External correlates of adult digital problem-solving process: An empirical analysis of PIAAC PSTRE action sequences.
This study explores the utility of action sequence features in understanding how problem-solving behavior relates to cognitive proficiencies and demographic characteristics. This is empirically illustrated with the process data from the 2012 PIAAC PSTRE digital assessment. Regularized regression results showed that action sequence features are more predictive of examinees’ demographic and cognitive characteristics compared to final outcomes. Partial least squares analysis further aided the identification of behavioral patterns systematically associated with demographic/cognitive characteristics. (PsycInfo Database Record...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - April 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
VOTAT in action: Exploring epistemic activities in knowledge-lean problem-solving processes.
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, Vol 232(2), 2024, 109-119; doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000559In our study, we integrated the vary-one-thing-at-a-time (VOTAT) strategy within epistemic activities in knowledge-lean problem-solving. VOTAT, altering a single variable while keeping others constant, was examined through a dual approach: an empirical analysis with MicroDYN tasks and a theoretical discussion. Empirically, we identified differences among participants who fully engaged in the VOTAT loop, those with incomplete loops, and nonusers. These distinctions were evident in their problem-solving approaches, hypothesis formulation, a...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - April 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Identifying careless responding in web-based surveys: Exploiting sequence data from cursor trajectories and approximate areas of interest.
This study introduces a novel approach that utilizes time-stamped action sequence data of mouse movements and employs deep learning models to detect careless responding. It introduces the concept of Approximate Areas of Interest (AAOIs) along with the application of Gated Recurrent Units (GRUs) and Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) models. This research presents a flexible and efficient tool that can be applied across different scales and survey contexts. The results demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed approach in identifying group membership, achieving up to 95% accuracy when tested on experim...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - April 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Unsupervised anomaly detection in sequential process data: Insights from PIAAC problem-solving tasks.
In this study, we present three types of unsupervised anomaly detection to identify anomalous test-takers based on their action sequences in problem-solving tasks. The first method relies on the use of the Isolation Forest algorithm to detect anomalous test-takers based on raw action sequences extracted from process data. The second method transforms raw action sequences into contextual embeddings using the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) model and then applies the Isolation Forest algorithm to detect anomalous test-takers. The third method follows the same procedure as the second method, but...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - April 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Innovations in exploring sequential process data.
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, Vol 232(2), 2024, 71-73; doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000560Sequential process data such as keystrokes, clickstreams, and mouse movements pose a comparably new source of data in computerized psychological assessment that is much less understood and the potential of which is yet not fully harnessed. These data support much more detailed documentation of response processes above and beyond the mere time required for providing a response or solving a task. It is, however, not straightforward to extract meaningful information from these usually vast and unstructured data. The articles in this issue of t...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - April 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Thinking the relationships between conspiracy mentality and belief in conspiracy theories: Working assumptions for a new research agenda.
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, Vol 232(1), 2024, 64-67; doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000551In this response, I synthetize and expand on key points of agreement and on nuances brought up by Imhoff, Pummerer, and Sutton and colleagues in this issue (2024). I also attempt to further clarify the concept of conspiracy mentality. Building on Imhoff and Bruder’s (2014) conceptualization of conspiracy mentality as a generalized political attitude, I propose to adopt the working assumption that conspiracy mentality consists in a worldview, that is, a set of descriptive beliefs and assumptions about how the world functions. Adopting this...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - February 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
On the usefulness of the conspiracy mentality concept.
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, Vol 232(1), 2024, 59-63; doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000550The current commentary aims at defending the usefulness of the conspiracy mentality construct and emphasize its advantages over other ways to conceptualize and measure conspiracy beliefs. In contrast to specific conspiracy theories, items tapping into conspiracy mentality are typically not ideologically laden and are typically neither true nor false. They thus provide a purer measure of endorsing a conspiracy worldview – independent of ideological leaning or concerns of accuracy. Responding to Nera’s complaint about a Black Box definiti...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - February 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
On different operationalizations and conceptualizations of the tendency to believe in conspiracy theories: A comment on Nera (2024).
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, Vol 232(1), 2024, 55-58; doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000547This commentary in response to Nera (2024, this issue) offers an overview of different operationalizations and conceptualizations of the tendency to believe in conspiracy theories. It distinguishes Conspiracy Mentality (the disposition to believe in any kind of conspiracy theory) from the Belief in Conspiracy Theories (described as latent variable or monological network underlying the belief in many popular and scientifically unwarranted conspiracy theories, sometimes also called conspiracy ideation or generalized conspiracy belief) and the...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - February 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Conspiracy mentality versus belief in conspiracy theories: Response to Nera and some recommendations for researchers.
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, Vol 232(1), 2024, 50-54; doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000549In this research spotlight, we respond to Nera’s (2024, this issue) critique of the conspiracy mentality. We agree that the concept of the conspiracy mentality – and its relation to belief in conspiracy theories – requires further clarification. We also agree that the causal relationship between conspiracy mentality and belief in conspiracy theories may be bidirectional. We elaborate on these arguments by adding additional critical points and providing recommendations for researchers. We see the chief value of the construct as making ...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - February 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Analyzing the causation between conspiracy mentality and belief in conspiracy theories: Potential pitfalls and leads to address them.
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, Vol 232(1), 2024, 44-49; doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000533The dispositional approach to conspiracy mentality suggests that it causally precedes belief in conspiracy theories. I identify two potential pitfalls when analyzing this causal relationship: circular reasoning (in which the two constructs are conflated and interchangeable) and black box explanations (in which conspiracy mentality is merely defined as a disposition to believe in conspiracy theories). I argue that avoiding black box explanations requires theoretical and empirical works to clarify the content and antecedents of conspiracy men...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - February 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Enemies inside and out: How Russians believe conspiracy theories.
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, Vol 232(1), 2024, 38-43; doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000543Several popular conspiracy theories hold the government as one of the main figures of power, accusing it of various bad deeds. However, in authoritarian regimes or weak democracies, the state itself creates and exploits conspiracies about external and internal enemies of the nation. This paper explores the relationship between specific prostate conspiracy theory beliefs and conspiracy mentality in the context of Russia (N = 819), a country, where the government currently leverages conspiracy theories for its own purposes. These findings sug...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - February 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The victimizing effects of conspiracy beliefs.
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, Vol 232(1), 2024, 26-37; doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000542Victimhood has been linked to conspiracy beliefs in various contexts. However, the causal relationship between these constructs remains unclear. Following previous work, conspiracy beliefs could be described as victimized beliefs that are consequences of perceiving one’s ingroup as especially suffering from a situation (i.e., exclusive forms of collective victimhood, comprising competitive victimhood). However, in the absence of causal examination, it might also be that conspiracy beliefs are victimizing beliefs that increase perceptions ...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - February 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Disentangling the relationship between conspiracy mindset versus beliefs in specific conspiracy theories.
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, Vol 232(1), 2024, 18-25; doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000546While there is ample evidence showing that people who believe in one conspiracy theory are more likely to believe in other conspiracy theories, and many studies that show that some people have a stronger general propensity to believe in conspiracy theories – i.e., conspiracy mindset – than others, the empirical relationship between conspiracy mindset and beliefs in specific conspiracy theories is unclear. This paper thus aims to investigate this relationship using a unique three-wave panel study. Among other things, the findings suggest...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - February 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Semantic and causal relations between the conspiracy mentality and belief in conspiracy theories.
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, Vol 232(1), 2024, 7-17; doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000545Four pre-registered studies examined the semantic and causal relation between conspiracy mentality and belief in conspiracy theories. Study 1 (N = 251) confirmed important differences between these two constructs. Participants perceived conspiracy mentality propositions as general rules and conspiracy theories as specific examples. This perception that conspiracy mentality statements are more general was associated with the perception that they are more plausible and, if shared, less likely to cause dispute and to stigmatize the communicator...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - February 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Not all conspiracy theories are created equal: The relationship, differences, and commonalities of general conspiracy mindsets versus specific conspiracy beliefs.
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, Vol 232(1), 2024, 3-6; doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000548Taken together, the current issue takes up many open threads and solidifies our understanding of the differences and similarities of general conspiracy mentality and specific conspiracy beliefs, thereby approximating a more cumulative approach to science than the eclectic gathering of empirical bits and pieces. All papers converged in showing that indeed some conspiracy beliefs are more equal (to each other) than others and that there might be good reasons to differentiate between conspiracist worldview (or mentality) and the endorsements of ...
Source: Zeitschrift fur Psychologie - February 29, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
