Minimax d-optimal designs for item response theory models

Various different item response theory (IRT) models can be used in educational and psychological measurement to analyze test data. One of the major drawbacks of these models is that efficient parameter estimation can only be achieved with very large data sets. Therefore, it is often worthwhile to search for designs of the test data that in some way will optimize the parameter estimates. The results from the statistical theory on optimal design can be applied for efficient estimation of the parameters.A major problem in finding an optimal design for IRT models is that the designs are only optimal for a given set of parameters, that is, they are locally optimal. Locally optimal designs can be constructed with a sequential design procedure. In this paper minimax designs are proposed for IRT models to overcome the problem of local optimality. Minimax designs are compared to sequentially constructed designs for the two parameter logistic model and the results show that minimax design can be nearly as efficient as sequentially constructed designs.     

Aging effects in sequential modulations of poorer-strategy effects during execution of memory strategies

In this study, we asked young adults and older adults to encode pairs of words. For each item, they were told which strategy to use, interactive imagery or rote repetition. Data revealed poorer-strategy effects in both young adults and older adults: Participants obtained better performance when executing better strategies (i.e., interactive-imagery strategy to encode pairs of concrete words; rote-repetition strategy on pairs of abstract words) than with poorer strategies (i.e., interactive-imagery strategy on pairs of abstract words; rote-repetition strategy on pairs of concrete words). Crucially, we showed that sequential modulations of poorer-strategy effects (i.e., poorer-strategy effects being larger when previous items were encoded with better relative to poorer strategies), previously demonstrated in arithmetic, generalise to memory strategies. We also found reduced sequential modulations of poorer-strategy effects in older adults relative to young adults. Finally, sequential modulations of poorer-strategy effects correlated with measures of cognitive control processes, suggesting that these processes underlie efficient trial-to-trial modulations during strategy execution. Differences in correlations with cognitive control processes were also found between older adults and young adults. These findings have important implications regarding mechanisms underlying memory strategy execution and age differences in memory performance.     

Ethological analysis of the male rat's socioagonistic behavior in a resident-intruder paradigm

The object of the present study was to assess the rat's socioagonistic behavior by means of ethological procedures. Two groups of male Wistar rats were used: 33 residents and 66 intruders. To allow reliable characterization of social and agonistic patterns, social interactions were increased by the isolation of residents and, on the other hand, both offense in residents and defense in intruders were increased by differences in weight, agonistic experience, and habituation to the enclosure. Encounters were videotaped, and the animals' behavior was analyzed by a 27-pattern ethogram and a software package made up to this end. Several patterns parameters were quantified, and two ethological mathematical models were employed: sequential analysis of preferential directions and cluster analysis based on similarities between patterns. Following mean latencies of the most frequent elements, the first four pattern sequences appeared to be the same in both groups of animals. From the fifth pattern on, residents displayed mainly dominance and threat, whereas intruders showed defensive and submissive patterns. Attack was also displayed by residents, but less frequently than dominance and threat. The alpha status was established by two sorts of domination, either through dominance and threat or by attack. The mean frequency of the intraindividual transition of patterns was higher in residents than in intruders. Pathway graphs, derived from sequential analysis, showed some common dyads, triads, or quadrads of patterns, but they basically defined different behavior structures in residents and intruders. Dendrograms, obtained by cluster analysis, allowed classification of patterns into behavior categories. The categories in residents were exploration, dominance, threat, and attack, and they encompassed 18 elements; in intruders the categories were exploration, dominance, and defense, and they consisted of nine patterns. A submissive category composed of three patterns could be also deduced considering similarity results. To summarize, six behavior categories were obtained: one “socioindividual” (exploration) and five “agonistic” (dominance, threat, attack, submission, and defense). In conclusion, the present study shows how ethological procedures may help to elucidate the rat's socioagonistic behavior and to classify the observed patterns into behavior categories.     

Female aggression as a response to sexual jealousy: A sex role reversal?

Sexual jealousy can be interpreted as a strategy which serves to retain the partner and defend exclusive sexual relationships. Because of the asymmetry in paternity confidence, it should be a more important strategy for males than for females. Indeed, male sexual jealousy is apparently a cross-cultural phenomenon and is often the proximate cause of violence against the female partner. The objective of this study was to investigate through self-report whether male “victims” of partner infidelity are expected to react more aggressively than female “victims,” how subjects themselves say they would react to a partner's infidelity, and whether these expectations vary across the sexes. Contrary to our predictions, subjects expected females more than males to react aggressively and revengefully when confronted with infidelity. These expectations were mainly sustained by the female subjects. Females were also more likely than males to declare that they themselves would verbally and physically abuse the partner. In addition, female subjects anticipated that they would cry, feign indifference, and try to look attractive and cool. Males were more likely than females to report that they would get drunk. Our results on aggressive reactions represent a departure from traditional sex roles. It is argued that emancipatorial development, as well as the levelling influence of contraceptives on the sexes' parental certainty, have triggered this change in sex roles. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Sequential learning in individuals with agrammatic aphasia: evidence from artificial grammar learning

We examined sequential learning in individuals with agrammatic aphasia (n = 12) and healthy age-matched participants (n = 12) using an artificial grammar. Artificial grammar acquisition, 24-hour retention, and the potential benefits of additional training were examined by administering an artificial grammar judgment test (1) immediately following auditory exposure-based training, (2) one day after training, and (3) after a second training session on the second day. An untrained control group (n = 12 healthy age-matched participants) completed the tests on the same time schedule. The trained healthy and aphasic groups showed greater sensitivity to the detection of grammatical items than the control group. No significant correlations between sequential learning and language abilities were observed among the aphasic participants. The results suggest that individuals with agrammatic aphasia show sequential learning, but the underlying processes involved in this learning may be different than for healthy adults.     

内隐学习研究40年

内隐学习至今已有40年的研究历史。在这期间,内隐学习的研究对象、研究方法和本质特征都得到了深入和扩展。主要体现在：内隐学习的研究材料从同时性刺激走向序时性刺激;内隐学习的研究方法从主观阈限的测量逐渐扩展到客观阈限测量,又再回到主观阈限测量之上;内隐学习的本质特征从抽象到具体,再落脚于熟悉性     

Are choices based on conditional or conjunctive probabilities in a sequential risk-taking task?

In this study, we examined participants' choice behavior in a sequential risk-taking task. We were especially interested in the extent to which participants focus on the immediate next choice or consider the entire choice sequence. To do so, we inspected whether decisions were either based on conditional probabilities (e.g., being successful on the immediate next trial) or on conjunctive probabilities (of being successful several times in a row). The results of five experiments with a simplified nine-card Columbia Card Task and a CPT-model analysis show that participants' choice behavior can be described best by a mixture of the two probability types. Specifically, for their first choice, the participants relied on conditional probabilities, whereas subsequent choices were based on conjunctive probabilities. This strategy occurred across different start conditions in which more or less cards were already presented face up. Consequently, the proportion of risky choices was substantially higher when participants started from a state with some cards facing up, compared with when they arrived at that state starting from the very beginning. The results, alternative accounts, and implications are discussed.     

The Space–Time Congruency Effect: A Meta‐Analysis

Several reaction time (RT) studies report faster responses when responses to temporal information are arranged in a spatially congruent manner than when this arrangement is incongruent. The resulting space–time congruency effect is commonly attributed to a culturally salient localization of temporal information along a mental timeline (e.g., a mental timeline that runs from left to right). The present study aims to provide a compilation of the published RT studies on this time–space association in order to estimate the size of its effect and the extent of potential publication bias in this field of research. In this meta‐analysis, three types of task are distinguished due to hitherto existing empirical findings. These findings suggest that the extent to which time is made relevant to the experimental task has a systematic impact on whether or not the mental timeline is activated. The results of this meta‐analysis corroborate these considerations: First, experiments that make time a task‐relevant dimension have a mean effect size of d = 0.46. Second, in experiments in which time is task irrelevant, the effect size does not significantly deviate from zero. Third, temporal priming studies have a surprisingly high mean effect size of d = 0.47, which, however, should be adjusted to d = 0.36 due to publication bias.     

序列语义的类别一致性关系能否进行无意识整合？

阈下语义之间能否进行整合,最近的研究给出了不同的结果。当多个阈下语义词语同时呈现时显示出无意识语义整合效应,但是当序列呈现时没有观察到无意识整合效应。本研究在保留同时呈现方法优点（不同空间呈现位置）的情况下研究了序列呈现的不同汉字词语之间能否产生无意识语义类别关系整合。在实验1中,两个相同或不同类别的词语作为阈下启动刺激先后在两侧呈现,且第一个词语消失后第二词语马上出现,结果显示出无意识语义类别整合效应。实验2延长了两个阈下启动词语之间的时间间隔,结果未发现无意识语义类别整合效应。另外,实验3进一步排除了实验1中第一个启动词语的视觉残留,结果也未观察到显著的无意识语义类别整合效应,说明实验1中观察到的无意识整合效应是视觉残留所致。综合三个实验结果表明,两个阈下词语之间的语义类别一致性关系只有在同时呈现这种特殊条件下才能进行无意识整合加工,说明了短时间维度对于无意识语义关系整合的重要性。