Kognitive Diagnosemodelle (DCMs) sind konfirmatorische probabilistische Modelle mit kategorialen latenten Variablen, die Mehrfachladungsstrukturen erlauben. Sie ermöglichen die Abbildung der Kompetenzen in mehrdimensionalen Profilen, die zur Erstellung informativer Rückmeldungen dienen können. Diese Dissertation untersucht in zwei Anwendungsstudien und einer Simulationsstudie wichtige methodische Aspekte bei der Schätzung der DCMs. In der Arbeit wurde ein neuer Mathematiktest entwickelt basierend auf theoriegeleiteten vorab definierten Q-Matrizen. In den Anwendungsstudien (a) illustrierten wir die Anwendung der DCMs für empirische Daten für den neu entwickelten Mathematiktest, (b) verglichen die DCMs mit konfirmatorischen Faktorenanalysemodellen (CFAs), (c) untersuchten die inkrementelle Validität der mehrdimensionalen Profile und (d) schlugen eine Methode zum Vergleich konkurrierender DCMs vor. Ergebnisse der Anwendungsstudien zeigten, dass die geschätzten DCMs meist einen nicht akzeptablen Modellfit aufwiesen. Zudem fanden wir nur eine vernachlässigbare inkrementelle Validität der mehrdimensionalen Profile nach der Kontrolle der Personenparameter bei der Vorhersage der Mathematiknote. Zusammengenommen sprechen diese Ergebnisse dafür, dass DCMs per se keine zusätzliche Information über die mehrdimensionalen CFA-Modelle hinaus bereitstellen. DCMs erlauben jedoch eine andere Aufbereitung der Information. In der Simulationsstudie wurde die Präzision der Parameterschätzungen in log-linearen DCMs sowie die Sensitivität ausgewählter Indizes der Modellpassung auf verschiedene Formen der Fehlspezifikation der Interaktionsterme oder der Q-Matrix untersucht. Die Ergebnisse der Simulationsstudie zeigen, dass die Parameterwerte für große Stichproben korrekt geschätzt werden, während die Akkuratheit der Parameterschätzungen bei kleineren Stichproben z. T. beeinträchtigt ist. Ein großer Teil der Personen wird in Modellen mit fehlspezifizierten Q-Matrizen falsch klassifiziert. / Cognitive diagnostic classification models (DCMs) have been developed to assess the cognitive processes underlying assessment responses. Current dissertation aims to provide theoretical and practical considerations for estimation of DCMs for educational applications by investigating several important underexplored issues. To avoid problems related to retrofitting of DCMs to an already existing data, test construction of the newly mathematics assessment for primary school DMA was based on a-priori defined Q-matrices. In this dissertation we compared DCMs with established psychometric models and investigated the incremental validity of DCMs profiles over traditional IRT scores. Furthermore, we addressed the issue of the verification of the Q-matrix definition. Moreover, we examined the impact of invalid Q-matrix specification on item, respondent parameter recovery, and sensitivity of selected fit measures. In order to address these issues one simulation study and two empirical studies illustrating applications of several DCMs were conducted. In the first study we have applied DCMs in general diagnostic modelling framework and compared those models to factor analysis models. In the second study we implemented a complex simulation study and investigated the implications of Q-matrix misspecification on parameter recovery and classification accuracy for DCMs in log-linear framework. In the third study we applied results of the simulation study to a practical application based on the data for 2032 students for the DMA. Presenting arguments for additional gain of DCMs over traditional psychometric models remains challenging. Furthermore, we found only a negligible incremental validity of multivariate proficiency profiles compared to the one-dimensional IRT ability estimate. Findings from the simulation study revealed that invalid Q-matrix specifications led to decreased classification accuracy. Information-based fit indices were sensitive to strong model misspecifications.

Les anciens combattants qui reviennent de mission sont fréquemment sujets à avoir des cauchemars récurrents, et ce, durant de nombreuses années. Au moyen d'une expérimentation auprès d'un ancien combattant souffrant de cauchemars récurrents et présentant un état de stress post-traumatique, la présente étude de cas vise à évaluer l'efficacité d'un traitement propre à ce type de cauchemar, soit la thérapie par révision et répétition d'imagerie. L'évaluation avant, pendant et suivant le traitement psychologique porte sur la fréquence, l'intensité et le contenu des cauchemars. De plus, à l'aide de mesures polysomnographiques et actigraphiques, la qualité du sommeil est évaluée, de manière objective. Les symptômes de dépression et d'anxiété ainsi que la qualité de vie du participant sont également évalués avant et après traitement. Les résultats indiquent une diminution de la fréquence et de l'intensité des cauchemars ainsi que des symptômes de dépression, en plus d'une augmentation de la qualité de vie. La thérapie n'a pas eu d'effet significatif sur les données subjectives et objectives du sommeil, à l'exception du nombre d'éveils, qui a diminué d'un point de vue subjectif. Pour ce qui est du contenu des rêves, on observe une tendance vers la diversification du contenu onirique, moins axé sur les combats militaires.

This work addresses issues in the study of gene-environment interaction (GxE) through research of conduct disorder (CD) among adolescents and extends the recent report of significant GxE and subsequent replication studies. A sub-sample of 1,299 individual participants/649 twin pairs and their parents from the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent and Behavioral Development was used for whom Monoamine Oxidase A (MAOA) genotype, diagnosis of CD, maternal antisocial personality symptoms, and household neglect were obtained. This dissertation (1) tested for GxE by gender using MAOA and childhood adversity using multiple approaches to CD measurement and model assessment, (2) determined whether other mechanisms would explain differences in GxE by gender and (3) identified and assessed other genes and environments related to the interaction MAOA and childhood adversity. Using a multiple regression approach, a main effect of the low/low MAOA genotype remained after controlling other risk factors in females. However, the effects of GxE were modest and were removed by transforming the environmental measures. In contrast, there was no significant effect of the low activity MAOA allele in males although significant GxE was detected and remained after transformation. The sign of the interaction for males was opposite from females, indicating genetic sensitivity to childhood adversity may differ by gender. Upon further investigation, gender differences in GxE were due to genotype-sex interaction and may involve MAOA. A Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach including a genetic Item Response Theory modeled CD as a trait with continuous liability, since false detection of GxE may result from measurement. In males and females, the inclusion of GxE while controlling for the other covariates was appropriate, but was little improvement in model fit and effect sizes of GxE were small. Other candidate genes functioning in the serotonin and dopamine neurotransmitter systems were tested for interaction with MAOA to affect risk for CD. Main genetic effects of dopamine transporter genotype and MAOA in the presence of comorbidity were detected. No epistatic effects were detected. The use of random forests systematically assessed the environment and produced several interesting environments that will require more thoughtful consideration before incorporation into a model testing GxE.

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Trauma Inventory for Partners of Sex Addicts (TIPSA). Using the Nominal Response Model (NRM), I examined several aspects of item and option functioning including discrimination, empirical category ordering, and information. Category Boundary Discrimination (CBD) parameters were calculated to determine the extent to which respondents distinguished between adjacent categories. Indistinguishable categories were collapsed through recoding. Empirically disordered response categories were also collapsed through recoding. Findings revealed that recoding solved some technical functioning issues in some items, and also revealed items (and perhaps option anchors) that were probably poorly conceived initially. In addition, nuisance or error variance was reduced only marginally by recoding, and the relative standing of respondents on the trait continuum remained largely unchanged. Items in need of modification or removal were identified, and issues of content validity were discussed.

Despite its convenience, the process of self-report in personality testing can be impacted by a variety of cognitive and perceptual biases. One bias that violates local independence, a core criterion of modern test theory, is the order effect. In this bias, characteristics of an item response are impacted not only by the content of the current item but also the accumulated exposure to previous, similar-content items. This bias is manifested as increasingly stable item responses for items that appear later in a test. Previous investigations of this effect have been rooted in classical test theory (CTT) and have consistently found that item reliabilities, or corrected item-total score correlations, increase with the item's serial position in the test. The purpose of the current study was to more rigorously examine order effects via item response theory (IRT). To this end, the FACETS modeling approach (Linacre, 1989) was combined with the Generalized Partial Credit model (GPCM; Muraki, 1992) to produce a new model, the Generalized Partial Credit FACETS model (GPCFM). Serial position of an item serves as a facet that contributes to the item response, not only via its impact on an item's location on the latent trait continuum, but also its discrimination. Thus, the GPCFM differs from previous generalizations of the FACETS model (Wang&Liu, 2007) in that the item discrimination parameter is modified to include a serial position effect. This parameter is important because it reflects the extent to which the purported underlying trait is represented in an item score. Two sets of analyses were conducted. First, a simulation study demonstrated effective parameter recovery, though measurements of error were impacted by sample size for all parameters, test length for trait level estimates, and the size of the order effect for trait level estimates, and an interaction between sample size and test length for item discrimination. Secondly, with respect to real self-report personality data, the GPCFM demonstrated good fit as well as superior fit relative to competing, nested models while also identifying order effects in some traits, particularly Neuroticism, Openness, and Agreeableness.

Submitted by JÚLIO HEBER SILVA (julioheber@yahoo.com.br) on 2017-03-15T17:36:59Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Sidney Tadeu Santiago Costa - 2017.pdf: 1406618 bytes, checksum: 291719e6f7eaaff496ec405e241ce518 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2017-03-20T12:39:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Sidney Tadeu Santiago Costa - 2017.pdf: 1406618 bytes, checksum: 291719e6f7eaaff496ec405e241ce518 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-20T12:39:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Sidney Tadeu Santiago Costa - 2017.pdf: 1406618 bytes, checksum: 291719e6f7eaaff496ec405e241ce518 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-03 / With the note gotten in the Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio - ENEM the students can applay the vacant in diverse public institutions of superior education and programs of the government, for example, the program Universidade para Todos(Prouni) and the Fundo de Financiamento Estudantil (Fies). The ENEM uses a methodology of correction of the objective questions called Theory of Reply to the Item - TRI, that has some aspects that are different of the Classic Theory of the Tests - TCT. The main factor that determines the result of a citizen in a avaliativo process where if uses the TCT, is the number of correct answers, while in the TRI, beyond the amount of rightnesss is basic if to analyze which answers they are correct. The objective of this work is to explain what it is the TRI and as if it applies this methodology in evaluations of wide scale. A historical boarding of the logistic models used by the TRI and the justification of the existence of each parameter will be made that composes the main equation of the modeling. To determine each parameter that composes the model of the TRI and to calculate the final note of each candidate, a procedure of called optimization will be used Method of Maximum Probability - MMV. The computational tools in the work had been software R, with packages developed for application of the TRI and the Visual programming language beginner’s all-purpose symbolic instruction code to program functions, called as macros, in electronic spread sheets. / Com a nota obtida no Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio - ENEM os estudantes podem se candidatar a vagas em diversas instituições públicas de ensino superior e programas do governo, por exemplo, o programa Universidade para Todos (Prouni) e o Fundo de Financiamento Estudantil (Fies). O ENEM utiliza uma metodologia de correção das questões objetivas denominada Teoria de Resposta ao Item - TRI, que possui vários aspectos que são diferentes da Teoria Clássica dos Testes - TCT. O principal fator que determina o resultado de um sujeito em um processo avaliativo onde se utiliza a TCT, é o número de respostas corretas, enquanto na TRI, além da quantidade de acertos é fundamental se analisar quais respostas estão corretas. O objetivo deste trabalho é explicar o que é a TRI e como se aplica essa metodologia em avaliações de larga escala. Será feita uma abordagem histórica dos modelos logísticos utilizados pela TRI e a justificativa da existência de cada parâmetro que compõe a equação principal da modelagem. Para determinar cada parâmetro que compõe o modelo da TRI e calcular a nota final de cada candidato, será utilizado um procedimento de otimização denominado Método da Máxima Verossimilhança - MMV. As ferramentas computacionais no trabalho foram o software R, com pacotes desenvolvidos para aplicação da TRI e a linguagem de programação Visual Basic para programar funções, denominadas como macros, em planilhas eletrônicas.

To control various response biases and rater errors in noncognitive assessment, multidimensional forced choice (MFC) measures have been proposed as an alternative to single-statement Likert-type scales. Historically, MFC measures have been criticized because conventional scoring methods can lead to ipsativity problems that render scores unsuitable for inter-individual comparisons. However, with the recent advent of classical test theory and item response theory scoring methods that yield normative information, MFC measures are surging in popularity and becoming important components of personnel and educational assessment systems. This dissertation presents developments concerning a GGUM-based MFC model henceforth referred to as the GGUM-RANK. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms were developed to estimate GGUM-RANK statement and person parameters directly from MFC rank responses, and the efficacy of the new estimation algorithm was examined through computer simulations and an empirical construct validity investigation. Recently derived GGUM-RANK item information functions and information indices were also used to evaluate overall item and test quality for the empirical study and to give insights into differences in scoring accuracy between two-alternative (pairwise preference) and three-alternative (triplet) MFC measures for future work. This presentation concludes with a discussion of the research findings and potential applications in workforce and educational setting.

Magister Artium - MA / As a minister who is deeply involved in Christian counselling I am constantly reminded just how many problems marriages are facing today. There is no question that the failure of this fundamental relationship has unquantifiable devastating results in the lives of couples, their children, and society as a whole. The more one works with people one realises that many couples in relationships are just hurting individuals in search of happiness and wholeness. Marriage provides the perfect relationship with elaborate promises and expectations of love and warmth, where all needs and dreams are to be met by the husband or wife. Sadly, however, as substantiated by divorce statistics, too many couples find this sacred space intended for love and fulfilment become the most vulnerable, unsafe space. As a minister searching for a systematic process to unravel this mystery of failed or failing marriages, I discovered a psycho-social model for therapy, called Imago Relationship Therapy (IRT), which not only produced excellent counselling results, but also seemed compatible with more theological approaches to couples therapy. IRT unravels for me the “why” and gives me a quantifiable aspect to my work which helps me grasp conceptually that which I instinctively have discovered and known theologically. I have embarked on this research, firstly, to understand the problem and the extent thereof facing our society; secondly to identify the strengths and shortcomings in Pastoral Care theory and praxis (such as the recurring problem of a realistic and workable Biblical counselling model for pastors), and thirdly to investigate the feasibility whether and how the Imago Relationship Theory could be integrated in Pastoral Care praxis. The intention was, and remains, that after I have done this research to make it available, in appropriate format, to help pastors in assisting couples to avoid pitfalls in their marriages. In turn, it is hoped that this new found perspective would also benefit the pastor and his wife, since many pastors find their marriages also under strain. Every pastor who works with the lives of congregants understands the volatility of relationships. This understanding has been built over long periods of time with them and he has witnessed how their lives have morphed under pressure due to problems that at times have been overwhelming. Sadly some of the pain is self-inflicted or has been inflicted upon them. As one delves into this subject matter one becomes aware of just how inadequately equipped some pastors really are and how important it is to equip them to effectively help others. I chose to examine Imago Relationship Therapy (IRT), knowing its efficacy, and wondered how this would fit into a Pneumatological counselling model. Various practical theologians (such as DJ Louw and JJ Rebel) have recently been discovering Pneumatology – the reflection on the work of the Holy Spirit, through whom the work of God the Father and God the Son is being applied and appropriated in the person, in the congregation, and in the fullness of life in the world – as the framework for practical theology, especially Pastoral Care. I thus deliberately explored Pneumatology as such a theological Sitz im Leben for reflecting on IRT integrated into a Biblical model for counselling. I needed an affective therapeutic model which would could be integrated, and enhance the biblical framework in counselling. Furthermore this therapeutic mechanism needed to be subservient to attain the greatest goal of God and that is to serve and help transform humankind created in His Image. I conducted a systematic literature review of IRT and relevant theological insights from Pastoral Care theory. This investigation is to establish the viability of an integration of IRT into a Pneumatological Pastoral Care theory and praxis to be used as a Pastoral Tool for ministers dealing with the crisis of broken marriages. It was surprising to see how well IRT fits into the theological framework and can enhance an already effective psychological therapy process.

The purpose of this paper was to examine, through a crisis communication approach, how the UN intergovernmental organization acts during a crisis and whether their strategies are in symbiosis with their core values and conventions. As the majority of crisis communication research is based on governmental or commercial organizations, there is a lack of knowledge in how intergovernmental organizations behave during a crisis. The authors have chosen to juxtapose the organization's conventions with their crisis communication in order to analyze whether this is a factor that plays a role in the aftermath of the crisis.  In this study, the authors have used the 2014 UN sex scandal in the Central African Republic as the foundation to this thesis where a number of children were sexually abused by UN forces. The conventions that the authors have applied to the study are the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The study shows that the UN chooses to handle the crisis differently depending on who the recipient is. Three distinct communicative crisis strategies emerged from the findings.  UN internal management - Internal communication within the UN's inner circle shows a culture of silence and trying to hide evidence to prevent the crisis from coming out to the public. They are going against their conventions and their own charters on transparency and their convention on the rights of the child. This is demonstrated on several occasions in their internal communications.  Internal UN - internally, the UN admits that the crisis and scandal in the Central African Republic has happened. By sending out newsletters and holding crisis meetings about what has happened, the UN is meeting its own conventions and demonstrating transparency within the organization while trying to prevent the crisis from leaking out to the public. Public - The UN chooses not to face the crisis in public. Instead, they choose to highlight their good work and build on the illusion of truth that exists in the public.  If an organization is harping on the crisis as the UN has done, then according to the prominent Crisis Communication Theories, they should not be able to get away with it without it affecting their reputation. This happens because the UN has a monopoly as a peacekeeping organization. Thanks to this monopoly, they do not have to deal with crises in public as their stakeholders and brand identity are tightly knit. This, together with their active efforts to highlight all the good work they do, ensures that there are no major issues in the organization when scandals occur. / Syftet med denna uppsats var att genom ett kriskommunikativ ansats undersöka hur den mellanstatlig organisationen FN agerar under en kris och om deras strategier är i symbios med deras grundvärderingar och konventioner. Då majoriteten av kriskommunikationsforskningen utgår från statliga eller kommersiella företag så finns en viss kunskapslucka i hur mellanstatliga organisationer beter sig under en kris. Författarna har valt att ställa organisationens konventioner mot deras kriskommunikation för att kunna analysera om det är en inspelande faktor som spelar roll i krisens efterföljder.  Författarna har i denna studie utgått från FNs sexskandal från 2014 i Centralafrikanska republiken där ett flertal barn blev sexuellt utnyttjade av FNs styrkor. Konventionerna som författarna har applicerat på studien är FNs konvention mot tortyr och annan grym, omänsklig eller förnedrande behandling eller bestraffning och FNs barnkonvention. Studien visar på att FN väljer att hantera krisen olika beroende på vem mottagaren är. Tre tydliga kommunikativa krisstrategier framträdde i resultatet.  FNs interna ledning - Den interna kommunikationen inom FNs inre krets visar på en tysthetskultur och försök till röja undan bevis för att förhindra att krisen kommer ut till allmänheten. De går emot sina konventioner och egna stadgar om transparens och om barns rättigheter. Detta påvisas vid flera tillfällen i deras interna kommunikation.  Internt FN - internt medger FN att krisen och skandalen i Centralafrikanska republiken har skett. Genom att skicka ut nyhetsbrev och ha krismöten om det som skett möter FN sina egna konventioner och visar på en transparens inom organisationen samtidigt som de försöker förhindra krisen.  Allmänhet - FN väljer att inte möta krisen i allmänheten. De väljer istället att belysa sitt goda arbete och bygger på den sannings illusion som finns hos allmänheten.  Om en organisation hanterar krisen som FN har gjort så ska de enligt Kriskommunikationsforskningen inte kunna komma undan utan att de märks på deras anseende. Detta sker eftersom FN har monopol som fredsbevarande organisation. Tack vare monopolet behöver de inte hantera kriser offentligt då deras stakeholders och brand identity är hårt sammansvetsade. Det tillsammans med deras aktiva arbetet att belysa allt bra arbete de gör, inger att det inte blir stora sprickor för organisationen när skandaler sker.

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