Problems of Domain Factors with Small Factor Loadings in Bi-Factor Models

Many measurement designs produce domain factors with small variances and factor loadings. The current study investigates the cause, prevalence, and problematic consequences of such domain factors. We collected a meta-analytic sample of empirical applications, conducted a simulation study on statistical power and estimation precision, and provide a reanalysis of an empirical example. The meta-analysis shows that about a quarter of all standardized domain factor loadings is in the range of - .2 < λ < .2 and about a third of all domains is measured by five or fewer indicators, resulting in small factor variances. The simulation study examines the associated difficulties concerning statistical power, trait recovery, irregular estimates, and estimation precision for a range of such realistic cases. The empirical example illustrates the challenge to develop measures that produce clearly interpretable domain factors. Study planning and interpretation need to take the (expected) sum of squared factor loadings per domain factor into account. This is relevant even if influences of domain factors are desired to be small, and equally applies to different model variants. We propose several strategies for how researchers may better unlock the bifactor model's full potential and clarify its interpretation.

Dynamic Response Strategies: Accounting for Response Process Heterogeneity in IRTree Decision Nodes

It is essential to control self-reported trait measurements for response style effects to ensure a valid interpretation of estimates. Traditional psychometric models facilitating such control consider item responses as the result of two kinds of response processes-based on the substantive trait, or based on response styles-and they assume that both of these processes have a constant influence across the items of a questionnaire. However, this homogeneity over items is not always given, for instance, if the respondents' motivation declines throughout the questionnaire so that heuristic responding driven by response styles may gradually take over from cognitively effortful trait-based responding. The present study proposes two dynamic IRTree models, which account for systematic continuous changes and additional random fluctuations of response strategies, by defining item position-dependent trait and response style effects. Simulation analyses demonstrate that the proposed models accurately capture dynamic trajectories of response processes, as well as reliably detect the absence of dynamics, that is, identify constant response strategies. The continuous version of the dynamic model formalizes the underlying response strategies in a parsimonious way and is highly suitable as a cognitive model for investigating response strategy changes over items. The extended model with random fluctuations of strategies can adapt more closely to the item-specific effects of different response processes and thus is a well-fitting model with high flexibility. By using an empirical data set, the benefits of the proposed dynamic approaches over traditional IRTree models are illustrated under realistic conditions.

Agency effects on the binding of event elements in episodic memory

Representing events in episodic memory in a coherent manner requires that their constituent elements are bound together. So far, only few moderators of these binding processes have been identified. Here we investigate whether the presence of an agentic element in an event facilitates binding. The results from six experiments provided no evidence for a facilitating effect of agency on the binding of event elements. In addition, binding effects were only found when event elements were presented simultaneously, but not when they were presented sequentially pairwise, contrary to previous findings. The results suggest that the presence of an agentic element in an event does not, or only to a very limited extent, contribute to the formation of coherent memory representations and that additional processes may be required when binding event elements across temporarily divided encoding episodes. These findings add to a growing body of research regarding moderators and processes relevant for the binding of event elements in episodic memory. Explanations of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Item-Specific Factors in IRTree Models: When They Matter and When They Don't

Lyu et al. (Psychometrika, 2023) demonstrated that item-specific factors can cause spurious effects on the structural parameters of IRTree models for multiple nested response processes per item. Here, we discuss some boundary conditions and argue that person selection effects on item parameters are not unique to item-specific factors and that the effects presented by Lyu et al. (Psychometrika, 2023) may not generalize to the family of IRTree models as a whole. We conclude with the recommendation that IRTree model specification should be guided by theoretical considerations, rather than driven by data, in order to avoid misinterpretations of parameter differences.

Measuring binding effects in event-based episodic representations

Remembering an experienced event in a coherent manner requires the binding of the event's constituent elements. Such binding effects manifest as a stochastic dependency of the retrieval of event elements. Several approaches for modeling these dependencies have been proposed. We compare the contingency-based approach by Horner & Burgess (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(4), 1370-1383, 2013), related approaches using Yule's Q (Yule, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 75(6), 579-652, 1912) or an adjusted Yule's Q (c.f. Horner & Burgess, Current Biology, 24(9), 988-992, 2014), an approach based on item response theory (IRT, Schreiner et al., in press), and a nonparametric variant of the IRT-based approach. We present evidence from a simulation study comparing the five approaches regarding their empirical detection rates and susceptibility to different levels of memory performance, and from an empirical application. We found the IRT-based approach and its nonparametric variant to yield the highest power for detecting dependencies or differences in dependency between conditions. However, the nonparametric variant yielded increasing Type I error rates with increasing dependency in the data when testing for differences in dependency. We found the approaches based on Yule's Q to yield biased estimates and to be strongly affected by memory performance. The other measures were unbiased given no dependency or differences in dependency but were also affected by memory performance if there was dependency in the data or if there were differences in dependency, but to a smaller extent. The results suggest that the IRT-based approach is best suited for measuring binding effects. Further considerations when deciding for a modeling approach are discussed.

The binding structure of event elements in episodic memory and the role of animacy

Experienced events consist of several elements which need to be bound together in memory to represent the event in a coherent manner. Given such bindings, the retrieval of one event element should be related to the successful retrieval of another element of the same event, thus leading to a stochastic dependency of the retrieval of event elements. The way in which bindings are structured is not yet clearly established and only few moderators of the binding of event elements have been identified. We present results from three experiments aiming to distinguish between an integrated binding structure, in which event elements are bound into a unitary representation, and a hierarchical binding structure, in which event elements are preferentially bound to specific types of elements. Experiments 2 and 3 were additionally designed to identify animacy, an entity's property of being alive, as a potential moderator of the binding of event elements. We also offer a new approach for modelling dependencies of the retrieval of event elements which mitigates some limitations of previous approaches. Consistent with previous literature, we found dependencies of the retrieval of event elements if all of an event's constituent associations were shown. We found mixed evidence for integrated or hierarchical binding structures but found dependency of the retrieval of event elements to be sensitive to the presence of animacy in an event. The results suggest that binding structures may vary depending on moderators such as animacy or event structure awareness. Theoretical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Different approaches to modeling response styles in divide-by-total item response theory models (part 1): A model integration

A large variety of item response theory (IRT) modeling approaches aim at measuring and correcting for response styles in rating data. Here, we integrate response style models of the divide-by-total model family into one superordinate framework that parameterizes response styles as person-specific shifts in threshold parameters. This superordinate framework allows us to structure and compare existing approaches to modeling response styles and therewith makes model-implied restrictions explicit. With a simulation study, we show how the new framework allows us to assess consequences of violations of model assumptions and to compare response style estimates across different model parameterizations. The integrative framework of divide-by-total modeling approaches facilitates the correction for and examination of response styles. In addition to providing a superordinate framework for psychometric research, it gives guidance to applied researchers for model selection and specification in psychological assessment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Different approaches to modeling response styles in divide-by-total item response theory models (part 2): Applications and novel extensions

Many approaches in the item response theory (IRT) literature have incorporated response styles to control for potential biases. However, the specific assumptions about response styles are often not made explicit. Having integrated different IRT modeling variants into a superordinate framework, we highlighted assumptions and restrictions of the models (Henninger & Meiser, 2020). In this article, we show that based on the superordinate framework, we can estimate the different models as multidimensional extensions of the nominal response models in standard software environments. Furthermore, we illustrate the differences in estimated parameters, restrictions, and model fit of the IRT variants in a German Big Five standardization sample and show that psychometric models can be used to debias trait estimates. Based on this analysis, we suggest 2 novel modeling extensions that combine fixed and estimated scoring weights for response style dimensions, or explain discrimination parameters through item attributes. In summary, we highlight possibilities to estimate, apply, and extend psychometric modeling approaches for response styles in order to test hypotheses on response styles through model comparisons. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

IRTree models with ordinal and multidimensional decision nodes for response styles and trait-based rating responses

IRTree models decompose observed rating responses into sequences of theory-based decision nodes, and they provide a flexible framework for analysing trait-related judgements and response styles. However, most previous applications of IRTree models have been limited to binary decision nodes that reflect qualitatively distinct and unidimensional judgement processes. The present research extends the family of IRTree models for the analysis of response styles to ordinal judgement processes for polytomous decisions and to multidimensional parametrizations of decision nodes. The integration of ordinal judgement processes overcomes the limitation to binary nodes, and it allows researchers to test whether decisions reflect qualitatively distinct response processes or gradual steps on a joint latent continuum. The extension to multidimensional node models enables researchers to specify multiple judgement processes that simultaneously affect the decision between competing response options. Empirical applications highlight the roles of extreme and midpoint response style in rating judgements and show that judgement processes are moderated by different response formats. Model applications with multidimensional decision nodes reveal that decisions among rating categories are jointly informed by trait-related processes and response styles.

Testing Hypotheses About Binding in Context Memory With a Hierarchical Multinomial Modeling Approach

In experiments on multidimensional source memory, a stochastic dependency of source memory for different facets of an episode has been repeatedly demonstrated. This may suggest an integrated representation leading to mutual cuing in context retrieval. However, experiments involving a manipulated reinstatement of one source feature have often failed to affect retrieval of the other feature, suggesting unbound features or rather item-feature binding. The stochastic dependency found in former studies might be a spurious correlation due to aggregation across participants varying in memory strength. We test this artifact explanation by applying a hierarchical multinomial model. Observing stochastic dependency when accounting for interindividual differences would rule out the artifact explanation. A second goal is to elucidate the nature of feature binding: Contrasting encoding conditions with integrated feature judgments versus separate feature judgments are expected to induce different levels of stochastic dependency despite comparable overall source memory if integrated representations include feature-feature binding. The experiment replicated the finding of stochastic dependency and, thus, ruled out an artifact interpretation. However, we did not find different levels of stochastic dependency between conditions. Therefore, the current findings do not reveal decisive evidence to distinguish between the feature-feature binding and the item-context binding account.

Pseudocontingencies and choice behavior in probabilistic environments with context-dependent outcomes

Pseudocontingencies are inferences about correlations in the environment that are formed on the basis of statistical regularities like skewed base rates or varying base rates across environmental contexts. Previous research has demonstrated that pseudocontingencies provide a pervasive mechanism of inductive inference in numerous social judgment tasks (Fiedler, Freytag, & Meiser, 2009). The present research extended the analysis of pseudocontingencies from social judgment to actual choice behavior in a decision scenario of personal relevance. In 4 experiments, participants were first exposed to a learning environment in which choice options were presented together with positive or negative outcomes. The base rates of options and outcomes were skewed and varied across different contexts. After the learning phase, participants chose between options on the basis of the previously learned outcome probabilities and were rewarded in accordance with their individual performance. The results revealed that participants inferred a pseudocontingency between options and outcomes and followed the pseudocontingency in their decision behavior (Experiments 1-4). The observed pseudocontingency was stronger in a context with predominantly positive outcomes and replicated with different learning distributions. Pseudocontingency effects were related to interindividual differences in risk aversion and moderated by ease of base rate learning (Experiment 2) and processing time (Experiment 4), whereas the salience of rare events with extreme outcomes did not affect choice behavior (Experiment 3). The findings underline the role of pseudocontingencies in choice behavior as a subjectively cogent tool for decision making in complex probabilistic environments. (PsycINFO Database Record

Response style analysis with threshold and multi-process IRT models: A review and tutorial

Two different item response theory model frameworks have been proposed for the assessment and control of response styles in rating data. According to one framework, response styles can be assessed by analysing threshold parameters in Rasch models for ordinal data and in mixture-distribution extensions of such models. A different framework is provided by multi-process item response tree models, which can be used to disentangle response processes that are related to the substantive traits and response tendencies elicited by the response scale. In this tutorial, the two approaches are reviewed, illustrated with an empirical data set of the two-dimensional 'Personal Need for Structure' construct, and compared in terms of multiple criteria. Mplus is used as a software framework for (mixed) polytomous Rasch models and item response tree models as well as for demonstrating how parsimonious model variants can be specified to test assumptions on the structure of response styles and attitude strength. Although both frameworks are shown to account for response styles, they differ on the quantitative criteria of model selection, practical aspects of model estimation, and conceptual issues of representing response styles as continuous and multidimensional sources of individual differences in psychological assessment.

The role of action coordination for prospective memory: Task-interruption demands affect intention realization

Event-based prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to perform an intention in response to an environmental cue. Recent microstructure models postulate four distinguishable stages of successful event-based PM fulfillment. That is, (a) the event must be noticed, (b) the intention must be retrieved, (c) the context must be verified, and (d) the intended action must be coordinated with the demands of any currently ongoing task (e.g., Marsh, Hicks, & Watson, 2002b). Whereas the cognitive processes of Stages 1, 2, and 3 have been studied more or less extensively, little is known about the processes of Stage 4 so far. To fill this gap, the authors manipulated the magnitude of response overlap between the ongoing task and the PM task to isolate Stage-4 processes. Results demonstrate that PM performance improves in the presence versus absence of a response overlap, independent of cue saliency (Experiment 1) and of demands from currently ongoing tasks (Experiment 2). Furthermore, working-memory capacity is associated with PM performance, especially when there is little response overlap (Experiments 2 and 3). Finally, PM performance benefits only from strong response overlap, that is, only when the appropriate ongoing-task and PM response keys were identical (Experiment 4). They conclude that coordinating ongoing-task and PM actions puts cognitive demands on the individual which are distinguishable from the demands imposed by cue-detection and intention-retrieval processes. (PsycINFO Database Record

A Source-Monitoring Analysis of Illusory Correlations

Source monitoring refers to the discrimination of the origin of information. The source-monitoring methodology, applied to illusory correlations in the formation of stereotypes, allows one to disentangle memory for behaviors from memory for the behaviors’ group origin and from response bias. In three studies, illusory correlations are found, and they are shown to reflect differential response bias rather than differential item or group memory. In addition, illusory correlations are found only along an evaluative dimension, not for a gender classification of group members. The results challenge so-called cognitive accounts of illusory correlations, such as the account by distinctiveness, whereas they can be reconciled with an account in terms of evaluative differentiation.

Commission errors of active intentions: the roles of aging, cognitive load, and practice

Performing an intended action when it needs to be withheld, for example, when temporarily prescribed medication is incompatible with the other medication, is referred to as commission errors of prospective memory (PM). While recent research indicates that older adults are especially prone to commission errors for finished intentions, there is a lack of research on the effects of aging on commission errors for still active intentions. The present research investigates conditions which might contribute to older adults' propensity to perform planned intentions under inappropriate conditions. Specifically, disproportionally higher rates of commission errors for still active intentions were observed in older than in younger adults with both salient (Experiment 1) and non-salient (Experiment 2) target cues. Practicing the PM task in Experiment 2, however, helped execution of the intended action in terms of higher PM performance at faster ongoing-task response times but did not increase the rate of commission errors. The results have important implications for the understanding of older adults' PM commission errors and the processes involved in these errors.

Cognitive Components of Ingroup Projection

This research investigated whether relative ingroup prototypicality (i.e., the tendency to perceive one’s own ingroup as more prototypical of a superordinate category than the outgroup) can result from a prototype-based versus exemplar-based mental representation of social categories, rather than from ingroup membership per se as previously suggested by the ingroup projection model. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that a prototype-based group was perceived as more prototypical of a superordinate category than an exemplar-based group supporting the hypothesis that an intergroup context is not necessary for biased prototypicality judgments. Experiment 3 introduced an intergroup context in a minimal-group-like paradigm. The findings demonstrated that both the kind of cognitive representation and motivational processes contribute to biased prototypicality judgments in intergroup settings.

Analyzing Stochastic Dependence of Cognitive Processes in Multidimensional Source Recognition

Stochastic dependence among cognitive processes can be modeled in different ways, and the family of multinomial processing tree models provides a flexible framework for analyzing stochastic dependence among discrete cognitive states. This article presents a multinomial model of multidimensional source recognition that specifies stochastic dependence by a parameter for the joint retrieval of multiple source attributes together with parameters for stochastically independent retrieval. The new model is equivalent to a previous multinomial model of multidimensional source memory for a subset of the parameter space. An empirical application illustrates the advantages of the new multinomial model of joint source recognition. The new model allows for a direct comparison of joint source retrieval across conditions, it avoids statistical problems due to inflated confidence intervals and does not imply a conceptual imbalance between source dimensions. Model selection criteria that take model complexity into account corroborate the new model of joint source recognition.

The role of metacognition in prospective memory: anticipated task demands influence attention allocation strategies

The present study investigates how individuals distribute their attentional resources between a prospective memory task and an ongoing task. Therefore, metacognitive expectations about the attentional demands of the prospective-memory task were manipulated while the factual demands were held constant. In Experiments 1a and 1b, we found attentional costs from a prospective-memory task with low factual demands to be significantly reduced when information about the low to-be-expected demands were provided, while prospective-memory performance remained largely unaffected. In Experiment 2, attentional monitoring in a more demanding prospective-memory task also varied with information about the to-be-expected demands (high vs. low) and again there were no equivalent changes in prospective-memory performance. These findings suggest that attention-allocation strategies of prospective memory rely on metacognitive expectations about prospective-memory task demands. Furthermore, the results suggest that attentional monitoring is only functional for prospective memory to the extent to which anticipated task demands reflect objective task demands.

Conscious recollection and binding among context features

Recent research suggests that the subjective feeling of conscious recollection is uniquely characterized by joint memory for several context features while merely familiar memories lack this property (Meiser, Sattler, & Weisser, 2008). In the present research we took the novel approach of extending the dual task paradigm to the simultaneous study of subjective retrieval experience (using the remember/know procedure) and joint memory for two orthogonal context features. While dual task load during encoding lead to reductions in the frequency of the subjective experience of conscious recollection and reductions in overall context memory, joint context memory was not affected. Furthermore, the relation of higher overall context memory for consciously recollected items than for familiar items was preserved even under dual task load. These results have import implications for theories of long-term feature binding and the processes involved in producing the experience of conscious recollection.

Bound context features are integrated at encoding

In the present research, we tested the predictions of different accounts of context binding in "remember" judgements. Context binding, defined as the stochastically dependent retrieval of two different context features, has previously been suggested to be due to mechanisms operating at retrieval either by cueing among context features (Meiser & Bröder, 2002) or by cueing between item and context features (Starns & Hicks, 2008). These accounts, however, do not make specific assumptions regarding the underlying memory representation supporting context binding. By contrast, here we propose that a binding process at encoding integrates item and context information into a coherent memory representation. Varying the presentation of the context features during encoding either with both context features presented simultaneously or with features spread over two encoding episodes, data from two experiments corroborate the notion that binding is produced at encoding. This result suggests that a binding process integrating the context features at encoding is necessary for stochastically dependent retrieval of context features.

The role of attention for context-context binding of intrinsic and extrinsic features

There is converging evidence that the feeling of conscious recollection is usually accompanied by the bound retrieval of context features of the encoding episode (e.g., Meiser, Sattler, & Weiβer, 2008). Recently, however, important limiting conditions have been identified for the binding between context features in memory. For example, focusing on the semantics of the stimuli during encoding eliminates binding between perceptual context features (Meiser & Sattler, 2007). In the present research, we investigated the interplay of the focus of attention during encoding and stimulus characteristics in context-context binding. In particular, it has been suggested that context features differ in the degree to which they can be regarded as intrinsic or extrinsic to the items and that intrinsic features might be given more attentional processing during encoding than extrinsic features (e.g., Ecker, Zimmer, & Groh-Bordin, 2007a). In two experiments, we manipulated the "intrinsicality" of context features to investigate whether context-context binding might be limited to features that are in the focus of processing. Multinomial modeling analyses revealed that while context-context binding was eliminated for incidentally processed extrinsic context features (Experiment 1), it was preserved for intentionally processed extrinsic context features (Experiment 2).

Assessing the Validity of Multinomial Models Using Extraneous Variables: An Application to Prospective Memory

The class of multinomial processing tree (MPT) models has been used extensively in cognitive psychology to model latent cognitive processes. Critical for the usefulness of a MPT model is its psychological validity. Generally, the validity of a MPT model is demonstrated by showing that its parameters are selectively and predictably affected by theoretically meaningful experimental manipulations. Another approach is to test the convergent validity of the model parameters and other extraneous measures intended to measure the same cognitive processes. Here, we advance the concept of construct validity (Cronbach & Meehl, 1955) as a criterion for model validity in MPT modelling and show how this approach can be fruitfully utilized using the example of a MPT model of event-based prospective memory. For that purpose, we investigated the convergent validity of the model parameters and established extraneous measures of prospective memory processes over a range of experimental settings, and we found a lack of convergent validity between the two indices. On a conceptual level, these results illustrate the importance of testing convergent validity. Additionally, they have implications for prospective memory research, because they demonstrate that the MPT model of event-based prospective memory is not able to differentiate between different processes contributing to prospective memory performance.

The role of source memory in older adults' recollective experience

Younger adults' "remember" judgments are accompanied by better memory for the source of an item than "know" judgments. Furthermore, remember judgments are not merely associated with better memory for individual source features but also with bound memory for multiple source features. However, older adults, independent of their subjective memory experience, are generally less likely to "bind" source features to an item and to each other in memory (i.e., the associative deficit). In two experiments, we tested whether memory for perceptual source features, independently or bound, is also the basis for older adults' remember responses or if their associative deficit leads them to base their responses on other types of information. The results suggest that retrieval of perceptual source features, individually or bound, forms the basis for younger but not for older adults' remember judgments even when the overall level of memory for perceptual sources is closely equated (Experiment 1) and when attention is explicitly directed to the source information at encoding (Experiment 2).

Much Pain, Little Gain? Paradigm-Specific Models and Methods in Experimental Psychology

Paradigm-oriented research strategies in experimental psychology have strengths and limitations. On the one hand, experimental paradigms play a crucial epistemic and heuristic role in basic psychological research. On the other hand, empirical research is often limited to the observed effects in a certain paradigm, and theoretical models are frequently tied to the particular features of the given paradigm. A paradigm-driven research strategy therefore jeopardizes the pursuit of research questions and theoretical models that go beyond a specific paradigm. As one example of a more integrative approach, recent research on illusory and spurious correlations has attempted to overcome the limitations of paradigm-specific models in the context of biased contingency perception and social stereotyping. Last but not least, the use of statistical models for the analysis of elementary cognitive functions is a means toward a more integrative terminology and theoretical perspective across different experimental paradigms and research domains.

On the crucial role of mental ingroup representation for ingroup bias and the ingroup prototypicality-ingroup bias link

Previous research suggested that relative ingroup prototypicality is a basis for ingroup bias. To test the boundary conditions of this phenomenon, we hypothesized that people particularly rely on relative ingroup prototypicality as a basis for ingroup bias if the prototypicality information is derived from a homogeneous and simple ingroup representation. We, therefore, predicted increased ingroup bias together with a stronger relation between prototypicality and ingroup bias if the ingroup is formed of consistent group members only. In two experiments, we used different subtyping manipulations and showed that the exclusion of inconsistent parts of the ingroup leads to a strong relation between relative ingroup prototypicality and ingroup bias, whereas this relation was nonsignificant without subtyping. Furthermore, ingroup bias was more pronounced after subtyping. These results confirm that the homogeneity and the simplicity of the ingroup representation is an important moderator for the relation between ingroup projection and intergroup judgments.

Pseudocontingencies: an integrative account of an intriguing cognitive illusion

The term pseudocontingency (PC) denotes the logically unwarranted inference of a contingency between 2 variables X and Y from information other than pairs of xi, yi observations, namely, the variables' univariate base rates as assessed in 1 or more ecological contexts. The authors summarize recent experimental evidence showing that PCs can play a pivotal role in many areas of judgment and decision making. They argue that the exploitation of the informational value of base rates underlying PCs offers an alternative perspective on many phenomena in the realm of adaptive cognition that have been studied in isolation so far. Although PCs can lead to serious biases under some conditions, they afford an efficient strategy for inductive inference making in probabilistic environments that render base-rate information, rather than genuine covariation information, readily available.

Binding of multidimensional context information as a distinctive characteristic of remember judgments

This research investigated the cognitive processes underlying remember-know judgments in terms of contextual binding in multidimensional source memory. Stochastic dependence between the retrieval of different context attributes, which formed the empirical criterion of binding, was observed for remembered items but not for known items. Experiment 1 showed that the qualitative difference in the stochastic relation holds even if quantitative source-memory performance is equated for items with remember and know judgments. Experiment 2 generalized the findings to context information from different modalities, and Experiment 3 ruled out a spurious stochastic dependence due to interindividual differences. Supporting recent dual-process models of remember-know judgments, the findings show that remember and know judgments differ with respect to binding processes that correspond to episodic recollection.

The Personal Structure of Personal Need for Structure

Abstract. This study investigated the responses of N = 1,789 participants to a set of 12 Likert-type items for the assessment of personal need for structure (PNS). Mixture-distribution Rasch models were used to analyze the homogeneity of the response format across items and the homogeneity of the item parameters and category parameters across persons. Model selection yielded a two-class rating scale model as the favorite model. This model contains the assumptions that the Likert response scale is used in a constant way for all items but that the item or category parameters differ between two latent subpopulations. The parameter estimates revealed large differences in the threshold parameters for the response categories between the two subpopulations. While the larger subpopulation showed a tendency to avoid extreme response categories, the smaller subpopulation used the whole range of the response scale. The different response styles identified by the mixture-distribution Rasch analysis were validated by significantly higher Extraversion scores for participants in the smaller subpopulation that showed more extreme and impulsive rating behavior. The results confirmed that PNS reflects quantitative interindividual differences, and they also showed that the total score of the 12 PNS items forms a combination of the latent PNS trait and response style.

Metacognitive inferences in source memory judgements: the role of perceived differences in item recognition

This research investigated the hypothesis that metacognitive inferences in source memory judgements are based on the recognition or nonrecognition of an event together with perceived or expected differences in the recognizability of events from different sources. The hypothesis was tested with a multinomial source-monitoring model that allowed separation of source-guessing tendencies for recognized and unrecognized items. Experiments 1A and 1B manipulated the number of item presentations as relevant source information and revealed differential guessing tendencies for recognized and unrecognized items, with a bias to attribute unrecognized items to the source associated with poor item recognition. Experiments 2A and 2B replicated the findings with a manipulation of presentation time and extended the analysis to subjective differences in item recognition. Experiments 3A and 3B used more natural source information by varying type of acoustic signal and demonstrated that subjective theories about differences in item recognition are sufficient to elicit differential source-guessing biases for recognized and unrecognized items. Together the findings provide new insights into the cognitive processes underlying source memory decisions, which involve episodic memory and reconstructive tendencies based on metacognitive beliefs and general world knowledge.

Measuring Source Memory

Abstract. The investigation of source monitoring (SM) as a special faculty of episodic memory has gained much attention in recent years. However, several measures of source memory have been used in research practice that show empirical and theoretical shortcomings: First, they often confound various cognitive processes like source memory, item memory and response bias, and second, they do not do justice to the multitude of processes involved in SM according to the framework of Johnson, Hashtroudi, and Lindsay (1993) . We therefore review model-based measurement approaches, focusing on multinomial models, and we distinguish between theorizing about source memory and the pragmatics of source memory measurement as two partly separate goals of research. Whereas signal detection models seem to be more adequate theories of the underlying source monitoring process, multinomial models have some pragmatic advantages that nevertheless recommend them as viable measurement tools.

Boundaries of the relation between conscious recollection and source memory for perceptual details

The relation between conscious recollection and source memory for perceptual details was investigated in three experiments that combined the remember-know paradigm with a multidimensional source monitoring test. Experiment 1 replicated that source memory for perceptual details is better in the case of "remember" than "know" judgments. Experiment 2 showed that the relation between "remember" judgments and source memory for perceptual details is diminished by a semantic orienting task during encoding. Experiment 3 demonstrated that "remember" judgments are related to enhanced source memory for specific and unique kinds of perceptual source information, whereas memory for incomplete and global perceptual source information does not differentiate between "remember" and "know" judgments. The results show that the attentional focus during encoding and the specificity of retrieved source information form boundary conditions for the use of source memory for perceptual details as a basis of "remember" judgments.

Defocused attention in depressed mood: evidence from source monitoring

The authors suggest that depressed mood is associated with a defocused mode of attention, allowing irrelevant information to be noticed and processed more than in nondepressed states. Working on a source monitoring task, subclinically depressed college students selected with the Beck Depression Inventory (A. T. Beck, 1967; D. Kammer, 1983) had better memory for irrelevant stimulus aspects than nondepressed control students. However, depressed students' performance on the relevant stimulus aspects was unimpaired. These results are in conflict with a capacity reduction view of depressed mood and support the hypothesized altered, defocused mode, in which attentional resources are more evenly allocated across various aspects of the materials. The results are discussed within the framework of adaptive functions of emotional states.

Personal Need for Structure als differenzialpsychologisches Konstrukt in der Sozialpsychologie

Zusammenfassung: Eine reliable und valide deutschsprachige Version der Personal Need for Structure (PNS)-Skala wird vorgestellt. Hierzu wurde eine Übersetzung der englischsprachigen Originalskala erstellt, welche einer Skalenanalyse unterzogen sowie anhand persönlichkeits- und sozialpsychologischer Variablen validiert wurde. Studie 1 (N = 702), in der die psychometrische Qualität der deutschsprachigen Übersetzung überprüft wurde, zeigte, dass die deutsche PNS-Skala hinsichtlich Reliabilität und Faktorenstruktur mit der englischen Originalskala vergleichbar ist. Die Prüfung der konvergenten wie divergenten Validität der PNS-Skala anhand der Persönlichkeitsvariablen des Fünf-Faktoren Inventar (Big Five) und Need for Cognition sowie Konservatismus erfolgt in Studie 2 (N = 86). In Studie 3 (N = 66) wird die deutsche PNS-Skala im Inhaltsbereich der Intergruppenforschung an den Variablen Identifikation mit der Eigengruppe, “diversity beliefs”, Wahrnehmung der Homogenität von Eigen- und Fremdgruppe und Eigengruppenfavorisierung validiert.

A Hierarchy of Multinomial Models for Multidimensional Source Monitoring

Abstract. Several models have been proposed for the measurement of cognitive processes in source monitoring. They are specified within the statistical framework of multinomial processing tree models and differ in their assumptions on the storage and retrieval of multidimensional source information. In the present article, a hierarchical relationship is demonstrated between multinomial models for crossed source information ( Meiser & Bröder, 2002 ), for partial source memory ( Dodson, Holland, & Shimamura, 1998 ) and for several sources ( Batchelder, Hu, & Riefer, 1994 ). The hierarchical relationship allows model comparisons and facilitates the specification of identifiability conditions. Conditions for global identifiability are discussed, and model comparisons are illustrated by reanalyses and by a new experiment on the storage and retrieval of multidimensional source information.

Cognitive Processes in Stereotype Formation: The Role of Correct Contingency Learning for Biased Group Judgments

Three studies investigated contingency learning and stereotype formation in a scenario about group membership and behavior with a confounding context factor. The studies tested predictions from theoretical accounts of biased group judgments in terms of simplistic reasoning, parallel distributed memory, and pseudocontingencies. Study 1 revealed a positive correlation between erroneous stereotype formation and learning of the true contingencies with the confounding factor. Study 2 showed that a focus manipulation during encoding moderated the correlation between stereotype formation and contingency learning but not the strength of the erroneous stereotype. Study 3 used a quasiexperimental comparison between participants with biased versus unbiased group judgments and extended the findings of a positive relation between stereotype formation and contingency learning. The results support an explanation of biased group judgments by pseudocontingencies; that is, unwarranted inferences from accurately perceived bivariate correlations in complex environments.