How Do They Do It? – Understanding the Success of Marine Invasive Species

From the depths of the oceans to the shallow estuaries and wetlands of our coasts, organisms of the marine environment are teeming with unique adaptations to cope with a multitude of varying environmental conditions. With millions of years and a vast volume of water to call their home, they have become quite adept at developing specialized and unique techniques for survival and – given increasing human mediated transport – biological invasions. A growing world human population and a global economy drives the transportation of goods across the oceans and with them invasive species via ballast water and attached to ship hulls. In any given 24-hour period, there are about 10,000 species being transported across different biogeographic regions. If any of them manage to take hold and establish a range in an exotic habitat, the implications for local ecosystems can be costly. This review on marine invasions highlights trends among successful non-indigenous species (NIS), from vectors of transport to ecological and physiological plasticity. Apart from summarizing patterns of successful invasions, it discusses the implications of how successfully established NIS impact the local environment, economy and human health. Finally, it looks to the future and discusses what questions need to be addressed and what models can tell us about what the outlook on future marine invasions is

The Psychometric Modeling of Scientific Reasoning: a Review and Recommendations for Future Avenues

Psychometric modeling has become a frequently used statistical tool in research on scientific reasoning. We review psychometric modeling practices in this field, including model choice, model testing, and researchers’ inferences based on their psychometric practices. A review of 11 empirical research studies reveals that the predominant psychometric approach is Rasch modeling with a focus on itemfit statistics, applied in a way strongly similar to practices in national and international large-scale educational assessment programs. This approach is common in the educational assessment community and rooted in subtle philosophical views on measurement. However, we find that based on this approach, researchers tend to draw interpretations that are not within the inferential domain of this specific approach and not in accordance with the related practices and inferential purposes. In some of the reviewed articles, researchers put emphasis on item infit statistics for dimensionality assessment. Item infit statistics, however, cannot be regarded as a valid indicator of the dimensionality of scientific reasoning. Using simulations as illustration, we argue that this practice is limited in delivering psychological insights; in fact, various recent inferences about the structure, cognitive basis, and correlates of scientific reasoning might be unwarranted. In order to harness its full potential, we make suggestions towards adjusting psychometric modeling practices to the psychological and educational questions at hand