This article aims to improve theory formation in psychology by developing a practical methodology for constructing explanatory theories: theory construction methodology (TCM). TCM is a sequence of ...five steps. First, the theorist identifies a domain of empirical phenomena that becomes the target of explanation. Second, the theorist constructs a prototheory, a set of theoretical principles that putatively explain these phenomena. Third, the prototheory is used to construct a formal model, a set of model equations that encode explanatory principles. Fourth, the theorist investigates the explanatory adequacy of the model by formalizing its empirical phenomena and assessing whether it indeed reproduces these phenomena. Fifth, the theorist studies the overall adequacy of the theory by evaluating whether the identified phenomena are indeed reproduced faithfully and whether the explanatory principles are sufficiently parsimonious and substantively plausible. We explain TCM with an example taken from research on intelligence (the mutualism model of intelligence), in which key elements of the method have been successfully implemented. We discuss the place of TCM in the larger scheme of scientific research and propose an outline for a university curriculum that can systematically educate psychologists in the process of theory formation.
Comorbidity: a network perspective Cramer, Angélique O J; Waldorp, Lourens J; van der Maas, Han L J ...
The Behavioral and brain sciences
33, Številka:
2-3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The pivotal problem of comorbidity research lies in the psychometric foundation it rests on, that is, latent variable theory, in which a mental disorder is viewed as a latent variable that causes a ...constellation of symptoms. From this perspective, comorbidity is a (bi)directional relationship between multiple latent variables. We argue that such a latent variable perspective encounters serious problems in the study of comorbidity, and offer a radically different conceptualization in terms of a network approach, where comorbidity is hypothesized to arise from direct relations between symptoms of multiple disorders. We propose a method to visualize comorbidity networks and, based on an empirical network for major depression and generalized anxiety, we argue that this approach generates realistic hypotheses about pathways to comorbidity, overlapping symptoms, and diagnostic boundaries, that are not naturally accommodated by latent variable models: Some pathways to comorbidity through the symptom space are more likely than others; those pathways generally have the same direction (i.e., from symptoms of one disorder to symptoms of the other); overlapping symptoms play an important role in comorbidity; and boundaries between diagnostic categories are necessarily fuzzy.
This article introduces the Causal Attitude Network (CAN) model, which conceptualizes attitudes as networks consisting of evaluative reactions and interactions between these reactions. Relevant ...evaluative reactions include beliefs, feelings, and behaviors toward the attitude object. Interactions between these reactions arise through direct causal influences (e.g., the belief that snakes are dangerous causes fear of snakes) and mechanisms that support evaluative consistency between related contents of evaluative reactions (e.g., people tend to align their belief that snakes are useful with their belief that snakes help maintain ecological balance). In the CAN model, the structure of attitude networks conforms to a small-world structure: evaluative reactions that are similar to each other form tight clusters, which are connected by a sparser set of "shortcuts" between them. We argue that the CAN model provides a realistic formalized measurement model of attitudes and therefore fills a crucial gap in the attitude literature. Furthermore, the CAN model provides testable predictions for the structure of attitudes and how they develop, remain stable, and change over time. Attitude strength is conceptualized in terms of the connectivity of attitude networks and we show that this provides a parsimonious account of the differences between strong and weak attitudes. We discuss the CAN model in relation to possible extensions, implication for the assessment of attitudes, and possibilities for further study.
In this paper, we characterize major depression (MD) as a complex dynamic system in which symptoms (e.g., insomnia and fatigue) are directly connected to one another in a network structure. We ...hypothesize that individuals can be characterized by their own network with unique architecture and resulting dynamics. With respect to architecture, we show that individuals vulnerable to developing MD are those with strong connections between symptoms: e.g., only one night of poor sleep suffices to make a particular person feel tired. Such vulnerable networks, when pushed by forces external to the system such as stress, are more likely to end up in a depressed state; whereas networks with weaker connections tend to remain in or return to a non-depressed state. We show this with a simulation in which we model the probability of a symptom becoming 'active' as a logistic function of the activity of its neighboring symptoms. Additionally, we show that this model potentially explains some well-known empirical phenomena such as spontaneous recovery as well as accommodates existing theories about the various subtypes of MD. To our knowledge, we offer the first intra-individual, symptom-based, process model with the potential to explain the pathogenesis and maintenance of major depression.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
ABSTRACT Accurately determining the mass of galaxy clusters is fundamental for many studies of cosmology and galaxy evolution. We collect and rescale the cluster masses of 1191 clusters of estimated ...by X-ray or Sunyaev-Zeldovich measurements and use them to calibrate the optical mass proxy. The total r-band luminosity (in units of ) of these clusters is obtained by using spectroscopic and photometric data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We find that the correlation between the cluster mass and total r-band luminosity significantly evolves with redshift. After correcting for the evolution, we define a new cluster richness as the optical mass proxy. By using this newly defined richness and the recently released SDSS DR12 spectroscopic data, we update the WHL12 cluster catalog and identify 25,419 new rich clusters at high redshift. In the SDSS spectroscopic survey region, about 89% of galaxy clusters have spectroscopic redshifts. The mass can be estimated with a scatter of 0.17 dex for the clusters in the updated catalog.
Many psychology studies are statistically underpowered. In part, this may be because many researchers rely on intuition, rules of thumb, and prior practice (along with practical considerations) to ...determine the number of subjects to test. In Study 1, we surveyed 291 published research psychologists and found large discrepancies between their reports of their preferred amount of power and the actual power of their studies (calculated from their reported typical cell size, typical effect size, and acceptable alpha). Furthermore, in Study 2, 89% of the 214 respondents overestimated the power of specific research designs with a small expected effect size, and 95% underestimated the sample size needed to obtain .80 power for detecting a small effect. Neither researchers' experience nor their knowledge predicted the bias in their self-reported power intuitions. Because many respondents reported that they based their sample sizes on rules of thumb or common practice in the field, we recommend that researchers conduct and report formal power analyses for their studies.
Does psi exist? D. J. Bem (2011) conducted 9 studies with over 1,000 participants in an attempt to demonstrate that future events retroactively affect people's responses. Here we discuss several ...limitations of Bem's experiments on psi; in particular, we show that the data analysis was partly exploratory and that one-sided p values may overstate the statistical evidence against the null hypothesis. We reanalyze Bem's data with a default Bayesian t test and show that the evidence for psi is weak to nonexistent. We argue that in order to convince a skeptical audience of a controversial claim, one needs to conduct strictly confirmatory studies and analyze the results with statistical tests that are conservative rather than liberal. We conclude that Bem's p values do not indicate evidence in favor of precognition; instead, they indicate that experimental psychologists need to change the way they conduct their experiments and analyze their data.
Nanowire-based field-effect transistors are among the most promising means of overcoming the limits of today's planar silicon electronic devices, in part because of their suitability for ...gate-all-around architectures, which provide perfect electrostatic control and facilitate further reductions in "ultimate" transistor size while maintaining low leakage currents. However, an architecture combining a scalable and reproducible structure with good electrical performance has yet to be demonstrated. Here, we report a high performance field-effect transistor implemented on massively parallel dense vertical nanowire arrays with silicided source/drain contacts and scaled metallic gate length fabricated using a simple process. The proposed architecture offers several advantages including better immunity to short channel effects, reduction of device-to-device variability, and nanometer gate length patterning without the need for high-resolution lithography. These benefits are important in the large-scale manufacture of low-power transistors and memory devices.
Dynamical state of galaxy clusters is closely related to their observational properties in X-ray, optical and radio wavelengths. We develop a method to diagnose the substructure and dynamical state ...of galaxy clusters by using photometric data of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). To trace mass distribution, the brightness distribution of member galaxies is smoothed by using a Gaussian kernel with a weight of their optical luminosities. After deriving the asymmetry, the ridge flatness and the normalized deviation of the smoothed optical map, we define a relaxation parameter, Γ, to quantify dynamical state of clusters. This method is applied to a test sample of 98 clusters of 0.05 < z 0.42 collected from literature with known dynamical states and can recognize dynamical state for relaxed (Γ ≥ 0) and unrelaxed (Γ < 0) clusters with a success rate of 94 per cent. We then calculate relaxation parameters of 2092 rich clusters previously identified from the SDSS, of which 28 per cent clusters are dynamically relaxed with Γ ≥ 0. We find that the dominance and absolute magnitude of the brightest cluster galaxies closely correlate with dynamical states of clusters. The emission power of radio haloes is quantitatively related to cluster dynamical state, beside the known dependence on the X-ray luminosity.
Aim
To compare white ProRoot MTA (WMTA), EndoSequence BC sealer (BC sealer) and Biodentine with regard to their ability to produce apatites and cause Ca and Si incorporation in adjacent human root ...canal dentine after immersion in phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS).
Methodology
Root sections of human single‐rooted teeth were filled with one of the materials and immersed in PBS for 1, 7, 30 or 90 days (n = 5 each). Morphology and elemental composition of surface precipitates and interfacial dentine were analysed using a wavelength‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy electron probe microanalyser with image observation function. Ca‐ and Si‐incorporation depths in the interfacial dentine were measured. In addition, the amount of Ca ions released from the test materials was measured by EDTA titration.
Results
All materials produced surface precipitates of acicular or lath‐like morphology with Ca/P ratio of 1.6 : 2.0. Within dentinal tubules, the three materials formed tag‐like structures that were frequently composed of Ca‐ and P‐rich and Si‐poor materials, suggesting intratubular precipitation. Ca‐ and Si‐incorporation depths were in the order of Biodentine > WMTA > BC sealer, with a significant difference between BC sealer and the others at several time‐points (P < 0.05, anova and Tukey's honestly significant difference test). The concentration of released Ca ions was in the order of Biodentine > WMTA > BC sealer with significant differences between the materials (P < 0.05).
Conclusions
Compared with Biodentine and WMTA, BC sealer showed less Ca ion release and did not show Ca and Si incorporation as deeply in human root canal dentine when immersed in PBS for up to 90 days.
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