Bulletin of NTU "KhPI". Series: Problems of Electrical Machines and Apparatus Perfection. The Theory and Practice / Вісник Національного технічного університету "ХПІ". Серія: Проблеми удосконалювання електричних машин і апаратів. Теорія і практика
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Just give them childcare: The COVID-19 pandemic as a natural experiment in parenting practices
No full textCorrelations between parenting practices and child development outcomes are as established as anything in human behavior. Their causes remain controversial. Parenting practices are confounded with culture, socio-economic status, and genetics. As a general rule, randomized controlled experiments are impractical if not impossible. We use the COVID-19 pandemic school reopenings as a natural experiment to address this gap. A number of studies showed that the advent of the pandemic affected families negatively affected families. Prior work tied increased child recreational screen time and decreased parent mental health specifically to school and daycare closures (rather than work-at-home policies, unemployment, fluctuating COVID rates, etc.). However, losses are different from gains, and just because losing childcare hurts families does not mean increasing childcare will help them. We use the fact that schools reopened at different times and to different degrees across the country, showing that return to in-person schooling decreased child recreational screen time and improved parent mental health. Again, we rule out potential confounds like work-from-home policies, COVID rates, and unemployment. The results indicate that addressing childcare gaps may be critical to improving child and family well-being
A New Framework for Estimation of Unconditional Quantile Treatment Effects: The Residualized Quantile Regression (RQR) Model
No full textThe opportunities for understanding how treatment effects vary across different segments of the population have led to a rise in the use of quantile regressions for identifying unconditional quantile treatment effects (QTEs). However, existing quantile regression models fall into two categories: those that are unsuitable for identifying unconditional QTEs, and those that often struggle with the complex data structures common in sociology and other social sciences. Therefore, existing methods to identify unconditional QTEs are incomplete: the propensity score framework of Firpo (2007) allows for only a binary treatment variable, and the generalized quantile regression model of Powell (2020) faces difficulties with large data sets and high-dimensional fixed effects. This paper introduces a two-step approach to estimating unconditional QTEs, which is easy to use and aligns with the needs of sociologists. First, the treatment variable is decomposed into a systematic and random part, and then, the random variation in the treatment status is used in a bivariate quantile regression model. Through a series of simulations and three empirical applications, we demonstrate that the RQR approach provides unbiased estimates of unconditional QTEs. Moreover, the RQR approach offers greater flexibility and enhances computational speed compared to existing models, and it can easily handle high-dimensional fixed effects. In sum, the RQR approach fills a pressing void in quantitative research methodology, offering a much-needed tool for studying treatment effect heterogeneity
Comparing Theories with the Ising Model of Explanatory Coherence
No full textTheories are among the most important tools of science. Lewin (1943) already noted “[t]here is nothing as practical as a good theory”. Although psychologists discussed problems of theory in their discipline for a long time, weak theories are still widespread in most subfields. One possible reason for this is that psychologists lack the tools to systematically assess the quality of their theories. Thagard (1989) developed a computational model for formal theory evaluation based on the concept of explanatory coherence. However, there are possible improvements to Thagard’s (1989) model and it is not available in software that psychologists typically use. Therefore, we developed a new implementation of explanatory coherence based on the Ising model. We demonstrate the capabilities of this new Ising Model of Explanatory Coherence (IMEC) on several examples from psychology and other sciences. It is also available in the R-package IMEC so that it can help scientists to evaluate the quality of their theories in practice
Evaluating Eight-Year Trajectories for Sense of Purpose in the Health and Retirement Study
No full textObjectives: Though cross-sectional research has suggested that sense of purpose declines into
older adulthood, it remains unclear whether inter-individual variability occurs in these trajectories, and what factors predict these trajectories. The current study provides one of the first longitudinal investigations into how individuals’ sense of purpose fluctuates in older adulthood. Method: Participants from the Health and Retirement Study (n = 4,234, mean age = 65 years), completed assessments of sense of purpose over three years, along with multiple potential predictors (health, personality, demographics) at the start.
Results: Second-order latent growth models demonstrated both mean-level declines on purpose over time, as well as the capacity for inter-individual variability in change patterns for retired adults. Among this cohort, health status, educational attainment, and marital status were significant predictors of purpose trajectories over time, though broad personality trait dimensions failed to uniquely predict change in sense of purpose. However, measurement invariance tests suggest that the scale did not operate similarly across work status groups.
Conclusion: Findings advance the previous literature by demonstrating inter-individual variability in sense of purpose for those participants who had retired. Future research should consider that purpose inventories may operate differently for those in the workplace versus retired adults
Blame, Control, or Responsibility? Validation of Sexual Assault Culpability Measures
No full textSexual assault research would benefit from a self-report measure that assesses the extent to which perpetrators and victims are perceived to be culpable for the occurrence of a rape. The goal of this study, therefore, was to validate new measures devised to capture the key facets of victim and perpetrator culpability — blame, control, and responsibility. Psychometric and descriptive properties of the new scales were examined in a sample of UK community participants assessed online (N=255). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted using the lavaan package in the statistical software environment R. Both of the final scales demonstrated good validity and reliability. Specifically, internal consistencies for all subscales ranged from acceptable to excellent; CFA supported the hypothesised 3-factor scale structures; and, items exhibited good factor loadings onto respective subscales for both victim (n = 11) and perpetrator (n = 10) culpability. The culpability measures will likely be of use to researchers interested in a detailed, reliable, and valid assessment of victim and perpetrator culpability
Emotions and Status Hierarchies
No full textEmotions define and are defined by status hierarchies. This chapter examines human emotions in relation to hierarchy navigation. Because emotional adaptations evolve in response to selective pressures, I first present evidence supporting the ubiquity of hierarchies and the fitness-relevance of status in the ancestral past. Next, I provide a sketch of the recurrent adaptive challenges likely posed by life within hierarchically organized groups to circumscribe the hierarchy-navigation tasks emotional adaptations are expected to address. I then highlight several emotions—pride, shame, envy, admiration, respect, contempt, anger, and fear—that appear to facilitate hierarchy navigation, review the evidence for their functional design, and explore ways in which relative differences in status may modulate recurring emotional experiences. Finally, I discuss how understanding the interplay between emotions and hierarchy navigation can inform our understanding of broad individual differences
Seeking the Truth: Johns Hopkins and Slavery
No full textQuestions about Johns Hopkins, his family, and their relationship to slavery have been raised by Johns Hopkins University, most directly in the announcement made on December 9, 2020, that, based on newly discovered records, the university’s founder owned five enslaved people who lived and worked at his properties in Baltimore in the mid-1800s. This announcement and other statements by the university have caused many people to doubt long-held beliefs about Johns Hopkins’ character and his support for anti-slavery causes. This paper investigates three of the primary assertions made in December 2020 by examining: (1) whether or not Johns Hopkins’ parents were slaveholders, (2) whether or not he opposed slavery, and (3) whether or not census and other records prove that he owned enslaved people. After a careful review of the evidence uncovered to date, it is clear that (a) Johns Hopkins’ parents and grandparents were devout Quakers who liberated the family’s enslaved laborers prior to 1800, (b) Johns Hopkins was a practicing Orthodox Quaker and an emancipationist who supported the movement to end slavery within the limits of the laws governing Maryland, and (c) the available documentation, including relevant tax records, does not support the university’s claim that Johns Hopkins personally owned slaves
Refining the link between psychopathy, antisocial behavior, and empathy: a meta-analytical approach across different conceptual frameworks
No full textThe current meta-analysis includes 477 records (N = 142,692) and comprehensively explores the complex interplay between psychopathy, antisocial behavior, and empathy. First, empathy domains (cognitive and affective) were used to dissociate antisocial behavior from psychopathy. Cognitive empathy was more impaired in antisocial groups (gcognitive = -0.43; gaffective = -0.11), while samples scoring higher in psychopathy displayed larger deficits in affective empathy (gaffective = -0.40; gcognitive = -0.22). Secondly, the specific associations between empathy domains and psychopathy dimensions were evaluated. Most effect sizes pertaining to psychopathy traits closely related to antisocial behavior were mild for both empathy domains (r = -0.03 to -0.21). Callous-affective traits were largely correlated with affective empathy (r = -0.34 to -0.46) and moderately correlated to cognitive empathy (r = -0.26 to -0.27). Diverging results were found for the interpersonal dimension, as boldness-adaptive manifestations were unrelated to cognitive empathy (r = 0.03), while non-adaptive interpersonal traits were negatively associated with both empathy domains (rcognitive = -0.16; raffective = -0.25). Overall, these findings suggest that: (1) psychopathy and antisocial behavior display distinct empathic profiles; (2) psychopathy dimensions are differentially associated with cognitive and affective empathy; (3) the interaction between interpersonal traits and empathy domains is different across the conceptual models of psychopathy
Synergy Between the Credibility Revolution and Human Development in Africa
No full textPsychology research in North America and Europe faces a credibility crisis, with speculations of a global-scale crisis has spurred the development of a broad array of open science practices to improve different aspects of the research process. Alongside this development, a broad array of stakeholders have noted that African science is at its own crossroads, as investments in this sector can facilitate human development on the continent. Here we argue that these two movements can facilitate each other: psychology in North America and Europe can benefit from stronger psychology research communities on the African continent, while African scientists can benefit from credible evidence generated through open, freely-available open science practices and tools. However, this synergy will only materialize if a wide array of stakeholders invest in African science through providing resources, training, and specially adapted research tools while simultaneously avoiding ethical pitfalls such as corruption and research colonialism
Want Climate-Change Adaptation? Evolutionary Theory Can Help
No full textThe idea of adaptation, in which an organism or population becomes better suited to its environment, is used in a variety of disciplines. Originating in evolutionary biology, adaptation has been a central theme in biological anthropology and human ecology. More recently, the study of adaptation in the context of climate change has become an important topic of research in the social sciences. While there are clearly commonalities in the different uses of the concept of adaptation in these fields, there are also substantial differences. We describe these differences and suggest that the study of climate-change adaptation could benefit from a re-integration with biological and evolutionary conceptions of human adaptation. This integration would allow us to employ the substantial theoretical tools of evolutionary biology and anthropology to understand what promotes or impedes adaptation. The evolutionary perspective on adaptation focuses on diversity because diversity drives adaptive evolution. Population structures are also critical in facilitating or preventing adaptation to local environmental conditions. This suggests that climate-change adaptation should focus on the sources of innovation and social structures that nurture innovations and allow them to spread. Truly innovative ideas are likely to arise on the periphery of cohesive social groups and spread inward. The evolutionary perspective also suggests that we pay careful attention to correlated traits which can distort adaptive trajectories, as well as to the importance of risk management in adaptations to variable or uncertain environments. Finally, we suggest that climate-change adaptation could benefit from a broader study of how local groups adapt to their dynamic environments, a process we call "autochthonous adaptation.