We focus on the identification of differential item functioning (DIF) when more than two groups of examinees are considered. We propose to consider items as elements of a multivariate space, where DIF items are outlying elements. Following this approach, the situation of multiple groups is a quite natural case. A robust statistics technique is…

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is often conducted with ordinal data (e.g., items with 5-point responses) in the social and behavioral sciences. These ordinal variables are often treated as if they were continuous in practice. An alternative strategy is to assume that a normally distributed continuous variable underlies each ordinal variable.…

The role that language plays in mediating the influence of verbal descriptions of persons on trait ratings of those persons was studied for 280 college students. Results suggest that the influence of verbally communicated descriptions of persons on trait ratings is mediated by the expected latent factors. (SLD)

Structure and intensity of naturally occurring and induced affect were studied with 244 university students and 1 employee in 2 studies using 2 methodological paradigms (dimensionality and classification) and 2 everyday contexts (lecture and television advertising). A circular structure of feeling was experienced during the lecture (naturally…