Navigation by Revealing Trade-offs for Content-Based Recommendations

Conversational recommender systems have been introduced to provide users the opportunity to give feedback on items in a turn-based dialog until a final recommendation is accepted. Tourism is a complex domain for recommender systems because of high cost of recommending a wrong item and often relatively few ratings to learn user preferences. In a scenario such as recommending a city to visit, conversational content-based recommendation may be advantageous, since users often struggle to specify their preferences without concrete examples. However, critiquing item features comes with challenges. Users might request item characteristics during recommendation that do not exist in reality, for example demanding very high item quality for a very low price. To tackle this problem, we present a novel conversational user interface which focuses on revealing the trade-offs of choosing one item over another. The recommendations are driven by a utility function that assesses the user’s preference toward item features while learning the importance of the features to the user. This enables the system to guide the recommendation through the search space faster and accurately over prolonged interaction. We evaluated the system in an online study with 600 participants and find that our proposed paradigm leads to improved perceived accuracy and fewer conversational cycles compared to unit critiquing.

Harmonizing DSM-IV and DSM-5 Versions of ADHD “A Criteria”: An Item Response Theory Analysis

The transition from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR) to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) checklists included item wording changes that require psychometric validation. A large sample of 854 adolescents across four randomized trials of psychosocial ADHD treatments was used to evaluate the comparability of the DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 versions of the ADHD symptom checklist. Item response theory (IRT) was used to evaluate item characteristics and determine differences across versions and studies. Item characteristics varied across items. No consistent differences in item characteristics were found across versions. Some differences emerged between studies. IRT models were used to create continuous, harmonized scores that take item, study, and version differences into account and are therefore comparable. DSM-IV-TR ADHD checklists will generalize to the DSM-5 era. Researchers should consider using modern measurement methods (such as IRT) to better understand items and create continuous variables that better reflect the variability in their samples.

Cross-Cultural Validation of a New Version in Spanish of Four Items of the Preventive COVID-19 Infection Behaviors Scale (PCIBS) in Twelve Latin American Countries

The invariance of the Preventive COVID-19 Infection Behaviors Scale (PCIBS) was evaluated in 12 Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay). A total of 5183 people from the aforementioned countries participated, selected using the snowball sampling method. Measurement invariance was assessed by multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA) and Multi-Group Factor Analysis Alignment (CFA-MIAL). In addition, item characteristics were assessed based on Item Response Theory. The results indicate that the original five-item version of the PCIBS is not adequate; whereas a four-item version of the PCIBS (PCIBS-4) showed a good fit in all countries. Thus, using the MG-CFA method, the PCIBS-4 achieved metric invariance, while the CFA-MIAL method indicated that the PCIBS-4 shows metric and scalar invariance. Likewise, the four items present increasing difficulties and high values in the discrimination parameters. The comparison of means of the PCIBS-4 reported irrelevant differences between countries; however, Mexico and Peru presented the highest frequency of preventive behaviors related to COVID-19. It is concluded that the PCIBS-4 is a unidimensional self-report measure which is reliable and invariant across the twelve participating Latin American countries. It is expected that the findings will be of interest to social and health scientists, as well as those professionals directly involved in public health decision making.

autoFC: An R Package for Automatic Item Pairing in Forced-Choice Test Construction

Recently, there has been increasing interest in adopting the forced-choice (FC) test format in non-cognitive assessments, as it demonstrates faking resistance when well-designed. However, traditional or manual pairing approaches to FC test construction are time- and effort- intensive and often involve insufficient considerations. To address these issues, we developed the new open-source autoFC R package to facilitate automated and optimized item pairing strategies. The autoFC package is intended as a practical tool for FC test constructions. Users can easily obtain automatically optimized FC tests by simply inputting the item characteristics of interest. Customizations are also available for considerations on matching rules and the behaviors of the optimization process. The autoFC package should be of interest to researchers and practitioners constructing FC scales with potentially many metrics to match on and/or many items to pair, essentially exempting users from the burden of manual item pairing and reducing the computational costs and biases induced by simple ranking methods.

IRTGUI: An R Package for Unidimensional item response theory Analysis With a Graphical User Interface

In the last decade, many R packages were published to perform item response theory (IRT) analysis. Some researchers and practitioners have difficulty in using these functional tools because of their insufficient coding skills. The IRTGUI package provides these researchers a user-friendly GUI where they can perform unidimensional IRT analysis without coding skills. Using the IRTGUI package, person and item parameters, model and item fit indices can be obtained. Dimensionality and local independence assumptions can be tested. With the IRTGUI package, users can generate dichotomous data sets with customizable conditions. Also, Wright Maps, item characteristics and information curves can be graphically displayed. All outputs can be easily downloaded by users.

Divergent effects of oxytocin on “mind-reading” in healthy males

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) has been associated with a broad range of human behaviors, particularly in the domain of social cognition, and is being discussed to play a role in a range of psychiatric disorders. Studies using the Reading The Mind In The Eyes Test (RMET) to investigate the role of OT in mental state recognition reported inconsistent outcomes. The present study applied a randomized, double-blind, cross-over design, and included measures of serum OT. Twenty healthy males received intranasal placebo or OT (24 IU) before performing the RMET. Frequentist and Bayesian analyses showed that contrary to previous studies (Domes et al., 2007; Radke & de Bruijn, 2015), individuals performed worse in the OT condition compared to the placebo condition (p = 0.023, Cohen’s d = 0.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.08, 1.02], BF10 = 6.93). OT effects did not depend on item characteristics (difficulty, valence, intensity, sex) of the RMET. Furthermore, OT serum levels did not change after intranasal OT administration. Given that similar study designs lead to heterogeneous outcomes, our results highlight the complexity of OT effects and support evidence that OT might even interfere with social cognitive abilities. However, the Bayesian analysis approach shows that there is only moderate evidence that OT influences mind-reading, highlighting the need for larger-scale studies considering the discussed aspects that might have led to divergent study results.

Identifying Problematic Item Characteristics With Small Samples Using Mokken Scale Analysis

Researchers frequently use Mokken scale analysis (MSA), which is a nonparametric approach to item response theory, when they have relatively small samples of examinees. Researchers have provided some guidance regarding the minimum sample size for applications of MSA under various conditions. However, these studies have not focused on item-level measurement problems, such as violations of monotonicity or invariant item ordering (IIO). Moreover, these studies have focused on problems that occur for a complete sample of examinees. The current study uses a simulation study to consider the sensitivity of MSA item analysis procedures to problematic item characteristics that occur within limited ranges of the latent variable. Results generally support the use of MSA with small samples ( N around 100 examinees) as long as multiple indicators of item quality are considered.

Measuring the Quality of Life in Forensic Psychiatric Hospitals

Background: In Germany, a large proportion of mentally ill offenders spends many years in a forensic psychiatric hospital. To ensure that the highly restrictive living conditions in these closed institutions meet patient needs, research must assess and analyze patient quality of life. For this purpose, we adapted the Measuring the Quality of Prison Life questionnaire to measure the quality of life in forensic psychiatric hospitals from the patient perspective. This study aimed to assess the reliability (internal consistency) and construct validity of the adapted questionnaire.Methods: To evaluate the questionnaire, a one-time survey was carried out at 13 forensic psychiatric hospitals in Germany. Item characteristics and internal consistency of the scale and subscales were calculated and the factor structure was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. To test of responsiveness we compared the mean quality of life between the 13 hospitals and further investigated whether the patients' evaluation of quality of life is depending on age and duration of accommodation.Results: The analysis of the psychometric properties revealed very good item characteristics and very good to excellent internal reliability. Construct validity was demonstrated. Patient's quality of life was significantly associated with age and duration of accommodation.Discussion: The adapted Measuring the Quality of Prison Life questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring quality of life in forensic psychiatric hospitals and can be used in the future to compare hospitals and identify the strengths and weaknesses of each.

The Development of Latin Square Tasks. More Science Than Art?

In contrast to measures of working memory capacity, tests for fluid intelligence are elusive in their psychometric properties. Somewhat surprisingly, fluid intelligence is not as tractable as often conceived. We studied Latin Square Tasks (LSTs) as a group of indicators that supposedly can improve measurement of fluid intelligence. In four studies (N > 3,300), we compared competing theoretical accounts that differ in the cognitive processes proposed for successfully completing items. To this end, the cognitive demand was operationalized by two key requirements that decisively influence the task difficulty: a) processing of information with differing complexity and b) memorizing steps to the final solution. Confirming predictions, the underlying processes of LSTs are independent of stimulus type and rotation of the matrices. Relations with reasoning confirmed the validity of the novel Latin Square Tasks. Working memory capacity was a limiting resource that determined performance, however more precise predictions of item difficulties might be possible when further item characteristics will be considered. From a theoretical perspective, we discuss the superiority of a perspective on LSTs inspired by the binding hypothesis compared to relational complexity theory.