Spreadsheet modeling for research and teaching: Programming without programming

Spreadsheets can be used to focus academic research and teaching on theoretical models. Examples of models from learning, social psychology, and perception are presented to illustrate how spreadsheet techniques work. Two strengths of this approach are emphasized: (1) Spreadsheets provide a relatively user-friendly alternative to some kinds of instructional and research programming; and (2) the linked tables and graphs of modern spreadsheets provide a powerful display medium and a fast way to examine the behavior of models as parameters change. I suggest some models for which spreadsheets may be appropriate

Goodness-of-fit patterns in a computer cross-validation procedure comparing a linear and a threshold model

Cross-validation is the process of comparing a model’s predictions to data that were not used in the estimation of model parameters. Cross-validation may have some value in identifying source models, especially in cases where the corresponding fitted models require the estimation of different numbers of parameters. Some of the information available from cross-validation is illustrated using a linear and a threshold model, and goodness-of-fit patterns are contrasted with those of conventional model-fitting

Enhancing the Messages Displayed on Dynamic Message Signs

A human factors study was carried out to help enhance ways tocommunicate with highway motorists through dynamic message signs (DMS).Overhead mounted DMSs have been increasingly used by highway authorities inthe United States to present real-time traffic information and travel advice tomotorists. It is critical to post sign messages that can be quickly and clearlyunderstood by motorists, especially in high-volume traffic and construction/repairzones. Properly worded and formatted sign messages could spell the differencebetween comprehension and confusion. Message display factors investigated inthe study include display effects, color schemes, wording, and formats. Twoapproaches were employed in this study. First, a questionnaire survey wasdeveloped to collect motorists’ preferences regarding various message displayfactors. Second, a series of lab driving simulation experiments were set up toassess the effects of these factors and their interactions on motorists’comprehension of DMS messages. Study results suggested that static, one-framedmessages with more specific wording and no abbreviations were preferred.Amber or green or a green-amber combination were the most favored colors.Younger subjects took less response time to the DMS stimuli with higheraccuracy than older subjects. There were no significant gender differences

An angle-distribution effect in mental rotation

Rossi and Collyer (1986) reported data suggesting a threshold for mental rotation. The threshold-like nonlinearity may have been caused by the skewed distribution of angles used in their mental rotation experiment. In the present study, skewing the angle distribution toward small angles (skewed condition) increased the overall slope of the mental rotation response time function, relative to that of an even-distribution condition. Visual inspection of the data suggests that if there is a threshold-like nonlinearity, it is present in both the skewed and the even conditions. However, it is difficult to draw a strong conclusion for logical and statistical reasons. © 1987, The psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved

Parameter estimates depend both on the source model and on the fitted model: An example

Distributions of estimates of the threshold for mental rotation under two fitted models were collected from computer simulations of three source models and from human data. The estimates depend both on the source of the data and on the fitted model used for parameter estimation. The concept of a source model’s “fertility” is illustrated by a characteristic of the human data shared by one of the source models. © 1988, The Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved

The algebra and geometry of β

Some operations relating to signal detection theory (SDT) analysis are facilitated by expressing β as a function of the z-transformed hit and false alarm rates, z1 and z0, respectively. This expression for the simplest equal-variance SDT model is β = exp[1/2(zo + z1)(zo − z1)]. © 1981, The psychonomic soceity, inc. All rights reserved

Sensitive and tolerant raters differ in their magnitude estimates of extremely violent behaviors

A 2007 study indicated severity of violence of several behaviors can be rated consistently, such that an individual\u27s average rating across the behaviors can serve as a measure of sensitivity to violence. However, violence-sensitive and violence-tolerant raters in that study gave similar high scale ratings of severity of violence for extremely violent behaviors such as murder and stabbing. In the present study an open-ended magnitude estimation response scale was used by 27 participants to examine impressions of the severity of violence of 38 behaviors. There was a positive correlation between estimates of severity for extreme physical violence and estimates for lower severity of violence. This result indicates that the earlier finding of apparent equivalence of sensitive and tolerant individuals did not signify agreement about extremely violent behaviors but was a ceiling effect arising from the closed-ended response scale used. Violence-sensitive and violence-tolerant individuals seem to have different attitudes toward all types of violence. © Perceptual and Motor Skills 2008