Developmental models for children's temperament: alternatives to chronometric polynomial curves

Partridge and Lerner (2007), in a secondary analysis of the New York Longitudinal Study, employed a chronometric polynomial growth curve model to argue that the developmental course of difficult temperament follows a non‐linear trajectory over the first 5 years of life. The free curve slope intercept (FCSI) growth curve model of Meredith and Tisak (1990) is presented as a preferable conceptual alternative because it contains a number of currently popular statistical models, including repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance, factor mean, linear growth, linear factor analysis, and hierarchical linear models as special cases. As such, researchers can compare the fit of each of these models relative to the FCSI model, and, at times, to each other. The present paper conducts a re‐analysis of the data, and establishes that fit of the FCSI model is arguably better than other statistical alternatives. The FCSI model is also used as the basis for identifying subgroups of individuals with their qualitatively distinct growth patterns within a growth mixture modeling framework. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does ordinary injustice make extraordinary injustice possible? Gender,structural injustice,and the ethics of refugee determination

Our understanding of the impact of gender on refugee determination has evolved greatly over the last 60 years. Though many people initially believed that women could not be persecuted qua women, it is now frequently recognized that certain forms of gender-related persecution are sufficient to warrant asylum. Yet despite this conceptual progress, many states are still reluctant to consider certain forms of gender-related persecution to be sufficient to warrant asylum or refugee status. One reason for this continued bias is the lack of a framework with which to understand gender-related persecution. I argue that we ought to understand gender-related persecution as resulting from the intersection of individual or state persecution and structural injustice. Structural injustice can be understood as the kind of everyday injustice, harm, and violence that women experience that makes possible the more extraordinary kinds of violence that women are likely to claim as the basis of asylum. Understanding gender-related persecution within the context of structural injustice will, I argue, help us to see it as a legitimate form of persecution and thus allow more just outcomes for women refugees.     

Asymptotic biases in exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling

Formulas for the asymptotic biases of the parameter estimates in structural equation models are provided in the case of the Wishart maximum likelihood estimation for normally and nonnormally distributed variables. When multivariate normality is satisfied, considerable simplification is obtained for the models of unstandardized variables. Formulas for the models of standardized variables are also provided. Numerical examples with Monte Carlo simulations in factor analysis show the accuracy of the formulas and suggest the asymptotic robustness of the asymptotic biases with normality assumption against nonnormal data. Some relationships between the asymptotic biases and other asymptotic values are discussed.The author is indebted to the editor and anonymous reviewers for their comments, corrections, and suggestions on this paper, and to Yutaka Kano for discussion on biases.     

心理福利的结构研究

通过对幸福、福利及经济福利的反思 ,提出了心理福利这一研究课题 ;结合对被试样本的问卷调查 ,经因子分析 ,分别考察了心理福利的三个维度 :自我幸福感、生活满意感和对社会的行为性评价的因子结构 ;以此为基础 ,运用 L ISREL 8构建了心理福利的二阶结构模型。结果显示 ,模型与数据拟合良好。     

Structural family therapy with Mexican-American family systems

Characteristics of traditional Mexican-American families with consequent family rules that affect these family systems are discussed along with selected clinical cases. The specific cases discussed involve: (1) interactions with family of origin in intercultural marriages, (2) intracultural differences in levels of acculturation and traditional family rules, and (3) extended family impact in response to severe life crisis. The development of therapeutic processes from structural and strategic family therapy approaches, which reflect appreciation for cultural differences and strengths, is suggested.This material was presented at the annual meeting of the Texas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, January, 1994, San Antonio, TX.     

RELIGIOUS AND MYSTICAL STATES: A NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL MODEL

Abstract. This paper first considers the current confusion in categorizing and even describing mystical states, including experiences of God, the Void, and lesser religious experiences. The paper presents the necessity of studying the neuropsychological substrate of such experiences both to understand them in greater depth and to help resolve scholarly confusion in this area. As a prelude to presenting a neuropsychological model, the basic principles of brain organization are reviewed, including hemispheri-city; primary, secondary, and tertiary sensory receptive areas; their motor analogues; prefrontosensorial polarity; and the integration of limbic functioning into cortical activity. A neuropsychological model for mystical states is then presented in terms of differential stimulation and deafferentation of various tertiary sensory association areas, along with integration of various patterns of limbic stimulation.     

三维物体图形的大小和颜色影响内隐和外显记忆的实验研究

本研究探索非言语信息的内隐记忆。用新异的不熟悉的三维物体图形作为实验材料,物体决定测验评价内隐记忆,是/否再认测验评价外显记忆,操纵学习(?)测验间物体图形的颜色(实验一)和大小(实验二),80名被试参加实验一,另80名参加实验二。结果发现:(1)存在着非言语信息的内隐记忆,且与外显记忆相分离;(2)新异的不熟悉三维物体的颜色和大小由外显记忆的情节系统所表征,而非属于结构表征系统,从而支持多重记忆系统假说。     

An extension of the rating scale model with an application to the measurement of change

The polytomous unidimensional Rasch model with equidistant scoring, also known as the rating scale model, is extended in such a way that the item parameters are linearly decomposed into certain basic parameters. The extended model is denoted as the linear rating scale model (LRSM). A conditional maximum likelihood estimation procedure and a likelihood-ratio test of hypotheses within the framework of the LRSM are presented. Since the LRSM is a generalization of both the dichotomous Rasch model and the rating scale model, the present algorithm is suited for conditional maximum likelihood estimation in these submodels as well. The practicality of the conditional method is demonstrated by means of a dichotomous Rasch example with 100 items, of a rating scale example with 30 items and 5 categories, and in the light of an empirical application to the measurement of treatment effects in a clinical study.Work supported in part by the Fonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung under Grant No. P6414.