187 research outputs found
Understanding Meta-Analysis Through Data Simulation With Applications to Power Analysis
No full textMeta-analysis is a powerful tool to combine evidence from existing literature. Despite several introductory and advanced materials about organizing, conducting, and reporting a meta-analysis, to our knowledge, there are no introductive materials about simulating the most common meta-analysis models. Data simulation is essential for developing and validating new statistical models and procedures. Furthermore, data simulation is a powerful educational tool for understanding a statistical method. In this tutorial, we show how to simulate equal-effects, random-effects, and metaregression models and illustrate how to estimate statistical power. Simulations for multilevel and multivariate models are available in the Supplemental Material available online. All materials associated with this article can be accessed on OSF (https://osf.io/54djn/)
Il sostegno sociale nei diversi contesti come mediatore nella relazione tra eventi negativi di vita e solitudine in adolescenza
No full textScopo del presente studio era quello di indagare il ruolo di mediazione del sostegno sociale in diversi contesti nella relazione tra eventi di vita negativi e solitudine durante l’adolescenza. E’ stato somministrato, a scuola, un questionario a 405 adolescenti (152 maschi, pari al 37.4%) di età compresa tra i 16 e 20 anni (M = 18.2, D.S. = .69). Lo strumento somministrato comprendeva le scale relative a: eventi di vita negativi, sostegno sociale (percepito rispetto a genitori, amici, insegnanti) e solitudine. I risultati hanno confermato, per tutte le forme di sostegno tranne quella degli insegnanti, il ruolo di mediazione. I risultati confermano dunque come gli eventi di vita negativi incidano sulle relazioni con le figure significative degli adolescenti e per questo si ripercuotano sul sentimento di solitudine dei ragazzi. Sono state inoltre discusse le implicazioni teoriche e pratiche dei risultati
When One Shape Does Not Fit All: A Commentary Essay on the Use of Graphs in Psychological Research
No full textThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms
The cognitive effects of computational thinking: A systematic review and meta-analytic study
No full textIn this paper, we review and meta-analyze the findings of experimental studies published between 2006 and 2022 that examined the effects of coding and programming interventions on children's core and higher order executive functions (response inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility, planning and problem solving). The systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to address three research questions: 1) Which executive functions are most impacted by the teaching of CT? 2) Which instructional modality (educational robotics/virtual coding/unplugged coding) is most effective in enhancing executive function skills in learners aged 4–16 years? and 3) Does the cognitive effectiveness of coding vary with children's age? A total of 19 studies with 1523 participants met the selection criteria for the systematic review. The meta-analysis included 11 of those studies. The results reveal beneficial effects of structured virtual and tangible coding (educational robotics) activities for preschoolers and first graders, and significant effects of more unstructured virtual coding activities (e.g., Scratch-based) for older students. A multivariate fixed-effects model meta-analysis shows that the teaching of coding significantly improves problem-solving with the highest effect (dppc2 = 0.89), but also planning (dppc2 = 0.36), and inhibition and working memory with lower effects (dppc2 = 0.17, dppc2 = 0.20)
Does the nature of the distractors influence the performance on visual search task for faces? An eye tracking study with adults and 3-month-old infants.
No full textAssociation between attachment security towards parents and cognitive development in school aged children: An exploratory study
No full textLa detezione del volto in contesti complessi: uno studio con adulti e bambii di 3 e 6 mesi.
No full textLa Potenza è nulla senza controllo
No full textIl tema della replicabilità riveste oggi un ruolo centrale nel dibattito sull’attendibilità dei risultati delle ricerche in psicologia.
Diverse sono ad oggi le possibili soluzioni proposte: la maggior cura nella definizione del disegno sperimentale alla luce delle ipotesi di ricerca,
l’utilizzo di misure caratterizzate da ottimali livelli di affidabilità
e validità, la registrazione degli studi e la loro valutazione da parte di esperti prima che
i dati vengano raccolti e analizzati, le pratiche di condivisione dei dati e dei relativi
codici utilizzati per le analisi. Accanto a queste raccomandazioni che stanno già portando
a notevoli benefici, il dibattito sulla replicabilità ha riguardato naturalmente anche aspetti
prettamente legati all’utilizzo della statistica. I temi più affrontati di recente
sono la pianificazione della dimensione campionaria o power analysis e l’approccio bayesiano.
In questo contributo, attraverso un semplice esempio, intendiamo sottolineare
quanto, accanto ai temi già citati, la diffusione di una maggiore sensibilità statistica e
una conseguente miglior scelta dei metodi di analisi giochino un ruolo cruciale, ma
spesso sottovalutato, nella produzione di risultati maggiormente attendibili. In conclusione,
crediamo che un aumento della formazione statistica nelle nuove generazioni di
psicologi possa contribuire in modo determinante a migliorare la qualità della ricerca
Solvent effect on the vibrational activity and photodynamics of the Green Fluorescent Protein Chromophore: a Quantum-Chemical Study.
No full textVibrational activities in the Raman and resonance Raman spectra of the cationic, neutral, and anionic forms of 4'-hydroxybenzylidene-2,3-dimethyl-imidazolinone, a model compound for the green fluorescent protein chromophore, have been obtained from quantum-chemical calculations in vacuo and with the inclusion of solvent effects through the polarizable continuum model. It is found that inclusion of solvent effects improves slightly the agreement with experimental data for the cationic and neutral forms, whose spectra are qualitatively well-described already by calculations in vacuo. In contrast, inclusion of solvent effects is crucial to reproduce correctly the activities of the anionic form. The structural effects of solvation are remarkable both in the ground and in the lowest excited state of the anionic chromophore and influence not only the vibrational activity but also the photodynamics of the lowest excited state. CASPT2/CASSCF photoreaction paths, computed by including solvent effects at the CASSCF level, indicate a facile torsional deformation around both exocyclic CC bonds. Rotation around the exocyclic CC double bond is shown to lead to a favored radiationless decay channel, more efficient than that in gas phase, and which explains the ultrafast fluorescence decay and ground-state recovery observed in solution. Conversely, rotation around the exocyclic CC single bond accounts for the bottleneck observed in the ground-state recovery cycle. It is also speculated that the ultrafast radiationless decay channel would be hampered in protein for unfavorable electrostatic interactions and steric reasons
Defining hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) structure by confirmatory factor analysis: a contribution to validation for oncological settings
No full textBackground: Despite its popularity, not a definitive word has yet been said about the latent structure of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The present work is a contribution to this issue: statistically identifying the best tool structure helps in understanding which constructs the tool actually detects. Participants and methods: Five hundred and twelve Italian consecutive hospitalized cancer patients completed the HADS together with a form for the collection of personal and clinical data. Two confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were carried out to test the validity of both two- and one-factor models, whereas qualitative and quantitative (i.e. Akaike information criterion) indices were used to assess which model among them would fit better with the observed data. Finally, two multigroup CFAs were carried out to test the factorial invariance across gender and disease phase (diagnostic, therapeutic) of the best-fitting model. Results: Although both considered models provide a good fit to the observed data, the two-factor model is more adequate; it is invariant across gender and disease phase. Conclusions: The present study gives evidence for using HADS to detect anxious and depressive states separately as originally suggested by its authors. Given that this work involved only Italian cancer inpatients, replications in different cultural/national contexts are recommended. © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved
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