Predicting student academic performance has long been an important research topic in many academic disciplines. The present study is the first study that develops and compares four types of mathematical models to predict student academic performance in engineering dynamics--a high-enrollment, high-impact, and core course that many engineering…

A recent resurgence in logical-rule theories of categorization has motivated the development of a class of models that predict not only choice probabilities but also categorization response times (RTs; Fific, Little, & Nosofsky, 2010). The new models combine mental-architecture and random-walk approaches within an integrated framework and…

In recent years, there has been some dispute over the appropriate way to model decision making in professional sports leagues. In particular, Szymanski and Kesenne (2004) argue that formulating the decision-making problem in a noncooperative game leads to radically different conclusions about the nature of competition in sports leagues. The author…

The redundancy statistic (Rd) is discussed in relation to canonical correlation analysis. The index is a measure of the variance of one set of variables predicted from the linear combination of the other set of variables. A small data set (N=6) from the work of D. Clark (1975) was analyzed using SPSS-X. Two sets of two variables each were…

Previous methods for estimating the conditional standard error of measurement (CSEM) at specific score or ability levels are critically discussed, and a brief summary of prior empirical results is given. A new method is developed which avoids theoretical problems inherent in some prior methods, is easy to implement, and estimates not only a…

Describes and compares eight methods of estimating the parameters of the Zipf distribution. (CLB)

A model is presented that demonstrates that a random response to external constraint can produce results similar to those predicted by more complex models. Behavior that appears rational, optimal, or adaptive may truly be a random response to external constraint. Predictions based on this model may provide appropriate null hypotheses. (SLD)

Modeling the population in survey sampling problems continues to be controversial. An important reason is that the likelihood principle makes it somewhat necessary to model the population. Estimating the population total in two-stage survey sampling is considered, making use of a "superpopulation" model. The problem is then really one of…

A procedure for inferring the validity of a selection test as a predictor of some criterion when the available data are limited due to prior selection is described. (Author/JKS)

EXPERIMENTS WERE PERFORMED TO DETERMINED HOW MENTALLY RETARDED AND NORMAL SUBJECTS SYNTHESIZE STIMULI WITH RESPONSES. ALSO, RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE STIMULUS SYNTHESIS PROCESS, INTELLIGENCE, AND RATE OF LEARNING WERE STUDIED. DISCRIMINATION TASKS WERE USED WHICH REQUIRED SUBJECTS, NORMAL (COLLEGE, HIGH SCHOOL, AND GRADE SCHOOL ENROLLEES) AND…

Major objective in this study was the structuring of a predictive model that would assess combinations of variables that most effectively and parsimoniously measure and forecast college success. (Author)

Presented are some notes concerning the lower bound used in entropy prediction experiments. An explicit proof valid for an ideal prediction, adding a negative proof for general experimental conditions is demonstrated. The general validity of the lower bound has been thus denied, reflecting some potential sources of distortion. (2 references)…

Argues that the gamma mixture of Poisson processes, for all its perceived defects, can be used to make predictions regarding future library book circulations of a quality adequate for general management requirements. The use of the model is extensively illustrated with data from two academic libraries. (Nine references) (CLB)

Interpretation of emergent variables on the basis of structure coefficients (zero order correlations between original and emergent variables) is potentially very misleading and should be avoided in favor of interpretation on the basis of scoring coefficients. This is most apparent in multiple regression analysis and its special case, two-group…

Statistical significance is often misinterpreted to mean replicability or generalizability of results, although a statistically significant difference does not equal a reliable difference. Sample splitting procedures may be a more accurate way of estimating research result generalizability. This type of cross-validation involves randomly dividing…