Explicit Measures Research Articles

Avoiding growing pains in reproductive trait databases: the curse of dimensionality

AbstractAimReproductive output features prominently in many trait databases, but the metrics describing it vary and are often untethered to temporal and volumetric dimensions (e.g., fecundity per bout). The use of such ambiguous reproductive measures to make broad‐scale comparisons across taxonomic groups will be meaningful only if they show a 1:1 relationship with a reproductive measure that explicitly includes both a volumetric and a temporal component (i.e., reproductive mass per year). We sought to map the prevalence of ambiguous and explicit reproductive measures across taxa and to explore their relationships with one another to determine the cross‐compatibility and utility of reproductive metrics in trait databases.LocationGlobal.Time period1990–2021.Major taxa studiedWe searched for reproductive measures across all Metazoa and identified 19,785 vertebrate species (Chordata), and 440 invertebrate species (Arthropoda, Cnidaria or Mollusca).MethodsWe included 37 databases, from which we summarized the commonality of reproductive metrics across taxonomic groups. We also quantified scaling relationships between ambiguous reproductive traits (fecundity per bout, fecundity per year and reproductive mass per bout) and an explicit measure (reproductive mass per year) to assess their cross‐compatibility.ResultsMost species were missing at least one temporal or volumetric dimension of reproductive output, such that reproductive mass per year could be reconstructed for only 4,786 vertebrate species. Ambiguous reproductive measures were poor predictors of reproductive mass per year; in no instance did these measures scale at 1:1.Main conclusionsAmbiguous measures systematically misestimate reproductive mass per year. Until more data are collected, we suggest that researchers should use the clade‐specific scaling relationships provided here to convert ambiguous reproductive measures to reproductive mass per year.

The Rights of Religious Minorities in Muslim-Majority States: A Comparative Study of Egyptian Copts and Iraqi Christians

This paper takes up the constitutional recognition of individual and collective rights for religious minorities in Muslim-majority states, discussing how constitutions in such states approach the question of legal protection for minorities in order to foster a climate conducive to coexistence between its constituent religious groups. It also examines the claims that Arab and Islamic states deny religious diversity, offering a comparative analytical study of the rights of Copts under the 2014 Egyptian constitution and the rights of Iraqi Christian minorities under the 2005 constitution. The study concludes that the constitutional provisions for the protection of the rights of religious minorities in these two states are relatively progressive compared to the constitutions of other Islamic states. This is particularly true of the Iraqi constitution, which generally has a better approach to the protections offered religious minorities than its Egyptian counterpart, especially when it comes to combatting discrimination and providing for political participation. Nevertheless, the study asserts that the real problem lies in the application of constitutional provisions on the ground due to the failure of the two states, particularly Egypt, to institute explicit procedural measures to guarantee genuine protection for minority religious rights.

Combatting ageism through virtual embodiment? Using explicit and implicit measures.

Ageism is defined as stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination towards people because of their age. Although ageism can be directed towards people of any age group, most research has focused on ageism towards older people. Ageism towards older people is known to have a significant impact on their health and wellbeing and to even result in higher healthcare costs. The present study evaluated the use of virtual embodiment (VE) to reduce self- and other-directed ageism. We randomized 80 individuals between the ages of 18 and 35 years to one of two conditions: VE as an older or a younger avatar. No differences were found on explicit measures of ageism. Once multiple comparisons were accounted for, a nonsignificant reduction in implicit age bias following exposure to the older avatar (Cohen's d = .75, p = .02) also was found. Past research has established the effectiveness of VE in relation to implicit measures. However, once both explicit and implicit measures are included and multiple comparisons are accounted for, neither explicit nor implicit measures of ageism show a significant effect. Given the multidimensional nature of ageism, further research is needed to establish the effectiveness of VE once multiple measures of ageism are considered.

Self-Awareness and Stereotypes: Accurate Prediction of Implicit Gender Stereotyping.

Research showing that people can predict the patterns of their implicit evaluations toward social groups has raised questions concerning how widely these findings extend to other domains, such as semantic implicit stereotyping. In a preregistered laboratory study, participants were asked to predict their scores on five implicit gender stereotyping Implicit Associations Tests (IATs). Within-subjects correlations between IAT score predictions and IAT scores showed high levels of accuracy. Although part of the IAT score patterns could be predicted from shared knowledge, own predictions significantly outperformed predictions of random others and normative patterns, suggesting self-awareness beyond reliance on shared knowledge. In line with dual-process models emphasizing that different information is captured by implicit as opposed to explicit measures, predictions explained correlations between implicit and traditional explicit stereotyping measures, and led to acknowledgment of bias. Discussion focuses on understanding conscious awareness of semantic automatic processes and conceptualizations of the cognitions underlying implicit measures.

The Level of Inclusiveness of Current 15-Minute City Models. A Qualitative Analysis on How Far City of Proximity Strategies and Design for All Are Merging.

This article seeks to analyze different city plans in terms of proximity and accessibility. A total of 6 highly-recognized pedestrian models were chosen to compare their inclusive micro-mobility measures, not only in international contexts (Paris, Melbourne or Portland); but also a closer look will be taken at Spain, as it has managed to present its own referents (Valladolid, Vitoria and Pontevedra). A qualitative approach study was undergone to assess the real extent of inclusive proximity criteria, triggering a more in-depth, critical analysis by recognizing implicit, non-explicit, inclusive micro-mobility measures. The findings show disconnections between accessibility and proximity policies, mainly regarding exclusion of explicit accessibility measures and pedestrian mobility comfortability.

Time-Dependent Resilience of Repairable Structures Subjected to Nonstationary Load and Deterioration for Analysis and Design

Civil structures and infrastructures are often subjected by design to the impacts of natural and human-caused hazardous events, and accordingly may suffer from damages, functionality loss, and failure. In order to quantitatively measure the associated likelihood and consequences for quantifying risks, an appropriate measure of structural reliability and resilience is essentially required. This paper presents an explicit measure for the time-dependent resilience of repairable structures as a natural extension of time-invariant and time-dependent structural reliability concepts, taking into account the effects of structural performance deterioration and nonstationary external loads. First, the resilience measure associated with a single load event is discussed, and an integral-free expression is developed for a special case of structural robustness and recovery. Subsequently, the resilience measure for a planning horizon, which is a function of the duration of considered service period, is proposed in a closed form. Remarkably, the time-dependent resilience can be treated as a generalized form of the time-dependent reliability. Motivated by this, the resilience-based design and cost optimization of structures are also discussed. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the accuracy and applicability of the proposed resilience measure.

The conundrum of gender-science stereotypes: a review and discussion of measurements

Stereotypes do not have a unique definition, being mostly considered a generalized belief on the quality and characteristics of members of specific groups or social categories. Hence, various scales and measurements have been proposed to assess the endorsement of beliefs on the association of gender and scientific/language-related skills. The aim of the paper was to summarize, compare and discuss those measures, distinguishing between explicit, implicit and indirect measures. The review of the literature highlighted a huge but unrecognized heterogeneity in the constructs of gender stereotypes, especially for explicit measures. This can hamper findings comparability, reduce scales’ validity, affect the correlation between implicit and explicit measurements, and bias their interpretations due to ambiguous terminologies.

Changes of production and consumption structures in coastal regions lead to mercury emission control in China

AbstractChina is important in the global mercury (Hg) cycle and is experiencing substantial economic structure transitions. There are pronounced differences in economic development, industrial structure, and consumption patterns across regions in China. However, the impacts of regional economic structure transitions (i.e., production and final demand structures) on Hg emissions in China remain unknown. Here, we reveal the transboundary impacts of changes in regional economic structures on provincial Hg emissions in China. We found that the transitions of production and final demand structures in coastal regions led to Hg emission reductions in China during 2007–2017. In particular, production structure changes in East Coast contributed to 36 metric tons of national Hg emission reduction, where 28 metric tons occurred in other regions (especially Hebei). Its final demand structure transition contributed to 19 metric tons of national emission reduction, where 15 metric tons occurred in other regions (especially Henan). Unfortunately, production structure changes in Northwest and final demand structure changes in Southwest contributed to Hg emission increments in China during 2007–2017. For instance, changes in the final demand structure of Southwest caused 34 metric tons of emission increments, mainly from provinces within the region. Thus, spatially explicit measures for China's Hg emission control can focus on the optimizations of production structure in Northwest and final demand structure in Southwest, as well as the promotion of interregional joint actions between East Coast and North China (especially Hebei and Henan). The findings of this study can inform region‐specific policy decisions and interregional joint efforts to control Hg emissions around the world.

Birth and death processes in interactive random environments

This paper studies birth and death processes in interactive random environments where the birth and death rates and the dynamics of the state of the environment are dependent on each other. Two models of a random environment are considered: a continuous-time Markov chain (finite or countably infinite) and a reflected (jump) diffusion process. The background is determined by a joint Markov process carrying a specific interactive mechanism, with an explicit invariant measure whose structure is similar to a product form. We discuss a number of queueing and population-growth models and establish conditions under which the above-mentioned invariant measure can be derived. Next, an analysis of the rate of convergence to stationarity is performed for the models under consideration. We consider two settings leading to either an exponential or a polynomial convergence rate. In both cases we assume that the underlying environmental Markov process has an exponential rate of convergence, but the convergence rate of the joint Markov process is determined by certain conditions on the birth and death rates. To prove these results a coupling method turns out to be useful.

Effect of the Neurolinguistic Approach on EFL Learners’ Implicit and Explicit Grammar Knowledge: The Present Perfect Tense in Focus

The neurolinguistic approach (NLA) is an intensive sentence-based pedagogy designed specifically for low-proficiency learners. It places a premium on orality and the development of both internal and external grammars through a project-based literacy loop. The present study employed a pretest–posttest control group design to investigate the effect of NLA on conveniently sampled pre-intermediate EFL learners’ implicit and explicit knowledge of the English present perfect tense. Treatment for the experimental group (EG; N = 25) spanned three 1.5-h project-based sessions, with orality marking the beginning and end of each session and reading, rule induction, and writing as intermediary phases. The control group (CG; N = 24), on the other hand, was exposed to tense-rich reading input, followed by rule explanation and follow-up communicative tasks. Implicit knowledge was measured through a timed grammaticality judgment test and an interview, and explicit knowledge was measured through an untimed grammaticality judgment test and a metalinguistic knowledge test. ANOVA results showed CG’s and EG’s comparable significant gains on explicit knowledge measures and only EG’s significant gain on implicit knowledge measures. The findings substantiate NLA’s potential for the development of both internal and external grammars and have implications for grammar instruction.

Optimization schemes for the spatially explicit management of small watersheds based on ecosystem disservices

Reasonable planning of spatially explicit management measures is key to effectively achieving management goals. In this study, we adopted a spatial conservation prioritization method, which combines functional zoning, ecosystem disservice bundles, and existing management measures, with the aim of developing optimal deployment plans in six small watersheds in northwestern Beijing. First, we investigated the existing management measures in the study areas and recorded their sizes, scopes, and effectiveness. Second, according to the management priority, we ranked pixels representing the study area with the Zonation 4.0 platform. The process is based on the ideas of both spatial conservation prioritization and how the seven ecosystem disservices (sediment export, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution export, surface runoff, quick flow, and risks of collapse and debris flow) distribute spatially. Finally, we moved the existing management measures to suitable higher priority locations by matching the management priority rank indicated by the pixels, the functional zoning, which represents the main environmental problems, and the land use/cover types. Additionally, the changes in the ecosystem disservices were evaluated before and after the optimization operation. The results showed that the pixels with a higher management priority were located mainly in the plain areas and the junctions of the mountains and the plains, where the main environmental problems were water pollution and quick flow. Most of the management measures, such as percolation drainage ditches and greening, were moved to the plains in the optimization scheme. The extents of the decreases in five ecosystem disservices (sediment export, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution export, surface runoff, and quick flow) after optimization exceeded 90% in the study areas. This study provided a method to develop the plans of spatially explicit management measures for watersheds, the application of which ensures a scientific basis for management planning. Widely applying this method would improve the effectiveness of spatial management measures.

Stereotyping, prejudice, and the role of anxiety for compensatory control

This work examines the influence of personal control and anxiety on stereotyping and prejudice. In two experiments, personal control was manipulated in an autobiographical experience task. In Experiment 1, participants then completed measures of implicit and explicit gender stereotypes. In Experiment 2, implicit and explicit racial prejudice was assessed. Anxiety was tested as a possible mediator of the relationship between personal control and stereotyping and prejudice, respectively. Low personal control was associated with greater gender stereotyping and racial prejudice in explicit measures. Anxiety mediated the relationship between personal control and stereotyping but not between personal control and prejudice. Also, ingroup identification was found to moderate some of the relations between personal control, anxiety and stereotyping and prejudice. The results provide support for stereotyping and prejudice as compensatory control mechanisms, but evidence is mixed regarding the role of anxiety in mediating the processes.

The good, the bad, and the red: implicit color-valence associations across cultures

Cultural differences—as well as similarities—have been found in explicit color-emotion associations between Chinese and Western populations. However, implicit associations in a cross-cultural context remain an understudied topic, despite their sensitivity to more implicit knowledge. Moreover, they can be used to study color systems—that is, emotional associations with one color in the context of an opposed one. Therefore, we tested the influence of two different color oppositions on affective stimulus categorization: red versus green and red versus white, in two experiments. In Experiment 1, stimuli comprised positive and negative words, and participants from the West (Austria/Germany), and the East (Mainland China, Macau) were tested in their native languages. The Western group showed a significantly stronger color-valence interaction effect than the Mainland Chinese (but not the Macanese) group for red-green but not for red–white opposition. To explore color-valence interaction effects independently of word stimulus differences between participant groups, we used affective silhouettes instead of words in Experiment 2. Again, the Western group showed a significantly stronger color-valence interaction than the Chinese group in red-green opposition, while effects in red–white opposition did not differ between cultural groups. Our findings complement those from explicit association research in an unexpected manner, where explicit measures showed similarities between cultures (associations for red and green), our results revealed differences and where explicit measures showed differences (associations with white), our results showed similarities, underlining the value of applying comprehensive measures in cross-cultural research on cross-modal associations.

I Hear My Voice; Therefore I Spoke: The Sense of Agency Over Speech Is Enhanced by Hearing One’s Own Voice

The subjective experience of causing an action is known as the sense of agency. Dysfunctional sense of agency over speech has been suggested as a cause of auditory hallucinations. However, agency over speech has not been extensively characterized in previous empirical studies. Here, we manipulated self-voice identity, an indicator of self, embedded in the acoustic quality of voice and examined implicit and explicit measures of the sense of agency. Experiment 1 (N = 29 adults) demonstrated more compression of a perceived interval between action and outcome when participants heard their undistorted voices than their pitch-distorted voices. Experiment 2 (N = 28 adults) revealed a strong top-down effect of self-voice identity: Specifically, the judgment of agency over speech was more resistant than the judgment of agency over hand/limb movement to low-level sensorimotor inconsistency. Our findings provide new insight into the sense of agency over speech and an informative perspective for understanding aberrant experience in auditory hallucinations.

How selves differ within and across cognitive domains: self-prioritisation, self-concept, and psychiatric traits

BackgroundHow we build and maintain representations of ourselves involves both explicit features which are consciously accessible on reflection and implicit processes which are not, such as attentional biases. Understanding relations between different ways of measuring self-cognition both within and across such cognitive domains is important for understanding how selves may differ from one another, and whether self-cognition is best understood as largely uni-dimensional or more multi-dimensional. Further, uncovering this structure should inform research around how self-cognition relates to psychiatric and psychological conditions. This study explores the relations between different constructs of self-cognition and how variability within them relates to psychiatric traits.MethodsOur final dataset includes within-subject (n = 288, general population) measures of explicit self-concept (using both the Self Concept Clarity Scale and Self Concept and Identity Measure), implicit self-prioritisation in a shape-label matching task (for both reaction time and sensitivity) and measurement of traits for five psychiatric conditions (autism, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, depression and anxiety). We first test whether self-cognitive measures within and across domains are correlated within individuals. We then test whether these dimensions of self-cognition support a binary distinction between psychiatric conditions that either are or are not characterised in terms of self, or whether they support self-cognition as transdiagnostically predictive of the traits associated with psychiatric conditions. To do this we run a series of planned correlations, regressions, and direct correlation comparison statistics.ResultsResults show that implicit self-prioritisation measures were not correlated with the explicit self-concept measures nor the psychiatric trait measures. In contrast, all the psychiatric traits scores were predicted, to varying degrees, by poorer explicit self-concept quality. Specifically, borderline personality disorder traits were significantly more strongly associated with composite explicit self-concept measures than any of depression, anxiety, or autism traits scores were.ConclusionsOur results suggest that selves can differ considerably, along different cognitive dimensions. Further, our results show that self-cognition may be a promising feature to include in future dimensional characterisations of psychiatric conditions, but care should be taken to choose relevant self-cognitive domains.

Implicit and explicit measures of positivity effect in the elderly adults

Implicit and explicit measures of positivity effect in the elderly adults

Attitudes Towards Disability and Burnout among Teachers in Inclusive Schools in France

ABSTRACT Western countries have placed a lot of importance on school inclusion policies in the last decade. Strong promotion of these policies encourages teachers to express egalitarian attitudes and behaviours towards all students. However, at the same time teachers may experience feelings of discomfort because of perceived difficulties and powerlessness in implementing the inclusion policy. The discrepancy between what teachers say and their internal discomfort can lead to burnout. The aim of this study was to test the relationship between a teacher’s implicit and explicit attitudes towards disability and burnout. To this end, we used explicit self-reported measures of attitudes and burnout, and a specific paradigm to assess implicit attitudes towards disability (disability-IAT). Results showed that implicit attitudes were significantly more negative than explicit attitudes. The more positive the explicit attitudes, the less the individuals experienced exhaustion, whereas the more negative the implicit attitudes, the more exhausted the respondents felt. These results suggest teachers need to internalise positive feelings about inclusion to protect themselves against risks of emotional exhaustion.

Individual Differences in Implicit Bias Can Be Measured Reliably by Administering the Same Implicit Association Test Multiple Times.

The use of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) as a measure of individual differences is stymied by insufficient test-retest reliability for assessing trait-level constructs. We assess the degree to which the IAT measures individual differences and test a method to improve its validity as a "trait" measure: aggregating across IATs. Across three studies, participants (total n = 960) completed multiple IATs in the same session or across multiple sessions. Using latent-variable models, we found that half of the variance in IAT scores reflects individual differences. Aggregating across multiple IATs approximately doubled the variance explained with explicit measures compared with a single IAT D-score. These findings show that IAT scores contain considerable noise and that a single IAT is inadequate to estimate trait bias. However, aggregation across multiple administrations can correct this and better estimate individual differences in implicit attitudes.

Large genus asymptotic geometry of random square-tiled surfaces and of random multicurves

We study the combinatorial geometry of a random closed multicurve on a surface of large genus g and of a random square-tiled surface of large genus g. We prove that primitive components $$\gamma _1, \dots ,\gamma _k$$ of a random multicurve $$m_1\gamma _1+\dots +m_k\gamma _k$$ represent linearly independent homology cycles with asymptotic probability 1 and that all its weights $$m_i$$ are equal to 1 with asymptotic probability $$\sqrt{2}/2$$ . We prove analogous properties for random square-tiled surfaces. In particular, we show that all conical singularities of a random square-tiled surface belong to the same leaf of the horizontal foliation and to the same leaf of the vertical foliation with asymptotic probability 1. We show that the number of components of a random multicurve and the number of maximal horizontal cylinders of a random square-tiled surface of genus g are both very well approximated by the number of cycles of a random permutation for an explicit non-uniform measure on the symmetric group of $$3g-3$$ elements. In particular, we prove that the expected value of these quantities has asymptotics $$(\log (6g-6) + \gamma )/2 + \log 2$$ as $$g\rightarrow \infty $$ , where $$\gamma $$ is the Euler–Mascheroni constant. These results are based on our formula for the Masur–Veech volume $${\text {Vol}}{\mathcal {Q}}_g$$ of the moduli space of holomorphic quadratic differentials combined with deep large genus asymptotic analysis of this formula performed by A. Aggarwal and with the uniform asymptotic formula for intersection numbers of $$\psi $$ -classes on $${\overline{{\mathcal {M}}}}_{g,n}$$ for large g proved by A. Aggarwal in 2020.

Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Service Robots in the Hospitality Industry: Gender Differences

The current study applies implicit theory as a theoretical lens to explore gender differences in explicit and implicit measures of robot attitudes, which in turn facilitates behavioral intention. In total, 108 participants assessed the modified Robot Implicit Association Test (RIAT) to complete both implicit measures of attitudes and explicit self-reported measures in randomized order. Our findings demonstrated that (a) implicit attitudes (RIAT D-scores) were significantly correlated with self-reported measures (explicit attitude, perceived technology innovativeness, and behavioral intention), (b) different patterns of explicit and implicit attitudes exist, and (c) males may have a more favorable preference toward service robots than females. These results help build theoretical and methodological foundations for service management innovation into the role of implicit attitude in hospitality firms.