bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Validity Effect: A Search for Mediating Variables
Authors: Boehm Lawrence E.
Published: March 2007

The validity effect is the increase in perceived validity of repeated statements. In the first experiment, subjects rated repeated and nonrepeated statements for validity, familiarity, and source recognition. Validity and familiarity were enhanced by repetition, but source dissociation was not. A path analysis suggested that familiarity mediates perceived validity. In Experiment 2, statements presented in a natural setting were later rated for perceived validity, familiarity, and source recognition. Repetition had parallel effects on validity and familiarity ratings, but source dissociation was unaffected. Controlling for familiarity statistically eliminated the validity effect. In Experiment 3, the effect of prior knowledge on validity judgments was studied. Subjects rated the validity of statements that were related or unrelated to their field of expertise. Those most knowledgeable about the topic were most likely to exhibit the validity effect. Overall, the results suggest that familiarity is the basis of judged validity.
Effects of Alcohol and Drinking Experience on Human Physical Aggression
Authors: Laplace Arthur C. , Chermack Stephen T. , Taylor Stuart P.
Published: March 2007

Intoxicated and nonintoxicated male subjects with self-reported low, moderate, and high drinking experience were given the opportunity to administer electrical shocks to an opponent in the context of a competitive reaction time task. Relative to subjects with moderate and high drinking experience, alcohol intoxication enhanced the aggressive behavior of the low-drinking-experience subjects.
Self and Collective: Cognition and Social Context
Authors: Turner John C. , Oakes Penelope J. , Haslam S. Alexander , McGarty Craig
Published: March 2007

The relationship between the self and the collective is discussed from the perspective of self-categorization theory. Self-categorization theory makes a basic distinction between personal and social identity as different levels of self-categorization. It shows how the emergent properties of group processes can be explained in terms of a shift in self perception from personal to social identity. It also elucidates how self-categorization varies with the social context. It argues that self-categorizing is inherently variable, fluid, and context dependent, as sedf-categories are social comparative and are always relative to a frame of reference. This notion has major implications for accepted ways of thinking about the self: The variability of self-categorizing provides the perceiver with behavioral and cognitive flexibility and ensures that cognition is always shaped by the social context in which it takes place.
Social Self-Regulation
Authors: Abrams Donminic
Published: March 2007

The social identity and self-awareness approaches to group members' behavior are described. It is suggested that identity salience should not be assumed to have direct effects on behavior. A model is presented that attempts to address this problem through an integration of the social identity (specifically, self-categorization theory) and self-awareness approaches. This model distinguishes between salience of self; a perceptual/interpretive process giving rise to particular self-images, and attention to self behavioral regulation in relation to particular self-selected goals or standards. The model has greater flexibility and wider applicability to individuals' collective behavior than either the social identity or the self-awareness approach alone.
Compensating for Stigma: Obese and Nonobese Women's Reactions to Being Visible
Authors: Miller Carol T. , Rothblum Esther D. , Felicio Diane , Brand Pamela
Published: March 2007

The hypothesis that obese women compensate for the prejudice of others was tested by having obese and nonobese women converse by telephone with someone who they believed, correctly or incorrectly, could or could not see them. Partners rated obese women's social skills negatively when the women were visible (thus activating the partners' prejudice) but thought they were not. Obese women rated themselves as more likable and socially skilled than nonobese women did when the women thought they were visible to female partners. Judges' ratings of the women's contribution to the conversation indicated that there were no obvious differences in the impressions created by their verbal or nonverbal behaviors. Results support the hypothesis that obese women who were aware of the need to compensate for their partners' reactions to their appearance were able to do so.
The Search for Beauty and Truth: A Framework for Understanding Reactions to Evaluations
Authors: Swann William B. , Schroeder Daniel G.
Published: March 2007

It is proposed that independent desires for positivity and verisimilitude shape the sequence of cognitive operations people perform on self-relevant evaluations. In phase 1, the mere identification of evaluative information triggers a minimally cognitive tendency to embrace favorable evaluations and eschew unfavorable ones, a positive tropism. If sufficient motivation and cognitive resources are available, people proceed to phase 2, wherein they evaluate the verisimilitude of the evaluation by comparing it with a series of representations of self; beginning with their actual selves. To the extent that actual selves are uncertain and cognitive resources and motivation to continue processing are ample, people make additional comparisons with various possible selves (e.g., who they ought to be, who they ideally might be, and who they are according to "objectively accurate" indexes). If sufficient cognitive resources and motivation are still available, people will engage in a third phase, consisting of a cost-benefit analysis.
Effects of Importance of a Prospective Choice on Private and Public Evaluations of the Alternatives
Authors: Mills Judson , Ford Thomas E.
Published: March 2007

An experiment tested the hypotheses that the more important a prospective choice, (a) the greater the difference in private evaluations of the alternatives and (b) the less the difference in public evaluations of the alternatives. Female subjects expected to choose between two interviewers for a lengthy, personal interview (important choice) or a brief; superficial interview (unimportant choice). They rated the interviewers with the experimenter absent while "practicing" with a computer mouse apparently not registering responses (private evaluations), or did that and told the experimenter their ratings (public evaluations). The difference in private evaluations was significantly greater when the choice was important, supporting the first hypothesis. Results for public evaluations were consistent with the second hypothesis but non-significant. In a second experiment, subjects rated the interviewers on a questionnaire (public evaluations). The difference in public evaluations was significantly less when the choice was important, supporting the second hypothesis.
Initial Beliefs and Attitudinal Latitudes as Factors in Persuasion
Authors: Johnson Blair T. , Lin Hung-Yu , Symons Cynthia S. , Campbell Laura Ann , Ekstein Geoffrey
Published: March 2007

This study examined how persuasion relates to structural characteristics of attitudes, including the number and supportiveness of initial beliefs as well as the widths of latitudes of rejection. As predicted, the tendency for strong arguments to persuade more than weak arguments was more pronounced for message recipients who retrieved more beliefs relative to those who retrieved fewer beliefs. Also, when initial beliefs supported the proposal, high belief-retrieval subjects were more persuaded than low-belief retrieval subjects, but this relation also held when initial beliefs opposed the proposal. Also as predicted, wide latitudes of rejection produced resistance to persuasion when the message position was counter attitudinal but not when it was proattitudinal, and this pattern was pronounced when subjects had many beliefs. Other analyses suggested that the persuasive effects of belief retrieval are due not to differential actual knowledge but rather to an issue-specific motivational advantage.
Do Parents Discriminate Against their Heavyweight Daughters?
Authors: Crandall Christian S.
Published: March 2007

In a 1991 study, the author found that females were less likely to receive support from their parents for college education if they were fatter than average. This effect is replicated for female undergraduates (n = 576); no effect emerged for males (n = 450). Controlling for income, ethnicity, family size, and number of children attending college did not change the results. The selection bias against fat women was strongest for daughters of political conservatives, a group previously found to endorse antifat attitudes. This suggests that parents' attitudes may lead to discrimination within families. To demonstrate that this may be due to parents' bias, data from a representative sample of high school seniors (n = 3,386) showed no association between politics, weight, and predictors of college attendance, including grade point average, self-rated intelligence and ability, college aspirations, and health. The evidence accumulates that parents are discriminating against their own heavyweight daughters.
Distance Matters: Physical Space and Social Impact
Authors: Latané Bibb , Liu James H. , Nowak Andrzej , Bonevento Michael , Zheng Long
Published: March 2007

Studies of college students and citizens of south Florida, United States, students in Shanghai, China, and an international sample of social psychologists show that social influence, measured by the frequency of memorable interactions, is heavily determined by distance. In all three cases, although there was a great deal of interaction with distant persons, the relationship between distance and interaction frequency was well described by an inverse power function with a slope of approximately -1, consistent with the expectation that social impact is proportional to the inverse square of the distance separating two persons. This result confirms one principle from Latane's 1981 theory of social impact and helps explain the ability of opinion minorities to cluster and survive in the face of majority influence.
Why Does Behavioral Confirmation Occur? A Functional Perspective on the Role of the Target
Authors: Snyder Mark , Haugen Julie A.
Published: March 2007

The authors performed a functional analysis of the target's role in behavioral confirmation to determine the motivational function(s) being served by the target. Perceivers engaged in getting-acquainted telephone conversations with targets believed to be either obese or of normal weight. Targets were given standard instructions (i.e., no motivation explicitly engaged), adjustive-function instructions (i.e., ensure a smooth and pleasing interaction by being responsive to one's partner's interpersonal style), or knowledge-function instructions (i.e., acquire stable and predictable impressions through interaction). In the standard condition and adjustive-function condition, targets behaviorally confirmed perceivers' erroneous beliefs. However, in the knowledge-function condition, behavioral confirmation was attenuated. These results suggest that targets' interactional activities are performed in the service of an adjustive function when targets behaviorally confirm perceivers' beliefs.
On the Compatibility of Autonomy and Relatedness
Authors: Hodgins Holley S. , Koestner Richard , Duncan Neil
Published: March 2007

The relation qf autonomy to naturally occurring social interaction was investigated in two studies using a daily recording methodology. It was expected that autonomous functioning, as measured by the General Causafity Orientations Scale, would be related to positive social experience. Study 1 examined college students' interactions with parents; Study 2 examined interactions across aU relationships. Both studies showed that autonomy was significantly related to more positive and honest naturally occurring interaction, whereas control related to more defensive functioning.
Personality Moderators of Reactions to Interpersonal Rejection: Depression and Trait Self-Esteem
Authors: Nezlek John B. , Kowalski Robin M. , Leary Mark R. , Blevins Tana , Holgate Stephane
Published: March 2007

Two experiments were conducted to examine the moderating effects of depression and trait self-esteem on reactions to social exclusion. Participants received information indicating that they had been included in or excluded from a laboratory group and that their inclusion or exclusion was based either on the other group members' preferences or on a random procedure. Participants who scored high in depression (Experiment 1) and low in self-esteem (Experiment 2) responded more strongly (and logically) to the experimental manipulations than participants low in depression and high in self-esteem. The results suggested that depression and low self-esteem place people at risk for dysphoria and self-devaluation following interpersonal rejection.
The Two Faces of Adam: Ambivalent Sexism and Polarized Attitudes Toward Women
Authors: Glick Peter , Diebold Jeffrey , Bailey-Werner Barbara , Zhu Lin
Published: March 2007

Two studies using Peter Glick and Susan Fiske's Ambivalent Sexism Inventory examined sexist men's attitudes toward women. The authors hypothesized that ambivalent sexist (as compared with nonsexist) men would habitually classify women into polarized subgroups (those they put on a "pedestal" and those they place in the "gutter"). Study 1 revealed that ambivalent sexism predicted greater polarization in men's evaluations of spontaneously generated female subtypes. Study 2 demonstrated that the negative component of sexist ambivalence (hostile sexism) predicted less favorable evaluations of women in a nontraditional role (career women), whereas the subjectively positive component of sexist ambivalence (benevolent sexism) predicted favorable feelings toward women in a traditional role (homemakers). Implications for the nature of sexist ambivalence (and other forms of ambivalent prejudice) are discussed.
The Relative Effect of Attitude Similarity and Attitude Dissimilarity on Interpersonal Attraction: Investigating the Moderating Roles of Prejudice and Group Membership
Authors: Pilkington Neil W. , Lydon John E.
Published: March 2007

Heterosexual male undergraduates rated the interpersonal attractiveness and perceived attitude similarity of heterosexual and homosexual targets who were either attitudinally similar, ambiguous (i.e., no-attitude-information controls), or dissimilar to the participant. The relative effect of attitude similarity and dissimilarity information on attraction judgments was moderated by the perceiver's prejudice level but not by the target's group membership: Dissimilarity decreased low-prejudice (LP) individuals' attraction toward heterosexual and homosexual targets. Conversely, similarity increased high-prejudice (HP) participants' attraction toward both targets. Dissimilarity also decreased HPs' attraction toward heterosexual targets. Attraction effects for LPs were independent of perceived attitude similarity in the no-attitude control conditions and were more consistent with the person-positivity bias. For HPs, judgments of homosexual targets were partially mediated by perceived attitude dissimilarity. Findings are discussed in the context of the similarity-attraction principle, the repulsion hypothesis, and theories of intergroup discrimination.
Perceived Prevalence, Perceived Superiority, and Relationship Satisfaction: Most Relationships Are Good, but Ours is the Best
Authors: Buunk Bram P. , van der Eijnden Regina J.J.M.
Published: March 2007

In Study 1 ( n = 407), Dutch adults perceived their relationship on average as better than that of most others, and a majority assumed that at least half of the people with an intimate relationship are happy with this relationship. Both perceptions were more pronounced among those with a happy relationship. In Study 2 these findings were replicated in a sample representative of the Dutch adult population ( n = 1,281) and were found to be largely independent of the order in which the questions were presented. Study 3 ( n = 101) showed that perceived superiority was even more pronounced when the comparison group was the "typical average adult" rather than "most others. "Study 4 ( n = 50) showed that perceived superiority also existed when one's own relationship and the relationship of the typical average adult were rated separately.
What Do You Look for in a Prospective Date? Reexamining the Preferences of Men and Women Who Differ in Self-Monitoring Propensities
Authors: Shaffer David R. , Bazzini Doris G.
Published: March 2007

Males and females who differed in self-monitoring propensities indicated their preferences for an evening date by ranking the desirability of nine opposite-sex targets who were varied in attractiveness and personality. In contrast to past research, criteria used to evaluate dating partners were not influenced by participants' self-monitoring propensities. Results provided little evidence that dating orientations of high and low self-monitors vary systematically when partners are selected from a broad, representative array of alternatives. Consistent with past research, men weighed attractiveness cues more heavily than did women; women attached more weight to dispositional information than men did. Yet, internal analyses revealed that the dating orientations of male and female participants were really more similar than different: Both the looks and the character of prospective dating partners were highly salient to men and women, who were most interested in dating individuals who maximized total outcomes across both dimensions.
Implicit Self-Esteem in Japan: Name Letters and Birthday Numbers
Authors: Kitayama Shinobu , Karasawa Mayumi
Published: March 2007

Japanese studies have repeatedly failed to obtain any explicit tendency to enhance self-esteem. In two studies, the authors attempted an implicit assessment of positive feelings attached to Japanese selves and found evidence for such feelings. Study 1 examined preference for Japanese alphabetical letters and found that letters included in one's own name were significantly better liked than the remaining ones. Further, an especially strong preference was expressed by male respondents for the first letters of their family names, and by female respondents for the first letters of their first names. Study 2 assessed preference for numerics and showed that the numbers corresponding to both the month and the day of one's birthday were significantly better liked than the remaining numbers. Implications are discussed for theories of Japanese selves.
What's Love Got to Do with it? Close Relationships and Perceived Growth
Authors: Ruvolo Ann P. , Brennan Caroline Jobson
Published: March 2007

This study examined whether relationship characteristics predict increased perceptions of growth. Partners from 301 dating couples each rated how much supportive assistance they received, their love for their partners, how much they became closer to their ideals, and how much closer their partners became to the partners' ideals. After 5 months, 184 women and 138 men again rated how much they and their partners became closer to their ideals. Time 1 ratings of becoming closer to ideals were partialed from Time 2 ratings; the partner's love and the individual's perceptions of assistance were used (separately) to predict the increase in becoming closer to ideals (growth). As hypothesized, the more the partner loved the individual, the more growth each partner reported for the individual. Also, the more assistance the individual received, the more growth both partners reported that the men experienced and the more growth women reported experiencing.
Perceptions of a Media Campaign: The Role of Social Identity and the Changing Intergroup Context
Authors: Duck Julie M. , Terry Deborah J. , Hogg Michael A.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the effects of political identity and the changing intergroup context on communication perceptions during an election campaign. Perceptions of media bias and of campaign impact on self and others were assessed before and after the election. The responses of politically aligned voters reflected their membership in a dominant or subordinate group preelection and in a losing or winning group postelection. Dominant group members were initially less biased in their views of the campaign and its impact but sought to blame their party's loss on media bias and on the gullibility of political out-group members and voters in general. Subordinate group members initially showed strong in-group-serving biases but were less critical of the media and the electorate after their party had won. Results highlight the dynamic, intergroup nature of media perceptions.
Self-Esteem and Memory for Favorable and Unfavorable Personality Feedback
Authors: Story Amber L.
Published: March 2007

The accuracy of people's memories for personality feedback depends on their level of self-esteem and the favorability of that feedback. In two studies, participants were given feedback that was discrepant from their pretest self-ratings, in either a favorable or an unfavorable direction. Participants remembered feed-back more accurately when the valence of that feedback was congruent with their self-esteem. When the feedback was incongruent with their self-esteem, participants recalled it in a more distorted manner, remembering the feedback as more congruent than it actually had been. The effect of self-esteem on recall accuracy was not mediated by the amount of time participants spent examining the feedback nor by their perceptions of the feedback's credibility. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for the nature of global self-esteem, its relationship to specific self-conceptions, and its role in the processing of self-relevant information.
Cultural Estrangement and Terror Management Theory
Authors: Cozzarelli Catherine , Karafa Joseph A.
Published: March 2007

A new measure of cultural estrangement was described. The scale assesses the extent to which individuals believe (a) that their ideas, beliefs, or values differ from those of most Americans (the A typicality subscale) and (b) that they do not fit in with main-stream American culture (the Misfit subscale). Those scoring high on the A typicality subscale reported that they perceived themselves to be nonconformists, yet these individuals did not show evidence of poor psychological adjustment. In contrast, those scoring high on the Misfit subscale reported being alienated, depressed, anxious, and low in self-esteem and life satisfaction. Self-discrepancies (a perceived gap between one's real and ideal self) were found to partially mediate the relationships between feeling like a misfit and these negative psychological outcomes. Results were discussed primarily within the context of terror management theory.
The Relationship between Appearance and Personality Across the Life Span
Authors: Zebrowitz Leslie A. , Collins Mary Ann , Dutta Ranjana
Published: March 2007

Using archival data, the relationship of appearance to personality was investigated from childhood to age 60. Lagged effects of appearance on personality and vice versa, as well as accuracy of appearance stereotypes, were assessed. For men, lagged effects of attractiveness on personality were consistent with a self fulfilling prophecy; for adolescent boys, lagged effects of babyfaceness on personality were consistent with a self-defeating prophecy; for women, lagged effects of personality on attractiveness were consistent with a Dorian Gray effect, whereby early personality produces a congruent later appearance. There was no evidence for accuracy of the baby-face stereotype, which was significantly inaccurate for adolescent boys. Accuracy of the attractiveness stereotype required effects of a stable earlier appearance on later personality or a stable earlier personality on later appearance.
Standing in My Partner's Shoes: Partner Perspective Taking and Reactions to Accommodative Dilemmas
Authors: Arriaga Ximena B. , Rusbult Caryl E.
Published: March 2007

Four studies examined the role of partner perspective taking in shaping reactions to accommodative dilemmas-situations in which a close partner enacts a potentially destructive behavior. Participants included marital partners (Study 1) and dating partners (Studies 2, 3, and 4). Studies 1, 3, and 4 examined preexisting tendencies toward partner perspective taking, and Studies 2, 3, and 4 included experimental manipulations of perspective. In all four studies, adopting the partner's perspective (rather than one's own) during an accommodative dilemma resulted in (a) more positive emotional reactions, more relationship-enhancing attributions, and enhanced inclinations toward constructive responding and (b) less negative emotional reactions, less partner-blaming attributions, and reduced inclinations toward destructive responding. In Studies 2, 3, and 4, analyses examining the simultaneous effects of partner perspective taking, commitment level, and general perspective taking revealed that adopting the partner's perspective exerts unique, independent effects on accommodation-relevant emotions, attributions, and behavioral preferences.
Student Evaluations of Courses and Faculty Based on a Perceived Learning Criterion: Scale Construction, Validation, and Comparison of Results
Authors: Freedman Richard D. , Stumpf Stephen A.
Published: March 2007

Validation studies of the Course-Faculty Evalua tion Instrument (CFI) are described. Seven dimen sions were constructed which characterize each class and predict student rating of the instructor, course, and text. Different measurement scales and methods were analyzed, using a multitrait-multi method (MTMM) strategy. The MTMM matrix for the CFI and a similar MTMM matrix for the Course-Evaluation Instrument (CEI) reported by Schwab (1974) were analyzed and compared. The same method of scaling was found to be superior in both studies. Using an analysis of variance frame work to summarize MTMM matrices, the CFI demonstrated greater discriminant validity using more dimensions (traits) and had a lower error component than the CEI. The benefits of compar ing instruments and implications for future course- faculty evaluation research are discussed.
An Empirical Inquiry into the Relationship between Test Factor Structure and Test Hierarchical Structure
Authors: Bart William M.
Published: March 2007

This study investigated whether or not test factor structure indicates something about the test hierar chical structure. Two sets of items were located such that one set of items was found to have basically a two-factor structure. Two different methods were used to establish the factor struc tures. These sets of item data were then analyzed with a refined ordering-theoretic method to deter mine item hierarchies. No hierarchy structure was found for either set of items. Thus, it is suggested that test factor structure tells little, if anything, about test hierarchical structure. A search for the theoretical bases for these discrepancies is recom mended.
The Measurement of Auditory Abilities of Blind, Partially Sighted, and Sighted Children
Authors: Stankov Lazar , Spilsbury Georgina
Published: March 2007

A battery of 26 auditory tests was given to groups of 30 blind, partially sighted, and sighted children. Primary factors defined by the tests corresponded closely to those previously found with a similar battery (Stankov & Horn, in press). Overall, the blind and sighted were equal on most of the abilities measured by the tests; however, differences could be observed if particular primaries were considered. Blind children performed better on tests measuring tonal memory but worse on tests of masking and rhythm. The partially sighted group demonstrated poorer performance than the other two groups; this was attributed to possible cognitive and/or personality problems in addition to those associated with reduced vision.
The Comparative Validity of Questionnaire Data (16PF Scales) and Objective Test Data (O-A Battery) in Predicting Five Peer-Rating Criteria
Authors: Goldberg Lewis R. , Norman Warren T. , Schwartz Edward
Published: March 2007

Thirty tests from the 1955 edition of Cattell's Ob jective-Analytic (O-A) Test Battery, plus Forms A and B of the Sixteen Personality Factor Question naire (16PF), were administered to 82 male under graduates. In addition, each subject was rated by 7 to 11 close associates on each of 20 bipolar rating scales, 4 scales tapping each of 5 peer-rating fac tors. These peer ratings were used as criterion vari ables to be predicted by the 16PF scales and by the O-A Battery. The O-A Battery measures were slightly more highly related to one peer-rating fac tor (Culture); the 16PF scales were slightly more highly related to another (Conscientiousness); and the two sets of test variables were essentially equiv alent in predicting the other three factors (two of which showed no significant relationships with either instrument). The lack of any consistent su periority of the objective test scores over the ques tionnaire scales, coupled with some criticisms of the objective tests on purely logical grounds, should make one cautious in accepting the claims being made for the comparative validity of the O-A Bat tery.
Issues of Validity for Criterion-Referenced Measures
Authors: Linn Robert L.
Published: March 2007

It has sometimes been assumed that validity of criterion-referenced tests is guaranteed by the de finition of the domain and the process used to gen erate items. These are important considerations for content validity. It is argued that the proper focus for content validity is on the items of a test rather than on examinee responses to those items. Content validity is important for criterion-referenced mea sures, but it is not sufficient. This claim is dis cussed and the case is made that interpretations and uses of criterion-referenced tests require sup port of other kinds of evidence and logical analysis. The inferences that are made should dictate the kinds of evidence and logical arguments that are needed to support claims of validity. Illustrations of aspects of the validation process are provided in two concrete examples.
Balanced Incomplete Block Designs for Inter-Rater Reliability Studies
Authors: Fleiss Joseph L.
Published: March 2007

Occasionally, an inter-rater reliability study must be designed so that each subject is rated by fewer than all the participating raters. If there is interest in comparing the raters' mean levels of rating, and if it is desired that each mean be estimated with the same precision, then a balanced incomplete block design for the reliability study is indicated. Methods for executing the design and for analyzing the resulting data are presented, using data from an actual study for illustration.
A Method for the Age Standardization of Test Scores
Authors: Schagen I.P.
Published: March 2007

A procedure is presented to generate standard ized scores from raw test data that are, as far as possible, age independent and normally distribut ed. The model is fitted to the percentile points of the raw score distribution, and assumes a linear trend of each percentile with age. The fitted slopes can be constant or can vary quadratically with the percentiles. A nonlinear transformation of the data is also possible to allow for "ceiling effects." These models are described and the methods used to fit them to test data are discussed; examples are presented of their use in standardizing tests, and the use of the diagnostic plots produced by the program are discussed.
Pairwise Parameter Estimation in Rasch Models
Authors: Zwinderman Aeilko H.
Published: March 2007

Rasch model item parameters can be estimated consistently with a pseudo-likelihood method based on comparing responses to pairs of items irrespective of other items. The pseudo-likelihood method is comparable to Fischer's (1974) Minchi method. A simulation study found that the pseudo-likelihood estimates and their (estimated) standard errors were comparable to conditional and marginal maximum likelihood estimates. The method is extended to estimate parameters of the linear logistic test model allowing the design matrix to vary between persons.
Detection of Answer Copying with Unknown Item and Trait Parameters
Authors: Wollack James A. , Cohen Allan S.
Published: March 2007

Previous work on the use of w for detection of answer copying was based on the assumption that item parameters for the nominal response model were known. Such an assumption limits the usefulness of a, particularly in the classroom, because most teachers do not have a set of precalibrated items. This study investigated empirical Type I error rates and the power of w when the item and trait (0) parameters were unknown and estimated from datasets of 100 and 500 examinees. rlype I error rate was unaffected by estimating item parameters from the data. Power was slightly lower in the 100-examinee datasets, but was almost identical in the 500-examinee datasets.
A Note on Simple Gain Score Precision
Authors: Mellenbergh Gideon J
Published: March 2007

A distinction is necessary between two concepts of measurement precision. Reliability is population dependent and information is examinee dependent. Both concepts also apply to the simple gain score. Low reliability implies that it is not appropriate to correlate the gain score with variables in a population, and low information implies that no precise statements can be made about an examinee’s true gain. However, low reliability does not imply that statements about within-examinee change are necessarily imprecise.
Growth Centers, Rural Development and National Urban Policy: A Defense
Authors: Richardson Harry W.
Published: March 2007

Growth centers have fallen into disrepute as an instrument of spatial policy in developing countries. This paper suggests that they may still be valuable, if harmonized with local economic and social con ditions. The growth centers must be integrated with rural development policies by promoting agro-processing industries rather than capital-inten sive manufacturing, by functioning as an alternative destination for rural migrants to the primate city, and by strengthening the service hierarchies in rural regions. Growth center policies will fail unless they are conceived within the framework of a national urban development strategy. The general arguments are illustrated with a case study of Kenya.
Regional Wage Differentials, Fluctuations in Labor Demand, and Migration
Authors: Krumm Ronald J.
Published: March 2007

The structure of regional wage patterns over time is examined in the context of long-run equilibrium nominal wage differentials. Changes in regional demand for labor and the resulting short-run wage variation are analyzed in the context of the expected duration of the demand change. Cross sections of time series data on wages in selected manufacturing industries are utilized to control for systematic spatial differences in wage behavior and year-specific business cycle influences. Empirical results indicate important variations in wage patterns as a result of differences in the expected duration of labor demand and supply changes. The findings also suggest that migration has an important effect on regional wage patterns.
Population Redistribution towards Core Areas of Less Developed Countries, 1950-1980
Authors: Vining Daniel R.
Published: March 2007

This paper presents estimates of the rate of population redistribution to the core areas of 44 developing countries over the period 1950-80. Particular attention is given to the period 1970-80, a time during which the core areas of developed countries experienced substantial declines in their rates of net immigration. The principal finding is that the core areas of most developing countries are still experiencing high and, in a number of cases, increasing rates of net immigration. This finding confirms the developmental model of spatial concentration and dispersal and should lay to rest other explanations of deconcentration, including arguments that focus on diseconomies of absolute size in the core area or on fluctuations in the aggregate economy.
Polarization Reversal, Migration Related Shifts in Human Resource Profiles, and Spatial Growth Policies: A Venezuelan Study
Authors: Brown Lawrence A. , Lawson Victoria A.
Published: March 2007

This article examines polarization reversal in terms of changing human resource profiles related to migration and to national policies affecting the spatial pattern of economic growth. It first demonstrates the relationship between these elements through a review that integrates three distinct themes in earlier research. Attention then turns to an empirical study of human resource variation among eight urban districts and the rest of Venezuela treated as a single unit. This comparison utilizes age, gender, educational attainment, and occupational status variables provided by individual records of Venezuela's 1971 Population Census. A concluding section relates empirical findings to policy alternatives.
The Location-Allocation versus Functional Integration Debate: An Assessment in Terms of Linkage Effects
Authors: Hansen Niles
Published: March 2007

The Belsky-Karaska critique of the functional integration approach to development maintains that its urban functions orientation to planning was originally designed for descriptive, not prescriptive, purposes and that functional integration neglects demand. These objections are examined in the contexts of the balanced versus unbalanced growth controversy and the hierarchical diffusion of innovation paradigm. Functional integration adopts a more developmental approach than does the application of location-allocation models, which nonetheless have value in their own right. The major goal of functional integration should be to induce linkage effects that will have beneficial, if not readily predictable, social and economic consequences. The relevance of functional integration would be enhanced by giving more attention to the economics of linkage effects, including the processes by which direct investment in agriculture induces urban functions.
Using Spatial Contiguity as Bayesian Prior Information in Regional Forecasting Models
Authors: LeSage James P. , Pan Zheng
Published: March 2007

Spatial contiguity relationships represent a frequently ignored source of information that is available to economists modeling cross-sections of metropolitan areas, counties, states, regions, and countries. Shown here is how contiguity relationships can be incorporated as prior information in Bayesian vector autoregressive and error correction models with little or no effort, using existing software, to produce improvements in forecasting performance. A comparison of alternative forecasting methods is undertaken using annual postwar time series of agricultural output for a sample of 15 corn-producing states. The models that incorporate prior information regarding spatial contiguity are found to dominate those that ignore this information, producing much better forecasts.
Development Models, Economic Adjustment, and Occupational Composition: Ecuador, 1982-1990
Authors: Brown Lawrence A. , Mandel Jennifer L. , Lawson Victoria A.
Published: March 2007

This paper considers the appropriateness of development model perspectives compared to cyclical frameworks of economic change, particularly for periods of economic decline. As a touchstone of broader processes, an occupational composition scale is employed. This represents human capital aspects of change, and includes as components occupation and economic activity of employment. Empirical focus is on mutations between 1982 and 1990 at the national level, by gender, and for regions within Ecuador. Results indicate that understanding change during periods of economic devolution is better achieved with economic cycle, than with development perspectives, but both offer critical insights. This implies an opportunity to meld these frameworks to more fully embrace ongoing processes in Third World settings.
Regional Incentives and Industrial Location in Puerto Rico
Authors: Guimaraes Paulo , Rolfe Robert J. , Woodward Douglas P.
Published: March 2007

This study uses nested logit to estimate the influence of industrial incentives on the location of manufacturing plants in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican laws grant generous tax exemptions and provide other incentives for investments in less developed, peripheral regions of the island. Focusing on Puerto Rico allowed us to isolate and test location factors in a closed environment where 76 municipalities received a development zone designation and competed directly against one another for new plants. Simulations indicated that the regional incentive policy reallocated relatively few of the greenfield investments from the congested core to the periphery of the island.
Patents and Free Scientific Information in Biotechnology: Making Monoclonal Antibodies Proprietary
Authors: Mackenzie Michael , Keating Peter , Cambrosio Alberto
Published: March 2007

There has been some concern m recent years that economic interests in the biotechnology area could, particularly through patenting, have a constricting influence on scientific research. Despite this concern, there have been no studies of this phenomenon beyond isolated cases. In this article we examine the evolution of the biomedical field of hybridoma/monoclonal antibody research with detailed examples of the three types of patent claims that have emerged there—basic claims, claims on application techniques, and claims on specific antibodies. We analyze the impact of these claims and their legal histories on (1) the free flow of scientific information and, (2) the activity of scientific researchers. We conclude that such patent claims present severe restrictions for both, not only in the monoclonal area but in general, amounting to a subtle but significant shift in the political economy of science and technology.
Popularizing Biotechnology: The Influence of Issue Definition
Authors: Plein L. Christopher
Published: March 2007

In recent years, the image of biotechnology has been transformed from one of danger and uncertainty to one of opportunity and familiarity. This article explores the process of issue definition by examining the efforts of private interests and public officials. An analysis of interview data, public documents, and other sources reveals four methods of issue definition: (1) establishing the "biotechnology industry" as a collective voice, (2) forging alliances with established public and private interests, (3) associating biotechnology with popular issues on the policy agenda, and (4) discrediting opponents and critics of biotechnology. These methods of issue definition reveal the importance not only of defining a specific issue but also of influencing the context in which it is considered.
Distributing the Benefit of the Doubt: Scientists, Regulators, and Drug Safety
Authors: Abraham John
Published: March 2007

This article examines how scientists and regulators distribute the benefit of the doubt about drug safety under conditions of scientific uncertainty. The focus of the empirical research is the regulatory controversy over the hepatorenal toxicity of benoxaprofen in the United Kingdom and the United States. By scrutinizing the technical coherence of the arguments put forward by industrial and government scientists, it is concluded that these scientists are willing to award the commercial interests of the pharmaceutical industry an enormous benefit of the sccentific doubt, which is not consistent with the best interests of patients. Interpretative flexibility, the burden of proof falling on regulators and their trust in, and dependence on, industrial scientists facilitates that distribution of the benefit of the scientific doubt. However, regulatory authorities' need for viability and the rationality common to opposing scientific views suggest that it is possible, in principle, to alter this dominant trend. To achieve adequate patient protection, drug regulation in the United Kingdom and the United States requires extensive reform. Some preliminary policy changes are sketched.
Representations of Information Technology in Disciplinary Development: Disappearing Plants and Invisible Networks
Authors: Hine Christine
Published: March 2007

This article describes developments in the use of information technology (IT) in the biological discipline of taxonomy, using both a historical overview and a detailed case study of a particular information systems project. Taxonomy has experienced problems with both its scientific legitimacy and its utility to other biologists. IT has been introduced into the discipline m response to these perceived problems. The information systems project described here served as a means of managing the tensions between scientific legitimacy and utility. It is argued that this project represents an example of the use of a technological development m an attempt to re-engineer a discipline. The development of the information system is analyzed as an attempt to develop a scientific instrument that will embody a particular model of the discipline. The concerns of taxonomy with status and legitimacy make it appropriate that this new technology should be introduced at the interface between the discipline and the rest of biology as a means of disseminating results, and thus come to represent the discipline and the plants described to outsiders, just as the system represents outsiders to taxonomists.
Chemical Analysis of Urine for Life Insurance: The Construction of Reliability
Authors: Horstman Klasien
Published: March 2007

Medical expertise plays a major role in large-scale welfare arrangements, for example, in private insurance companies. It symbolizes the objectivity and reliability of the procedures of risk selection and legitimates the acceptance and rejection of clients. To understand "reliability" in this context, this article discusses the introduction of chemical urine analysis for life insurance examination between 1880 and 1920. The article argues that reliability of urine analysis is not an intrinsic characteristic of the technology and thus cannot serve as the explanation for the relevance of this technology as a means of risk selection. The construction of a "reliable technology" went hand in hand with the development of a standardized, uniform, and predictable performance of the test and an emergence of specific network—namely, a large-scale, bureaucratic insurance practice in which examination rooms of physicians became connected to the head offices of insurance companies by administrative means. During this process, the balance of power between medical examiners and insurance companies was reversed. Insurance compa nies depended on medicine for risk selection, but physicians increasingly had to act according to the rules set by life insurance companies.
Outsider Initiatives in the Reconstruction of the Car: The Case of Lightweight Vehicle Milieus in Switzerland
Authors: Truffer Bernhard , Dürrenberger Gregor
Published: March 2007

This article analyzes the relevance of a specific form of social networks, so-called innovative milieus, for the development of radical innovations. Two Swiss initiatives which developed highly energy-efficient means of individual transport in the past ten years are analyzed in terms of the resources they could mobilize and the risks they run. To assess the milieu's potential for radical innovation, we examine the construction of a lightweight safety system, the social construction of the product category "lightweight vehicle, " and the (mis)management of the interface between prototype development and large-scale manufacturing.