Alle Publikationen
- <<
- <
- 1
2017
-
(2017): The psychometric properties of the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test: an item response theory (IRT) analysis. In: Cognitive neuropsychiatry 22 (3), S. 233-253. DOI: 10.1080/13546805.2017.1300091
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13546805.2017.1300091 Abstract: INTRODUCTION The "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test (hereafter: Eyes Test) is considered an advanced task of the Theory of Mind aimed at assessing the performance of the participant in perspective-takingthat is, the ability to sense or understand other people's cognitive and emotional states. In this study, the item response theory analysis was applied to the adult version of the Eyes Test. METHODS The Italian version of the Eyes Test was administered to 200 undergraduate students of both genders (males = 46%). Modified parallel analysis (MPA) was used to test unidimensionality. Marginal maximum likelihood estimation was used to fit the 1-, 2-, and 3-parameter logistic (PL) model to the data. Differential Item Functioning (DIF) due to gender was explored with five independent methods. RESULTS MPA provided evidence in favour of unidimensionality. The Rasch model (1-PL) was superior to the other two models in explaining participants' responses to the Eyes Test. There was no robust evidence of gender-related DIF in the Eyes Test, although some differences may exist for some items as a reflection of real differences by group. CONCLUSIONS The study results support a one-factor model of the Eyes Test. Performance on the Eyes Test is defined by the participant's ability in perspective-taking. Researchers should cease using arbitrarily selected subscores in assessing the performance of participants to the Eyes Test. Lack of gender-related DIF favours the use of the Eyes Test in the investigation of gender differences concerning empathy and social cognition.
2012
-
(2012): TripleR: An R package for social relations analyses based on round-robin designs. In: Behavior research methods 44 (2), S. 455-470. DOI: 10.3758/s13428-011-0150-4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0150-4 Abstract: In this article, we present TripleR, an R package for the calculation of social relations analyses (Kenny, 1994) based on round-robin designs. The scope of existing software solutions is ported to R and enhanced with previously unimplemented methods of significance testing in single groups (Lashley & Bond, 1997) and handling of missing values. The package requires only minimal knowledge of R, and results can be exported for subsequent analyses to other software packages. We demonstrate the use of TripleR with several didactic examples.
Keywords: Algorithms, Analysis of Variance, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Group Structure, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Longitudinal Studies, Models, Psychological, Models, Statistical, Psychology, Social/methods/statistics & numerical data, Research Design, Social Behavior, Social Perception, Software 2011
-
(2011): Dissociable brain mechanisms for processing social exclusion and rule violation. In: NEUROIMAGE 54 (3), S. 2462-2471. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.10.049
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20974272 Abstract: Social exclusion inherently involves an element of expectancy violation, in that we expect other people to follow the unwritten rule to include us in social interactions. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we employed a unique modification of an interactive virtual ball-tossing game called "Cyberball" (Williams et al., 2000) and a novel paradigm called "Cybershape," in which rules are broken in the absence of social exclusion, to dissociate brain regions that process social exclusion from rule violations more generally. Our Cyberball game employed an alternating block design and removed evoked responses to events when the participant was throwing the ball in inclusion to make this condition comparable to exclusion, where participants did not throw. With these modifications, we replicated prior findings of ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC), insula, and posterior cingulate cortex activity evoked by social exclusion relative to inclusion. We also identified exclusion-evoked activity in the hippocampi, left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and left middle temporal gyrus. Comparing social exclusion and rule violation revealed a functional dissociation in the active neural systems as well as differential functional connectivity with vACC. Some overlap was observed in regions differentially modulated by social exclusion and rule violation, including the vACC and lateral parietal cortex. These overlapping brain regions showed different activation during social exclusion compared to rule violation, each relative to fair play. Comparing activation patterns to social exclusion and rule violation allowed for the dissociation of brain regions involved in the experience of exclusion versus expectancy violation. zitiert von 96
Keywords: Brain/physiology, Cerebral Cortex/physiology, Computer Graphics, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Female, Games, Experimental, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Interpersonal Relations, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Nerve Net/physiology, Neural Pathways/physiology, Neurowissenschaften, Psychophysics, Rejection (Psychology), rules, science direct, Social Environment, Social Perception, Young Adult -
(2011): Sensitivity analysis in cost-effectiveness studies. From guidelines to practice. In: PharmacoEconomics 29 (4), S. 297-314. DOI: 10.2165/11584630-000000000-00000
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21395350 Abstract: Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is one of the main tools of economic evaluation. Every CEA is based on a number of assumptions, some of which may not be accurate, introducing uncertainty. Sensitivity analysis (SA) formalizes ways to measure and evaluate this uncertainty. Specific sources of uncertainty in CEA have been noted by various researchers. In this work, we consolidate across all sources of uncertainty, discuss the imbalanced attention to SA across different sources, and discuss criteria for conducting and reporting SA to help bridge the gap between guidelines and practice. Guidelines on how to perform SA have been published for many years in response to requests for greater standardization among researchers. Decision makers tasked with reviewing new health technologies also seem to appreciate the additional information conveyed by a robust SA, including the attention to important patient subgroups. Yet, past reviews have shown that there is a substantial gap between the guidelines' suggestions and the quality of SA in the field. Past reviews have also focused on one or two but not all three sources of uncertainty. The objective of our work is to comprehensively review all different sources of uncertainty and provide a concise set of criteria for conducting and presenting SA, stratified by common modelling approaches, including decision analysis and regression models. We first provide an overview of the three sources of uncertainty in a CEA (parameter, structural and methodological), including patient heterogeneity. We then present results from a literature review of the conduct and reporting of SA based on 406 CEA articles published between 2000 and mid-2009. We find that a minority of papers addressed at least two of the three sources of uncertainty, with no change over time. On the other hand, the use of some sophisticated techniques, such as probabilistic SA, has surged over the past 10 years. Lastly, we identify criteria for reporting uncertainty-robust SA and also discuss how to conduct SA and how to improve the reporting of SA for decision makers. We recommend that researchers take a more comprehensive view of uncertainty when planning SA for an economic evaluation.
- <<
- <
- 1