A closer look at the discrimination outcomes in the IAT literature

To what extent the IAT (Implicit Association Test, Greenwald et al., 1998) predicts racial and ethnic discrimination is a heavily debated issue. The latest meta‐analysis by Oswald et al. (2013) suggests a very weak association. In the present meta‐analysis, we switched the focus from the predictor to the criterion, by taking a closer look at the discrimination outcomes. We discovered that many of these outcomes were not actually operationalizations of discrimination, but rather of other related, but distinct, concepts, such as brain activity and voting preferences. When we meta‐analyzed the main effects of discrimination among the remaining discrimination outcomes, the overall effect was close to zero and highly inconsistent across studies. Taken together, it is doubtful whether the amalgamation of these outcomes is relevant criteria for assessing the IAT's predictive validity of discrimination. Accordingly, there is also little evidence that the IAT can meaningfully predict discrimination, and we thus strongly caution against any practical applications of the IAT that rest on this assumption. However, provided that the application is thoroughly informed by the current state of the literature, we believe the IAT can still be a useful tool for researchers, educators, managers, and students who are interested in attitudes, prejudices, stereotypes, and discrimination.     

Effects of blood alcohol testing programmes on drinking behaviour among driving crash patients in emergency departments: A cluster quasi-experimental study

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of blood alcohol testing in decreasing the prevalence of current one-month drinkers among road traffic crash patients within emergency departments at one, two, and three months after a crash. A cluster quasi-experimental study was conducted on 600 crash patients who visited one of the emergency departments at 21 hospitals in Udon Thani province, Thailand. The hospitals were categorised into a (i) high-adherence hospital group (≥70% of all patients) and (ii) low-adherence hospital group (<70% of all patients) according to the compliance of blood alcohol testing in their emergency departments. The data were collected by a trained nurse using a structured questionnaire. The primary outcome was the prevalence of one-month current drinkers. We included 600 patients: 291 from six hospitals in the high-adherence group and 309 from 15 hospitals in the low-adherence group. The prevalence of one-month current drinkers significantly decreased in both the high-adherence and low-adherence groups. However, the prevalence of current drinkers at two and three months after a crash was not statistically significant compared to that one month prior to a crash (48.0% to 19.3% and 31.7% to 13.8% in the high- and low-adherence hospital groups, respectively; p < 0.05 from McNemar’s test). The effectiveness of blood alcohol testing in decreasing the prevalence of one-month current drinkers among traffic crash patients within emergency departments was observed to be statistically significant only at one month after a crash, and not at two and three months.     

国内中介效应的方法学研究

中介效应可以分析自变量对因变量的影响过程和作用机制, 已成为分析多个变量之间关系的一种重要统计方法。最近20年, 中介效应成了研究方法的一个热点。从中介效应的检验方法、效应量、类别变量的中介效应检验、纵向数据的中介效应检验和模型拓展(包括多重中介、多层中介、有调节的中介和有中介的调节模型)五个方面系统总结了国内中介效应的方法学研究的发展历程。最后对中介效应的国外方法学研究进展和中介效应的未来研究方向做了讨论和拓展。     

Comparing thought suppression and mindfulness as coping techniques for spider fear

The current study compared thought suppression, focused attention (mindfulness) and unfocused attention as strategies for managing spider fear. Spider fearful participants were exposed to a strategy induction before completing a Behavioural Approach Test (BAT). The BAT is a 10 step measurement of how close participants are willing to move towards a spider. Participants were instructed to use what they learned in the pre-BAT induction to help them advance through the steps of the BAT. The results of the study indicated that participants given the thought suppression or the unfocused attention induction moved through significantly less steps of the BAT than did those given the focused attention (mindful) induction. Additionally, the thought suppression group felt significantly more anxious than the focused and unfocused attention groups following completion of the BAT. These results are discussed in terms of the impact of thought suppression on avoidance behaviour in phobias.     

社交焦虑个体外显与内隐自尊的研究

社交恐惧图式理论、社交恐惧模式、和社交恐惧认知行为模式等认知理论,都认为社交恐惧产生于不良的自我图式。为了探讨社交恐惧个体是否具有不良的自我图式,要求40名高社交恐惧个体和30名低社交焦虑个体完成了自尊量表和内隐联想任务。结果发现：高社交恐惧个体在自尊量表上的得分显著低于低社交恐惧个体,但在内隐自尊上,他们都有着积极的自尊,且无显著差异。这一研究结果不支持社交恐惧的认知理论。根据自我呈现理论讨论了研究结果。     

Matrices with a given number of violations of Regular Minimality

A row (or column) of an n×n matrix complies with Regular Minimality (RM) if it has a unique minimum entry which is also a unique minimum entry in its column (respectively, row). The number of violations of RM in a matrix is defined as the number of rows (equivalently, columns) that do not comply with RM. We derive a formula for the proportion of n×n matrices with a given number of violations of RM among all n×n matrices with no tied entries. The proportion of matrices with no more than a given number of violations can be treated as the p-value of a permutation test whose null hypothesis states that all permutations of the entries of a matrix without ties are equiprobable, and the alternative hypothesis states that RM violations occur with lower probability than predicted by the null hypothesis. A matrix with ties is treated as being represented by all matrices without ties that have the same set of strict inequalities among their entries.     

Peripheral pain enhances the effects of incentive downshifts

Physical pain (induced by tissue damage) and psychological pain (induced by surprising incentive loss) share a set of common neural substrates, but little is known about their interactions. The present research studied such interactions using the formalin test to induce physical pain and consummatory successive negative contrast (cSNC) to induce psychological pain. In the formalin test, animals receive an intradermal injection of formalin (1%) in a hind paw. In cSNC, rats with free access to 32% sucrose show a sharp suppression of drinking behavior after a downshift to 4% sucrose, compared to rats that always receive 4% sucrose. In Experiment 1, formalin administration before the first and second 32-to-4% sucrose downshift trials enhanced cSNC. In Experiment 2, a similar treatment before the first downshift trial after a 16-to-4% sucrose downshift, which normally produces little or no evidence of cSNC, significantly increased cSNC. In Experiment 3, using a 32-to-4% sucrose downshift procedure similar to that of Experiment 1, no effects were observed following formalin administration immediately after Trial 11. Thus, no evidence was found that the effects of physical pain on cSNC were caused by changes in memory consolidation. The procedures used in these experiments offer a new approach to study the neural substrates of interactions between physical and psychological pain.     

认知诊断测验中基于信息矩阵的多群组DIF检验

基于改进的Wald统计量,将适用于两群组的DIF检测方法拓展至多群组的项目功能差异（DIF）检验;改进的Wald统计量将分别通过计算观察信息矩阵（Obs）和经验交叉相乘信息矩阵（XPD）而得到。模拟研究探讨了此二者与传统计算方法在多个群组下的DIF检验情况,结果表明：（1）Obs和XPD的一类错误率明显低于传统方法,DINA模型估计下Obs和XPD的一类错误率接近理论水平;（2）样本量和DIF量较大时,Obs和XPD具有与传统Wald统计量大体相同的统计检验力。     

History of Psychological Testing from the Perspective of Test Developers in Japan1

In this study, the history of psychological testing in Japan is described using the oral history method. Seven test developers discussed the development of Japanese versions of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale, Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale, and Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. Three conclusions were identified. First, the motivation for developing the tests shifted from one of personal aspiration to a wider responsibility of specialists' desiring to make social contributions. Second, the test developers shifted from working in small, familiar, collaborative groups to working in groups of specialists conducting well-organized projects. Third, the development of tests has variously been led by researchers, publishers, researcher-and-publisher collaborations, or institutes. In addition, this study identifies contemporary challenges for developing psychological tests, specifically due to insufficient numbers of participants and test developers.