tests for testing the validity of polytomous ISOP-models (unidimensional ordinal probabilistic polytomous IRT-models) are presented. Since the ISOP-model is a very general nonparametric unidimensional rating scale model the test statistics apply to a great multitude of latent trait models. A test for the comonotonicity of item sets of two or more items is suggested. Procedures for testing the comonotonicity of two item sets and for item selection are developed. The tests are based on Goodman-Kruskal's gamma index of ordinal association and are generalizations thereof. It is an essential advantage of polytomous ISOP-models within probabilistic IRT-models that the tests of validity of the model can be performed before and without the model being fitted to the data. The new test statistics have the further advantage that no prior order of items or subjects needs to be known.     

Adaptation in Visuomanual Tracking Depends on Intact Proprioception

The role of arm proprioception in motor learning was investigated in experiments in which, by moving the arm, subjects followed the motion of a target displayed on a monitor screen. Adaptive capabilities were tested in visuomanual tracking tasks following alterations in the relationship between the observer's actual arm movement and visual feedback of the arm movement given by a cursor motion on the screen. Tracking performance and adaptive changes, measured in terms of spatiotemporal error, tracking trajectory curvature, and spatial gain, were compared in 7 control subjects (CSs) and in 1 deafferented subject (DS). CSs adapted appropriately to altered visuomanual relationships; those changes were present in trials immediately after restoration of normal scaling. In contrast, although the DS modified his tracking strategy from trial to trial according to the altered conditions, he did not show plastic changes in internal visuomanual scaling. Like the results of prismatic adaptation experiments, the present results suggest that arm proprioception contributes to the plastic changes that follow alterations in the scaling of visuomanual gain.     

Getting the big picture: Development of spatial scaling abilities

Spatial scaling is an integral aspect of many spatial tasks that involve symbol-to-referent correspondences (e.g., map reading, drawing). In this study, we asked 3–6-year-olds and adults to locate objects in a two-dimensional spatial layout using information from a second spatial representation (map). We examined how scaling factor and reference features, such as the shape of the layout or the presence of landmarks, affect performance. Results showed that spatial scaling on this simple task undergoes considerable development, especially between 3 and 5 years of age. Furthermore, the youngest children showed large individual variability and profited from landmark information. Accuracy differed between scaled and un-scaled items, but not between items using different scaling factors (1:2 vs. 1:4), suggesting that participants encoded relative rather than absolute distances.     

Modeling the effect of reward amount on probability discounting

The present study with college students examined the effect of amount on the discounting of probabilistic monetary rewards. A hyperboloid function accurately described the discounting of hypothetical rewards ranging in amount from $20 to $10,000,000. The degree of discounting increased continuously with amount of probabilistic reward. This effect of amount was not due to changes in the rate parameter of the discounting function, but rather was due to increases in the exponent. These results stand in contrast to those observed with the discounting of delayed monetary rewards, in which the degree of discounting decreases with reward amount due to amount-dependent decreases in the rate parameter. Taken together, this pattern of results suggests that delay and probability discounting reflect different underlying mechanisms. That is, the fact that the exponent in the delay discounting function is independent of amount is consistent with a psychophysical scaling interpretation, whereas the finding that the exponent of the probability-discounting function is amount-dependent is inconsistent with such an interpretation. Instead, the present results are consistent with the idea that the probability-discounting function is itself the product of a value function and a weighting function. This idea was first suggested by Kahneman and Tversky (1979), although their prospect theory does not predict amount effects like those observed. The effect of amount on probability discounting was parsimoniously incorporated into our hyperboloid discounting function by assuming that the exponent was proportional to the amount raised to a power. The amount-dependent exponent of the probability-discounting function may be viewed as reflecting the effect of amount on the weighting of the probability with which the reward will be received.     

In-session gaming as a tool in treating adolescent problematic gaming

For some adolescent gamers, playing online games may become problematic, impairing functioning in personal, family, and other life domains. Parental and family factors are known to influence the odds that adolescents may develop problematic gaming (PG), negative parenting and conflictual family dynamics increasing the risk, whereas positive parenting and developmentally supportive family dynamics protecting against PG. This suggests that a treatment for adolescent PG should not only address the gaming behaviors and personal characteristics of the youth, but also the parental and family domains. An established research-supported treatment meeting these requirements is multidimensional family therapy (MDFT), which we adapted for use as adolescent PG treatment. We report here on one adaptation, applying in-session gaming. In-session demonstration of the “problem behavior” is feasible and informative in PG. In the opening stage of therapy, we use in-session gaming to establish an alliance between the therapist and the youth. By inviting them to play games, the therapist demonstrates that they are taken seriously, thus boosting treatment motivation. Later in treatment, gaming is introduced in family sessions, offering useful opportunities to intervene in family members' perspectives and interactional patterns revealed in vivo as the youth plays the game. These sessions can trigger strong emotions and reactions from the parents and youth and give rise to maladaptive transactions between the family members, thus offering ways to facilitate new discussions and experiences of each other. The insights gained from the game demonstration sessions aid the therapeutic process, more so than mere discussion about gaming.     

Profile Analysis of Psychological Symptoms Associated With Misophonia: A Community Sample

Misophonia is characterized by extreme aversive reactions to certain classes of sounds. It has recently been recognized as a condition associated with significant disability. Research has begun to evaluate psychopathological correlates of misophonia. This study sought to identify profiles of psychopathology that characterize misophonia in a large community sample. A total of N = 628 adult participants completed a battery of measures assessing anxiety and anxiety sensitivity, depression, stress responses, anger, dissociative experiences, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and beliefs, distress tolerance, bodily perceptions, as well as misophonia severity. Profile Analysis via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS) was employed to evaluate profiles associated with elevated misophonia and those without symptoms. Three profiles were extracted. The first two accounted for 70% total variance and did not show distinctions between groups. The third profile accounted for 11% total variance, and showed that misophonia is associated with lower obsessive-compulsive symptoms for neutralizing, obsessions generally, and washing compared to those not endorsing misophonia, and higher levels of obsessive-compulsive symptoms associated with ordering and harm avoidance. This third profile extracted also showed significant differences between those with and without misophonia on the scale assessing physical concerns (that is, sensitivity to interoceptive sensations) as assessed with the ASI-3. Further research is called for involving diagnostic interviewing and experimental methods to clarify these putative mechanisms associated with misophonia.