scholarly journals Uncovering mental structure through data-driven ontology discovery

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian W Eisenberg ◽  
Patrick Bissett ◽  
Ayse Zeynep Enkavi ◽  
Jamie Li ◽  
David MacKinnon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Real World ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Empirical Relationship ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Individual Traits ◽  
Cumulative Knowledge

Psychological sciences have identified a wealth of cognitive processes and behavioral phenomena, yet struggle to produce cumulative knowledge. Progress is hamstrung by siloed scientific traditions and a focus on explanation over prediction, two issues we address by examining individual differences across an unprecedented range of behavioral tasks, self-report surveys, and real-world outcomes. We derive a cognitive ontology and evaluate the predictive power of many psychological measurements related to self-regulation. Though both tasks and surveys putatively measure self-regulation, they show little empirical relationship. Within tasks and surveys, however, the ontology reveals opportunities for theoretic synthesis and identifies stable individual traits. Additionally, surveys predict self-reported real-world outcomes while tasks largely do not. We conclude that data-driven ontologies lay the groundwork for a cumulative psychological science.

scholarly journals Self-Regulation of Implicit Social Cognition

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M Rivers
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Social Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Implicit Measures ◽  
Brand Evaluations ◽  
The Past ◽  
Broad Array

Implicit measures of social cognition have grown increasingly popular over the past two decades. Not only have they become ubiquitous within social psychology, but they are also now commonly applied in a broad array of domains beyond social psychology, ranging from brand evaluations to phobias to addiction. Their widespread use is largely due to the assumption that implicit measures provide a more clear view into hidden cognitive processes than do explicit (i.e., self-report) measures. However, there is debate about which cognitive processes implicit measures primarily reflect. Tasks such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT) were initially designed to measure behavioral impulses induced by mental association between concepts (e.g., the outgroup) and attributes (e.g., negative). Although measures like the IAT do reflect behavioral impulses, self-regulation also plays an important role in inhibiting undesirable impulses.

scholarly journals Stronger Together: Personality, Intelligence and the Assessment of Career Potential

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Leutner ◽  
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Real World ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Organizational Psychology ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Applied Psychology ◽  
Organizational Contexts ◽  
Industrial Organizational Psychology ◽  
Intelligence Measures ◽  
Data Driven Decisions

Personality and intelligence have a long history in applied psychology, with research dating back more than 100 years. In line, early developments in industrial-organizational psychology were largely founded on the predictive power of personality and intelligence measures vis-à-vis career-related outcomes. However, despite a wealth of evidence in support of their utility, the concepts, theories, and measures of personality and intelligence are still widely underutilized in organizations, even when these express a commitment to making data-driven decisions about employees and leaders. This paper discusses the value of personality and intelligence to understand individual differences in career potential, and how to increase the adoption of theories and tools for evaluating personality and intelligence in real-world organizational contexts. Although personality and intelligence are distinct constructs, the assessment of career potential is incomplete without both.

Replications can cause distorted belief in scientific progress

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Białek
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
The Public ◽  
Psychological Science

AbstractIf we want psychological science to have a meaningful real-world impact, it has to be trusted by the public. Scientific progress is noisy; accordingly, replications sometimes fail even for true findings. We need to communicate the acceptability of uncertainty to the public and our peers, to prevent psychology from being perceived as having nothing to say about reality.

From Bi-Dimensionality to Uni-Dimensionality in Self-Report Questionnaires

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjarne Schmalbach ◽  
Markus Zenger ◽  
Michalis P. Michaelides ◽  
Karin Schermelleh-Engel ◽  
Andreas Hinz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Factor Model ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Model Fit ◽  
Self Report ◽  
External Criterion ◽  
Common Factor Model ◽  
Random Intercept ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Core Self

Abstract. The common factor model – by far the most widely used model for factor analysis – assumes equal item intercepts across respondents. Due to idiosyncratic ways of understanding and answering items of a questionnaire, this assumption is often violated, leading to an underestimation of model fit. Maydeu-Olivares and Coffman (2006) suggested the introduction of a random intercept into the model to address this concern. The present study applies this method to six established instruments (measuring depression, procrastination, optimism, self-esteem, core self-evaluations, and self-regulation) with ambiguous factor structures, using data from representative general population samples. In testing and comparing three alternative factor models (one-factor model, two-factor model, and one-factor model with a random intercept) and analyzing differential correlational patterns with an external criterion, we empirically demonstrate the random intercept model’s merit, and clarify the factor structure for the above-mentioned questionnaires. In sum, we recommend the random intercept model for cases in which acquiescence is suspected to affect response behavior.

Hierarchical Modelling of Facial Perceptions: A Secondary Analysis of Aggressiveness Ratings

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Christopher Adkins ◽  
Nataly Beribisky ◽  
Stephan Bonfield ◽  
Linda Farmus
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Specific Factor ◽  
Primary Analysis ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Individual Traits ◽  
Confirmatory Factor

The Psychological Science Accelerator’s (PSA) primary project tested for latent structure using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis but we decided to diverge from this approach and model individual traits separately. Our interest mainly was in examining the interplay between “stimulus ethnicity” and “stimulus sex” to discover how differing levels of these criterion differ across region, country, lab etc. While the necessary and prerequisite hierarchical structural information about each trait could certainly be found within the primary project’s dataset, we did not assume that any specific factor structure from the PSA’s primary analysis would necessarily hold, therefore we based our decision to model the data from each trait separately using a mixed model framework.

A Preregistered Validation Study of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Skylan Chester
Keyword(s):  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Validation Study ◽  
Real World ◽  
External Validity ◽  
State Level ◽  
Taylor Aggression Paradigm ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Laboratory Measure ◽  
Behavioral Tasks ◽  
Preliminary Support

The Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP) is a frequently-used laboratory measure of aggressive behavior. However, the flexibility inherent in its implementation and analysis can undermine its validity. To test whether the TAP was a valid aggression measure irrespective of this flexibility, I conducted a preregistered study of a 25-trial version of the TAP using a single scoring approach with 160 diverse undergraduate participants. TAP scores showed agreement with other laboratory aggression measures and were magnified by an experimental provocation manipulation. Mixed evidence was found for associations with aggressive dispositions and real-world violence. These results provide preliminary support for this approach to the TAP to measure state-level aggressive behavior. However, more evidence is needed to assess the TAP’s external validity and ability to measure dispositional forms of aggression. Using preregistered designs, researchers should validate specific variants of their behavioral tasks in order to optimize the veridicality and reproducibility of psychological science.

Inhibition tasks are not associated with self-regulation outcomes in healthy college students

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Curtis David Von Gunten ◽  
Bruce D Bartholow ◽  
Jorge S. Martins
Keyword(s):  
Latent Variable ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Life Outcomes ◽  
Variable Level ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
The Individual

Executive functioning (EF) is defined as a set of top-down processes used in reasoning, forming goals, planning, concentrating, and inhibition. It is widely believed that these processes are critical to self-regulation and, therefore, that performance on behavioral task measures of EF should be associated with individual differences in everyday life outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to test this core assumption, focusing on the EF facet of inhibition. A sample of 463 undergraduates completed five laboratory inhibition tasks, along with three self-report measures of self-control and 28 self-report measures of life outcomes. Results showed that although most of the life outcome measures were associated with self-reported self-control, none of the life outcomes were associated with inhibition task performance at the latent-variable level, and few associations were found at the individual task level. These findings challenge the criterion validity of lab-based inhibition tasks. More generally, when considered alongside the known lack of convergent validity between inhibition tasks and self-report measures of self-control, the findings cast doubt on the task’s construct validity as measures of self-control processes. Potential methodological and theoretical reasons for the poor performance of laboratory-based inhibition tasks are discussed.

Individual and Societal Well-Being

2018 ◽  
pp. 698-722
Author(s):  
Shigehiro Oishi ◽  
Samantha J. Heintzleman
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Life Outcomes ◽  
Cultural Meanings ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
The Social ◽  
Genetic Origins

This chapter highlights the contributions that have been made by personality and social psychology, respectively and together, to the science of well-being. Since its humble beginning in the 1930s, the science of well-being has grown to become one of the most vibrant research topics in psychological science today. The personality tradition of well-being research has shown that it is possible to measure well-being reliably, that self-reported well-being predicts important life outcomes, and that well-being has nontrivial genetic origins. The social psychology tradition has illuminated that there are various cultural meanings of well-being, that responses to well-being questions involve multiple cognitive processes, that happiness is experienced often in relationship contexts, and that it is possible to improve one’s well-being. Finally, there are recent methodological integrations of the personality and social psychology perspectives that delineate person–situation interactions.

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