Response Distortion Research Articles

Methodological Approaches to the Study of Distorted Information

The problem of information distortion worsened in recent years, but it also existed centuries ago. In fact, since its inception, information has been a valuable resource and tool to influence public opinion and, if necessary, represent information in a favourable light. The phenomenon of information distortion is not new and is closely related to the history of human development. However, with the development of forms and tools of communication and as the characteristics of the information environment change, the ways of distortion become more complicated. Besides the increase in number of types and forms of such distortions, the number and variety of approaches to its exploring increases, including the methods of its classification and criteria for differentiating, which fully meets the need to systematize the forms of information distortion in response to ongoing changes. This article attempts to critically analyse the methodological basis of the phenomenon of distorted information and to identify the main directions and methodological approaches to its study.

Improving Reactions to Forced-Choice Personality Measures in Simulated Job Application Contexts Through the Satisfaction of Psychological Needs

There is a wealth of evidence justifying the use of personality assessments for selection. Nonetheless, some reluctance to use these assessments stems from their perceived vulnerability to response distortion (i.e., faking) and the somewhat negative applicant reactions they elicit, when compared to other assessments. Adopting a forced-choice personality assessment format appears to alleviate the former problem but exacerbates the latter. In this study, we introduce basic psychological needs as a theoretical foundation to develop interventions to improve reactions to forced-choice personality assessments. We propose that the forced-choice format impedes respondents’ desire to respond to items in a preferred way, interfering with autonomy need satisfaction, and constrains respondents’ opportunity to show their capabilities, interfering with competence need satisfaction. In this pre-registered between-subjects experiment (N = 1565), we investigated two modifications to a ranked forced-choice personality questionnaire and compared these to traditional forced-choice and single-stimulus (Likert) formatted questionnaires. One modification, where participants could write a free-text response following the assessment, did not show significant effects on reactions. The second modification allowed participants to view all items they had ranked last (first) and then identify any the participant believed in fact described them well (poorly). That modification positively affected perceived autonomy- and competence-support, and fairness perceptions, bridging approximately half of the gap between reactions to forced-choice and single-stimulus assessment formats. This study suggests that a modification to forced-choice personality questionnaires may improve applicant reactions and that basic psychological needs theory may be a fruitful lens through which to further understand reactions to assessments.

The Evaluation of Emotional Intelligence by the Analysis of Heart Rate Variability

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a critical social intelligence skill that refers to an individual's ability to assess their own emotions and those of others. While EI has been shown to predict an individual's productivity, personal success, and ability to maintain positive relationships, its assessment has primarily relied on subjective reports, which are vulnerable to response distortion and limit the validity of the assessment. To address this limitation, we propose a novel method for assessing EI based on physiological responses-specifically heart rate variability (HRV) and dynamics. We conducted four experiments to develop this method. First, we designed, analyzed, and selected photos to evaluate the ability to recognize emotions. Second, we produced and selected facial expression stimuli (i.e., avatars) that were standardized based on a two-dimensional model. Third, we obtained physiological response data (HRV and dynamics) from participants as they viewed the photos and avatars. Finally, we analyzed HRV measures to produce an evaluation criterion for assessing EI. Results showed that participants' low and high EI could be discriminated based on the number of HRV indices that were statistically different between the two groups. Specifically, 14 HRV indices, including HF (high-frequency power), lnHF (the natural logarithm of HF), and RSA (respiratory sinus arrhythmia), were significant markers for discerning between low and high EI groups. Our method has implications for improving the validity of EI assessment by providing objective and quantifiable measures that are less vulnerable to response distortion.

Dynamic Photoresponse of a DNTT Organic Phototransistor.

The photosensitivity, responsivity, and signal-to-noise ratio of organic phototransistors depend on the timing characteristics of light pulses. However, in the literature, such figures of merit (FoM) are typically extracted in stationary conditions, very often from IV curves taken under constant light exposure. In this work, we studied the most relevant FoM of a DNTT-based organic phototransistor as a function of the timing parameters of light pulses, to assess the device suitability for real-time applications. The dynamic response to light pulse bursts at ~470 nm (close to the DNTT absorption peak) was characterized at different irradiances under various working conditions, such as pulse width and duty cycle. Several bias voltages were explored to allow for a trade-off to be made between operating points. Amplitude distortion in response to light pulse bursts was also addressed.

Suitability of magnetic microbolometers based on paramagnetic temperature sensors for CMB polarization measurements

High resolution maps of polarization anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) are in high demand, since the discovery of primordial B-Modes in the polarization patterns would confirm the inflationary phase of the Universe that would have taken place before the last scattering of the CMB at the recombination epoch. Transition Edge Sensors (TES) and Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKID) are the predominant detector technologies of cryogenic detector array based CMB instruments that search for primordial B-Modes. In this paper we propose another type of cryogenic detector to be used for CMB survey: A magnetic microbolometer (MMB) that is based on a paramagnetic temperature sensor. It is an adaption of state-of-the-art metallic magnetic calorimeters (MMCs) that are meanwhile a key technology for high resolution $\alpha$, $\beta$, $\gamma$ and X-ray spectroscopy as well as the study of neutrino mass. The effort to adapt MMCs for CMB surveys is triggered by their lack of Johnson noise associated with the detector readout, the possibility of straightforward calibration and higher dynamic range given it possesses a broad and smooth responsivity dependence with temperature and the absence of Joule dissipation which simplifies the thermal design. A brief proof of concept case study is analyzed, taking into account typical constraints in CMB measurements and reliable microfabrication processes. The results show that MMBs provide a promising technology for CMB polarization survey as their sensitivity can be tuned for background limited detection of the sky while simultaneously maintaining a low time response to avoid distortion of the point-source response of the telescope. As the sensor technology and its fabrication techniques are compatible with TES based bolometric detector arrays, a change of detector technology would even come with very low cost.

Spherical Nucleic Acid Probe Based on 2′-Fluorinated DNA Functionalization for High-Fidelity Intracellular Sensing

Traditional spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) based on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) assembled through Au-S covalent bonds are widely used in DNA-programmable assembly, biosensing, imaging, and therapeutics. However, biological thiols and other chemical substances can break the Au-S bonds and cause response distortion during the application process, specifically in cell environments. Herein, we report a new type of SNAs based on 2'-fluorinated DNA-functionalized AuNPs with excellent colloidal stability under high salt conditions (up to 1 M NaCl) and over a broad pH range (1-14), as well as resistance to biothiols. The fluorinated spherical nucleic acid probe (Au/FDNA probe) could detect targeted cancer cells with high fidelity. Compared to the traditional thiolated DNA-functionalized AuNP probe (Au-SDNA probe), the Au/FDNA probe exhibited a higher sensitivity to the target and a lower signal-to-background ratio. Furthermore, the Au/FDNA probe could discriminate target cancer cells in a mixed culture system. Using the proposed FDNA functionalization method, previously developed SNAs based on AuNPs could be directly adapted, which might open a new avenue for the design and application of SNAs.

Highly electro-responsive ionic soft actuator based on graphene nanoplatelets-mediated functional carboxylated cellulose nanofibers

Electro-responsive ionic soft actuators have attracted increasing interest owing to the promising applications for soft robots, biomimetic robots, active medical devices, flexible electronics, and wearable devices. However, existing ionic actuators still need a technology breakthrough for larger bending strain, faster response, and excellent actuation durability. Herein, we report a novel highly electro-responsive ionic actuator based on functional carboxylated cellulose nanofibers (CCNF) by doping with ionic liquid (IL) and graphene nanoplatelets (GN). The proposed CCNF-IL-GN actuator demonstrated a large tip displacement of 15.71 mm (peak-to-peak) at 2.0 V with 0.1 Hz, faster rise time (2.9s), broad frequency bandwidth (0.1–3.0 Hz), markedly reduced phase delay, and long actuation durability (98.6% retention for 3 h) without actuation response distortion, all of which were due to the fast-easy ion migration and massive charge transport ability of the designed ionically crosslinked electrolyte membrane, resulting from the strong ionic interactions and crosslinking of CCNF nanofibers with IL and GN. Furthermore, we investigated the actuator's bionic applications such as the bionic flower, bionic finger, and bionic window. These results elucidate the great potential of the designed CCNF-IL-GN actuators for bionic robots, soft robots, wearable electronics, and biomedical active devices.

Are curmudgeon personality scales resistant to response distortion?

AbstractCurmudgeon personality, which is assessed by having participants evaluate a heterogeneous set of attitude objects, provides an applied value beyond that of more established personality traits. Recent research, for instance, suggests that curmudgeon personality is distinct from the Five Factor Model personality traits and that it predicts unique variance in important criteria, such as job attitudes and well‐being. In the current paper we contribute to this literature by testing an explanation of how curmudgeon personality is distinct from other traits—their potential resistance to response distortion. We estimated response distortion for scales of curmudgeon personality and FFM traits across two quasi‐experimental studies. As expected, the score shifts between nonapplicant and applicant conditions were smaller for scales of curmudgeon personality compared to scales of emotional stability and conscientiousness. We argue that curmudgeon personality scales may be more resistant to response distortion than are measures of other traits because curmudgeon personality items are semi‐implicit and lack an obvious desirable response. The resistance to response distortion should serve as a call to future researchers to test the criterion validity of curmudgeon personality in regard to performance criteria.

A closed-form solution for the wind-induced responses of transmission lines considering the failure of adjacent towers

Some towers in transmission lines may collapse first under the gust wind and have pulling effects on conductors, which may trigger the cascade failure when the unbalanced force on the adjacent tower is large. Thus, a closed-form solution is proposed to predict conductor responses induced by both the failed tower and wind loads. The total wind-induced response is divided into the mean component affected by support displacement and fluctuating component around the static equilibrium, which can be determined by nonlinear static analysis and influence line, respectively. The equilibrium iteration method and trapezoidal equivalent wind pressure are proposed to correct the response distortion caused by the large deformation and non-uniform wind pressure. Then, the power spectral density and root mean square of responses considering three-dimensional correlation are provided. Finally, parameter analysis investigates the influence of support displacement, initial horizontal tension, and horizontal span on reaction force and gust response factor (GRF). The results show that the proposed closed-form solution has high accuracy and efficiency, and the influence of large deformation and wind pressure forms on the wind-induced responses cannot be ignored. Moreover, both the lateral reaction force and GRF are significantly sensitive to the lateral support displacement.

Recent advances in the stereolithographic three-dimensional printing of ceramic cores: Challenges and prospects

The increasing demand for geometrically complex structures—specifically, higher-inlet-temperature turbine blades for the fifth-generation or other high-generation machines of advanced fighter aircrafts—has made the development of more complex double-walled three-layer hollow-cavity structures a necessity. However, this requires the preparation of complex ceramic cores and advanced, integrated technologies. Stereolithographic three-dimensional printing (SLA-3DP) technology, with digital control upon material morphology, composition, and structure, is a high integration and versatile technique that is superior to the traditional manufacturing techniques for ceramic cores, including gel casting, injection molding, and hot pressing. The latent capacity of this technique is contingent on the progress of processing routes that significantly reduce the distortion and defect formation in response to the elimination of the reacted organic monomer phase during photo-curing. Despite the tremendous progress in the field, multiple challenges remain, such as the preparation of high-solid-content and low-viscosity suspensions, SLA-3DP of large double-walled ceramic cores with complex structures, and process optimization and sinter strengthening for the fabrication of ceramic cores. These challenges have prevented the broader applications and reduced the impact of the SLA-3DP technology. This review discusses cutting-edge research on the crucial factors governing this production method. Specifically, we outline the existing challenges within the field and provide our perspective on the upcoming research work and progress.

Understanding, detecting, and deterring faking on interest inventories

AbstractThree recent meta‐analyses have found that interests, regardless of scoring method (e.g., summative or congruence) are valid predictors of performance in employment contexts. As these inventories gain popularity as a prehire assessment, it is important to understand whether interest assessments are susceptible to faking (i.e., applicant response distortion) similar to how personality assessments are. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether interest inventories are susceptible to faking and whether faking can be detected and prevented using similar methods as what is commonly used for faking of personality assessments. Measures of forced‐choice and single‐stimulus interests, personality, general mental ability (GMA), and impression management (IM) were collected from 236 participants across honest and faked instructions. Findings suggest that individuals were capable of faking interest inventories, but surprisingly, the effect did not vary greatly as a function of format or scoring method. Further, GMA was not strongly related to faking interests, whereas faking of personality scales was. In efforts to detect interest faking, IM scores outperformed covariances indices in distinguishing between honest and faked scores.

IT'S A TRAP! Faking and faking detection on conditional reasoning tests

Conditional Reasoning Tests (CRTs) are indirect measures of personality that are resistant to faking under normal testing conditions. Recent research suggests individuals can be trained to distort their responses on CRTs. We expand in this domain in two ways. First, we develop faking detection items for two CRTs to extend the sole work attempting to detect response distortion on CRTs. Second, we explore how much information must be shared with participants regarding the underlying mechanisms of CRTs to allow them to successfully fake. We test our hypotheses across three studies with over 600 participants. Our results demonstrate that it is difficult (but not impossible) for individuals to distort their responses on CRTs in socially desirable ways. Simply telling participants what a CRT assesses is not sufficient information to allow them to fake good; a certain amount of training is required. Participants, however, can readily ‘fake bad’ on CRTs without training. Thus, CRTs are resistant to some forms of response distortion. Importantly, when individuals attempt to distort their responses in socially desirable ways, the included faking detection items identify these attempts even when efforts to distort are unsuccessful.

Psychometric Evidence for Indirect Assessment of Child Abuse Risk in Child Welfare-Involved Mothers.

Most research on factors related to physical child abuse risk rely heavily on direct self-report measures, which is a methodological strategy susceptible to participant response distortions. Such methodological reliance obfuscates the interpretations rendered about the risk factors predictive of child abuse. Efforts to develop alternative indirect assessment approaches, such as analog tasks, show promise, although most of those studies have applied these methods to community samples rather than with child welfare-involved samples. The present study evaluated the psychometric evidence for four separate analog tasks that have not yet been considered with mothers identified for child maltreatment by child welfare services, also contrasted to a sociodemographically matched sample of mothers. The results indicate acceptable reliability for the analog tasks, with additional evidence of validity. However, the two groups of mothers did not substantively differ across measures, suggesting that identification for abuse through child protective services does not differentiate from those closely matched on critical sociodemographic characteristics. The promising preliminary results of these analog tasks in the current study suggest that indirect analog assessment approaches to estimate child abuse risk could be useful in efforts to minimize dependence on self-report methods.

A Suboptimal Approach to Huygens’ Metasurfaces for Wide-Angle Refraction

Huygens’ metasurface uses boundary conditions to solve for the required electric and magnetic current densities to provide a theoretical solution for wavefront shaping. However, the physical implementation of Huygens’ metasurface often suffers from interlayer coupling, leading to the difficulty in synthesizing the desired properties. This article proposes a novel approach to suppress interlayer coupling using a symmetric wire–loop topology. The proposed unit cell is designed to induce orthogonal components of Huygens’ dipole to each face, and the multipole moments are directly calculated from current distributions induced on metallic patterns. Due to the suppressed interlayer coupling, electric and magnetic dipoles can be independently tuned to achieve the desired phase conditions without causing any distortion of electromagnetic responses in their combined structure. Furthermore, the tolerance to the phase difference between dipole moments is analyzed to extend the range of phase gradient for a transmit wave while maintaining high transmit efficiency. The proposed approach is validated by designing two metasurfaces for normally incident waves to bend toward different angles at 10 GHz, and their characteristics are demonstrated by near- and far-field measurements. The measured results confirm that a high transmittance of greater than 83% is achieved up to the maximum validation angle of 65°.

A unified model of the task-evoked pupil response.

The pupil dilates and reconstricts following task events. It is popular to model this task-evoked pupil response as a linear transformation of event-locked impulses, whose amplitudes are used as estimates of arousal. We show that this model is incorrect and propose an alternative model based on the physiological finding that a common neural input drives saccades and pupil size. The estimates of arousal from our model agreed with key predictions: Arousal scaled with task difficulty and behavioral performance but was invariant to small differences in trial duration. Moreover, the model offers a unified explanation for a wide range of phenomena: entrainment of pupil size and saccades to task timing, modulation of pupil response amplitude and noise with task difficulty, reaction time–dependent modulation of pupil response timing and amplitude, a constrictory pupil response time-locked to saccades, and task-dependent distortion of this saccade-locked pupil response.

Effect of job applicant faking and cognitive ability on self‐other agreement and criterion validity of personality assessments

AbstractThis study examined the effect of job applicant faking on the validity of personality assessments, including self‐other correlations, criterion validity, and cognitive ability correlates. By using a large sample, multiple other‐raters, a repeated‐measures design, and a realistic simulated job application, it sought to provide the most precise estimates to date of the effect of the applicant context on self‐other correlations, as well as the influence of cognitive ability on faking. Undergraduate psychology students (n = 584) completed a measure of Big Five personality (i.e., International Personality Item Pool NEO) in both a low‐stakes and a simulated job applicant context. Participants completed measures of intelligence (i.e., International Cognitive Ability Resource) and personality‐relevant objective criteria (e.g., university grades), and had an average of 3 other raters rate their personality (n = 1831). Responses to the Big Five scales were more socially desirable in the applicant context (average d = 0.58), with notable decreases in reported Neuroticism and increases in Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Extraversion. Average self‐other correlations declined by 24% from .59 in the low‐stakes to .45 in the applicant context. Cognitive ability was positively correlated with magnitude of faking. In the applicant context, criterion validities declined minimally. Results suggest response distortion by job applicants results in modest reductions in the accuracy and criterion validity of personality assessments.

The Occupational Performance Assessment–Response Distortion (OPerA-RD) Scale

Abstract. The ubiquity and consequences of job performance evaluations necessitate accurate responding. This paper describes two studies designed to develop (Study 1) and provide initial validation (Study 2) for a new measure specifically designed to assist in this context: the Occupational Performance Assessment–Response Distortion (OPerA-RD) scale. This 20-item scale is contextualized to the workplace and was developed by identifying items that could detect over- and under-reporting of job performance by self- or other-report in four independent faking samples. Initial validation of the OPerA-RD was supported by expected differences between within-group faking and control conditions in subsequent samples, specifically over- and under-reporting of job performance by self- or other-reports. Implications for research and applied settings are discussed.

Demodulation of Fiber Bragg Grating Accelerometer Using In-Line Sagnac Interferometers

We proposed a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) accelerometer demodulation method based an in-line Sagnac interferometric structure. In this method, an electro-optical phase modulator (EOM) is used as a phase-generating carrier (PGC) modulation module. The principle of in-line Sagnac optical path interference based on EOM is theoretically analyzed by Jones matrix, and the modulation mechanism of EOM is described. The experimental results of an FBG accelerometer based on flexible hinge show that the system background noise is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1 \times {10^{ - 5}}\,\,{{\mathrm {rad}}} \cdot {{\mathrm {Hz}}^{-1 /2}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. The EOM based modulation scheme solves the problem of distortion of demodulation response due to the unstable modulation performance of the conventional piezoelectric transducer, which also provides a fast response to the interferometric optical path changes. The sensitivity of the in-line Sagnac based demodulation scheme is doubled compared to the Sagnac ring structure. The proposed scheme provides an integrated phase modulator for demodulation system for FBG sensors.

Impact of mutual coupling between SKALA4.1 antennas to the spectral smoothness response

One of the advantages of arrays with aperiodic distributed elements is their ability to mitigate the detrimental mutual coupling effects on the radiation pattern. However, we show that the mutual coupling inside a random array can still generate undesired structures in the frequency response although the single antenna features a spectral smooth response. For small subsets (a couple of SKALA4.1 antennas and a 16-element array) of a low-frequency instrument station of the Square Kilometre Array, the combination of large mutual coupling and antenna geometry creates systematic distortions in the element frequency responses. This phenomenon compromises the station spectral smoothness response versus frequency. However, we demonstrate that it is possible to partially mitigate these frequency structures by reconfiguring the antenna distribution based on exclusion zones.

Assessment of self-report response bias in high functioning autistic people

The study aimed to establish a normative data set for the Paulhus Deception Scales (PDS) and Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomology (SIMS) in a community adult sample of high functioning autistic (HFA) people. Assessments were administered anonymously online. Seventy surveys were completed, with respondents contributing from 16 countries. The majority of subscales and total scores for the PDS and SIMS fell above cut-off for self-report response bias, suggesting that completion of these measures by HFA individuals may lead to conclusions of intentional response distortion, even when this is not the case. Significant relationships were found between high scores and education level, as well as psychological distress. The findings of the study raise concerns about the use of these measures with HFA people, particularly in ‘high stakes’ situations.