Cross-cultural effects on detecting multiple sources of driving hazard: Evidence from the deceleration detection flicker test

Collision rates in Malaysia are much higher than the UK; do these reflect poorer hazard perception skill or does exposure to hazardous events improve hazard detection ability? The deceleration detection flicker test (DDFT) was used to investigate the effect of experience and cross-cultural differences between Malaysian and UK drivers in their ability to detect the deceleration of a lead vehicle while simultaneously identifying any secondary hazards in side roads. Matched groups of participants with lower or higher levels of experience were recruited from the University of Nottingham in the UK and Malaysia. Malaysian drivers were significantly less accurate than UK drivers in detecting the deceleration of lead vehicles on urban roads, and significantly less accurate in detecting the presence of secondary hazards across all road types. Experienced drivers were significantly faster than novices in detecting decelerations of the lead vehicle, and were significantly more accurate in detecting the presence of secondary hazards. The study concludes that high exposure to hazardous events on the road in Malaysia does not yield expertise in this hazard perception task, although the DDFT does differentiate experience cross-culturally.     

Would you rather teleport or spend some time commuting? Investigating individuals’ teleportation preferences

The “teleportation test” is a unique question—used in some travel behavior research since the 2000s—to examine individuals’ perceptions towards travel time and affinities for travel. It gives people a hypothetical choice between teleporting or spending some time traveling. All studies (using different methods, including focus groups, interviews, and questionnaires) have consistently reported high teleportation preferences (about 70%). Yet, few correlates of teleportation preferences (especially sociodemographic and perceptual characteristics) have been investigated. Using data from an online questionnaire of 648 commuters in Portland, Oregon, this study investigated factors affecting individuals’ teleportation preferences. While generally representative of the area’s commuters, the sample did have higher shares of high-income workers and people using active modes or transit. Overall, 62% of respondents preferred to teleport than to spend some time commuting. Results from binary logit models identified actual commute duration, typical mode of travel, and “ideal” travel time (but no demographic attributes) as major predictors of preferences to teleport. As expected, people with longer commute durations had a greater desire to teleport, whereas bicyclists and pedestrians more often preferred to commute. People with longer ideal travel times had a greater affinity to commute and were less keen to teleport. Analysis of follow-up questions exploring reasons for respondents’ answers suggested that most “teleporters” were motivated by saving time to do other things, while most “commuters” found parts of their commutes to be enjoyable or productive. Findings from this study are consistent with related studies in implying that a teleportation preference does not necessarily represent zero ideal travel time or viewing travel time as wasted. Finally, this study discusses several travel behavior policy implications of the teleportation test, along with limitations and areas for future research.     

情境对“热情优先效应”的影响——基于同伴提名法的检验

本研究同时从热情和能力维度独立和互依视角,采用同伴提名法考察社交与工作导向情境对“热情优先效应”的增强与削弱作用。结果发现：（1）社交导向情境下表现出明显的“热情优先效应”;（2）工作导向情境对能力的突显效应与“热情优先效应”的表现相反：在热情与能力独立视角下,情境的削弱效应使得“热情优先效应”无法表现;而在热情与能力互依视角下,“热情优先效应”则强于情境对其的削弱效应。     

一种新的等值准则及其适用范围的探讨

受假设检验方法的启发,该文引出了一种基于项目反应理论的新等值方法——平方根等值准则。它具有一些特点：定义式中答对、答错概率同时出现而不能互相替代;极易从0—1评分模式的版本转换到多级评分版本;它可以看成是Haebara等值准则的加权形式。以等值系数估计值的误差大小为衡量标准,以Wilcoxon符号秩检验为依据,大量的Monte Carlo模拟结果显示了一种有趣的现象,即等值方法的运用范围既与项目参数估计精度有关,又与等值系数A的范围有关,但与另一个等值系数B的范围无关。当项目参数估计精度较高或中等而A取值在0.9～1.3之间,新方法往往比Stocking_Lord方法和Haebara方法的估计误差小且有显著性差异,当项目参数估计精度较低时,而A从1.0～2.0时新方法都有优越性。     

On the distribution of the maximum likelihood estimator of Cronbach's alpha

The asymptotic normal distribution of the maximum likelihood estimator of Cronbach's alpha (under normality) is derived for the case when no assumptions are made about the covariances among items. The asymptotic distribution is also considered for the special case of compound symmetry and compared to the exact distribution.The authors would like to thank Willem J. Heiser, an associate editor and the reviewers for valuable and helpful comments to improve the quality of this work.     

为什么要对人类作图--人类基因组计划对人类社会的意义暨纪念人类基因组计划实施10周年

人类基因组计划 (HGP)经过 10年的实施 ,已取得巨大成果。该计划将显著改变医疗科学 ,同时也潜伏着新的危险。随着HGP的发展 ,人类社会在基因检查、药物基因组研究及基因治疗等三大应用领域有着美好的发展前景 ,同时也面临着新的困境。在将HGP成果应用于人类社会时 ,我们必须及时考虑和解决所涉及的伦理、道德和社会等问题 ,从而使HGP成果更好地为人类社会服务。     

A Bayesian predictive analysis of test scores

In the classical test theory, a high-reliability test always leads to a precise measurement. However, when it comes to the prediction of test scores, it is not necessarily so. Based on a Bayesian statistical approach, we predicted the distributions of test scores for a new subject, a new test, and a new subject taking a new test. Under some reasonable conditions, the predicted means, variances, and covariances of predicted scores were obtained and investigated. We found that high test reliability did not necessarily lead to small variances or covariances. For a new subject, higher test reliability led to larger predicted variances and covariances, because high test reliability enabled a more accurate prediction of test score variances. Regarding a new subject taking a new test, in this study, higher test reliability led to a large variance when the sample size was smaller than half the number of tests. The classical test theory is reanalyzed from the viewpoint of predictions and some suggestions are made.     

不同阅读水平儿童中央执行系统比较研究

本研究通过两部分实验探讨汉语发展性阅读障碍儿童与正常儿童中央执行系统的容量差异和这种差异的性质。通过比较匹配生理年龄的不同阅读水平儿童在自定步速和固定步速的复杂阅读广度测验中的成绩,发现发展性阅读障碍儿童在两种阅读广度测验中都表现出中央执行系统容量的缺陷,这种缺陷既不能用加工效率理论,也不能用资源分配理论来解释,而符合一般容量假设。因此,本研究支持发展性阅读障碍儿童存在实时加工和存储信息的一般容量缺陷。     

Standard Errors of Kernel Equating: Accounting for Bandwidth Estimation

In standardized testing, equating is used to ensure comparability of test scores across multiple test administrations. One equipercentile observed-score equating method is kernel equating, where an essential step is to obtain continuous approximations to the discrete score distributions by applying a kernel with a smoothing bandwidth parameter. When estimating the bandwidth, additional variability is introduced which is currently not accounted for when calculating the standard errors of equating. This poses a threat to the accuracy of the standard errors of equating. In this study, the asymptotic variance of the bandwidth parameter estimator is derived and a modified method for calculating the standard error of equating that accounts for the bandwidth estimation variability is introduced for the equivalent groups design. A simulation study is used to verify the derivations and confirm the accuracy of the modified method across several sample sizes and test lengths as compared to the existing method and the Monte Carlo standard error of equating estimates. The results show that the modified standard errors of equating are accurate under the considered conditions. Furthermore, the modified and the existing methods produce similar results which suggest that the bandwidth variability impact on the standard error of equating is minimal.