Substantive significance of significant differences between two groups.

A simple extension of discriminant analysis is described which leads to an estimate of the proportion misclassified when significant differences are used for classifying individuals into 2 groups. The estimate is obtained by a simple operation upon the t ratio in the univariate case and upon the multiple point-biserial correlation coefficient in the multivariate case. The assumptions made are those normally employed for the initial test of significance performed on the mean differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction for attenuation and the equivalence of tests.

Block (1963) suggested that in estimating the equivalence of tests E should correct for unreliability to give a more appropriate estimate of the "conceptual equivalence" of the tests. In the present paper it is pointed out that: a distinction should be made between conceptual equivalence and functional equivalence; functional equivalence is of prior importance in research seeking relationships of other variables to the variable represented by the tests; in estimating functional equivalence it is not apropriate to correct for unreliability; and, in fact, correction for attenuation may often lead to over-generalization of results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Construct equivalence as an approach to replacing validated cognitive ability selection tests.

In this study we demonstrate an approach to replacing validated selection tests to which job applicants may have prior access. This approach, labeled construct equivalence, allows for replacing valid tests currently in use with new, experimental tests that have been shown to measure the same constructs. We demonstrated the construct equivalence approach by collecting data from over 2,000 applicants for four different positions in a large petrochemical company. We investigated the equivalence of the experimental and the current tests by using correlational analyses, structural modeling, and analyses of hiring decisions. Results indicated that the experimental and current tests measure the same constructs and that replacing the current tests with the experimental tests would treat ethnic and sex subgroups consistently. Construct equivalence was shown to be a viable approach to test substitution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Note on the reliability of experimental measures and the power of significance tests.

The statistical theory of the power of significance tests, combined with the classical theory of the reliability of measurement, reveals that the power of a statistical test sometimes increases and sometimes decreases as the reliability coefficient of a dependent variable increases. This seeming paradox arises because the relation between statistical power and the reliability coefficient is not a functional relation unless another variable—either true variance or error variance—remains constant. The authors show that the paradox disappears if widely accepted, elementary results in statistical theory and measurement theory are considered together. This approach explains why some authors have reached different conclusions about how reliability influences significance tests. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using the media to foster self-help groups.

Describes a project that consisted of putting ongoing self-help groups on the radio for 1 hr a week. The 1st half hour each week involved an actual session of a self-help group; during the 2nd half hour, calls from the audience were taken and answered by members of the group. The groups were directed at helping women cope wth motherhood, at men who abused their wives or children, and at parents of children with behavior problems. Increases in referral calls to each group were found after the self-help groups went on the air. Process recordings of the shows were useful in documenting the communication patterns employed during the shows. A panel of 12 mental health professionals judged that the programs did not provide unethical, harmful, or inaccurate information. The present project provided a demonstration of how researchers can work collaboratively with media and self-help groups in monitoring change in community-level types of interventions. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification and self-image in adolescents. A comparison between two cultural groups

Following a review of the literature concerning the problem of identity structure in adolescents, two groups of lower secondary school students were examined, one of which belonged to the Walser community in Valsesia. The family drawing test was used, a personality projective test which, by analysing some indices, enables and understanding to be obtained of the identification processes with parent figures. From the comparison of the two groups it was found that the traditional Walser family offers to adolescents a more clear-cut model and that therefore there is less evident conflict in parent-adolescent relations. In non-Walser families the increased dispersion of data served to create more confused identity processes and greater conflict in intrafamilial affective links.     

Effect size indices for analyses of measurement equivalence: Understanding the practical importance of differences between groups.

Because of the practical, theoretical, and legal implications of differential item functioning (DIF) for organizational assessments, studies of measurement equivalence are a necessary first step before scores can be compared across individuals from different groups. However, commonly recommended criteria for evaluating results from these analyses have several important limitations. The present study proposes an effect size index for confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) studies of measurement equivalence to address 1 of these limitations. The application of this index is illustrated with personality data from American English, Greek, and Chinese samples. Results showed a range of nonequivalence across these samples, and these differences were linked to the observed effects of DIF on the outcomes of the assessment (i.e., group-level mean differences and adverse impact). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using science citation analysis to evaluate administrative accountability for salary variance.

Data were collected and analyzed for 192 scientists holding teaching positions at the rank of assistant professor or above in 15 science departments at 2 major universities. Findings are discussed in relation to the efficacy of 3 predictors (years experience in teaching, external recognition via awards for professional service or service in public affairs, and number of references listed in the Science Citation Index from 1961 to 1974) in accounting for salary variability among Ss, for the 2 universities separately, and for each of the 15 individual departments. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acquired relational equivalence between contexts and features.

In 2 experiments, rats received a biconditional discrimination wherein separate presentations of A and B signaled 1 pair of associations (X?→?food and Y?→?no food) and presentations of C and D signaled a different pair of associations (X?→?no food and Y?→?food). In Exp 1, A, B, C, and D were diffuse contextual stimuli in which the associations were embedded. In Exp 2, A and C were contextual stimuli whereas B and D were features that immediately preceded the associations. To assess the associative structures acquired during training, all rats then received a revaluation procedure in which A was paired with shock and C was not. In both experiments, greater generalized suppression of behavior was observed in the presence of B than in the presence of D. These results indicate that contextual stimuli share with features the capacity to evoke the associations that they have signaled. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using tests as learning opportunities.

The present study assessed the value of test-taking as a means of increasing, rather than simply monitoring, learning. One hundered and five college students read a short essay about the American Civil War and were then given either an initial test or no test about the text material. The form of the initial test was either fill-in or multiple-choice; and the knowledge examined was either directly stated in the original text (verbatim) or could be logically derived (inferential) from the text. A common final test, containing all of the above item types, was given to all students two days later. Scores on the final test indicated that in general, those students who did the initial test performed better than the control students, which indicates the potential value of tests as learning experiences. Furthermore, the enhancement provided by the initial test varied with the different test techniques: It was greater for fill-in than for multiple-choice forms and greater for inferential than for verbatim knowledge. It is suggested that teachers make use of the learning potential of tests and construct them so as to maximize the kind of learning desired. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using group decision support systems to brainstorm and evaluate prospective consultation interventions.

In this age of rapidly progressing technology, it is important to stay abreast of innovations that can enhance consultation modalities and maximize consultation effectiveness. Collaborative work technology using group decision support systems (GDSSs) seems to address both of these issues. The use of GDSSs for teaching, training, and consultation has been shown to produce positive results. This article describes the application of GDSSs to organizational consultation. The application used a GDSS called Group Systems? to help a group of organizational consultants design prospective consultation interventions for a failing community hospital. Most important, this particular format for collaborative work technology creates an environment in which each participant can express his or her thoughts and experience a sense of co-ownership and responsibility for the development of new understandings. Within the framework of the collaborative model of consultation, these particular outcomes would be listed among the most important. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using theory to evaluate personality and job-performance relations: A socioanalytic perspective.

The authors used socioanalytic theory to understand individual differences in people's performance at work. Specifically, if predictors and criteria are aligned by using theory, then the meta-analytic validity of personality measures exceeds that of atheoretical approaches. As performance assessment moved from general to specific job criteria, all Big Five personality dimensions more precisely predicted relevant criterion variables, with estimated true validities of .43 (Emotional Stability), .35 (Extraversion-Ambition), .34 (Agreeableness), .36 (Conscientiousness), and .34 (Intellect-Openness to Experience). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Applying tests of combined significance in meta-analysis.

In this article, I examine the inferences that can be based on the meta-analysis summaries known as "tests of combined significance." First, the effect size, significance value, and one example of a test of combined significance are introduced. Next, the statistical null and alternative hypotheses for combined significance tests are compared with those for analyses based on measures of effect magnitude. The hypotheses tested in effect-size analyses are more specific than the hypothesis tested in combined significance tests. Three previously analyzed sets of effect sizes are transformed into significance values and reanalyzed by using one of the most highly recommended tests of combined significance. Effect-size analyses appear more informative because the combined significance test gives identical results for three very different patterns of study outcomes. An assessment of the usefulness of combined significance methods concludes the article. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the equivalence of two recognition measures of short-term memory.

2 tests of short-term, recognition memory were compared. An extension of signal-detection theory was used to generate prediction from 1 test to the results of the other. These predictions were investigated for an individual S's memory of about 100 nonsense syllables. The errors in predictions were about what might be expected assuming binomial variability in the 2 measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing two groups by simple graphs.

Considers that standard significance tests for testing whether 2 independent groups are equal in elevation or dispersion do not test the forms of those hypotheses which are frequently of most interest to behavioral scientists. More interesting forms of those hypotheses can be tested easily and quickly by drawing a simple graph. The same graph can also be used to perform several standard tests. In all these tests, the procedure is so simple that the chance of computational error is much smaller than with standard procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The need to evaluate.

Five studies tested the hypothesis that stable individual differences exist in the chronic tendency to engage in evaluative responding. In 2 studies, the 16-item Need to Evaluate Scale (NES) was developed and demonstrated to possess high internal consistency, a single factor structure, high test-retest reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity. Three additional studies supported the predictive validity of the NES. In one, high-NES participants were more likely to report having attitudes toward a variety of important social and political issues than low-NES participants. In another study, high-NES participants wrote more evaluative thoughts in a free thought listing about unfamiliar paintings than low-NES participants. In a final study, high-NES participants wrote more evaluative thoughts in a free thought listing about a typical day in their lives than low-NES participants. Implications for research in social and personality psychology are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fixed and variable ratios and delays: Further tests of an equivalence rule.

A discrete-trial procedure was used to measure 4 White Carneaux pigeons' choices between FR and VR schedules and between fixed and variable delays before reinforcement. A peck at a green key produced a reinforcement schedule that was constant within a condition but varied across conditions. A peck at a red key produced a ratio schedule (or, in other conditions, a simple delay) whose size was increased or decreased many times a session, depending on the S's previous choices. The purpose of these adjustments was to estimate an indifference point—a ratio size (or delay duration) at which the S chose each key about equally often. The results were used to test the present author's (see record 1985-19333-001) equivalence rule for choices between fixed and variable schedules. This rule predicted the major trends in the obtained indifference points from both ratio and delay conditions, but better predictions were generated with a more complex equation that included parameters reflecting the Ss' sensitivities to delay of reinforcement and to events of different probabilities. It is concluded that a successful equivalence rule must include parameters that can be adjusted to describe the effects of delay and probability in a given experimental setting. Once these parameters are estimated, however, choices involving both fixed and variable delays and FRs and VRs can be accurately predicted with the same equation. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A four-factor structure for parametric tests on independent groups.

A prior article by P. A. Games (1978) presented numerous statistical hypothesis-testing procedures for independent groups. These resulted from crossing 3 factors: technique used, method of control of Type 1 errors, and parameter used. Tests on means, correlations, proportions, and variances are represented by using θ for the parameter, and θ? for the statistic. The prior article was limited to cases in which the variance of the statistic V k(θ) was a constant and hence was limited to equal ns. The present article contains the extention to unequal V k(θ?) cases and hence permits unequal ns. More general large-sample forms of the t and F statistics, namely, the t′ and the df uF′ statistics, are recommended for the unequal V k(θ?) cases. The B. L. Welch solution for general contrasts on means is presented as a minor adaptation of t′. The Welch solution for an omnibus test on means is a minor adaptation of df uF′. Examples are given that illustrate the application of t′ and df uF′. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relative effectiveness of two standard color-vision tests.

A comparison was made of the commercial edition of the Illuminant-Stable Color Vision Test (IS) and the American Optical Color Perception Test (AO) to determine the relative effect of non-standard illuminants. Ten color-blind Ss and 40 normals each took the test under six illumination-level and color-temperature combination conditions. Neither the types of illumination nor illumination intensity had a significant effect on the scores for either test. "Within the range of color temperatures used, the AO test is as stable as the IS." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

用神经网络评价矿山经营状况

本文视矿山经营状况的评价为多目标决策问题，提出了基于神经网络的矿山经营状况综合评价方法，阐述了该方法的基本原理，并结合实例说明了其应用。