Heterogeneous factor analysis models: A bayesian approach

Multilevel factor analysis models are widely used in the social sciences to account for heterogeneity in mean structures. In this paper we extend previous work on multilevel models to account for general forms of heterogeneity in confirmatory factor analysis models. We specify various models of mean and covariance heterogeneity in confirmatory factor analysis and develop Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) procedures to perform Bayesian inference, model checking, and model comparison.We test our methodology using synthetic data and data from a consumption emotion study. The results from synthetic data show that our Bayesian model perform well in recovering the true parameters and selecting the appropriate model. More importantly, the results clearly illustrate the consequences of ignoring heterogeneity. Specifically, we find that ignoring heterogeneity can lead to sign reversals of the factor covariances, inflation of factor variances and underappreciation of uncertainty in parameter estimates. The results from the emotion study show that subjects vary both in means and covariances. Thus traditional psychometric methods cannot fully capture the heterogeneity in our data.     

Is the “hot‐hands” phenomenon a misperception of random events?

T. Gilovich, R. Vallone, and A. Tversky (1985) asked whether the so-called hot-hands phenomenon – a temporary elevation of the probability of successful shots – actually exists in basketball. They concluded that hot-hands are misperceived random events. This paper re-examines the truth of their conclusion. The present study's main concern was the sensitivity of the statistical tests used in Gilovich et al.'s research. Simulated records of shots over a season were used. These represented many different situations and players, but they always contained at least one hot-hand period. The issue was whether Gilovich et al.'s tests were sensitive enough to detect the hot-hands embedded in the records. The study found that this sensitivity depends on the frequency of hot-hand periods, the total number of shots in all hot-hand periods, the number of shots in each hot-hand period, and the size of the increase in the probability of successful shots in hot-hand periods. However, when the values of those variables were set realistically, on average the tests could detect only about 12% of the hot-hands phenomena.     

Attribute‐based differentiation of alternatives

An intermediate step is introduced to the dialogue decision process for decision analysis. Alternatives are refined after they have been generated within a strategy table but before they are subject to more detailed evaluation. Two or more judges create a subjective mapping from alternatives to attributes that will later be mapped to criteria. In strategy tables, each of the alternative strategies consists of a coherent set of choices made across several decisions that are to be coordinated. These strategic alternatives are modified so as to increase their differentiation in the attribute space, rather than in the decision space alone. When criteria weights are unknown, the best alternative from the modified set may be superior to the best alternative from the original set. Furthermore, analysis of the resulting alternatives may yield a better mapping of the value response surface for the action space, in the sense that this mapping leads to eventual construction of a higher value alternative. Results are reported for a consulting engagement incorporating the proposed step. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

记忆的顿悟优势效应

记忆的顿悟优势效应指, 与加工非顿悟问题相比, 加工顿悟问题能够产生更优的记忆保持量。该效应在顿悟的两种操作性定义以及不同实验材料中稳定出现。基于顿悟阶段观, 研究者提出两种理论解释记忆的顿悟优势效应的认知机制：认知的生成效应和表征转化理论认为, 顿悟加工过程中的认知努力、适当迁移加工以及顿悟的表征转换加工促进记忆的保持效果; 情绪的“啊哈”体验理论认为, 加工顿悟问题后的情绪对后续的信息提取具有促进作用。未来的研究可从优化顿悟的指标、巩固记忆的顿悟优势效应、评估其持续性以及更加系统探讨记忆的顿悟优势效应的认知机制等四个方面展开。     

The Enjoyment of the Sage and the Common People: A New Perspective on the Cosmology of the Laozi

The Laozi laughs at the joy of those who violate the Dao and praises the suffering of those who attain it,yet this does not mean that the political philosophy of the Laozi does not encompass a notion of happiness,a notion that is grounded in the "enjoyment of something together" (gong le共樂) by the sag and the common people.The philosophical foundation of the Laozi's view of happiness is its cosmology,of which there are two sequences:one is generation and the other is growth.With the influences of Wei/Jin-era metaphysics and Western philosophy,Chinese scholars used to overemphasize generation,tracing only the origin.But in the cosmology of the Laozi,both generation and growth are indispensable,and this is part of the reason why the Dao and the De are equally important in the Laozi.The happiness of the common people does not come from a psychological dependence on or attachment to certain form of domination,but from the full development of each individual's initiative and action affected by Mysterious De.     

Non‐ignorable missingness item response theory models for choice effects in examinee‐selected items

Examinee‐selected item (ESI) design, in which examinees are required to respond to a fixed number of items in a given set, always yields incomplete data (i.e., when only the selected items are answered, data are missing for the others) that are likely non‐ignorable in likelihood inference. Standard item response theory (IRT) models become infeasible when ESI data are missing not at random (MNAR). To solve this problem, the authors propose a two‐dimensional IRT model that posits one unidimensional IRT model for observed data and another for nominal selection patterns. The two latent variables are assumed to follow a bivariate normal distribution. In this study, the mirt freeware package was adopted to estimate parameters. The authors conduct an experiment to demonstrate that ESI data are often non‐ignorable and to determine how to apply the new model to the data collected. Two follow‐up simulation studies are conducted to assess the parameter recovery of the new model and the consequences for parameter estimation of ignoring MNAR data. The results of the two simulation studies indicate good parameter recovery of the new model and poor parameter recovery when non‐ignorable missing data were mistakenly treated as ignorable.     

Divided attention enhances explicit but not implicit conceptual memory: an item-specific account of the attentional boost effect

The Attentional Boost Effect (ABE) refers to the counterintuitive finding that words encoded with to-be-responded targets in a divided-attention condition are remembered better than words encoded with distractors. Previous studies suggested that the ABE-related enhancement of verbal memory depends upon the activation of abstract lexical representations. In the present study, we extend this hypothesis by embedding it in the context of a broader perspective, which proposes that divided attention in the ABE paradigm affects item-specific, but not relational, processing. To this purpose, we examined the ABE in the matched tasks of category-cued recall (CCRT: explicit memory) and category exemplar generation (CEGT: implicit memory). In addition, study time was varied (500, 1500 or 4000?ms), to further determine whether the attentional boost manipulation could influence late-phase elaborative processing. In agreement with the predictions of the item-specific account, the results showed that exemplars encoded with targets were recalled better than exemplars encoded with distractors in the CCRT, but not in the CEGT. Moreover, performance in the CCRT increased with study time, whereas the size of the ABE-related enhancement tended to decrease, further confirming that this effect hinges upon early phase encoding processes.     

Body Dissatisfaction in College Women and Their Mothers: Cohort Effects, Developmental Effects, and the Influences of Body Size, Sexism, and the Thin Body Ideal

A study of body dissatisfaction, as measured by the Figure Rating Scale (Stunkard, Sorenson, & Schlusinger, 1983) and the Body Esteem Scale (Franzoi & Shields, 1984), in 75 college women and their mothers indicated that both daughters and mothers experienced body dissatisfaction. When body size was statistically controlled, either no difference was found between the groups or daughters were found to have greater body dissatisfaction than mothers. The results supported the hypotheses that (1) there are generational differences in body dissatisfaction, (2) both cohort and developmental effects contribute to these differences, and (3) that a developmental effect (mothers' greater body size) may obscure a cohort effect (daughters' greater exposure to the thin body ideal). Body dissatisfaction measures based on the mothers' retrospective ratings of how they felt at their daughters' age were consistent with these hypotheses. Relationships between body dissatisfaction and the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire (Heinberg, Thompson, & Stormer, 1995) were stronger and more frequent for daughters than for mothers and for the Internalization Scale than for the Awareness Scale. Relationships between the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (Glick & Fiske, 2001) and body dissatisfaction were stronger for mothers than for daughters and for Benevolent Sexism than for Hostile Sexism.