Several methods used to examine differential item functioning (DIF) in Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) measures are presented, including effect size estimation. A summary of factors that may affect DIF detection and challenges encountered in PROMIS DIF analyses, e.g., anchor item selection, is provided. An issue in PROMIS was the potential for inadequately modeled multidimensionality to result in false DIF detection. Section 1 is a presentation of the unidimensional models used by most PROMIS investigators for DIF detection, as well as their multidimensional expansions. Section 2 is an illustration that builds on previous unidimensional analyses of depression and anxiety short-forms to examine DIF detection using a multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) model. The Item Response Theory-Log-likelihood Ratio Test (IRT-LRT) method was used for a real data illustration with gender as the grouping variable. The IRT-LRT DIF detection method is a flexible approach to handle group differences in trait distributions, known as impact in the DIF literature, and was studied with both real data and in simulations to compare the performance of the IRT-LRT method within the unidimensional IRT (UIRT) and MIRT contexts. Additionally, different effect size measures were compared for the data presented in Section 2. A finding from the real data illustration was that using the IRT-LRT method within a MIRT context resulted in more flagged items as compared to using the IRT-LRT method within a UIRT context. The simulations provided some evidence that while unidimensional and multidimensional approaches were similar in terms of Type I error rates, power for DIF detection was greater for the multidimensional approach. Effect size measures presented in Section 1 and applied in Section 2 varied in terms of estimation methods, choice of density function, methods of equating, and anchor item selection. Despite these differences, there was considerable consistency in results, especially for the items showing the largest values. Future work is needed to examine DIF detection in the context of polytomous, multidimensional data. PROMIS standards included incorporation of effect size measures in determining salient DIF. Integrated methods for examining effect size measures in the context of IRT-based DIF detection procedures are still in early stages of development.

In computerized adaptive testing (CAT), a variable-length stopping rule refers to ending item administration after a pre-specified measurement precision standard has been satisfied. The goal is to provide equal measurement precision for all examinees regardless of their true latent trait level. Several stopping rules have been proposed in unidimensional CAT, such as the minimum information rule or the maximum standard error rule. These rules have also been extended to multidimensional CAT and cognitive diagnostic CAT, and they all share the same idea of monitoring measurement error. Recently, Babcock and Weiss (J Comput Adapt Test 2012. https://doi.org/10.7333/1212-0101001) proposed an “absolute change in theta” (CT) rule, which is useful when an item bank is exhaustive of good items for one or more ranges of the trait continuum. Choi, Grady and Dodd (Educ Psychol Meas 70:1–17, 2010) also argued that a CAT should stop when the standard error does not change, implying that the item bank is likely exhausted. Although these stopping rules have been evaluated and compared in different simulation studies, the relationships among the various rules remain unclear, and therefore there lacks a clear guideline regarding when to use which rule. This paper presents analytic results to show the connections among various stopping rules within both unidimensional and multidimensional CAT. In particular, it is argued that the CT-rule alone can be unstable and it can end the test prematurely. However, the CT-rule can be a useful secondary rule to monitor the point of diminished returns. To further provide empirical evidence, three simulation studies are reported using both the 2PL model and the multidimensional graded response model.

Many efforts to persuade others politically employ interpersonal conversations. A recurring question is whether the participants in such conversations are more readily persuaded by others who share their demographic characteristics. Echoing concerns that individuals have difficulties communicating across differences, research finds that individuals perceive demographically similar people as more trustworthy, suggesting shared demographics could facilitate persuasion. In a survey of practitioners and scholars, we find many share these expectations. However, dual-process theories suggest that messenger attributes are typically peripheral cues that should not influence persuasion when individuals are effortfully thinking, such as during interpersonal conversations. Supporting this view, we analyze data from eight experiments on interpersonal conversations across four topics (total N = 6, 139) and find that shared demographics (age, gender, or race) do not meaningfully increase their effects. These results are encouraging for the scalability of conversation interventions, and suggest voters can persuade each other across differences.

End members and species defined with permissible ranges of composition are presented for the true micas, the brittle micas and the interlayer-cation-deficient micas. The determination of the crystallochemical formula for different available chemical data is outlined, and a system of modifiers and suffixes is given to allow the expression of unusual chemical substitutions or polytypic stacking arrangements. Tables of mica synonyms, varieties, ill-defined materials and a list of names formerly or erroneously used for micas are presented. The Mica Subcommittee was appointed by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names (“Commission”) of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA). The definitions and recommendations presented were approved by the Commission.

Using a cognitive task (mental calculation) and a perceptual-motor task (stylized golf putting), we examined differential proficiency using the CWS index and several other quantitative measures of performance. The CWS index (Weiss & Shanteau, 2003) is a coherence criterion that looks only at internal properties of the data without incorporating an external standard. In Experiment 1, college students (n = 20) carried out 2- and 3-digit addition and multiplication problems under time pressure. In Experiment 2, experienced golfers (n = 12), also college students, putted toward a target from nine different locations. Within each experiment, we analyzed the same responses using different methods. For the arithmetic tasks, accuracy information (mean absolute deviation from the correct answer, MAD) using a coherence criterion was available; for golf, accuracy information using a correspondence criterion (mean deviation from the target, also MAD) was available. We ranked the performances of the participants according to each measure, then compared the orders using Spearman’s rs. For mental calculation, the CWS order correlated moderately (rs =.46) with that of MAD. However, a different coherence criterion, degree of model fit, did not correlate with either CWS or accuracy. For putting, the ranking generated by CWS correlated .68 with that generated by MAD. Consensual answers were also available for both experiments, and the rankings they generated correlated highly with those of MAD. The coherence vs. correspondence distinction did not map well onto criteria for performance evaluation.

Introduction. Individuals with psychotic-spectrum disorders may smoke due to the ameliorating effect of nicotine on the cognitive deficits that accompany these illnesses. Metacognitive remediation therapy (MCR) has been shown to produce improvements in cognitive functioning among individuals with psychotic-spectrum disorders and provides a foundation for a novel smoking cessation intervention for this population. Aims. To complete an open investigation of pharmacotherapy and a modified version of MCR [MCR to Quit (MCR-Q)] in promoting smoking cessation among individuals with psychotic-spectrum disorders. Methods. Forty-nine individuals with a psychotic-spectrum disorder and who currently smoke cigarettes participated in MCR-Q while also receiving evidence-based smoking cessation pharmacotherapy. Tobacco use was assessed as follows: (i) prior to MCR-Q, (ii) immediately after completing MCR-Q, and (iii) six weeks after completion of MCR-Q. Results/Findings. During participation in MCR-Q, nearly 80% of participants made a 24-hour quit attempt. Following the completion of MCR-Q, participants experienced reductions in level of nicotine dependency and exhaled carbon monoxide, with reductions in nicotine dependency sustained six weeks after completion of MCR-Q. Over the course of their participation in MCR-Q, participants reported strong therapeutic alliance with their MCR-Q therapist and high levels of intrinsic motivation with regard to completing MCR-Q exercises. Conclusions. The results from the current study suggest cautious optimism with regard to the use of MCR-Q in combination with medication for individuals with psychotic-spectrum disorders who want to quit smoking.

This contribution presents a comprehensive analysis of the low temperature deformation behavior of CoCrFeMnNi on the basis of quasistatic tensile tests at temperatures ranging from room temperature down to 4.2 K. Different deformation phenomena occur in the high-entropy alloy in this temperature range. These include (i) serrated plastic flow at certain cryogenic temperatures (4.2 K/8 K), (ii) deformation twinning (4.2 K/8 and 77 K), and (iii) dislocation slip (active from 4.2 K up to room temperature). The importance of deformation twinning for a stable work-hardening rate over an extended stress range as well as strain range has been addressed through the use of comprehensive orientation imaging microscopy studies. The proposed appearance of ε-martensite as well as a previously uninvestigated route of analysis, essentially a quantitative time-dependent, strain-dependent, and stress-dependent evaluation of the serrated plastic flow in CoCrFeMnNi is provided.

We present a new modeling framework for sea-ice mechanics based on elasto-brittle (EB) behavior. the EB framework considers sea ice as a continuous elastic plate encountering progressive damage, simulating the opening of cracks and leads. As a result of long-range elastic interactions, the stress relaxation following a damage event can induce an avalanche of damage. Damage propagates in narrow linear features, resulting in a very heterogeneous strain field. Idealized simulations of the Arctic sea-ice cover are analyzed in terms of ice strain rates and contrasted to observations and simulations performed with the classical viscous–plastic (VP) rheology. the statistical and scaling properties of ice strain rates are used as the evaluation metric. We show that EB simulations give a good representation of the shear faulting mechanism that accommodates most sea-ice deformation. the distributions of strain rates and the scaling laws of ice deformation are well captured by the EB framework, which is not the case for VP simulations. These results suggest that the properties of ice deformation emerge from elasto-brittle ice-mechanical behavior and motivate the implementation of the EB framework in a global sea-ice model.

We report the detection of bursts of low-frequency waves, typically f = 0.025 Hz, on horizontal channels of broadband seismometers deployed on the Arctic sea-ice cover during the DAMOCLES (Developing Arctic Modeling and Observing Capabilities for Long-term Environmental Studies) experiment in spring 2007. These bursts have amplitudes well above the ambient ice swell and a lower frequency content. Their typical duration is of the order of minutes. They occur at irregular times, with periods of relative quietness alternating with periods of strong activity. A significant correlation between the rate of burst occurrences and the ice-cover deformation at the ∼400 km scale centered on the seismic network suggests that these bursts are caused by remote, episodic deformation involving shearing across regional-scale leads. This observation opens the possibility of complementing satellite measurements of ice-cover deformation, by providing a much more precise temporal sampling, hence a better characterization of the processes involved during these deformation events.

Approximately half of the variation in wellbeing measures overlaps with variation in personality traits. Studies of non-human primate pedigrees and human twins suggest that this is due to common genetic influences. We tested whether personality polygenic scores for the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) domains and for item response theory (IRT) derived extraversion and neuroticism scores predict variance in wellbeing measures. Polygenic scores were based on published genome-wide association (GWA) results in over 17,000 individuals for the NEO-FFI and in over 63,000 for the IRT extraversion and neuroticism traits. The NEO-FFI polygenic scores were used to predict life satisfaction in 7 cohorts, positive affect in 12 cohorts, and general wellbeing in 1 cohort (maximal N = 46,508). Meta-analysis of these results showed no significant association between NEO-FFI personality polygenic scores and the wellbeing measures. IRT extraversion and neuroticism polygenic scores were used to predict life satisfaction and positive affect in almost 37,000 individuals from UK Biobank. Significant positive associations (effect sizes <0.05%) were observed between the extraversion polygenic score and wellbeing measures, and a negative association was observed between the polygenic neuroticism score and life satisfaction. Furthermore, using GWA data, genetic correlations of -0.49 and -0.55 were estimated between neuroticism with life satisfaction and positive affect, respectively. The moderate genetic correlation between neuroticism and wellbeing is in line with twin research showing that genetic influences on wellbeing are also shared with other independent personality domains.