Thin Slice Approach Research Articles

Measuring temperament in developmental research: A thin-slice approach to capturing temperament in infants and toddlers.

Temperament is a key factor in early development and predicts several key developmental outcomes. The ability to capture temperament in a variety of settings and ages is thus increasingly useful. Recent work has demonstrated the utility, reliability, and validity of thin-slice assessments in which brief snapshots of children's behavior are used to make inferences about general traits (Tackett et al., 2016). Thin-slice has been effective for assessing personality in older children (over 7-years; Tackett et al., 2016, 2017) and preschoolers 3-6 years old (Whalen et al., 2021) when engaging in lab tasks or clinical assessments. However, no work has examined the use of thin-slice for temperament in younger, typically developing infants/toddlers during lab-based tasks. The present study aims to test a downward extension of a modified thin-slice approach to assess temperament using archived videos of 516 infants/toddlers (nfemale = 255; Mage = 27.51 months, Rangeage = 17-47 months). Children were originally recruited from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds across the central United States and completed a short play session, which incorporated standard language and cognition tasks that were not designed to elicit temperament; caregivers also reported their children's temperament using the Early Child Behavior Questionnaire (Putnam & Rothbart, 2006). Naive raters scored the videos using a modification of the thin-slice approach. We find evidence of good reliability and validity for temperament scores using this approach suggesting thin-slice assessments are another method for measuring temperament in infants and toddlers. Moreover, thin-slice allows for post assessment of temperament even when it had not been formally assessed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Supplemental Material for Measuring Temperament in Developmental Research: A Thin-Slice Approach to Capturing Temperament in Infants and Toddlers

Supplemental Material for Measuring Temperament in Developmental Research: A Thin-Slice Approach to Capturing Temperament in Infants and Toddlers

Fast measurement of the gradient system transfer function at 7 T.

In this work, a new method to determine the gradient system transfer function (GSTF) with high frequency resolution and high SNR is presented, using fast and simple phantom measurements. The GSTF is an effective instrument for hardware characterization and calibration, which can be used to correct for gradient distortions, or enhance gradient fidelity. The thin-slice approach for phantom-based measurements of the GSTF is expanded by adding excitations that are shifted after the application of the probing gradient, to capture long-lasting field fluctuations with high SNR. A physics-informed regularization procedure is implemented to derive high-quality transfer functions from a small number of measurements. The resulting GSTFs are evaluated by means of gradient time-course estimation and pre-emphasis of a trapezoidal test gradient on a 7T scanner. The GSTFs determined with the proposed method capture sharp mechanical resonances with a high level of detail. The measured trapezoidal gradient progressions are authentically reproduced by the GSTF estimations on all three axes. The GSTF-based pre-emphasis considerably improves the gradient fidelity in the plateau phase of the test gradient and almost completely eliminates lingering field oscillations. The presented approach allows fast and simple characterization of gradient field fluctuations caused by long-living eddy current and vibration effects, which become more pronounced at ultrahigh field strengths.

Using A Thin Slice Coding Approach to Assess Preschool Overweight and Obesity.

Obesity is a major public health problem and cause of significant burden across the lifespan. Longitudinal samples, beginning in early childhood offer an advantageous approach to studying obesity, given the potential to observe within-individual changes over time. Yet among the many available longitudinal studies of children, particularly those studying psychological disorders, do not assess for overweight/obesity status or related constructs necessary to compute BMI. We offer a unique thin slice approach for assessing obesity/overweight status using previously collected video data. The current study observationally coded overweight/obesity status in a clinically enriched sample of preschoolers oversampled for depression (N=299). Preschoolers (ages 3-6 years) completed 1-8 structured observational tasks with an experimenter. Overweight/obesity was coded using a "thin slice" technique with 7,820 unique ratings available for analysis. Parent-reported physical health problems were assessed throughout the study and BMI percentiles were available from ages 8-19 years. Thin-slice ratings of overweight/obesity were reliably observed in preschoolers' ages 3-6 years. Thin-slice ratings of overweight/obesity during preschool significantly predicted adolescent BMI percentiles at six separate assessments spanning ages 8-19 years. Further, preschool overweight/obese thin-slice ratings were associated with more physical health problems over time and less sport/activity participation during preschool. Overweight/obesity can be observationally identified in preschool-age children and offers a reliable estimate of future BMI percentile. Study findings highlight how previously collected data could be utilized to study the developmental trajectories of overweight/obesity to inform this critical public health problem.

Using a Thin Slice Coding Approach to Assess Preschool Personality Dimensions

A large literature assessing personality across the lifespan has used the Big Five as an organizing framework, with evidence that variation along different dimensions predicts aspects of psychopathology. Parent reports indicate that these dimensions emerge as early as preschool, but there is a need for objective, observational measures of personality in young children, as parent report can be confounded by the parents’ own personality and psychopathology. The current study observationally coded personality dimensions in a clinically enriched sample of preschoolers. A heterogeneous group of preschoolers oversampled for depression (N = 299) completed 1–8 structured observational tasks with an experimenter. Big Five personality dimensions of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience were coded using a “thin slice” technique with 7,820 unique ratings available for analysis. Thin slice ratings of personality dimensions were reliably observed in preschoolers ages 3–6 years. Within and across-task, consistency was also evident, with consistency estimates higher than found in adult samples. Divergent validity was limited, with coders distinguishing between three (extraversion/openness; agreeableness/conscientiousness; and neuroticism) rather than five dimensions. Personality dimensions can be observationally identified in preschool-age children and offer reliable estimates that stand across different observational tasks. Study findings highlight the importance of observational approaches to assessing early personality dimensions, as well as the utility of the thin slice approach for meaningful secondary data analysis.

A correlated traits, correlated methods model for thin-slice child personality assessment.

Recent research has illustrated the utility and accuracy of a thin-slice (TS) approach to child personality assessment, whereby unacquainted observers provide personality ratings of children after exposure to brief behavioral episodes. The current study sought to expand on this approach by exploring formal multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) models for child TS data comprising ratings from a comprehensive set of TS situations. Results using data from a sample of 326 community children 9-10 years of age indicated that a correlated traits, correlated methods (CTCM) model can be used to represent individual differences in children's behavior as manifest across different situations. Indicator variables derived from a CTCM differentially correlated with traditional parental ratings of behavior, moreover, and provide predictive and incremental validity regarding child competencies and behavior. Results illustrate the utility of a TS approach in the assessment of childhood personality and inform understanding of issues encountered in applying different MTMM models to these types of empirical data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Predicting the Success of Crowd-Funding Campaigns: A Thin Slice Approach

This study investigates the accuracy of thin slice predictions in the context of entrepreneurial finance. First, I demonstrate that even very short exposures (30 seconds or less) to a video clip portraying an entrepreneur pitching her venture on a crowd funding portal may lead to relatively accurate estimates of her actual fundraising success. Second, I explore the role of stereotypes in the formation of accurate thin slice judgments, a research topic largely unexplored and called for by the prior literature.

Cognitive Sensitivity in Sibling Interactions: Development of the Construct and Comparison of Two Coding Methodologies

Research Findings: The goal of this study was to develop a construct of sibling cognitive sensitivity, which describes the extent to which children take their siblings’ knowledge and cognitive abilities into account when working toward a joint goal. In addition, the study compared 2 coding methodologies for measuring the construct: a thin slice approach (i.e., making intuitive, impressionistic judgments) and an interval coding approach (i.e., coding the presence of behaviors in 20-s snapshots). A sample of 385 sibling pairs (younger sibling M = 3.15 years, older sibling M = 5.57 years) was used for the present study. In Phase 1, independent raters used both methodologies to code videos of sibling interactions using a subset of sibling pairs (n = 50 dyads). Siblings interacted for 5 min on a challenging cooperation task, and the extent of cognitive sensitivity was coded for each child. Measures of validity and interrater agreement were acceptable for both methodologies, and thin slice coding reduced time demands. The thin slice measure was chosen as the preferred method. Phase 2 added 3 additional items to the thin slice measure and validated the measure using data from all 385 sibling pairs. Psychometric properties of the final thin slice measure were good. Practice or Policy: Research and practical implications are discussed.

Material saturation in photopolymer holographic data recording and its effects on bit-error-rate and content-addressable search

Fourier transform of an amplitude modulated data page gives rise to high intensity at the zero-spatial frequency. Recording such high intensity requires a large-dynamic range on the part of the recording material and leads to material saturation. Moving the recording plane away from the Fourier plane is often used for spectrum uniformity and thereby improving the quality of reconstruction. In the present paper, we have investigated the effect of photopolymer material saturation on the bit-error-rate, the signal-to-noise ratio, and content-addressable search of a holographic data storage system. We have performed numerical simulation of the process of hologram recording and corresponding reconstruction, and show an improvement in the BER and the SNR values of the reconstructed data page for the defocused recording. A multi-layer thin-slice approach to take into account the thickness of recording material is used to simulate the volume hologram. The numerical simulation model can be used as an efficient tool for system optimization.

Interpersonal perception and personality disorders: Utilization of a thin slice approach

Study 1 expands upon previous research by looking at the ability of untrained raters to detect pathological traits within a normal population of college students. In Study 1, 30-s video clips of 81 target persons were shown to 42 raters. Ratings of traits of personality disorders made by thin slice raters reliably predicted scores on the personality pathology measures obtained from the targets themselves and from close peers. Study 2 is a preliminary examination of how pathological rater traits impacts thin slice accuracy. In Study 2, peer and self-report data were examined regarding 87 thin slice raters. Raters who exhibited traits of narcissistic personality disorder were significantly less accurate in making personality predictions regarding targets. Three clusters of personality items were identified based on rater characteristics related to accuracy in predicting behavior.

Functional MRI in Epilepsy

*Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.; †University Hospital Gent, Gent, Belgium; ‡Departments of Diagnostic Radiology and Neurosurgery, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; §Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Clinical Epilepsy Section, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland; ¶Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; and **Department of Neurology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia, U.S.A.

Modelling of transient production and decay following laser excitation of opaque materials

The generation and decay of transient species in light-scattering materials is examined theoretically. Two limiting cases of transient distribution can be identified for which straightforward mathematical solutions are available: (a) where an exponentially falling-off concentration of transients exists beneath the sample surface and (b) where a homogeneous transient concentration (a ‘plug’) exists beneath the sample surface. Between and including these limits, the concentration profile can be calculated by a numerical iterative thin-slice approach. This method also permits calculation of the experimentally available reflectances R of the sample at the analysing wavelength. The size of the transient absorption is governed by the extinction coefficients of the initial absorber and the transient. In the case of a transient species which shows both luminescence and absorption, it is found that the emission intensity and the transient absorption at the same wavelength are proportional to each other. For a transient decaying by a unimolecular pathway, the rate constant can be obtained in case (a) from the slope of a plot of ln (1 –R)vs. time, while for case (b) ln [F(R)] must be plotted against time, where F(R) is the Kubelka–Munk function. If the decay follows a bimolecular pathway, the rate constant can be evaluated from the slope of a 1/F(R) plot vs. time only for case (b). In all other cases no straightforward method is available. Experimental data are presented and discussed for benzil microcrystals, an example of case (a) where the predicted superimposition of transient decay and phosphorescence is also observed, and for acridine adsorbed on silica gel, an example of case (b).