Using Exploratory Bifactor Analysis to Understand the Latent Structure of Multidimensional Psychological Measures: An Example Featuring the WISC-V

Exploratory bifactor analysis (EBFA) represents a methodological advancement for implementing a bifactor model in exploratory factor analysis (EFA). However, little is known about how to properly employ the procedure. The current rotation criteria available for EBFA make it more likely to “get stuck” in local minima, contributing to possible group factor collapse, than more traditional EFA rotations. Thus, getting a proper solution is a more complex and involved process than typical EFA and may require a sensitivity analysis. This article examines EBFA through a sensitivity analysis and subsequent simulation of parameters thought to contribute to group factor collapse. Results support the use of sensitivity analysis, as the problematic variable was shown to greatly increase the likelihood of factor collapse. The hypothesis that estimation start values contribute to factor collapse was not supported. Accompanying R syntax for all analyses are provided to facilitate reproducibility.     

Casual Academic Staff in an Australian University: Marginalised and excluded

Abstract

The transition from a planned centralist economy to a market economy over the last decade of the 20th century has presented Russian universities with many profound challenges. These challenges require universities to review and consider their organisational culture and deserve careful study. This paper describes the changes that have taken place at Tomsk Polytechnic University ‐ one of oldest, largest and leading Russian universities.     

Play therapy with emotionally damaged adolescents

Abstract

Adolescence is a critical period of development for all individuals, but particularly for those who have suffered earlier emotional difficulties or abuse. If these problems go unresolved, patterns of behaviour which become established during this period may be more difficult to change later on. However, more traditional talk therapies may be resisted by adolescents. This article argues that non-directive play therapy, given age-appropriate adaptations, offers an approach which, since it encompasses both play and verbal communication, is well suited to addressing adolescent concerns, particularly those of early adolescence.This argument is illustrated by two accounts of therapy with a boy and a girl, both in early adolescence, which show how a more traditional non-directive counselling approach was combined with play therapy by the adolescents themselves, allowing exploration of emotional difficulties on all levels of mental functioning. The cases show how traumatic or painful early memories may be reworked on a bodily and emotional level, without the feeling of over-intrusion risked by a directive or interpretive stance.     

Verbal Final Exam in Introductory Biology Yields Gains in Student Content Knowledge and Longitudinal Performance

We studied gains in student learning over eight semesters in which an introductory biology course curriculum was changed to include optional verbal final exams (VFs). Students could opt to demonstrate their mastery of course material via structured oral exams with the professor. In a quantitative assessment of cell biology content knowledge, students who passed the VF outscored their peers on the medical assessment test (MAT), an exam built with 40 Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) questions (66.4% [n = 160] and 62% [n = 285], respectively; p < 0.001);. The higher-achieving students performed better on MCAT questions in all topic categories tested; the greatest gain occurred on the topic of cellular respiration. Because the VF focused on a conceptually parallel topic, photosynthesis, there may have been authentic knowledge transfer. In longitudinal tracking studies, passing the VF also correlated with higher performance in a range of upper-level science courses, with greatest significance in physiology, biochemistry, and organic chemistry. Participation had a wide range but not equal representation in academic standing, gender, and ethnicity. Yet students nearly unanimously (92%) valued the option. Our findings suggest oral exams at the introductory level may allow instructors to assess and aid students striving to achieve higher-level learning.     

Factors that Predict Married Partners' Disclosures about Infertility to Social Network Members

This study draws upon the revelation risk model and the disclosure decision-making model to deduce hypotheses linking perceived stigma, communication efficacy, and relational closeness to married partners’ tendencies to disclose information about their infertility experiences to members of the couple's social network. Data from 50 couples reporting on disclosures to a total of 250 social network members were analyzed using multilevel modeling. Results indicated that aspects of stigma, communication efficacy, and closeness impact infertility-related disclosures. The discussion highlights how the application of these theories sheds light on the multiple factors that influence the extent to which husbands and wives engage their social network when coping with infertility.     

“Transforming” the Conversation: Rethinking Fair Use in Academic Course Reserves

The Association of Research Libraries' 2012 publication, Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries, focuses heavily on the concept of transformative use within the fair use analysis. In some cases, the Association of Research Libraries advocates for using the entire work in an electronic format for course reserves. However, current approaches to electronic course reserves and fair use/transformative use arguments are not conducive to utilizing the Association of Research Libraries' recommendations. This article attempts to reframe the conversation by examining fair use in a broad context and the role of the class in the fair use analysis.     

Testing the persuasiveness of evidence: Combining narrative and statistical forms

This study provides an experimental test for the conclusions of the Allen and Preiss (1997) meta‐analysis that statistical evidence is more persuasive than narrative evidence. This investigation extends that finding to consider the case where a message combines statistical and narrative evidence to determine if a combination of evidence is more effective than a single form of support. This investigation using 15 messages and 1,270 participants finds that a message combining narrative and statistical evidence is more persuasive than a message using either narrative or statistical evidence alone.     

Changes in self-esteem across the first year in college: the role of achievement goals

This longitudinal study examined the effects of achievement goals on the growth trajectories of self-esteem during the first-year at a comprehensive public university. College freshmen (N?=?311) were followed for one academic year with three time points. Between-individual differences and within-individual change in achievement goals were distinguished and used as predictors for the growth trajectories of self-esteem. A growth curve analysis revealed that initially high mastery goals and subsequent increases in mastery goals were related to high self-esteem while initially high performance-avoidance goals were related to low self-esteem. The initial levels of performance-approach goals were not related to self-esteem but subsequent increases in performance-approach goals were associated with low self-esteem. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.