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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Do endogenous opioids mediate or fine-tune human pain relief?
No full textWe discuss how effects of different magnitudes from human opioid antagonist studies can be interpreted and how the results inform us on the role of the endogenous mu-opioid system for pain relief and other affective processes in humans. This is a commentary on Endogenous opioids contribute to the feeling of pain relief in humans by Sirucek et al, In Press, Pain
An off-target scale limits the utility of SWEMWBS as a measure of well-being in public health surveys
No full textPublished 2021-12-06: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2021.10.009 Objectives: To assess the utility and measurement properties for the well-being scale Short Warwick-
Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS) in a Swedish general population survey.
Study design: A cross-sectional survey-study
Methods: Data were retrieved from the 2018 public health survey in Stockholm County, containing a
random sample of 22 856 persons stratified to be representative for the municipalities and districts
within the region. The data were analysed according to Rasch Measurement Theory.
Results: Person attribute values are positively skewed (mean 2.32, SD 1.85), with wide gaps in the
item threshold attribute values. Overall item fit statistics were acceptable and person measurement
separation reliability was 0.83, indicating three statistically distinct ranges in the estimated well-
being values.
Conclusion: While the SWEMWBS items indicated acceptable fit to the Rasch measurement model,
targeting of items to sample is skewed toward lower levels of well-being and there is a ceiling effect.
Thus, we suggest a careful reconsideration of SWEMWBS as a tool for use in general public health
surveys, especially for assessing change over time and group differences, as there are large
measurement uncertainties for the majority of cases when the population as a whole is sampled. We
encourage revisions applying a coherent and comprehensive construct theory for well-being to fill
the gaps in the upper end of the SWEMWBS scales’ item thresholds. The addition of more
challenging items would improve targeting for population-based surveys, increase reliability, and
provide more actionable information that could be useful in improving individuals’ well-being
How many Dimensions underlie Political Attitudes? An Exploratory Graph Analysis Approach
No full textManifold different constructs have been discussed in the context of political attitudes. However, the multivariate relations between these concepts remain unknown. The present study, therefore, aimed at examining the underlying network and dimensionality of various constructs related to political attitudes.
In an online survey, German individuals (N = 724) provided information on socio-demographic variables, voting intentions, and ideological orientation/ideology measures. Moreover, participants filled in questionnaires on Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation as well as on personal values known to relate to political attitudes, and on their attitudes towards refugees. Data-driven bootstrapped Exploratory Graph Analyses were conducted.
Five (scale-level) to seven (item-level) dimensions emerged. The scale-level dimensions were labeled Self-Enhancement Values, Openness to Change Values, Social Liberalism vs Conservatism/Traditionalism and Conformity with Authorities, Economic Left vs Right Ideological Orientation, and Preference for Social Equality/Welfare vs Inequality.
These findings support a deeper understanding of the complex structure of political attitudes
Sexuality and the city: The geography of LGBT+ political participation in the United States
No full textLGBT+ political participation is thought to be heavily stratified by geography. LGBT+ individuals are densely clustered in urban areas, which should increase the chances for collective action. In nonurban areas, however, being visibly LGBT+ is not viable pathway to becoming politically engaged to due concerns about discrimination. These differences are much discussed, but there is no quantitative analysis on why LGBT+ participation might be higher in urban areas than in nonurban areas. We analyze the geography of LGBT+ participation using data from the Cooperative Election Study, the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, and the Social Justice Sexuality Project. In a surprising set of results, we find that the geographic divide in LGBT+ participation is rather small, and that participation in some activities that do not require a degree of collective action is actually higher in nonurban areas than in urban areas. Debates about geographic divides in participation point to two explanations - contextual effects versus compositional effects. Our findings largely support the logic of compositional effects, as LGBT+ participation is stratified by socioeconomic status across geography. Still, we find that contextual effects may account for within-metro variation in LGBT+ protest participation. Our results have important implications for understanding LGBT+ political participation, most notably that geographic differences are a second-order manifestation of demographic divides across geography
Self-Adapting The Success Rate When Practicing Math
No full textUse and benefits of the possibility to choose a success rate are studied in a math-practice application that is used by a considerable percentage of Dutch primary school children. Study 1 uses data that were collected with the application, using children's practice data (N = 40329; grades 1-6). Children differed in their preference for a high, medium, or low success rate. Preferences were associated with gender, age, and ability, matching expectations that follow from the literature. Study 2 is an experimental study with 192 children from grades 3-6, using a pretest, training phase, and posttest. The possibility to choose a success rate was manipulated. Unexpectedly, beneficial effects for math practice, improvement of math skills, and self-belief concerning math were absent. Results suggest an appreciation of the possibility to choose, although beneficial effects of choosing were not observed for motivation to practice, skill improvement, and self-belief concerning math
Order Symmetry: A New Fairness Criterion for Assignment Mechanisms
No full textWe introduce a new criterion, order symmetry , for assignment mechanisms that bijectively match n objects
to n agents having ordinal preferences over the objects. An assignment mechanism is order-symmetric with
respect to a given probability measure over preference profiles if every agent has equal probability of receiving
their favorite object, every agent has equal probability of receiving their second favorite, and so on. Crucially, and unlike other fairness notions such as anonymity or envy-freeness, order symmetry can be satisfied
by discrete assignment mechanisms when associated with a sufficiently symmetric probability measure. It
can also be interpreted as a criterion of procedural fairness or fairness under uncertainty. Furthermore, it
can be achieved without sacrificing other desirable axiomatic properties satisfied by existing mechanisms. In
particular, we show that it can be achieved in conjunction with strategyproofness and Pareto efficiency by
the Top Trading Cycles mechanism, but not by Serial Dictatorship. We also use the lens of order symmetry
to improve the fairness of existing mechanisms with no loss in social welfare, focusing on the widely used
family of Boston mechanisms. In addition to the theoretical results on the superiority of the order-symmetric
mechanisms, we present simulations using data from the Mallows distribution over its full range of parameters. These show an improvement in fairness even when complete order symmetry is impossible because of
the nature of the probability measure on profiles. We expect the idea of order symmetry to extend fruitfully
to other allocation models including school choice
Job Satisfaction Declines Before Retirement in Germany
No full textJob satisfaction has been found to increase with age. However, we still have a very limited understanding of how job satisfaction changes as people approach retirement. This is important as the years before retirement present specific challenges for older workers. We employed a time-to-retirement approach to investigate (i) mean levels of change in job satisfaction in the
decade before retirement, and (ii) social inequalities and interindividual differences in change in pre-retirement job satisfaction. Data were drawn from the German Socioeconomic Panel Study (n = 2595). Latent growth curve modeling revealed that job satisfaction declined slightly as people approached retirement, with steeper declines in the very last years before retirement. However, the mean-level decline was very small. Education, age, health, region, marital status, and historical time,
but not gender or caregiving mattered for level and change in job satisfaction before retirement. The findings demonstrate the importance of taking a time-to-retirement approach when examining experiences of older workers
Peter Parker, White Supremacy, and Equity: The Need for Gifted Critical Race Theory
No full textBrief introduction to critical race theory in education with examples from gifted education. Context of the piece is a response to an article in GCQ by S.Peters, all information is provided on the opening page
Ten steps toward a better personality science - how quality may be rewarded more in research evaluation
No full textIn February 2020, the Personality and Diagnostics Chapter (DPPD) of the German Psychological Society (DGPs) tasked this group of authors with outlining what should be considered “good personality science”, as a positive vision of how to improve the credibility of research in the field. We argue in favor of working toward greater consensus about (1) shared, important research goals, (2) standardized use of terminology, (3) standardized measurement practices, (4) standardized ways of pre-processing and analyzing data, and (5) shared views of the current state of theory and knowledge. All of these should help streamline the field considerably. We also argue in favor of (6) theory formalization, (7) pre-registration requirements for any confirmatory claims, (8) valuing replication attempts more (e.g., by reserving a quota of journal space for them), (9) planning for informative (e.g., well-powered) studies, and (10) making data, code, and materials open to the public by default. The current, quantity-based incentive structures in academia clearly stand in the way of implementing many of these practices, resulting in a research literature with sometimes questionable utility and/or integrity. As a solution, we propose a quality-based reward scheme that explicitly weights published research by its good science merits. Adoption of such a reward scheme may incur a significant decline in overall publication numbers, hopefully resulting in (a) an improved signal-to-noise ratio in the literature, and (b) more efficient allocation of resources (e.g., time) by researchers, who would be enabled to read more of what is being published, and to review each other’s work more carefully. Scientists need to be increasingly rewarded for doing good work, not just lots of work
Constructing Confidence: The Role of Affect and Cognition in Decisions Under Radical Uncertainty
No full textConfidence in one’s decisions is key in making satisfactory decisions, especially under radical uncertainty where no normatively correct choice can be made. Low confidence can result in monetary losses for individuals (e.g. overtrading in the financial markets) or retailers (e.g. processing consumer returns). But how do people construct confidence in their decisions? Using Conviction Narrative Theory (CNT) as a framework, we ran two studies demonstrating the relationship between integral emotions, cognition and confidence. Consistent with CNT, we found that even in contexts which are not explicitly affective, such as financial investments, weak and strong arguments for a stock to rise are still interpreted affectively. Approach emotions (e.g. excitement) generate more confidence and make individuals perceive such arguments as stronger. Conversely, avoidance emotions (e.g. anxiety) reduce both confidence and perceived argument strength. Overall, cognition, operationalised as perceived argument strength, mediates the effects of emotion on confidence. This approach to decision-making is all the more rational under radical uncertainty, where there is no normatively correct answer based only on facts