Psychometrics in Behavioral Software Engineering: A Methodological Introduction with Guidelines

A meaningful and deep understanding of the human aspects of software engineering (SE) requires psychological constructs to be considered. Psychology theory can facilitate the systematic and sound development as well as the adoption of instruments (e.g., psychological tests, questionnaires) to assess these constructs. In particular, to ensure high quality, the psychometric properties of instruments need evaluation. In this article, we provide an introduction to psychometric theory for the evaluation of measurement instruments for SE researchers. We present guidelines that enable using existing instruments and developing new ones adequately. We conducted a comprehensive review of the psychology literature framed by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. We detail activities used when operationalizing new psychological constructs, such as item pooling, item review, pilot testing, item analysis, factor analysis, statistical property of items, reliability, validity, and fairness in testing and test bias. We provide an openly available example of a psychometric evaluation based on our guideline. We hope to encourage a culture change in SE research towards the adoption of established methods from psychology. To improve the quality of behavioral research in SE, studies focusing on introducing, validating, and then using psychometric instruments need to be more common.

A semiotic cultural psychology theory analysis of the signs ‘We’, ‘Us’, ‘I’ and ‘Me’

Relevant to the emerging field of semiotic cultural psychology theory (SCPT), the present paper considers ‘We’, ‘Us’, ‘I’ and ‘Me’ as semiotic and cultural psychology phenomena. Drawing on the semiotics of Saussure, Peirce, Jakobson, and Cousins, a semiotic dynamic ‘double-dyadic’ model of the signifier and the referent is proposed. For each ‘We’, ‘Us’, ‘I’ and ‘Me’, the COVID-19 global pandemic related cases are used to analyse and illustrate the signifier-referent model. Implications are drawn from the new model for the complex systems entailed in organizing self and culture. Finally, suggestions are made for testing the model.

Personalized Online Learning Resource Recommendation Based on Artificial Intelligence and Educational Psychology

The objective of the study is to explore an effective way for providing students with the appropriate learning resources in the remote education scenario. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology and educational psychology theory are applied for designing a personalized online learning resource recommendation scheme to improve students' learning outcomes. First, according to educational psychology, students' learning ability can be obtained by analyzing their learning behaviors. Their identities can be classified into three main groups. Then, features of learning resources such as difficulty degree are extracted, and a LinUCB-based learning resource recommendation algorithm is proposed. In this algorithm, a personalized exploration coefficient is carefully constructed according to student's ability and attention scores. It can adaptively adjust the ratio of exploration and exploitation during recommendation. Finally, experiments are conducted for evaluating the superior performance of the proposed scheme. The experimental results show that the proposed recommendation scheme can find appropriate learning resources which will match the student's ability and satisfy the student's personalized demands. Meanwhile, by comparing with existing state-of-the-art recommendation schemes, the proposed scheme can achieve accurate recommendations, so as to provide students with the most suitable online learning resources and reduce the risk brought by exploration. Therefore, the proposed scheme can not only control the difficulty degree of learning resources within the student's ability but also encourage their potential by providing suitable learning resources.

Perubahan Perilaku Anak-Anak Panti Asuhan yang Tercermin Dalam Drama Ashita, Mama ga Inai Karya Saya Matsuda

The research was titled "The Behavior of Orphanage Children in the Drama Ashita, Mama ga Inai by Saya Matsuda". Research aims to know the living environment of the orphanage children, behavior of orphanage children at the time of trial before and after the trial with the adoptive parents. The study used literary psychology theory from Endaswara and the theory of behaviorism of B. F Skinner. The method used in this research is a descriptive qualitative. The results of the analyzing show orphanage children’s simply life. being the countryside and the orphanage living the life with responsibility. The orphanage children’s behavior are describes as having undergone trials with new adoptive parents, a changes due to the uncomfortable feeling of affection given by adoptive parents. The cause of the inconvenience is because the children had previously suffered trauma after being abandoned by their biological parents.

Game Changer: Can Modifications to Audit Firm Communication Improve Auditors’ Actions in Response to Heightened Fraud Risk?

Regulators express concern over auditors’ failure to respond to fraud risks. Audit firms communicate the importance of remaining skeptical and alert for fraud, but busy auditors give these messages insufficient attention. Building on psychology theory, we develop an innovative intervention designed to improve audit firm communication by incorporating game-like elements. We expect game-like elements to pique auditors’ interest, deepen their cognitive processing, enhance their awareness of important fraud concepts, and make them more alert for fraud. We experimentally demonstrate that the intervention improves auditors’ awareness of important fraud concepts, and these benefits persist to improve auditors’ fraud detection actions. Importantly, auditors receiving communication that simulates current practice fail to respond to heightened fraud risk, confirming regulators’ concerns. In additional analyses, a model supports our intervention promoting deeper processing of the communication, enabling auditors’ subsequent recognition of heightened fraud risk and effective actions. Thus, our results contribute to theory and practice.

Celebrating 30 years of Feminism & Psychology

Feminism & Psychology ( F&P) was launched in 1991 with a sense of possibility, enthusiasm and excitement as well as a sense of urgent need – to critique and reconstruct mainstream psychology (theory, research methods, and clinical practice). Thirty years have now passed since the first issue was produced. Thirty volumes with three or four issues have been published each year, thanks to the efforts of many. On the occasion of F&P’s 30th anniversary, we, the present and past editors, reflect on successes, changes and challenges in relation to the journal. We celebrate the prestigious awards accruing to the journal, its editors, and authors, and the significant contributions the journal has made to critical feminist scholarship at the interface of feminisms and psychologies. We note some of the theoretical and methodological developments and social changes witnessed over the last three decades. We highlight challenges facing feminist researchers in academia as well as international feminist publishing. We conclude that the initial enthusiasm and excitement expressed by the then editorial collective was justified. But, there is still much work to be done.

INDICATORS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL READINESS FOR MOTHERHOOD AND PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL MEASURES FOR ITS FORMATION

Statement of the problem. The article presents an analysis and discussion of the results of diagnostic assessment among pregnant women, allowing us to draw conclusions on indicators of psychological preparedness for motherhood. The purpose the article is to outline the necessary areas of work with women on the way to the formation of the maternal sphere in ontogenesis. Materials and Methods. The research methodology consists of the concept of the formation of the “maternal need-motivation sphere” by G.G. Filippova, the theory of E.V. Matveeva about psychological readiness for motherhood, as well as the analysis and synthesis of studies on motherhood, psychological readiness for motherhood, questions of perinatal psychology, theory of psychological readiness for activity. The study involved 156 married pregnant women aged 25 to 35 with higher or secondary specialized education, with a pregnancy period of no less than 24 weeks. The following psychodiagnostic methods were applied: the projective drawing test “I and my child” by G.G. Filippova, the modified Dembo-Rubinstein scale by G.G. Filippova, test of the relationship of pregnant I.V. Dobryakov’s test on relationships for pregnant women, and the authors’ questionnaire for pregnant women. Research results. The diagnostic results indicate that 79,3 % of women examined are conditionally ready for motherhood, 15 % are not ready, and only 5,7 % of respondents can be considered psychologically ready for motherhood. The last group of women is characterized by unconditional acceptance of a child, themselves as a mother, and the situation of motherhood in general. The correlation and factor analysis of the obtained data made it possible to distinguish four groups of the most informative indicators of psychological readiness for motherhood in pregnant women: the peculiarities of the current situation of the woman, the mother-and-child system, family relations and the social and domestic situation. There are also widely presented factors that make it difficult to form a psychological readiness for motherhood: unfavorable experience of relationships with their own parents, difficulties in establishing emotional contact, lack of knowledge and experience in caring for children. There is a need to work with these aspects before pregnancy. Conclusions are drawn on the importance of comprehensive psychological and pedagogical support of a woman on the way to the formation of the maternal sphere of her personality in relation to genesis, which contributes to the development of psychological preparedness for motherhood.