„Comorbidity“ among mental disorders is commonly observed in both clinical and epidemiological samples. The robustness of this observation is rarely questioned; however, what is at issue is its meaning. Is comorbidity „noise“ – nuisance covariance that researchers should eliminate by seeking „pure“ cases for their studies – or a „signal“ – an indication that current diagnostic systems are lacking in parsimony and are not „carving nature at its joints?“ (Krueger, p. 921). With these words, Krueger started a discussion on the structure of mental disorders, which suggested that a 3-factor model of common mental disorders existed in the community. These common factors were labeled „anxious-misery,“ „fear“ (constituting facets of a higher-order internalizing factor), and „externalizing.“ Along with similar evidence from personality research and psychometric explorations and selective evidence from genetic and psychopharmacologic studies, Krueger suggested that this model might not only be phenotypically relevant, but might actually improve our understanding of core processes underlying psychopathology. Since then, this suggestion has become an influential, yet also controversial topic in the scientific community, and has received attention particularly in the context of the current revision process of the Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition) (DSM-V) and the International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision (ICD-11). Focusing on anxiety disorders, this article critically discusses the methods and findings of this work, calls into question the model’s developmental stability and utility for clinical use and clinical research, and challenges the wide-ranging implications that have been linked to the findings of this type of exploration. This critical appraisal is intended to flag several significant concerns about the method. In particular, the concerns center around the tendency to attach wide-ranging implications (eg, in terms of clinical research, clinical practice, public health, diagnostic nomenclature) to the undoubtedly interesting statistical explorations.

Experimentelle und neurophysiologische Studien weisen auf eine Spezifität der Gesichterkognition hin. In der differentiellen Psychologie wird ein Schwerpunkt auf die Differenzierbarkeit sozio-kognitiver Leistungen von akademischen Fähigkeiten gelegt. Dabei werden bislang kaum Versuche unternommen, Messmodelle zu etablieren, die in neurokognitiven Modellen verankert sind. Basierend auf neuartigen Versuchen zur Etablierung solcher Modelle ist es das Ziel dieser Dissertation, die Robustheit dieser Modelle aus einer entwicklungspsychologischen Perspektive zu betrachten und diese zu erweitern. Zudem werden altersbedingte Leistungsunterschiede in der Gesichterkognition auf der Ebene latenter Faktoren ermittelt und die Hypothese altersbedingter kognitiver Dedifferenzierung mit modernen Methoden kritisch untersucht. Das Hauptziel ist die Erbringung entwicklungspsychologischer Evidenz für die Spezifität der Gesichterkognition. In einem ersten - primär methodologischen - Manuskript wird erstmalig in der Literatur die Implementierung von Funktionen der Beobachtungsgewichtung aus der nicht-parametrischen Regression für Strukturgleichungsanalysen vorgeschlagen. Diese Methode ergänzt Multigruppenanalysen bei der Untersuchung kognitiver Dedifferenzierung. Weitere vier Manuskripte adressieren Fragestellungen zur Gesichterkognition und zeigen: 1) Gesichterwahrnehmung, Gesichtergedächtnis und die Schnelligkeit der Gesichtererkennung sind separierbare Prozesse über die gesamte erwachsene Lebensspanne; 2) die Schnelligkeit der Gesichtererkennung kann nicht von der Schnelligkeit der Emotions- und Objekterkennung faktoriell getrennt werden; 3) Gesichterwahrnehmung und Gesichtergedächtnis können bis zum späten Alter von allgemeinen kognitiven Fähigkeiten getrennt werden, und 4) eine leichte Dedifferenzierung zwischen Objekt- und Gesichterkognition tritt auf der Ebene von Akkuratheitsmessungen auf. Implikationen sind in den Manuskripten ausführlich diskutiert und im Epilog zusammengefasst. / Cognitive-experimental and neuropsychological studies provided strong evidence for the specificity of face cognition. In individual differences research, face tasks are used within a broader variety of tasks, usually with the intention to measure some social skills. Contemporary individual differences research still focuses on the distinction between social-emotional vs. academic intelligence, rather than establishing measurement models with a solid basis in experimental and neuropsychological work. Building upon recent efforts to establish such measurement models this dissertation aimed to extend available models and assess their robustness across age. Furthermore, it investigates mean age differences for latent factors, critically looks at phenomena of dedifferentiation with novel and innovative analytic methods, and attempts to provide more evidence on the uniqueness and communalities of face cognition throughout adulthood. In a first primarily methodological manuscript, we propose for the first time in the literature an implementation of functions to weight observations used in nonparametric regression approaches into structural equation modeling context, which can fruitfully complement traditionally used multiple-group approaches to investigate factorial dedifferentiation. In the following four manuscripts, we investigated individual and age-differences in face cognition. Results show that: 1). Face perception, face memory and the speed of face cognition remain differentiable throughout adulthood; 2). The speed of face cognition is not differentiable from the speed of perceiving emotional expressions in the face and complex objects, like houses; 3). Face perception and memory are clearly differentiable from abstract cognition throughout adulthood; and 4). A slight dedifferentiation occurs between face and object cognition. Implications are discussed in the manuscripts and the epilogue.

„Comorbidity“ among mental disorders is commonly observed in both clinical and epidemiological samples. The robustness of this observation is rarely questioned; however, what is at issue is its meaning. Is comorbidity „noise“ – nuisance covariance that researchers should eliminate by seeking „pure“ cases for their studies – or a „signal“ – an indication that current diagnostic systems are lacking in parsimony and are not „carving nature at its joints?“ (Krueger, p. 921). With these words, Krueger started a discussion on the structure of mental disorders, which suggested that a 3-factor model of common mental disorders existed in the community. These common factors were labeled „anxious-misery,“ „fear“ (constituting facets of a higher-order internalizing factor), and „externalizing.“ Along with similar evidence from personality research and psychometric explorations and selective evidence from genetic and psychopharmacologic studies, Krueger suggested that this model might not only be phenotypically relevant, but might actually improve our understanding of core processes underlying psychopathology. Since then, this suggestion has become an influential, yet also controversial topic in the scientific community, and has received attention particularly in the context of the current revision process of the Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition) (DSM-V) and the International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision (ICD-11). Focusing on anxiety disorders, this article critically discusses the methods and findings of this work, calls into question the model’s developmental stability and utility for clinical use and clinical research, and challenges the wide-ranging implications that have been linked to the findings of this type of exploration. This critical appraisal is intended to flag several significant concerns about the method. In particular, the concerns center around the tendency to attach wide-ranging implications (eg, in terms of clinical research, clinical practice, public health, diagnostic nomenclature) to the undoubtedly interesting statistical explorations.

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has been successfully used for three-dimensional (3D) data capture in forests for almost two decades. Beyond the plot-based data capturing capabilities of TLS, vehicle-based mobile laser scanning (MLS) systems have the clear advantage of fast and precise corridor-like 3D data capture, thus providing a much larger coverage within shorter acquisition time. This paper compares and discusses advantages and disadvantages of multi-temporal MLS data acquisition compared to established TLS data recording schemes. In this pilot study on integrated TLS and MLS data processing in a forest, it could be shown that existing TLS data evaluation routines can be used for MLS data processing. Methods of automatic laser scanner data processing for forest inventory parameter determination and quantitative structure model (QSM) generation were tested in two sample plots using data from both scanning methods and from different seasons. TLS in a multi-scan configuration delivers very high-density 3D point clouds, which form a valuable basis for generating high-quality QSMs. The pilot study shows that MLS is able to provide high-quality data for an equivalent determination of relevant forest inventory parameters compared to TLS. Parameters such as tree position, diameter at breast height (DBH) or tree height can be determined from MLS data with an accuracy similar to the accuracy of the parameter derived from TLS data. Results for instance in DBH determination by cylinder fitting yielded a standard deviation of 1.1 cm for trees in TLS data and 3.7 cm in MLS data. However, the resolution of MLS scans was found insufficient for successful QSM generation. The registration of MLS data in forests furthermore requires additional effort in considering effects caused by poor GNSS signal.

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