Using working memory theory to investigate the construct validity of multiple-choice reading comprehension tests such as the SAT.

When taking multiple-choice tests of reading comprehension such as the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), test takers use a range of strategies that vary in the extent to which they emphasize reading the questions versus reading the passages. Researchers have challenged the construct validity of these tests because test takers can achieve better-than-chance performance even if they do not read the passages at all. By using an individual-differences approach that compares the relative power of working memory span to predict SAT performance for different test-taking strategies, the authors show that the SAT appears to be tapping reading comprehension processes as long as test takers engage in at least some reading of the passages themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What is nomothetic about “nomothetic” personality research?

Were it one's purpose to set rolling in scornful impatience the eyes of those who currently animate the discipline of personality psychology, one could scarcely do better than to initiate some discussion of the so-called "nomothetic vs. idiographic" controversy, a dispute that has nagged the field for at least the past 50 years. The author has been persuaded that the need for such an analysis will prevail for just so long as it takes the legion but, alas, ersatz "nomotheticists' of personality psychology to finally get it right: The knowledge yielded by conventional' 'nomothetic' personality research has never been, is not now, and will never be nomothetic in any sense of the term to which a personality theorist would be compelled to bow. When all is said and done, it is only this dogma, as fallacious as it is resilient, that has nourished some six decades of "nomothetic" hegemony and, in the process, served repeatedly as the grounds for summarily banishing to their collective corner dispirited critics such as Allport (cf. Allport, 1966). But while the intimidating hubris of psychometric sophisticates may heretofore have muted many who, in their alleged "romanticism" (Holt, 1962) dared to challenge conventional "nomothetic" wisdom, such browbeating does not dispel ghosts—Teutonic or otherwise. There are certain essentially epistemological problems with which apologists for traditional "nomotheticism" simply must come to grips, and if prior critics of the dominant paradigm failed to articulate those problems adequately (and I believe that this is the case, cf. Lamiell, 1985), then the struggle must be joined anew, because the problems are genuine and they are not just going to evaporate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Wundt and applied psychology.

Cites the work of W. Wundt and J. M. Cattell to illustrate the relationship between pure and applied psychology and the need for interchange between the 2 approaches. A 3rd approach, the ideographic approach, is suggested as a means of illuminating both individual-differences and nomothetic research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

There are at least two kinds of poor readers: Whole-word poor readers and recoding poor readers.

Current theories of reading are used to predict the existence of at least 2 subtypes of poor readers, and results from 3 experiments with 27 good and 13 poor readers (Primary Mental Abilities Test) from the 3rd grade support this claim. Recoding poor readers relied heavily on a sound-based code and on submorphemic units while reading single words, whereas whole-word poor readers did not. It is argued that only an individual-differences framework coupled with current theory is rich enough to characterize reading disorders adequately. (French abstract) (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Issues in intraindividual variability: Individual differences in equilibria and dynamics over multiple time scales.

This article addresses three issues germane to experimental design and statistical analysis of intraindividual variability such as the articles contained within this special section. First, the time scale of the measurement of a process can have profound effects on the outcome of analyses of the resulting time series. Measurement in time poses special problems in the design of experiments: the time scale of the measurements must be appropriate for the time scale of the process. Second, deterministic and stochastic models should be fit at the individual level and only at a second level should individual differences in parameters be modeled. Third, one must consider the possibility that nomothetic relations may be exposed by the invariance of covariance between latent variables rather than within a factor analytic measurement model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unfair comparisons.

Suggests that when organizational researchers competitively test 2 or more theories, or compare the predictive or relational strength of 2 or more factors or variables, the results can lead them to conclude that one theory or variable is stronger than the other(s). It is argued that such conclusions can be insensitive to a potential alternative explanation of the results: The stronger theory, factor, or variable was favored by being more strongly operationalized, manipulated, or measured. This can render the comparative study into a test of a poorly framed empirical question, the results of which are at least partial artifacts of the procedures, manipulations, or measures used. Four illustrations of this alternative explanation of comparative results are drawn from recent manipulation-based (disadvantaged theories due to procedural nonequivalence and unclear comparisons of factors due to unassessed distributional equivalence) and measurement-based (disadvantaged variables due to procedural nonequivalence and to procedural and distributional nonequivalence) studies of organizational behavior. Generic procedures are described than can make for fairer comparisons. Some possible points of misunderstanding regarding the authors' arguments (e.g., all differential support is artifactual) are addressed. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thirty wrongs do not make a right: Reply to Guilford.

Considers that J. P. Guilford's (see PA, Vol 53:Issue 1) reply to the authors' criticisms of his factor analysis of his structure-of-intellect model has failed to come to grips with evidence indicating that if the number of targeted variables for each factor is 3 or fewer, Procrustes factoring provides no better evidence for structure-of-intellect theory than for any of an infinity of other arbitrarily determined theories. Under these conditions factors can be rotated in such a way as to suggest support for almost any desired solution, and one such solution can be that labeled a replication. Hence the factorial invariance claimed under such conditions can indicate only consistency in the researcher and his methods, not in the phenomena studied. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The theoretical status of latent variables.

This article examines the theoretical status of latent variables as used in modern test theory models. First, it is argued that a consistent interpretation of such models requires a realist ontology for latent variables. Second, the relation between latent variables and their indicators is discussed. It is maintained that this relation can be interpreted as a causal one but that in measurement models for interindividual differences the relation does not apply to the level of the individual person. To substantiate intraindividual causal conclusions, one must explicitly represent individual level processes in the measurement model. Several research strategies that may be useful in this respect are discussed, and a typology of constructs is proposed on the basis of this analysis. The need to link individual processes to latent variable models for interindividual differences is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning to visually perceive the relative mass of colliding balls in globally and locally constrained task ecologies.

Novice observers differ from each other in the kinematic variables they use for the perception of kinetic properties, but they converge on more useful variables after practice with feedback. The colliding-balls paradigm was used to investigate how the convergence depends on the relations between the candidate variables and the to-be-perceived property, relative mass. Experiment 1 showed that observers do not change in the variables they use if the variables with which they start allow accurate performance. Experiment 2 showed that, at least for some observers, convergence can be facilitated by reducing the correlations between commonly used nonspecifying variables and relative mass but not by keeping those variables constant. Experiments 3a and 3b further demonstrated that observers learn not to rely on a particular nonspecifying variable if the correlation between that variable and relative mass is reduced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress and adaptational outcomes: The problem of confounded measures.

Notes that confounding is a major source of uneasiness among many who do research on the relationship between stress and adaptational outcomes such as psychological symptoms and somatic health. A commonly proposed solution, illustrated by B. S. Dohrenwend et al (see record 1984-22172-001), is to purify the independent variable, stress, by focusing on its environmental aspects and by making it independent of psychological response variables such as perceptions or appraisals. It is argued that such a solution, however, is neither possible nor desirable, and it obviates relational, cognitive theories of psychological stress. The present authors examine the problem of confounding and circularity in stress research and reanalyze data obtained by A. D. Kanner et al (1981) and the 2nd author et al (see record 1983-05622-001) in light of the Dohrenwend et al findings. It is concluded that the appraisal process should not and cannot be removed in the measurement of psychological stress, and therefore some confounding is inevitable. (50 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedents of bridge employment: A longitudinal investigation.

Bridge employment is the labor force participation pattern increasingly observed in older workers between their career jobs and their complete labor force withdrawal. It serves as a transition process from career employment to full retirement. Typical bridge employment decisions include full retirement, career bridge employment, and bridge employment in a different field. In the current study, 3 dominant theories (i.e., role theory, continuity theory, and life course perspective) on retirement processes were reviewed. On the basis of these theories, the authors proposed 4 categories of antecedents (i.e., individual attributes, job-related psychological variables, family-related variables, and a retirement-planning-related variable) of different types of bridge employment decisions. The authors used longitudinal data of a large, nationally representative sample from the Health and Retirement Study (F. Juster & R. Suzman, 1995) to test the current hypotheses. These data were analyzed with multinomial logistic regression, and most of the hypotheses were supported by the results. The implications of this study are discussed at both theoretical and practical levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theories of dream function.

Reviews some contemporary and psychoanalytic theories of dream function. Particular attention is given to Jung's model of personality and theory of dream function, a dynamic, open-system approach that stands in contrast to Freud's mechanistic drive-reduction model. Contemporary theories tend to focus on the function of environmental mastery viewed from 1 of 3 perspectives: (a) problem solving, (b) information processing, or (c) ego consolidation. Only a few have gone beyond environmental control to consider creative functions of the dream. Most contemporary theories are at least partially supported by data, and many are not mutually exclusive, dealing with different processes or proposing similar processes in different-sounding languages. Some dream theories do differ from others in underlying model, in scope, or in the degree to which nonrational processes are admissible as data. Jung's approach has much to add to contemporary dream theory, particularly in making room for creative and nonrational processes, as well as in the specific proposition that dreams function to balance and complete waking consciousness. (39 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Idiographic measurement strategies for personality and prediction: Some unredeemed promissory notes.

Examines proposed idiographic measurement methods for predicting behavior, focusing on research purporting to demonstrate associations between individual differences in predictability and the variable of cross-situational behavior consistency. Theoretical analyses and empirical evaluations of new data yielded the following observations: (a) Certain personality consistency research strategies thought to be idiographic are properly regarded as nomothetic. (b) Proposed measures of individual cross-situational variability show poor levels of convergence and of construct validity. (c) Measures of consistency are substantially and expectedly related to measures of trait extremity, a relation that if not controlled poses notable problems for studies of behavioral predictability. (d) The hypothesis of individual differences in predictability as a function of consistency is appropriately evaluated using the analytic method of moderated multiple regression. Applying this approach, an extensive set of analyses of new data failed to confirm the popular belief that consistency moderates predictability. It is argued that evidence amply supports the utility of applying classical nomothetic principles in prediction research. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coordination.

The Russian physiologist N. Bernstein (1967) defined coordination as a problem of mastering the very many degrees of freedom involved in a particular movement—of reducing the number of independent variables to be controlled. The initial theorizing and experimentation on "Bernstein's problem" was conducted largely in terms of how a device of very many independent variables might be regulated without ascribing excessive responsibility to an executive subsystem. A second round of theory and research on Bernstein's problem is now under way. This second round is motivated by similarities between coordination and physical processes in which multiple components become collectively self-organized; it is directed at an explanation of coordination in terms of very general laws and principles. The major achievements of the first round of efforts to address Bernstein's problem are summarized, and six examples of the theory and research typifying the second round are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Size estimation in schizophrenics: A review and reanalysis.

Attempts to sort out the sources of some of the inconsistent findings in terms of a detailed examination of between-studies differences in task and S variables. It is concluded that acute good premorbid schizophrenics show small but consistent size underestimation. Acute poor premorbid schizophrenics show a small but reliable tendency toward size overestimation. Paranoid schizophrenics underestimate, while nonparanoids overestimate, stimulus size. Among all schizophrenic groups the effects of drug status and relative acuteness or chronicity are at present not well specified. More research on task variables such as memory and viewing time is clearly required. A reanalysis of some previous data indicates that schizophrenics did not differ from normals in perceptual accuracy. The question of attributing differences in size estimation to a sensory process is raised. The present theories of flexibility, scanning, and redundancy do not provide complete explanations of the data. With the relevant variables more precisely identified, progress toward a more complete theory may be made. (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is it smart to play the horses? Comment on "A day at the races: A study of IQ, expertise, and cognitive complexity" (Ceci & Liker, 1986).

Ceci and Liker (1986b) presented data that they contended shows two things: (a) Handicapping harness races is a cognitively complex undertaking that can be captured by a multiple regression model, and (b) neither overall skill at handicapping nor the complexity of the mental model used is related to standard measures of intelligence. The first contention is not at issue. But the second contention, that handicapping performance is unrelated to IQ, is not supported by the data presented; in fact, the opposite conclusion seems more likely. The purpose of this comment is to point out errors frequently made in individual-differences research concerning population definition, sample selection, dependent and independent variable reliability and validity and interpretation of results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interval timing as an emergent learning property.

Interval timing in operant conditioning is the learned covariation of a temporal dependent measure such as wait time with a temporal independent variable such as fixed-interval duration. The dominant theories of interval timing all incorporate an explicit internal clock, or "pacemaker," despite its lack of independent evidence. The authors propose an alternative, pacemaker-free view that demonstrates that temporal discrimination can be explained by using only 2 assumptions: (a) variation and selection of responses through competition between reinforced behavior and all other, elicited, behaviors and (b) modulation of the strength of response competition by the memory for recent reinforcement. The model departs radically from existing timing models: It shows that temporal learning can emerge from a simple dynamic process that lacks a periodic time reference such as a pacemaker. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modification of smoking behavior: Good designs ineffective treatments.

Cigarette smoking provides opportunities to investigate behavior change processes in a meaningful, naturalistic context that still permits adequate measurement and controls. Although several recent behavior modification studies, exemplified by the A. R. Marston and R. M. McFall (see PA, Vol. 46:Issue 2) paper, are well designed, the treatments employed remain ineffective. It is suggested that treatment ineffectiveness may be due to insufficient pilot (clinical) work and premature freezing of techniques into group programs. It is also argued that process studies of smoking modification must await demonstration of an outcome effect or, at the least, process variables must be shown to effect outcome. The problems involved in verifying smoking rates and whether Ss are performing the "homework" assignments frequently given by behaviorists are also discussed. (25 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and factor analysis: A reply to Guilford.

Considers the problem of how to arrive at personality factors that possess some demonstrable degree of representativeness. In response to a previous article by J. P. Guilford (see record 1975-31795-001), the suggestion is made that psychometric considerations play an important part and that factor analysis in particular can be of great value in this connection. It is also suggested that there are other considerations of at least equal importance. Factors emerging from such analyses must be replicable and reliable, and they must fulfill certain basic psychometric requirements. In addition, there should be evidence of their heritability, they should have theoretical backing leading to objective laboratory verification of deductions from such theories, and they should be socially relevant in the sense of correlating significantly with social parameters. The evidence suggests that there are 3 and only 3 such factors emerging from relevant research, that these are all higher order factors, and that primary factors lack some or all of the qualities required. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)