Hypothetical Constructs Research Articles

Is Culture Learned? The Neglected Role of Evoking Events.

Although no one disputes that the transmission of culture depends on social learning, a capacity that has enabled humans, unlike other animals, to modify cultural practices across generations, this review argues that cultural change can also be evoked by environmental events leading to an alteration in the configuration of an habitual behavioural repertoire. An evoked mechanism allows latent or normally suppressed behaviour to emerge. Cannibalism and warfare are put forward as examples. Evoked mechanisms have largely been ignored by one of the few attempts to reconcile biology and culture, namely cumulative cultural evolution (CCE). This review endorses CCE's aim of developing a biocultural conceptual framework but criticises this model for failing to produce a credible analysis of culture into 'units'or 'variants'. The critique of CCE is situated within a discussion of the long-standing separation within academia of science and arts disciplines, each focusing at different levels of analysis and with different aims. It is suggested that the main obstacle to developing a biocultural framework can be attributed to an incompatibility between nomothetic and idiographic research methods, the former being typical of the biological sciences, the latter of the arts. A successful biocultural conceptual framework would therefore have to accommodate the particular and the general. It is suggested that progress in this direction would be made if agreement could be reached on ways of observing or inferring behaviours rather than pursuing an analysis in terms of hypothetical constructs such as mental representations or units of 'cultural information'.

Mental causation: an evolutionary perspective.

The relationship between consciousness and individual agency is examined from a bottom-up evolutionary perspective, an approach somewhat different from other ways of dealing with the issue, but one relevant to the question of animal consciousness. Two ways are identified that would decouple the two, allowing consciousness of a limited kind to exist without agency: (1) reflex pathways that incorporate conscious sensations as an intrinsic component (InCs), and (2) reflexes that are consciously conditioned and dependent on synaptic plasticity but not memory (CCRs). Whether InCs and CCRs exist as more than hypothetical constructs is not clear, and InCs are in any case limited to theories where consciousness depends directly on EM field-based effects. Consciousness with agency, as we experience it, then belongs in a third category that allows for deliberate choice of alternative actions (DCs), where the key difference between this and CCR-level pathways is that DCs require access to explicit memory systems whereas CCRs do not. CCRs are nevertheless useful from a heuristic standpoint as a conceptual model for how conscious inputs could act to refine routine behaviors while allowing evolution to optimize phenomenal experience (i.e., qualia) in the absence of individual agency, a somewhat counterintuitive result. However, so long as CCRs are not a required precondition for the evolution of memory-dependent DC-level processes, the later could have evolved first. If so, the adaptive benefit of consciousness when it first evolved may be linked as much to the role it plays in encoding memories as to any other function. The possibility that CCRs are more than a theoretical construct, and have played a role in the evolution of consciousness, argues against theories of consciousness focussed exclusively on higher-order functions as the appropriate way to deal with consciousness as it first evolved, as it develops in the early postnatal period of life, or with the conscious experiences of animals other than ourselves. An evolutionary perspective also resolves the problem of free will, that it is best treated as a property of a species rather than the individuals belonging to that species whereas, in contrast, agency is an attribute of individuals.

Impacto incremental de la dispersión poblacional sobre los recursos de personal sanitario en Atención Primaria

ObjectiveTo quantify the incremental impact that population dispersion has on the number of health personnel in Primary Care in Alto Aragón, using a reproducible method. MethodDescriptive observational study that compares health the number of health personnel (family medicine, pediatrics and nursing) in EAP and PA emergencies in 2019 in an unpopulated and dispersed territory such as Huesca, with the number that would correspond to it by applying population ratios per professional of hypothetical constructs with different population densities. ResultsHuesca, with respect to the national average, has 39% more PA health personnel. There are 239 additional professionals (112 in family medicine, 2 in pediatrics and 115 in nursing), 130 in emergencies and 109 in EAP.With the average of the five most densely populated provinces, it would reduce this staff by 49%, and with the average of the five least densely populated provinces, it would increase it by 12%. ConclusionsThere is a relationship between low population density and a greater number of family medicine and PC nurses, but not with pediatrics.The powerful incremental effect that dispersion has on health care spending gives it a relevant role in the regional financing system.Comparing PC health personnel in scenarios with different population density is a useful method for quantifying the impact of dispersion.

The nexus of work integrated learning and skills among engineering students in Nigerian Universities: A structural equation model approach

Higher education providers have redefined their focus to include work-integrated learning (WIL) as an alternative way to prepare graduates for professional and future employment. Although WIL was designed to enhance graduates' work readiness, there is little evidence that the program supports the development of behavioural and employability competencies among participating students. Thus, this study aims to predict the effect of WIL through the partial least square path model on seven employability competencies. The sample consisted of 375 final-year engineering students from two Nigerian universities who had participated in a WIL program. A two-stage composite-based structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. The average variance extracted and Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio were used to establish the validity and reliability of the instruments. A structural model was used to test the hypothetical constructs' relationship and level of significance. The findings supported all hypothesized direct relationships that WIL enhances graduate employability skills. The study concludes that WIL has immense benefits for students, including developing employability skills (i.e., Analytical, adaptability, communication, fundamental, ICT, interpersonal, and 4IR skillsets) for future employment. Consequently, it was recommended that higher education providers strengthen and establish frameworks for effective work-integrated learning program to enhance graduate employability.

Comparative Analysis of Factor-Based and Composite-Based Structural Equation Models: Factors Affecting Word-Of-Mouth of Tourists in Khung Bangkrachao

Structural Equation Models (SEMs) are commonly categorized into two main types: factor-based SEM and composite-based SEM. Each type is suitable for analyzing different forms of hypothetical constructs. Factor-based SEM is well-suited for analyzing factors, while composite-based SEM is tailored for analyzing composites. However, the majority of past research has favored composite-based SEM, particularly Partial Least Squares (PLS), for analyzing factors. Such practices can introduce biases into the analysis.
 This article provides an illustrative example from the tourism and hotel management domain by analyzing hypothetical constructs in two scenarios: one where the constructs are treated as factors and another where they are treated as composites. The study includes six constructs: service quality, atmosphere, perceived value, satisfaction, revisit intentions, and word-of-mouth. In the first scenario, the research objective is theory testing, while in the second scenario, the research aims to assess the model’s predictive capabilities when applied to datasets beyond those used for the analysis.
 The constructs of service quality, atmosphere, and perceived value are assumed to influence satisfaction, while satisfaction and service quality are hypothesized to impact revisit intentions. Perceived value, satisfaction, and revisit intentions are further assumed to trigger word-of-mouth.

Beyond Factors: IGSCA-SEM’s Application in The Context of Cannabis Tourism

Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is a statistical technique that is used to model the relationships among hypothetical constructs investigated by researchers. SEM can be broadly classified into two main approaches: factor-based (or covariance-based) SEM and component-based (or variance-based) SEM. Factor-based SEM is particularly well-suited for analyzing constructs that resemble factors, while component-based SEM is designed for composites or components. Historically, in the field of tourism research, there has been a tendency to treat factor models as a statistical proxy for all types of hypothetical constructs. However, when the hypothetical construct is incorrectly modeled as a factor instead of a composite, which is its appropriate representation, it can result in bias in parameter estimates. The information presented in this study highlights that this practice has persisted even in top-tier tourism journals, including articles published in the ABAC journal. Contemporary practices that align with the current research landscape in tourism are synthesized. These practices acknowledge that hypothetical constructs can either be factors or components. To illustrate this, a hypothetical example related to cannabis tourism is used, modelling it using mixed constructs based on IGSCA-SEM. Researchers are consequently encouraged to employ SEM, particularly when aiming to publish in the ABAC journal, to enhance their methodological rigor by adopting the recommended practices outlined.

Porosity, openness, and exposure: Identification of underlying factors associated with semi-outdoor spaces’ thermal performance and clustering in tropical high-density Singapore

The lack of green open spaces undermines the environmental and social quality of tropical highly-dense cities (i.e. raises urban temperatures, limits social interaction). The goal of this study, which focused on environmental aspects, was to identify underlying factors (i.e. hypothetical constructs) in semi-outdoor spaces within building forms that explain their microclimatic behaviour, thermal comfort levels, and clustering. Sixty-three semi-outdoor spaces in four high/mid-rise building forms of Singapore were studied using microclimatic data collected from field measurements and analysed via inferential statistical methods (e.g., exploratory factor analysis, multivariate regression analysis, and hierarchical clustering analysis). Findings demonstrate: (1) that spatial attributes (i.e. height, depth, void, solid, total frontage, open frontage, area, volume, perimeter, sky view factor, green plot ratio) are manifestations of three underlying factors: volume porosity (VP), perimeter openness (PO) and exposure to sky (ES); (2) that VP and PO are significantly associated with air velocity and predicted thermal comfort; and (3) that vertical breezeways appear to be the most thermally comfortable cluster due to high VP and low PO. This study sheds new light on the spatial nature of semi-outdoor spaces, which designers can consider in order to enhance wind movement for promoting thermally comfortable semi-outdoor environments in highly-dense Singapore.

Making inferential leaps: Manipulation checks and the road towards strong inference

Experiments in psychology often target hypothetical constructs to test some causal hypothesis or theory. In light of this goal, it is pertinent to use a manipulation that actually changes the focal hypothetical construct, and only that construct. In assessing whether such manipulation “success” can be assumed, researchers often include manipulation validity checks in their designs—a measure of the focal construct which should be responsive to the manipulation. One interpretation of a positive manipulation check is that it lends credence to a particular causal interpretation of a phenomenon. Scrutinizing the results of such manipulation checks supposedly enables a more stringent test of a causal hypothesis. This paper submits that manipulation checks do not improve our inferences to causal explanations, but may in practice result in weaker hypothesis tests. Rather than being useful, manipulation checks are at best uninformative, but more likely compromise the appraisal of a causal hypothesis. The second half of this paper advocates four methodological heuristics, offered as alternatives to manipulation validity checks, to more severely test causal hypotheses. The heuristics call for a burgeoning focus on (a) assessing the specificity of manipulations, (b) evaluating theoretical risk, (c) attempts to cast doubt on alternatives, and (d) appraising the relative merits of explanations. I conclude that rather than relying on manipulation checks as a ‘Band-Aid’ method to alleviate validity concerns, inferential rigor can be improved by virtue of these heuristics.

The Real Problem with Hypothetical Constructs.

A recent discussion in this journal revolved around the issue of whether postulating internal clocks is harmful or beneficial to scientific psychology, and how. I argue that this and other discussions on the topic have yet to address the real problem: The concept of a hypothetical construct is unintelligible. Psychologists agree that all entities that constitute hypothetical constructs are unobservable, importantly different from observable entities, including overt behavior and its environment. The root issue at hand here, then, is the observable-unobservable distinction. Psychologists have implicitly but erroneously taken it for granted as sufficiently unproblematic to warrant meaningful discussions based on it, when in fact it is a pernicious untenable remnant of logical positivism. All previous discussions of hypothetical constructs in psychology have overlooked arguments against this view in the philosophy of science. These arguments are sufficiently compelling to at least question, if not cease altogether, talk of observability, unobservability, and HCs in psychology as useless, even harmful.

A New Model of Unified Psychology

There exist several unassertive schools of unified psychology which attempt to consolidate divided psychology perspectives by offering equally contentious hypothetical constructs. At the same time, all psychology doctrines are in essence based on an identical premise as they all study human behavior. Accordingly, we approach the unification of psychology through the lenses of the originally proposed algorithm of human behavior, which is defined as a sequence of steps and feedback mechanisms. The algorithm is assessed from the standpoint of the six main psychology perspectives (behavioral, biological, cognitive, humanistic, psychoanalytical, and social). The primary attributes of the perspectives are projected onto the schematics of the algorithm and paired with its elements. We postulate that the algorithm reflects the fundamental premise of each of the individual perspectives, and in doing so integrates them into a single concept of human behavior. The model does not compromise the integrity of various schools of thought, but rather provides a framework uncovering their integrational potential and strengths. The model – unlike typical narrative canon – is compact, analytic, and adaptable to new data. Despite being based on formal logic it is able to shed light on such fundamental issues as human nature, relation between body and mind, relation between humans and nonhuman animals, and unity of experience.

Rejecting impulsivity as a psychological construct: A theoretical, empirical, and sociocultural argument.

We demonstrate through theoretical, empirical, and sociocultural evidence that the concept of impulsivity fails the basic requirements of a psychological construct and should be rejected as such. Impulsivity (or impulsiveness) currently holds a central place in psychological theory, research, and clinical practice and is considered a multifaceted concept. However, impulsivity falls short of the theoretical specifications for hypothetical constructs by having meaning that is not compatible with psychometric, neuroscience, and clinical data. Psychometric findings indicate that impulsive traits and behaviors (e.g., response inhibition, delay discounting) are largely uncorrelated and fail to load onto a single, superordinate latent variable. Modern neuroscience has also failed to identify a specific and central neurobehavioral mechanism underlying impulsive behaviors and instead has found separate neurochemical systems and loci that contribute to a variety of impulsivity types. Clinically, these different impulsivity types show diverging and distinct pathways and processes relating to behavioral and psychosocial health. The predictive validity and sensitivity of impulsivity measures to pharmacological, behavioral, and cognitive interventions also vary based on the impulsivity type evaluated and clinical condition examined. Conflation of distinct personality and behavioral mechanisms under a single umbrella of impulsivity ultimately increases the likelihood of misunderstanding at a sociocultural level and facilitates misled hypothesizing and artificial inconsistencies for clinical translation. We strongly recommend that, based on this comprehensive evidence, psychological scientists and neuroscientists reject the language of impulsivity in favor of a specific focus on the several well-defined and empirically supported factors that impulsivity is purported to cover. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Undergraduate Student Gender, Personality and Academic Confidence

Within a socio-situational and socio-behavioural context, the relationships between the Big Five personality traits and the academic confidence of university students and how they differed by sex of the student was explored. Previous research has identified both conscientiousness and academic confidence as being linked to university performance. In respect of sex, female students have been found to score higher on all of the Big Five measures, whereas the relationship between sex and academic confidence has been mixed. Using self-report measures of personality and academic confidence from 1523 Spanish students, it was found that the female students were more confident in their grades, studying and attendance components of academic confidence and had higher scores for conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism personality measures. A multiple regression analysis found that personality predicts academic confidence, with conscientiousness being the trait that statistically loaded the most strongly. This research further confirms the validity of the Academic Behavioural Confidence scale and suggests that measures of personality and, especially, academic confidence could be usefully used in student support situations to help students acquire the strategies and skills that lead to successful university study. It is suggested that further research in the area needs to include outcome or achievement measures and measures of hypothetical constructs, such as personality and academic confidence, that go beyond self-report measures.

Cultural-historical Activity Psychology in Extreme Situation: the Pandemic Challenge. Discussion

COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the person, the society, and the whole human civilization, and it also has challenged the human sciences. The discussion raises a fundamental problem: the collision between psychology and the need to rethink the understanding of а person. A person is considered in the transition from an abstract «psychological» individual to a real, concrete, living person in his bodily, organismic embodiment (or in the aspect of a natural biological subject). The question of expanding the cultural-historical understanding of a person through the prism of his individual history in mastering socio-historical experience is raised. The idea of a critical, emergency situation is introduced not only in the optics of society and nature in the whole or in abstract-hypothetical constructs, but also at the level of individual life of a person. The authors reflect an importance of considering the extreme situation of human existence in theoretical conceptions, not only as an applied problem. Negative interpretations of an extreme, emergency situation require conceptualization in terms of positivity – as a source of overcoming, solving life problems, development, and discovering, opening new experience. In addition, the concept of practice in psychology, which was mentioned by L. Vygotsky, also requires a radical revision. The practice of helping should be considered not only an applied branch in psychology, but in its fundamental, theoretical meaning, revealing psychological helping as the implementation of caring practice. The authors agree, that the existence of a person under the global threat of COVID-19 pandemic radically changes the interaction between a person and society. Global pandemic affects social practices to reveal a person in the context of new relation towards society. Public life is put «on pause» in order to protect a life of individual person. The phenomenon of death, that was previously subjected to theoretical repression in psychology, is now considered to be a part of human life. Meaning as the meaning of life has to be correlated with the meaning of death, which allows to reveal the existence of a person in the fullness of his life and being.

An initial development and validation of a Chinese technology teachers’ attitudes towards technology (TTATT) scale

Pupils’ attitudes towards technology have been widely discussed for over three decades, but the equally important topic of teachers’ attitudes towards technology has not gained similar attention. To address this gap, the technology teachers’ attitude towards technology (TTATT) scale was developed and validated by pilot testing with 140 Chinese high school general technology teachers. The theoretical framework of the TTATT scale was based on the tripartite model of teachers’ attitude towards science, resulting in 23 test items. The results of reliability analysis demonstrated the TTATT scale is reliable with this sample of Chinese technology teachers, and the results of exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the seven-dimension TTATT scale is consistent with hypothetical theoretical constructs. The seven dimensions are: relevance, difficulty, gender beliefs, enjoyment, anxiety, self-efficacy, and context dependency. The findings demonstrated that the TTATT scale is based on a sound conceptual foundation, and has good construct and factorial validity. The study advances the definition of attitude towards technology and provides a good template for developing a new attitude scale in different discipline contexts.

The 'paradox' of converging evidence.

We explore the implication of viewing a psychological theory as the logical conjunction of all its predictions. Even if several predictions derived from a theory are descriptive of behavior in separate studies, the theory as a whole may fail to be descriptive of any single individual. We discuss what proportion of a population satisfies a theory's joint predictions as a function of the true effect sizes and the proportion of variance attributable to individual differences. Unless there are no individual differences, even very well replicated effects may fail to establish that the combination of predictions that have been tested accurately describes even one person. Every additional study that contributes another effect, rather than strengthening support for the theory, may further limit its scope. Using four illustrative examples from cognitive and social psychology, we show how, in particular, small effect sizes dramatically limit the scope of psychological theories unless every small effect coincides with little to no individual differences. In some cases, this 'paradox' can be overcome by casting theories in such a way that they apply to everyone in a target population, without exception. Rather than relegating heterogeneity to a nuisance component of statistical models and data analysis, explicitly keeping track of heterogeneity in hypothetical constructs makes it possible to understand and quantify theoretical scope. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Application of a radial radio-frequency electron gun to waste treatment

Electron-beam irradiation has been shown to be a clean, efficient, and effective technique for treating a variety of contaminants in a variety of media. In particular, the ionizing radiation produced by an electron beam can effectively decontaminate wastewater and aid in removing harmful chemicals from industrial flue gas. In this paper, we investigate a novel technique for waste treatment using an electron-beam system in which an (approximately) annular beam converges radially into the treatment volume. We provide preliminary system-level analysis of the design of a radial electron gun, and we discuss hypothetical system constructs in which a radial electron gun is used for treatment of flue gas and wastewater. We derive dose uniformity, throughput rates, and other important treatment parameters for each application. Our results suggest that a lower-energy system with a large-radius cylindrical treatment volume is preferable for flue gas treatment, whereas a higher-energy system with an annular treatment volume is better-suited for wastewater treatment.

Analysis of Structural Equation Modeling as a Measuring Tool for Educational Management Research

In management education and psychology there are certain concepts that cannot bewell defined and then various discussions arise about the true meaning of the concept.Concepts such as management intelligence, personality, attitudes, interests, ambitions, socialprejudice and social status are hypothetical constructs that are not available in operationalmethods that can directly measure them. Concepts such as intelligence, personality, attitudes,interests, ambitions, social prejudice, social status are hypothetical constructs that are notavailable operational methods that can directly measure them. This study aims to determine thebackground of the use of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), understanding SEM, basicconcepts of SEM: constructs, manifest variables, validity, reliability, factor analysis, polycoriccorrelation, causal relationships, LISREL: Linear Structural Relationship, SEM procedures :definition of variance and covariance, model specifications, model identification, modelestimation, model formation, model compatibility test, model specification, LISREL programoutput. Symbols in SEM and SEM mathematical equations. The method used during this studytook place, namely using a literature study method which functions so that in research,researchers continue to add insight.

The Internal Clock: A Manifestation of a Misguided Mechanistic View of Causation?

Across various subfields within psychology, mechanistic causation is invoked regularly. When the temporal contiguity of the typical cause-effect relation is violated, mechanistic causation often assigns causal roles to mediating hypothetical constructs to account for observed effects. Two primary consequences of mechanistic causation are that 1) the proposed hypothetical constructs add what many behavior analysts consider an unnecessary step in the causal chain, and 2) these constructs then become the focus of study thereafter diverting attention from more accessible "causes." Constructs do not contribute directly to determining the control of behavior; thus, their reification as "causes" often distracts from variables that do fulfill a causal role. In this review, these consequences are discussed in relation to theories of interval timing proposing an internal clock. Not only has this clock been said to be a cause of behavior in experiments on temporally regulated behavior, but also the clock itself has been a frequent subject of study within the timing literature. Despite descriptive accounts of this sort initially serving a heuristic function for model development, the promotion from descriptive aid to causal factor has the potential to limit much of the heuristic value that mechanistic models of causation can provide to the analysis of behavior. Problems related to construct reification are less likely to be at issue when functional relations and the processes of establishing such behavior are emphasized as alternatives to mechanistic causation alone.

Understanding Customer Complaint Behaviour for Sustainable Business Development

This study investigates the nature and strength of key factors influencing customer complaint behavior (CCB) in the organized road transport industry in Imo State, Nigeria. Using questionnaire in a survey, 348 respondents drawn from the customers of seven organized road transport firms. The study reveals, principally, that all the six hypothetical constructs (situational, demographic, psychological, service-provider, purchased-service factors, and industry condition) have a significant impact on customer complaint behavior. Further, among the twenty-three antecedents evaluated, a gender of respondents and the size of the company are not significant predictors of customer complaint behavior. A new model of customer complaint behavior for sustainable business development in capacity building is proposed with critical attention to the customers’ identified critical areas of service failure while consolidating on the identified factors influencing patronage of the organized road transporters. The role of government in providing and enforcing effective regulation is also emphasized.

Transdisciplinary public leadership theory: Between the extremes of “traditional public administration” and “new public management”

The 21st century public organization is faced with complex problems, informed stakeholders, and information flows, which necessitate a corresponding open system view of leadership. The traditional notions of public administration and new public management had been structured by strict bureaucratic rules and managerial flexibility, respectively. This paper begins by theorizing two hypothetical constructs (helicopter and deadbeat leadership), which engage in extreme micromanagement/surveillance and negligence/indifference, respectively. Those form basis for designing an optimal (transdisciplinary) leadership, which forges synergistic link between leaders, subordinates, and external actors in codesigning objectives and strategies to address societal problems. Strategies to promote transdisciplinary leadership are discussed.