Psychology Commons^™

Gait Transition Dynamics Are Modulated By Experimental Protocol, Mohammad Abdolvahab, Jason Gordon

Mohammad Abdolvahab

No abstract provided.

Convex Combinations Of Quadrant Dependent Copulas, Martin Egozcue, Luis Fuentes García, Wing Wong, Ricardas Zitikis

Martin Egozcue

It is well known that quadrant dependent (QD) random variables are also quadrant dependent in expectation (QDE). Recent literature has offered examples rigorously establishing the fact that there are QDE random variables which are not QD. The examples are based on convex combinations of specially chosen QD copulas: one negatively QD and another positively QD. In this paper we establish general results that determine when convex combinations of arbitrary QD copulas give rise to negatively or positively QD/QDE copulas. In addition to being an interesting mathematical exercise, the established results are helpful when modeling insurance and financial portfolios.

A Positive Trait Item Response Model, Joseph F. Lucke

Joseph Lucke

All current models from item response theory (IRT) assume the latent trait follows a standard normal distribution. While this assumption is appropriate for traits such as ability or attitude, it creates both conceptual and technical problems traits such as addiction (alcohol, drugs, gambling). The distribution of an addiction trait is better assumed to be anchored at zero (no addiction) and positively skewed. A small change to the usual IRT model yields a class of positive-trait item response models (PTIRMs). I discuss PTIRMs and present one model in detail, including item characteristic curves and item information curves. I present an example …

Daily Stock Market Movement From Oscillating Social Mood Factors, Cari Bourette

Cari Bourette

Since 2006, there has been ongoing research into the correlation of a set of oscillating mood factors and socioeconomic, geopolitical, and natural events with the goal of forecasting increased risks of destabilizing events. While promising results have been forthcoming, it has been difficult to present models that allowed those outside a small circle of specialists to participate. Between July 2007 and June 2010, weekly social mood projections, as published in monthly issues of MoodCompass, were used to develop a model to convert four oscillating mood factors into stock market expectations. This model was modified to generate signals of projected stock …

U.S. Cultural Involvement And Its Association With Co-Occurring Substance Abuse And Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Youth In The Dominican Republic, Elián P. Cabrera-Nguyen, Juan B. Peña

Elián P. Cabrera-Nguyen

We examined the relationship of US cultural involvement with substance abuse and sexual risk behavior profiles from our nationally representative sample of public high school students in the Dominican Republic. Using a novel methodological approach to control for selection bias, we examined explanations for the so-called Latino or Hispanic immigrant paradox. A latent class regression analysis with manifest and latent covariates found that US cultural involvement indicators were independent and robust predictors of increased risk of co-ocurring substance abuse and sexual risk behaviors. Implications for prevention efforts targeting risk behaviors among Latino/a adolescents in the US and abroad are considered.

Integrated Analysis Of Content And Construct Validity, Byron J. Gajewski, Larry R. Price, Valorie Coffland, Diane K. Boyle, Marjorie J. Bott

Byron J Gajewski

Establishing adequacy of psychometric properties of an instrument involves acquisition and evaluation of evidence based on item content and internal structure. Content validity evidence consists of subject matter experts providing quantitative ratings of the extent to which items are a representative sample of targeted domain. Evidence of internal structure includes factor analytic studies and examination of item interrelationships based on item responses from participants. Although subject matter expert ratings and participant response data are traditionally analyzed separately, each serves to inform the other in important ways. We propose integrating subject matter experts’ and participants’ data seamlessly to establish a unified …

Earthquake Anxiety May Be Indicator Of Future Trouble, Cari Bourette

Cari Bourette

No abstract provided.

Author Guidelines For Reporting Scale Development And Validation Results In The Journal Of The Society For Social Work And Research, Peter Cabrera-Nguyen

Elián P. Cabrera-Nguyen

In this invited article, Cabrera-Nguyen provides guidelines for reporting scale development and validation results. Authors' attention to these guidelines will help ensure the research reported in JSSWR is rigorous and of high quality. This article provides guidance for those using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In addition, the article provides helpful links to resources addressing structural equation modeling, multiple imputation for missing data, and a general resource for quantitative data analysis.

An Examination Of The Persistence Of The Residual Child Welfare System In The United States: Addressing Charges Of Radical Theoretical Myopia With Implications For Social Work Practice, Peter Cabrera

Elián P. Cabrera-Nguyen

The United States follows what has been termed a residual approach to its public child welfare system. This article describes the residual model and contrasts it with the policies of other industrialized nations. It also explores the causes and persistence of the residual model in the United States through the lens of structural-functionalist theory. By doing so, this article attempts to respond to critics of structural social work who maintain that it is overly reliant on conflict theory and has nothing to offer in terms of distinct practice methods. Suggestions for a structurally informed social work practice are made.

A Critique Of The False-Positive Report Probability, Joseph Lucke

Joseph Lucke

The false positive report probability (FPRP) was proposed as a Bayesian prophylactic against false reports of significant associations. Unfortunately, the derivation of the FPRP is unsound. A heuristic derivation fails to make its point, and a formal derivation reveals a probabilistic misrepresentation of an observation. As a result, the FPRP can yield serious inferential errors. In particular, the FPRP can use an observation that is many times more likely under the null hypothesis than under the alternative to infer that the null hypothesis is far less probable than the alternative. Contrary to its intended purpose, the FPRP can promote false …

Perspectives On Social Cognition, Leslie Marsh, Christian Onof

Leslie Marsh

No longer is sociality the preserve of the social sciences, or ‘‘culture’’ the preserve of the humanities or anthropology. By the same token, cognition is no longer the sole preserve of the cognitive sciences. Social cognition (SC) or, sociocognition if you like, is thus a kaleidoscope of research projects that has seen exponential growth over the past 30 or so years. That so many disciplines now invoke the term ‘‘social cognition,’’ shouldn’t tempt one into thinking that they are all denoting the same idea. On the contrary, with such methodologically and perspectivally diverse interests involved, there is every chance that …

Perspectives On Social Cognition, Leslie Marsh, Christian Onof

Leslie Marsh

No longer is sociality the preserve of the social sciences, or ‘‘culture’’ the preserve of the humanities or anthropology. By the same token, cognition is no longer the sole preserve of the cognitive sciences. Social cognition (SC) or, sociocognition if you like, is thus a kaleidoscope of research projects that has seen exponential growth over the past 30 or so years. That so many disciplines now invoke the term ‘‘social cognition,’’ shouldn’t tempt one into thinking that they are all denoting the same idea. On the contrary, with such methodologically and perspectivally diverse interests involved, there is every chance that …

Wrongly Accused Redux: How Race Contributes To Convicting The Innocent: The Informants Example, Andrew E. Taslitz

Andrew E. Taslitz

This article analyzes five forces that may raise the risk of convicting the innocent based upon the suspect's race: the selection, ratchet, procedural justice, bystanders, and aggressive-suspicion effects. In other words, subconscious forces press police to focus more attention on racial minorites, the ratchet makes this focus every-increasing, the resulting sense by the community of unfair treatment raises its involvment in crime while lowering its willingness to aid the police in resisting crime, innocent persons suffer when their skin color becomes associated with criminality, and the police use more aggressive techniques on racial minorities in a way that raises the …

Comparing Taiwanese And American Wow Player Cultures In Terms Of Achievement, C. T. Sun, Chien Hsun Chen, J. L. Hsieh, H. Lin

Chien Hsun Chen

When analyzing Taiwanese and American market separation and online gaming cultures, sooner or later researchers hear the assertion that players in Taiwan emphasize achievement and players in the US emphasize recreation. This belief may explain why a significant number of Taiwanese World of Warcraft (WoW) players claim that they would rather connect to North American game servers to play. To determine the truth (if any) of this belief, we investigated behaviors, tendencies, and motivations between Taiwanese and American WoW players using data collected via WoW’s unique clientdesigned user interface feature. Data on level upgrade efficiency and participation in guild-organized raids …

Michael Wheeler: Reconstructing The Cognitive World: The Next Step, Leslie Marsh

Leslie Marsh

Michael Wheeler is the latest in a new wave of philosophical theorists that fall within a loose coalition of anti-representationalism (or anti-Cartesianism): Dynamical –, Embodied –, Extended –, Distributed –, and Situated –, theories of cognition (DEEDS an apt acronym). Against this background, cognition for Wheeler is, or should be, a more ecumenical concept. This ecumenical approach would still be amenable to making theoretical distinctions, the central one being the notion of offline and online styles of intelligence, a distinction that makes conceptual space for another closely related notion, that of propositional knowledge (knowing that) and tacit knowledge (knowing how).

Grundlagen Der Kognition Und Perzeption Für Die Software-Ergonomie, Philipp Schaer, Holger Heuser

Philipp Schaer

Der folgende Arbeitsbericht soll eine kurze Zusammenfassung über die perzeptorischen und kognitiven Fähigkeiten des Menschen geben. Diese Zusammenfassung ist weit davon entfernt, umfassend zu sein. Jedoch bietet sie die Möglichkeit für Informatiker und Computervisualisten, einen kurzen Einblick in kognitionspsychologische Modelle zu gewinnen.

Globalization & Nationalism: A Recipe For Terror, Cari Bourette, Daniel Reader

Cari Bourette

Nationalism appears to be part of the human condition; it may well be related to the human tendency toward tribalism. Whatever the case, nationalism appears to be a permanent feature on the global landscape. Globalization, while not a new phenomenon by any means, seems to be having a tremendous dilutory effect on the sovereignty of states; it now appears to be carrying the assault to the cultural frontiers of nationalism. Unlike the Westphalian constructs, however, nations will not so easily succumb. There is a greater inherent resistance to change in nations; the only historically effective method has been outright eradication …

The "Duty" To Be A Rational Shareholder, David A. Hoffman

David A Hoffman

How and when do courts determine that corporate disclosures are actionable under the federal securities laws? The applicable standard is materiality: would a (mythical) reasonable investor have considered a given disclosure important. As I establish through empirical and statistical testing of approximately 500 cases analyzing the materiality standard, judicial findings of immateriality are remarkably common, and have been stable over time. Materiality's scope results in the dismissal of a large number of claims, and creates a set of cases in which courts attempt to explain and defend their vision of who is, and is not, a reasonable investor. Thus, materiality …

Dewey: The First Ghost-Buster?, Leslie Marsh

Leslie Marsh

Ghost-busting, or less colloquially, anti-Cartesianism or non-representationalism, is a loose and internally fluid coalition (philosophical and empirical) comprising Dynamical, Embodied, Extended, Distributed, and Situated (DEEDS) theories of cognition. Gilbert Ryle – DEEDS’ anglophonic masthead [1] – supposedly exorcised the Cartesian propensity to postulate mind as an apparition-like entity somehow situated in the body. Ryle’s behaviouristic recommendation was, that just as we don’t see the wind blowing but only see the trees waving, so too should we conceive intelligence as manifest though action. The Cartesian ghost of old has mutated, taking the form of the ‘Machine in the Machine’, the brain …

Review Of Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles To A Science Of Consciousness, Leslie Marsh

Leslie Marsh

The question of how a physical system gives rise to the phenomenal or experiential (olfactory, visual, somatosensitive, gestatory and auditory), is considered the most intractable of scientific and philosophical puzzles. Though this question has dominated the philosophy of mind over the last quarter century, it articulates a version of the age-old mind–body problem. The most famous response, Cartesian dualism, is on Daniel Dennett’s view still a corrosively residual and redundant feature of popular (and academic) thinking on these matters. Fifteen years on from his anti-Cartesian theory of consciousness (Consciousness Explained, 1991), Dennett’s frustration with this tradition is still palpable. This …

"Rassling The Hog": The Influence Of Correlated Item Error On Internal Consistency, Classical Reliability, And Congeneric Reliability, Joseph F. Lucke

Joseph Lucke

The properties of internal consistency ($\alpha$), classical reliability ($\rho$), and congeneric reliability ($\omega$) for a composite test with correlated item error were analytically investigated. Possible sources of correlated item error are contextual effects, item bundles, and item models that ignore additional attributes or higher-order attributes. The relation between reliability and internal consistency is determined by the deviance from true-score equivalence. Reliability (classical or congeneric) is internal consistency plus the relative deviance from true-score equivalence. The influence of correlated item error on $\alpha$, $\rho$, and $\omega$ is conveyed strictly through the total item error covariance. As the total item error covariance …

Nullificatory Juries, David A. Hoffman, Kaimipono D. Wenger

David A Hoffman

In this Article, we argue that current debates on the legitimacy of punitive damages would benefit from a comparison with jury nullification in criminal trials. We discuss critiques of punitive damages and of jury nullification, noting the surprising similarities in the arguments scholars use to attack these (superficially) distinct outcomes of the jury guarantee. Not only are the criticisms alike, the institutions of punitive damages and jury nullification also turn out to have many similarities: both are, we suggest, examples of what we call "nullificatory juries." We discuss the features of such juries, and consider recent behavioral data relating to …

Can Law And Economics Be Both Practical And Principled?, David A. Hoffman, Michael P. O'Shea

David A Hoffman

This article describes important recent developments in normative law and economics, and the difficulties they create for the project of efficiency-based legal reform. After long proceeding without a well articulated moral justification for using economic decision procedures to choose legal rules, scholars have lately begun to devote serious attention to developing a philosophically attractive definition of well-being. At the same time, the empirical side of law and economics is also being enriched with an improved understanding of the complexities of individuals' decision-making behavior. That is where the problems begin. Scholars may have better, more plausible conceptions of well-being in hand, …

Benchmarking Patient Outcomes, Ellen B. Rudy, Joseph F. Lucke, Gayle R. Whitman, Lynda J. Davidson

Joseph Lucke

Purpose: To examine the usefulness of three types of benchmarking for interpreting patient outcome data.

Design: This study was part of a multiyear, multihospital longitudinal survey of 10 patient outcomes. The patient outcome used for this methodologic presentation was central line infections (CLI). The sample included eight hospitals in an integrated healthcare system, with a range in size from 144 to 861 beds. The unit of analysis for CLI was the number of line days, with the CLI rate defined as the number of infections per 1,000 patient-line days per month.

Methods: Data on each outcome were collected at the …

Social Work Assessment Of Adaptive Functioning Using The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales: Issues Of Reliability And Validity, Peter Cabrera, Lucienne Grimes-Gaa, Bruce A. Thyer

Elián P. Cabrera-Nguyen

The assessment of client adaptive functioning is often an important component of a comprehensive social work evaluation. The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) are the most commonly used quantitative measures of adaptive functioning for clients meeting the criteria for a wide range of disorders. We review the development of the VABS and current knowledge pertaining to the instrument's reliability and validity. We conclude that the ability to administer and interpret the VABS is an important skill for clinical social workers to acquire.

Intracellular Coexpression Of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor, Her-2/Neu, And P21ras In Human Breast Cancers: Evidence For The Existence Of Distinctive Patterns Of Genetic Evolution That Are Common To Tumors From Different Patients, Stanley E. Shackney, Agnese A. Pollice, Charles A. Smith, Laura E. Janocko, Lillian Sweeney, Kathryn A. Brown, Sarita G. Singh, Lingping Gu, Robert Yakulis, Joseph F. Lucke

Joseph Lucke

Multiparameter flow cytometry studies were performed on cells from the primary tumors of 94 patients with breast cancer. Correlated cellular measurements of cell DNA content, Her-2/neu, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and p21ras levels were performed on each of 5,000 to 100,000 cells from each tumor. When criteria for positivity were matched with those in common use for immunohistochemical studies, 28 of 94 (30\%) breast cancers were classified as positive for Her-2/neu overexpression. When similar criteria were applied to the EGFR measurements, 23 of 94 (24\%) cases were classified as positive for EGFR overexpression. Similarly, 23 of 94 (24\%) cases …

Neuroendocrine Aspects Of Primary Endogenous Depression Xv. Mathematical Modeling Of Nocturnal Melatonin Secretion In Major Depressives And Normal Controls, L. Kathleen Sekula, Joseph F. Lucke, E. Kevin Heist, R. Kenneth Czambel, Robert T. Rubin

Joseph Lucke

We previously reported a trend toward a higher mean nocturnal serum melatonin (MEL) concentration, based on 30-min blood sampling over 24 h, in 23 female definite endogenous depressives compared to 23 matched normal female control subjects, and no significant difference in 15 male depressives compared to their controls (Rubin et al., 1992). In both groups of patients vs. their controls, there also were trends toward an earlier MEL rise time, by about 30 min, and a later MEL peak time, by about 90 min. Because the offset of MEL secretion was not estimated in that study, the total duration of …

Student's T-Test And The Glasgow Coma Scale, Joseph Lucke

Joseph Lucke

Study Objective: To explore how Student's t test, which assumes normal errors, is affected by the nonnormal distribution of Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores.

Methods: A sample of 145,295 GCS scores from the Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation was assumed to represent the true GCS distribution. Four Monte Carlo simulations, each based on 40,000 replications, were conducted to approximate the distribution of t values arising from samples drawn from the GCS distribution, using sample sizes of 10, 30, 60, and 100 per group.

Results: The histograms of t values derived from the GCS distribution resembled the corresponding Student t distributions for …

Book Review: Reasoning Agents In A Dynamic World: The Frame Problem. Kenneth M. Ford And Patrick J. Hayes, Eds.,, Jozsef A. Toth

Jozsef A Toth Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Seizure Threshold In Electroconvulsive Therapy: I. Initial Seizure Threshold, C. Edward Coffey, Joseph Lucke, Richard D. Weiner, Andrew D. Krystal, Michael Aque

Joseph Lucke

We measured initial seizure threshold by means of a structured stimulus dosage titration procedure in a clinical sample of 111 depressed patients undergoing brief-pulse, constantcurrent electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Initial seizure threshold was approximately 60 millicoumbs (mc) (10 Joules) on average, but varied widely (6-fold) across patients. Initial seizure threshold was predicted by four variables: electrode placement (higher with bilateral), gender (higher in men), age (higher with increasing age), and dynamic impedance (inverse relationship). Use of neuroleptic medication was associated with a lower seizure threshold. EEG seizure duration was inversely related to initial seizure threshold, but no other relations with seizure …