Causal assessment is the problem of establishing whether a relation between (variable) X and (variable) Y is causal. This problem, to be sure, is widespread across the sciences. According to accredited positions in the philosophy of causality and in social science methodology, invariance under intervention provides the most reliable test to decide whether X causes Y. This account of invariance (under intervention) has been criticised, among other reasons, because it makes manipulations on the putative causal factor fundamental for (...) the causal methodology; consequently, the argument goes, the account is ill-suited to those contexts where manipulations are not performed, for instance, the social sciences. The article aims to extend the account of invariance (under intervention), in a way that manipulations on the putative causal factors are not methodologically fundamental, and yet invariance remains key for causal assessment both in experimental and non-experimental contexts. (shrink)

The Purpose in Life Test is a measure of purpose in life widely used in many cultures and countries; however, cross-cultural assessments are scarce. The present study aimed to evaluate the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the PIL in the general population of seven Latin American countries. A total of 4306 people participated, selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling, where Uruguay has the highest mean age ; while Ecuador has the lowest mean age. Furthermore, in each country, there is a higher (...) proportion of women than men. Using Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the factorial structure does not show evidence of invariance among the included countries. However, based on the Multi-Group Factor Analysis Alignment, there is evidence that a three-dimensional structure of the PIL is the same in the participating countries. Results based on item response theory indicate that most PIL items can significantly differentiate responses according to the level of life purpose. In addition, people with low life purpose will tend to choose the lower response alternatives on the PIL; while people with higher life purpose will choose higher response alternatives. The findings indicate that the PIL has the potential to increase knowledge about how people conceive and experience their purpose in life in different countries. (shrink)

Ethical awareness enables nurses to recognize the ethical implications of all practice actions, and is an important component of safe and high quality nursing care (Milliken 2016; Milliken and Grac...

This note contains a corrective and a generalization of results by Borsboom et al. (2008), based on Heesen and Romeijn (2019). It highlights the relevance of insights from psychometrics beyond the context of psychological testing.

The current study aimed to verify the multidimensional factor structure of teacher reflection and to examine the psychometric properties of a widely used teacher reflection scale using a large-scale representative dataset of 1,611 practicing Iranian English as a Foreign Language teachers. Furthermore, the measurement invariance of the hypothesized, a priori six-factor model of teacher reflection as measured by the adapted scale was assessed across gender and educational degree in Mplus program. In addition, the differences in latent factor means of (...) the same groups were examined. The result of confirmatory factor analysis revealed that teacher reflection was a multidimensional construct, encompassing six underlying factors. Overall, the adapted teacher reflection scale based on the 6-factor model showed an overall good fit. The results also indicated metric and scalar invariance which manifests that the factors underlying the adapted scale had an identical theoretical structure across educational degree/gender groups. Finally, there were significant factor mean differences in reflection components across gender and educational degree groups. A discussion of the results and their implications ensue. (shrink)

A number of papers have applied the CNI model of moral judgments to investigate deontological and consequentialist response tendencies (Gawronski et al., 2017). A controversy has emerged concerning the methodological assumptions of the CNI model (Baron & Goodwin, 2020, 2021; Gawronski et al. 2020). In this paper, we contribute to this debate by extending the CNI paradigm with a skip option. This allows us to test an invariance assumption that the CNI model shares with prominent process-dissociation models in cognitive (...) and social psychology (Klauer et al., 2015). Like for these models, the present experiments found violations of the invariance assumption for the CNI model. In Experiment 2, we replicate these results and selectively influence the new parameter for the skip option. In addition, structural equation modeling reveals that previous findings for the relationship between gender and the CNI parameters are completely mediated by the association of gender with primary psychopathy. (shrink)

The question of whether object recognition is orientation-invariant or orientation-dependent was investigated using a repetition blindness (RB) paradigm. In RB, the second occurrence of a repeated stimulus is less likely to be reported, compared to the occurrence of a different stimulus, if it occurs within a short time of the first presentation. This failure is usually interpreted as a difficulty in assigning two separate episodic tokens to the same visual type. Thus, RB can provide useful information about which representations are (...) treated as the same by the visual system. Two experiments tested whether RB occurs for repeated objects that were either in identical orientations, or differed by 30, 60, 90, or 180°. Significant RB was found for all orientation differences, consistent with the existence of orientation-invariant object representations. However, under some circumstances, RB was reduced or even eliminated when the repeated object was rotated by 180°, suggesting easier individuation of the repeated objects in this case. A third experiment confirmed that the upside-down orientation is processed more easily than other rotated orientations. The results indicate that, although object identity can be determined independently of orientation, orientation plays an important role in establishing distinct episodic representations of a repeated object, thus enabling one to report them as separate events. (shrink)

We show how a recently introduced retarded version of the Bohm Model evades the Hardy proof that hidden-variable models must violate Lorentz Invariance. We also discuss a possible test of such models.

The home environment is a particularly significant part of life that is supposed to satisfy inhabitants’ needs, form their identity, and contribute to psychological wellbeing. The construct of home attachment is especially relevant for students as a most mobile social group. This study is devoted to the validation of the Short Home Attachment Scale in a student sample from five countries. A total of 1,349 university students participated in the study and filled in the 14 items of HAS. In order (...) to avoid redundant items with high error covariances damaging the model, a new scale—the SHAS was developed by eliminating seven items. The shortened scale has satisfactory structure validity in terms of model fit in all countries except Indonesia; internal reliability values were acceptable in all countries. Measurement invariance across countries was tested with Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Alignment Analysis. MG CFA confirmed both configurational and metric invariance. The invariance of item factor loadings, as well as item intercepts, was also confirmed by the Alignment Analysis. The mean scores varied across cultures, with the highest in India and the lowest in Russia. The final version of SHAS is a valid, reliable tool that may be recommended for use in cross-cultural research. However, the SHAS factor structure robustness in the Indonesian population should be investigated thoroughly. (shrink)

A certain class of geometric objects is considered against the background of a classical gauge field associated with an arbitrary structural Lie group. It is assumed that the components of these objects depend on the gauge potentials and their first derivatives, and also on certain gauge-dependent parameters whose properties are suggested by the interaction of an isotopic spin particle with a classical Yang-Mills field. It is shown that the necessary and sufficient conditions for the invariance of the given objects (...) under a finite gauge transformation are embodied in a set of three relations involving the derivatives of their components. As a special case these so-called invariance identities indicate that there cannot exist a gauge-invariant Lagrangian that depends on the gauge potentials, the interaction parameters, and the4-velocity components of a test particle. However, the requirement that the equations of motion that result from such a Lagrangian be gauge-invariant, uniquely determines the structure of these equations. (shrink)

I propose and defend an account on which the semantic content of propositions expressed by utterances making use of modals epistemically is constant; i.e., invariant. Although such proposals are typically considered non-starters, I aim to show that combining such a semantics with a performative account in which such utterances perform two speech acts is quite promising. I argue that a performative account, when combined with an invariant semantic content theory, does a good job of accounting for ordinary intuitions in some (...) of the standard test cases discussed in the literature. I further show that the contextualist has a little noticed problem with how a single speaker is able to consider the same epistemic possibility proposition over time. An invariant position has no such problem, and I argue that this counts strongly in its favor. (shrink)

What are logical notions? According to a very popular proposal, a logical notion is something invariant under some “transformation” of objects, usually permutations or isomorphisms. The first chapter is about extending “invariance” accounts of logicality to intensional notions, by asking for invariance under arbitrary permutations of both possible worlds and objects. I discuss the results one gets in this extended theory of invariance, and how to fix many technical issues. The second chapter is about setting out a (...) better theory of logicality. I discuss the limits of invariance frameworks, and the need for a theory of logicality with a more solid philosophical ground. I believe that the concept of information can play a major role in defining what logic is and what logical notions are. I spell out this intuition, by designing a new test for logicality. A notion is logical iff it behaves in a certain way, by checking only “structural aspects of information”, and it does so under arbitrary transformations of its “informational inputs”. In the last chapter I explore some interesting features of my theory. I show how, contrary to standard invariance, in mine logical notions tend to stay persistent across different models of information. I also spell out an intermediate notion of quasi-logicality to make sense of the formality of “world-sensitive” notions: notions whose behaviour changes across worlds. I finally propose a case study: deontic modals. I discuss how one can argue for their quasi-logicality, in my framework. The dissertation is concluded with a technical appendix, in which I prove that my theory is a restriction of standard permutation invariance when we model the space of information in a certain way: as a set of complete powersets of some sets. (shrink)

Focus+Context techniques are commonly used in visualization systems to simultaneously provide both the details and the context of a particular dataset. This paper proposes a new methodology to empirically investigate the effect of various Focus+Context transformations on human perception. This methodology is based on the shaker paradigm, which tests performance for a visual task on an image that is rapidly alternated with a transformed version of itself. An important aspect of this technique is that it can determine two different kinds (...) of perceptual cost: (i) the effect on the perception of a static transformed image, and (ii) the effect of the dynamics of the transformation itself. This technique has been successfully applied to determine the extent to which human perception is invariant to scaling and rotation [Rensink 2004]. In this paper, we extend this approach to examine nonlinear fisheye transformations of the type typically used in a Focus+Context system. We show that there exists a no-cost zone where performance is unaffected by an abrupt, noticeable fisheye transformation, and that its extent can be determined. The lack of perceptual cost in regards to these sudden changes contradicts the belief that they are necessarily detrimental to performance, and suggests that smoothly animated transformations between visual states are not always necessary. We show that this technique also can map out low-cost zones where transformations result in only a slight degradation of performance. Finally, we show that rectangular grids have no positive effect on performance, acting only as a form of visual clutter. These results therefore demonstrate that the perceptual costs of nonlinear transformations can be successfully quantified. Interestingly, they show that some kinds of sudden transformation can be experienced with minimal or no perceptual cost. This contradicts the belief that sudden changes are necessarily detrimental to performance, and suggests that smoothly animated transformations between visual states are not always necessary.. (shrink)

In this study, we developed a model of unethical behavior intentions, collected data from managers of the private (n = 208) and the public (n = 307) sectors in the Republic of Macedonia, and tested our model across these two sectors. Results suggested that for both sectors, unethical behavior intentions were not related to the love of money and corporate ethical values, whereas irritation was negatively related to life satisfaction. Moreover, corporate ethical values were related to life satisfaction for the (...) private sector only, whereas the love of money and unethical behavior intentions were related to irritation for the public sector only. Managers in the private sector had higher corporate ethical values, lower unethical behavior intentions, lower irritation, and higher life satisfaction than those in the public sector. There was no difference in the love of money. There were more bad apples in the public sector (34.85%) than in the private sector (23.56%). The strongest factor of unethical behavior intentions in the private and the public sectors was theft and corruption, respectively. Finally, for the culture-free (etic) model, the love of money was positively related to irritation. Corporate ethical values had a positive "double-whammy" effect: reducing irritation and enhancing life satisfaction. Unethical behavior intentions were positively related to irritation (a mediator), which was negatively related to life satisfaction. Our theory provides new insights regarding doing business in the Republic of Macedonia. (shrink)

Cognitive reflection is recognized as an important skill, which is necessary for making advantageous decisions. Even though gender differences in the Cognitive Reflection test appear to be robust across multiple studies, little research has examined the source of the gender gap in performance. In Study 1, we tested the invariance of the scale across genders. In Study 2, we investigated the role of math anxiety, mathematical reasoning, and gender in CRT performance. The results attested the measurement equivalence of the (...) Cognitive Reflection Test – Long, when administered to male and female students. Additionally, the results of the mediation analysis showed an indirect effect of gender on CRT-L performance through mathematical reasoning and math anxiety. The direct effect of gender was no longer statistically significant after accounting for the other variables. The current findings suggest that cognitive reflection is affected by numerical skills and related feelings. (shrink)

Unfounded—conspiracy and health—beliefs about COVID-19 have accompanied the pandemic worldwide. Here, we examined cross-nationally the structure and correlates of these beliefs with an 8-item scale, using a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. We obtained a two-factor model of unfounded (conspiracy and health) beliefs with good internal structure (average CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.04), but a high correlation between the two factors (average latent factor correlation = 0.57). This model was replicable across 50 countries (total N = 13,579), (...) as evidenced by metric invariance between countries (CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.06, SRMS = 0.07) as well as scalar invariance across genders (CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMS = 0.03) and educational levels (CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMS = 0.03). Also, lower levels of education, more fear of COVID-19, and more cynicism were weakly associated with stronger conspiracy and health beliefs. The study contributes to knowledge about the structure of unfounded beliefs, and reveals the potential relevance of affective (i.e., fear of COVID-19) and cognitive (i.e., cynicism) factors along with demographics, in endorsing such beliefs. In summary, we obtained cross-cultural evidence for the distinctiveness of unfounded conspiracy and health beliefs about COVID-19 in terms of their structure and correlates. (shrink)

The full Bayesian signi/cance test (FBST) for precise hypotheses is presented, with some illustrative applications. In the FBST we compute the evidence against the precise hypothesis. We discuss some of the theoretical properties of the FBST, and provide an invariant formulation for coordinate transformations, provided a reference density has been established. This evidence is the probability of the highest relative surprise set, “tangential” to the sub-manifold (of the parameter space) that defines the null hypothesis.

The Mobile Phone Addiction Index is a short instrument to assess mobile phone addiction. The Chinese version of this scale has been widely used in Chinese students and shows promising psychometric characteristics. The present study tested the construct validity and measurement invariance of the MPAI by gender in middle school adolescents. The data were collected from 1,395 high school students. Confirmatory factor analysis and multiple-group CFA for invariance tests were conducted on the MPAI model which consisted of 17 (...) observed items and 4 latent factors. Findings showed that the data fit the four-factor structure model well for both males and females. Furthermore, configural, metric, scalar, and residual invariance were established by gender. The results indicated that the MPAI has acceptable psychometric properties when used in adolescents. In addition, with the strict invariance requirements being satisfied, the underlying factor scores for MPAI can be meaningfully compared across genders. To our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to test the measurement invariance of the MPAI across male and female adolescents. Our results will support future research on mobile phone addiction in adolescents. (shrink)

Unfounded—conspiracy and health—beliefs about COVID-19 have accompanied the pandemic worldwide. Here, we examined cross-nationally the structure and correlates of these beliefs with an 8-item scale, using a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. We obtained a two-factor model of unfounded (conspiracy and health) beliefs with good internal structure (average CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.04), but a high correlation between the two factors (average latent factor correlation = 0.57). This model was replicable across 50 countries (total N = 13,579), (...) as evidenced by metric invariance between countries (CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.06, SRMS = 0.07) as well as scalar invariance across genders (CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMS = 0.03) and educational levels (CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMS = 0.03). Also, lower levels of education, more fear of COVID-19, and more cynicism were weakly associated with stronger conspiracy and health beliefs. The study contributes to knowledge about the structure of unfounded beliefs, and reveals the potential relevance of affective (i.e., fear of COVID-19) and cognitive (i.e., cynicism) factors along with demographics, in endorsing such beliefs. In summary, we obtained cross-cultural evidence for the distinctiveness of unfounded conspiracy and health beliefs about COVID-19 in terms of their structure and correlates. (shrink)

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in young adults has increased dramatically in recent decades. The unhealthy eating habits that develop at this time can often lead to negative health consequences in the future. It is therefore important to learn about self-regulation and self-control strategies and help young adults to have healthy eating behaviours. This study aims to present an Italian version of the Tempest Self-Regulation Questionnaire for Eating adapted for young adults. The instrument assesses self-regulation and self-control strategies to (...) counteract the desire and temptation to eat unhealthy food and to choose healthy foods. A total of 645 students took part in the study. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the six first-order factors model concerning specific self-regulation strategies and a higher-order structure of the TESQ-E [χ2 = 336.480, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.04; SRMR = 0.04]: three correlated second-order factors and one-third-order factor. The results also confirmed the strong measurement invariance of the TESQ-E across gender. To have reliable comparisons across males and females, the latent mean differences tests were performed on the six specific self-regulation strategies. The analysis showed that females appear to prefer strategies that directly address the goal by expressing explicit intentions or plans to eat in a healthy way. Convergence validity was tested through correlations with Eating-Self-Efficacy Brief Scale, Emotional Eating Scale, Scale of Attitudes towards Healthy Eating, and Body Mass Index. In conclusion, the TESQ-E appears to be a psychometrically sound questionnaire that can be effectively used with young adults to measure self-regulation strategies in eating in order to plan personalised interventions for the prevention and control of the metabolic syndrome, and to reduce a wide range of diet-related diseases. (shrink)

This study aimed to investigate the factor structure and measurement invariance of the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 among Chinese adults. A sample comprising 1,839 adults from four cities in Shaanxi province completed the BSI-18 and background information. The best-fitting factor structure model of the BSI-18 was verified by confirmatory factor analyses, and multigroup confirmatory factor analyses were performed to test the measurement invariance. The results indicated that the three-factor bi-factor model fitted the current data best. The configural, metric, scalar, (...) and strict invariance models all had acceptable model fit indexes across genders, and the configural, metric, scalar invariance models with different living areas and educational levels were all acceptable. Overall, the three-factor bi-factor model of the BSI-18 shows a good fit for use with Chinese adults, making it a viable tool for effectively measuring the mental health of Chinese adults. (shrink)

How much context-sensitivity is there in English? Cappelen and Lepore’s answer: Not very much. On their view, context-sensitivity is confined to a ‘Basic List’, ‘plus or minus a bit’, that includes pronouns, demonstratives, temporal and spatial adverbs like ‘here’, ‘now’, and ‘yesterday’, and a short list of context dependent nouns and adjectives. Shockingly, the authors claim that ‘Lepore is ready’, ‘Cappelen has had enough’, and ‘Cappelen is quite tall,’ have a context-invariant meaning. Nor is that meaning incomplete, in the sense (...) of being something that can only be given a truth value relative to an enrichment. No, simultaneous utterances of ‘Lepore is ready’ always express the same proposition—that Lepore is ready—one that is true or false. When is it true? Cagily, the authors inform us that it is true if and only if Lepore is ready. One might wish to inquire further as to when Lepore is ready. For example: ‘If Lepore is ready for breakfast but not ready to learn to play golf, is Lepore ready?’ and ‘Given that I am always ready for a fulfilling relationship, am I ever not ready?’ Whenever they are faced with questions such as these, the authors defer to the arena of metaphysics, where they admit to being ‘rank amateurs’. (shrink)

The standard argument for the Lorentz invariance of the thermodynamic entropy in equilibrium is based on the assumption that it is possible to perform an adiabatic transformation whose only outcome is to accelerate a macroscopic body, keeping its rest mass unchanged. The validity of this assumption constitutes the very foundation of relativistic thermodynamics and needs to be tested in greater detail. We show that, indeed, such a transformation is always possible, at least in principle. The only two assumptions invoked (...) in the proof are that there is at least one inertial reference frame in which the second law of thermodynamics is valid and that the microscopic theory describing the internal dynamics of the body is a field theory, with Lorentz invariant Lagrangian density. The proof makes no reference to the connection between entropy and probabilities and is valid both within classical and quantum physics. To avoid any risk of circular reasoning, we do not postulate that the laws of thermodynamics are the same in every reference frame, but we obtain this fact as a direct consequence of the Lorentz invariance of the entropy. (shrink)

There have recently been various empirical attempts to answer Molyneux’s question, for example, the experiments undertaken by the Held group. These studies, though intricate, have encountered some objections, for instance, from Schwenkler, who proposes two ways of improving the experiments. One is “to re-run [the] experiment with the stimulus objects made to move, and/or the subjects moved or permitted to move with respect to them” (p. 94), which would promote three dimensional or otherwise viewpoint-invariant representations. The other is “to use (...) geometrically simpler shapes, such as the cube and sphere in Molyneux’s original proposal, or planar figures instead of three-dimensional solids” (p. 188). Connolly argues against the first modification but agrees with the second. In this article, I argue that the second modification is also problematic (though still surmountable), and that both Schwenkler and Connolly are too optimistic about the prospect of addressing Molyneux’s question empirically. (shrink)

This chapter has two main goals: to update philosophers on the state of the art in the scientific psychology of intelligence, and to explain and evaluate challenges to the measurement invariance of intelligence tests. First, we provide a brief history of the scientific psychology of intelligence. Next, we discuss the metaphysics of intelligence in light of scientific studies in psychology and neuroimaging. Finally, we turn to recent skeptical developments related to measurement invariance. These have largely focused on attributability: (...) Where do the mechanisms and dispositions that explain people’s performance on tests of intelligence inhere – in the agent, in the local testing environment, in the culture, or in the interactions among these? After explaining what measurement invariance is in the context of intelligence testing, we explore the phenomenon of stereotype threat as a challenge to measurement invariance, as well as more recent work on overcoming or buffering against stereotype threat. (shrink)

How does the visual system recognize images of a novel object after a single observation despite possible variations in the viewpoint of that object relative to the observer? One possibility is comparing the image with a prototype for invariance over a relevant transformation set. However, invariance over rotations has proven difficult to analyze, because it applies to some objects but not others. We propose that the invariant transformations of an object are learned by incorporating prior expectations with real-world (...) evidence. We test this proposal by developing an ideal learner model for learning invariance that predicts better learning of orientation dependence when prior expectations about orientation are weak. This prediction was supported in two behavioral experiments, where participants learned the orientation dependence of novel images using feedback from solving arithmetic problems. (shrink)

The Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS) is a self-report instrument assessing pleasure experience. The present study aimed to confirm the factor model of the Chinese version of TEPS and test measurement invariance of the scale across gender in Chinese university students. Participants were 2977 (51% female) undergraduates aged from 16 to 27 years (Mean age = 18.9 years). Results indicated that the revised four-factor structure of the TEPS had acceptable fit in the total sample and in gender groups. (...) Furthermore, configural, metric and partial scalar invariance across gender were established. Two of the items (item 4 and 8) demonstrated different intercepts and women scored higher than men on both items. With partial scalar invariance demonstrated, test of differences in latent means indicated that men had lower levels of pleasure when compared with women. To our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to test the measurement invariance of the TEPS across gender, which provides support for future research that involves examining hedonic capacity in Chinese men and women. (shrink)

The CP-violation problem and unconditional tests of discrete symmetries T and CPT are investigated in the exact quantum theory (QT) beyond the usually used Lee-Oehme-Yang (LOY) theory, which is based on the famous Weisskopf-Wigner (WW) approximation. New unconditional CP-violation effects, independent from those known before, new unconditional tests of the CPT and T invariances, and new results for correlations are derived. Corresponding general results are obtained for\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document} $$K^0 - \bar K^0,{\mathbf{ }}B^0 (...) - \bar B^0,{\mathbf{ }}D^0 - \bar D^0 $$ \end{document} mesons. On the base of these new theoretical results, some proposals for experiments by CP LEAR and ϕ, B factories are given. The new results are interesting not only for the CP-violation problem itself but also for testing violation of the standard quantum dynamics connected with ideas of quantum gravity. (shrink)

This study investigated the factorial validity of the 58-item Corporate Ethical Virtues scale :923–947, 2008). The major aim was to test the invariance of the factor structure across different organizational samples. The CEV scale was designed to measure eight corporate virtues: clarity, congruency of supervisors, congruency of senior management, feasibility, supportability, transparency, discussability, and sanctionability. The data consisted of four organizational samples that are operated in the private and public sector. The results of confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesized (...) eight-factor structure, as well as its alternative second-order factor structure, where high correlations between the first-order factors were explained by a general CEV factor. These factor structures remained the same across samples, lending strong support for the group invariance assumption of the scale. Thus, the 58-item CEV scale was found to be a valid tool for measuring the aspect of ethical organizational culture in different organizations, and its use can be recommended for future research. (shrink)

This paper describes an intelligent algorithm for traffic sign recognition which converges quickly, is accurate in its segmentation and adaptive in its behaviour. The proposed approach can segment images of traffic signs in different lighting and environmental conditions and in different countries. It is based on using Kohonen's Self-Organizing Maps as a clustering tool and it is developed for Intelligent Vehicle applications. The current approach does not need any prior training. Instead, a slight portion, which is about 1% of the (...) image under investigation, is used for training. This is a key issue to ensure fast convergence and high adaptability. The current approach was tested by using 442 images which were collected under different environmental conditions and from different countries. The proposed approach shows promising results; good improvement of 73% is observed in faded traffic sign images compared with 53.3% using the traditional algorithm. The adaptability of the system is evident from the segmentation of the traffic sign images from various countries where the result is 96% for the nine countries included in the test. (shrink)

Workplace Incivility (WI) occurs worldwide and has negative consequences on individuals and organizations. Valid and comprehensive instruments have been used, specifically in English speaking countries, to measure such adverse process at work, but it is not available a validated instrument for research carried out in Spanish speaking countries. In this study we aim to test the psychometric properties of the Matthews and Ritter’s four-item Workplace Incivility Scale (2016) with Spanish workers (N= 407) from different sectors. Participants’ mean age was 38.73 (...) (SD= 10.45) years old and the percentage of female employees was 59.2%. Confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS 19.0 was carried out, presenting a good fit. The internal consistency, convergent and concurrent validity of the scale were examined. Results show good scale reliability and expected high correlations with social undermining. Moreover, the scale related to propensity to leave a job, job satisfaction, and psychological well-being in the expected way. After configural invariance across groups was established, testing for metric invariance and scalar invariance was performed. Considering Δχ² and ΔCFI tests for two nested models, the 4-item scale was invariant when the employment status is considered (permanent vs temporal, full-time vs part-time and supervisor vs non supervisors). Overall, our findings showed good psychometric properties of the shorter version of the Workplace Incivility Scale in Spain. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed. (shrink)

Face recognition is a computationally challenging classification task. Deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) are brain‐inspired algorithms that have recently reached human‐level performance in face and object recognition. However, it is not clear to what extent DCNNs generate a human‐like representation of face identity. We have recently revealed a subset of facial features that are used by humans for face recognition. This enables us now to ask whether DCNNs rely on the same facial information and whether this human‐like representation depends on (...) a system that is optimized for face identification. In the current study, we examined the representation of DCNNs of faces that differ in features that are critical or non‐critical for human face recognition. Our findings show that DCNNs optimized for face identification are tuned to the same facial features used by humans for face recognition. Sensitivity to these features was highly correlated with performance of the DCNN on a benchmark face recognition task. Moreover, sensitivity to these features and a view‐invariant face representation emerged at higher layers of a DCNN optimized for face recognition but not for object recognition. This finding parallels the division to a face and an object system in high‐level visual cortex. Taken together, these findings validate human perceptual models of face recognition, enable us to use DCNNs to test predictions about human face and object recognition as well as contribute to the interpretability of DCNNs. (shrink)

The Defining Issues Test (DIT) has been widely used in psychological experiments to assess one’s developmental level of moral reasoning in terms of postconventional reasoning. However, there have been concerns regarding whether the tool is biased across people with different genders and political and religious views. To address the limitations, in the present study, I tested the validity of the brief version of the test, that is, the behavioral DIT, in terms of the measurement invariance and differential item functioning (...) (DIF). I could not find any significant non-invariance at the test level or any item demonstrating practically significant DIF at the item level. The findings indicate that neither the test nor any of its items showed a significant bias toward any particular group. As a result, the collected validity evidence supports the use of test scores across different groups, enabling researchers who intend to examine participants’ moral reasoning development across heterogeneous groups to draw conclusions based on the scores. (shrink)