Orthodoxy and Science

The Orthodox Church is uneasy about contemporary science. What causes its uneasiness is not exclusively its slow reception of modern culture. An important cause is the fact that contemporary research sidelines ethical and spiritual criteria. The practical application of scientific discoveries in the area of biotechnologies provides abundant evidence for this. That said, progress is being made in regard to the Orthodox appraisal of modern culture and contemporary science and toward self-assessment against current cultural trends. This progress cannot make an impact, however, without an authenticating framework. Fortunately, three documents of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church provide an implicit framework for addressing matters such as the Orthodox attitude toward science, especially biology and its related branches, in light of theological anthropology and traditional ethical and spiritual criteria. A shared particularity of these documents is that they consider modern culture and scientific research in a missional perspective.     

Quantifying false positives in simulated events using partial interval recording and momentary time sampling with dual‐criteria methods

The dual‐criteria (DC) and conservative dual‐criteria (CDC) methods allow clinicians and researchers to quantify the occurrence of false‐positive outcomes within single‐case experimental designs. The purpose of the current study was to use these DC and CDC methods to measure the incidence of false positives with simulated data collected via discontinuous interval methods (i.e., momentary time sampling, partial‐interval recording) as a function of data series length. We generated event data to create 316,800 unique simulated data series for analysis. In Experiment 1, we evaluated how changes in relevant parameters (i.e., interval sizes, event durations, IRT‐to‐event‐run ratios) produced false positives with momentary time sampling procedures. We also assessed the degree that the CDC method produced fewer false positives than the DC method with simulated interval data. In Experiment 2, we used similar procedures to quantify the occurrence of false positives with partial‐interval recording data. We successfully replicated outcomes from previous research in the current study, though such results only highlight the generality of the procedures relating to false positive (and not false negative) outcomes. That is, these results indicate MTS and PIR may adequately control for false positives, but our conclusions are limited by a lack of data on power.     

The application of correspondence analysis to multiple-criteria decision making

The aim of this paper is to show how correspondence analysis can be a useful aid in multiple-criteria decision making, particularly in the case of categorical criteria values. Under different types of input information, the technique is used to perform some preliminary analyses with a bonus of providing a simultaneous graphical representation of the alternatives and criteria. This picture can provide a better understanding of the structure of the two sets of variables to the decision maker before a decision is made.     

A test-theoretic approach to observed-score equating

Observed-score equating using the marginal distributions of two tests is not necessarily the universally best approach it has been claimed to be. On the other hand, equating using the conditional distributions given the ability level of the examinee is theoretically ideal. Possible ways of dealing with the requirement of known ability are discussed, including such methods as conditional observed-score equating at point estimates or posterior expected conditional equating. The methods are generalized to the problem of observed-score equating with a multivariate ability structure underlying the scores. This article is based on the author's Presidential Address given on July 7, 2000 at the 65th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society held at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. The author is most indebted to Wim M.M. Tielen for his computational assistance and Cees A.W. Glas for his comments on a draft of this paper.     

How Do Australian University Students Understand Adulthood?

The understanding of modern young people's conceptions of adulthood has largely been informed and constructed through the lens of the theory of emerging adulthood. As a consequence, a relatively unquestioned belief is that there has been a trend towards the gradual development of internal, subjective characteristics and away from the attainment of traditional adult roles in emerging adults' conceptions of adulthood. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, we surveyed Australian university students about their understanding of what it means to be an adult. Exploratory factor analysis of the Criteria for Adulthood Scale emphasised family capacities, demographic markers, norm compliance, and “novelty of adulthood,” while qualitative themes emphasised both personal and environmental characteristics. We suggest that rather than being independent, individual development and broad social‐environmental trends are likely to be interrelated, and to develop in response to each other over time.     

Becoming an adult: A proposed typology of adult status based on a study of Spanish youths

Emerging adulthood is a transitional period which has been examined in relatively few studies in Southern European countries. This study has two aims: (1) to determine the features of emerging adulthood in Spain based on criteria for adulthood and experiential dimensions; and (2) to explore whether variations in these criteria are related to gender and adult status (self‐classification as an adult and adult role adoption). Participants included 347 young Spanish people, aged 18–30, who completed a questionnaire about their conceptions of adulthood. They used similar criteria for adulthood to other Western countries, placing an extremely strong emphasis on psychological maturity criteria in comparison with role transition indicators. Important variations were observed in both the importance and achievement of criteria for adulthood according to gender and adult status. The results likewise suggest there may be different psychosocial profiles associated with each adult status group. The relevance of this classification to future research in the field of emerging adulthood is discussed.     

Typicality effects in picture‐word interference paradigm: An evaluation of the response exclusion hypothesis

The response exclusion hypothesis suggests that the polarity of semantic effects in the picture‐word interference paradigm is determined by the response‐relevant criteria. Semantic interference effects would be observed when semantically related distractor words satisfy the response‐relevant criteria; otherwise, semantic facilitation effects should be found. The purpose of this study was to further evaluate the response exclusion hypothesis by exploring the typicality effects in pictures naming. In two experiments, pictures of objects were named either in the context of verb distractor words with different typicality of passive functions or in the context of adjective distractor words with different typicality of characteristics. Facilitation effects were observed in context of typical verbs and adjectives, while interference effects were observed in the context of atypical verbs and adjectives. Given that neither typical nor atypical distractor words satisfy the response‐relevant criteria to produce noun, these findings are problematic for the response exclusion hypothesis. Role of syntagmatic relationships in lexical retrieval was invoked to explain present findings.     

Unstable Interaction in Multiple Criteria Decision Problems

In this paper, we present a decision‐aid method with interacting criteria. The fuzzy measures used to aggregate the criteria depend on the considered alternatives. Pairwise comparisons on the importance of criteria and some levels of veto (or favor) degrees, specified by the decision maker, are taken into consideration. For each alternative, we search for the fuzzy measure that makes it the best. The orness degrees of the resulting fuzzy measures are compared and the alternative associated with the minimum orness degree is selected. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cyclists' perception of cycling infrastructure – A Repertory Grid approach

Previous research indicate that cyclists prefer safe and comfortable infrastructure. However, concepts like safety or comfort may be understood and defined in different ways by different individuals. Moreover, these concepts are so broad that it is unclear to which specific characteristics of the traffic infrastructure they are linked. Therefore, the aim of this study is to inductively examine individual evaluation criteria that cyclists use to perceive and evaluate certain route attributes. Using the Repertory Grid technique, we elicited the personal constructs of 23 participants about given route attributes and asked them to rate every attribute on every construct. The constructs were categorized and clustered resulting in five evaluation criteria, namely Mental Comfort, Physical Comfort, Interaction, Environment, and Ease of Use. Both comfort clusters were rated the most relevant for route choice, but they strengthen the suggestion of two distinct aspects of comfort, one referring to mental stress, the other referring to physical effort. Furthermore, the analyses revealed Interaction as a relatively new route criterion which also raises a new view on the negative evaluation of motor traffic and expands the concept of stress. Regarding the evaluation of route attributes, a high traffic volume and cobbled stone were rated the most negative, whereas separated cycling facilities were evaluated as most positive. Findings of this study expand existing research by qualitative insights and provide a more detailed understanding of route criteria like comfort or safety. This can be used to enhance cycling facilities and to offer preferable infrastructure for cyclists.     

假言推理判定标准的发展性研究

以充分条件和必要条件假言推理题目为测验材料,对小学四年级、初中二年级、高中二年级和大学二年级共469名被试进行了测量。结果表明:(1)内容和形式两种判断标准从小学四年级就开始发展了,但是小学生和中学生还是根据经验事实来进行判断,直到大学才摆脱经验事实的束缚。(2)必要条件推理的能力发展要早于充分条件推理的能力,而且最后能够达到的水平也要高。(3)被试对规则掌握的先后顺序是肯定前件式、否认前件式、肯定后件式和否认后件式。(4)被试是否受到信念偏见效应的影响,还要看题目是否符合事实以及是否符合逻辑规则。