More on millisecond timing and tachistoscope applications for the IBM PC

This paper describes a method of establishing time intervals at a precision of better than 1 msec, using QuickBASIC 4.0, for running real time experiments on an IBM PC without an 8087 coprocessor. This method is far superior to the TIMER function provided by BASIC, which has a precision of only 110 msec. Also described is an assembly language subroutine that corrects a problem in QuickBASIC 3.0 and QuickBASIC 4.0 to allow proper switching between screens in the CGA text mode for use of the PC as a tachistoscope. A tachistoscope program listing shows how to use the screen subroutine and how to establish intertriai intervals and record reaction times using the timing subroutines.     

INTERVIEWER DECISION PROCESSES AND EFFECTIVENESS: AN EXPERIMENTAL POLICY-CAPTURING INVESTIGATION

Using a policy-capturing approach, 29 corporate interviewers evaluated 64 hypothetical candidates for a position in a financial services organization. Six selection criteria were manipulated in a balanced factorial design. Interviewers evaluated candidates' qualifications and made hiring recommendations. The results revealed substantial individual differences in interviewers' decision strategies, as well as their insight into their own decision processes. Data on the effectiveness of the 29 interviewers were collected from 427 hiring managers and the decision processes of effective and ineffective interviewers were compared. The findings indicated that the decision strategies used by effective interviewers were quite similar to one another and relied heavily on two selection criteria. Also, effective interviewers were more likely than ineffective interviewers to use selection criteria in a manner that mirrored their self-reports of the importance of these criteria. Effective interviewers were more aware of their decision processes than ineffective interviewers.     

ANALYSIS OF THE CONSISTENCY OF OBJECTIVE MEASURES OF SEXUAL AROUSAL IN WOMEN

Eight adult women volunteers viewed the same erotic film in two different sessions. Their resulting genital responses were recorded simultaneously by three different measures: vaginal pressure pulse, vaginal blood volume, and labial temperature change. During the erotic stimulation, the vaginal pressure pulse and labial responses always increased, and the vaginal blood volume response increased on all but two occasions. Although there was considerable intersubject variability in each genital measure, all three measures were found to have some intrasubject consistency over sessions with respect to either their response amplitudes or patterns, with labial temperature being the most consistent on both parameters. The relationship between the response patterns of the three measures during the film was also relatively consistent across sessions, as was the correspondence between subjective ratings of arousal and both vaginal pressure pulse and labial responses but not vaginal blood volume response. To overcome the problem of considerable intrasubject variability of response amplitudes, it was suggested that the inclusion in the data analysis of several parameters of response patterns, which were relatively stable over sessions, might facilitate the evaluation of a treatment.     

Computerization and adaptive administration of the NEO PI-R

This study asks, how well does an item response theory (IRT) based computerized adaptive NEO PI-R work? To explore this question, real-data simulations (N = 1,059) were used to evaluate a maximum information item selection computerized adaptive test (CAT) algorithm. Findings indicated satisfactory recovery of full-scale facet scores with the administration of around four items per facet scale. Thus, the NEO PI-R could be reduced in half with little loss in precision by CAT administration. However, results also indicated that the CAT algorithm was not necessary. We found that for many scales, administering the "best" four items per facet scale would have produced similar results. In the conclusion, we discuss the future of computerized personality assessment and describe the role IRT methods might play in such assessments.     

Sample homogeneity and coefficient alpha: comment on MJI and Alkhateeb's reliability generalization study and a theoretical clarification

Reliability generalization studies are increasingly frequently reported in the literature, including Mji and Alkhateeb's 2005 study of the Conceptions of Mathematics Questionnaire. The present article comments on an issue of reliability generalization as used in that study and clarifies a theoretical point regarding the meaning of coefficient alpha and what data features tend to influence it as a measure of score reliability.     

Repetition effects for words and nonwords as indexed by event-related fMRI: a preliminary study

We have previously shown differential effects of stimulus familiarity on the repetition-related responses in right fusiform cortex to both faces and symbols. Repetition of familiar stimuli produced a response decrease, whereas repetition of unfamiliar stimuli produced a response increase. In the present experiment, we used words and nonwords as the familiar and unfamiliar stimuli respectively. In this case, the only fusiform region showing the familiarity-by-repetition interaction was in anterior left fusiform. This left-lateralisation of the fusiform interaction is consistent with our hypothesis that these repetition-related effects occur in the same regions responsible for perceptual recognition of familiar stimuli.