Damian Läge

Holland's Secondary Constructs of Vocational Interests and Career Choice Readiness of Secondary Students

Abstract. This study examined the relationship between the secondary constructs of Hollands (1997) theory of vocational interests and career choice readiness (career maturity) attitudes with 358 Swiss secondary students. The hypothesis was tested that the secondary constructs consistency, coherence, differentiation, and congruence are measures for the degree of vocational interest development. Thus, they should belong to the content domain in career choice readiness and should show meaningful relations to career-choice readiness attitudes. The hypothesis was confirmed for congruence, coherence, and differentiation. Interest-profile consistency showed no relation to career-choice readiness attitudes. Vocational identity emerged as a direct measure for career-choice readiness attitudes. Realism of career aspirations was related to career-choice readiness attitudes and coherence of career aspirations. Profile elevation was positively connected to more career planning and career exploration. Differences betw...

The Relation of Secondary Students' Career-Choice Readiness to a Six-Phase Model of Career Decision Making.

Based on common aspects of recent models of career decision making (CDM), a six-phase model of CDM for secondary students is presented and empirically evaluated. The study tests the hypothesis that students who are in later phases possess more career-choice readiness and consider different numbers of career alternatives. Two hundred sixty-six Swiss secondary students completed measures tapping phase of CDM, career-choice readiness, and number of considered career options. Career-choice readiness showed an increase with phase of CDM. Later phases were associated with a larger increase in career-choice readiness. Number of considered career options showed a curve-linear development with fewer options considered at the beginning and at the end of the process. Male students showed a larger variability in their distribution among the process with more male than female students in the first and last phases of the process. Implications for theory and practice are presented.

Exploring the structure of psychopathological symptoms: a re-analysis of AMDP data by robust nonmetric multidimensional scaling

This paper investigates the structure of psychopathological symptoms. Based on AMDP symptom profiles, a symptom space was calculated by robust nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and the symptom structures of a sample dating from 1980 and a sample from 2002/2003 were compared. The method of NMDS presented in this study allows results from other studies to be confirmed and complemented. The symptom factors identified in the past by factor-analytic studies were replicated as clusters in two-dimensional symptom maps. Additionally, some theoretically assumed clusters of symptoms were detected that were not found in previous factor analysis approaches. From the results, which are depicted in a continuous space, new insights can be gained, especially with regard to questions of categorical and dimensional classifications. The comparison of the structural aspects of the symptomatology across more than two decades resulted in only small divergences and allows conclusions to be drawn about the stability of these structures and consequently of the symptom clusters and dimensions.

A Structure-Based Expert Model of the ICD-10 Mental Disorders

Background: Many authors have highlighted that a classificatory system such as the ICD-10 or the DSM-IV should attempt to integrate categorical as well as dimensional aspects rather than relying only on a categorical distinction. Methods: In the current study, a method is presented that allows both perspectives to be considered. Based on their clinical experience, 20 therapists were asked to rate a selection of ICD-10 mental disorders in terms of their similarity. The resulting data were processed by nonmetric multidimensional scaling on individual basis as well as mean basis and a cluster analysis. Results: From a categorical point of view, the resulting mean cognitive map and the cluster analytic groups showed a good concordance with the ICD-10 F groups. Additionally, analogies to the critical observations with regard to the classification systems could be observed. From the dimensional point of view, there were two dimensions found (cognition and psychosis) which showed high correlations in the mean map. Conclusions: The method presented in this study offers an opportunity to account for dimensional as well as categorical aspects of classification by exploring the structure of the ICD-10 mental disorders directly from the point of view of therapists and thus creating the basis for an expert model.

Activation as an overlooked factor in the BDI-II: a factor model based on core symptoms and qualitative aspects of depression.

An adequate assessment of depression has been of concern to many researchers over the last half-century. These efforts have brought forth a manifold of depression rating scales, of which the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is 1 of the most commonly used self-assessment scales. Since its revision, the item structure of the BDI-II has been examined in many factor analytic studies, yet it has not been possible to achieve a consensus about the underlying factor structure. Recent findings from a nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis (Bühler, Keller, & Läge, 2012) of the German norming sample of the BDI-II emphasized a structure with different qualitative aspects of depression, which suggested that the existing factor models do not adequately represent the data. The NMDS results were reviewed, and on the basis of these findings, a different factor model is proposed. In contrast to the common factor models in the literature, the presented model includes an additional factor, which is associated with the activation level of the BDI-II symptoms. The model was evaluated with a 2nd sample of patients diagnosed with a primary affective disorder (N = 569) and obtained good fit indices that even exceeded the fit of the most reliable factor model (Ward, 2006) described in the literature so far. Furthermore, emphasis is placed on the methodological question of how factor models may be derived from the results of NMDS analyses.

The structure-based expert model of the mental disorders--a validation study.

Background: In an earlier study, our research group presented an alternative approach to measuring knowledge about mental disorders by constructing a structure-based expert model of the ICD-10 mental disorders. This article presents a validation of this expert model by measuring the emergence of such knowledge structures in psychotherapy students. Sampling and Methods: The participants of a continuing education program in cognitive behavioral psychotherapy rated a selection of mental disorders based on their phenomenological similarity. The similarity judgments of each student were translated by nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) into a cognitive map. In a quasi-longitudinal section design, the maps of the students of the first to the fourth year of training were compared with each other and with an expert map (the expert model) of experienced therapists. Results: The discrepancies of the trainee maps compared with each other and with the expert map significantly decreased with increasing training level. Conclusions: The convergence of the students’ maps towards the expert model indicates that the structural knowledge about mental disorders of experienced therapists can also be found to be emerging in psychotherapy students. This finding supports the validity of the expert model and may reflect a general knowledge-structuring principle of the mental disorders. In spite of the statistical significance found, in view of the small number of participants in the third and fourth years of training, the results should be treated with caution and should be regarded as first indicators which need further confirmation.

Testing the QuickEst: No evidence for the Quick-Estimation heuristic

The Quick-Estimation heuristic (QuickEst) was introduced by Hertwig, Hoffrage, and Martignon (1999) as a fast and frugal method to generate numerical estimates. The heuristic posits that estimate-relevant knowledge is organised and searched according to ordered reference classes that are based on binary cue values. Two experiments tested two main predictions derived from QuickEst with respect to the memory search and estimation behaviour of human participants. The results provided no evidence that QuickEst is used in numerical estimation processes. As alternative explanation of our findings, we discuss a cyclic sampling mechanism that retrieves information from memory according to their associative strength.

Training of tonal similarity ratings in non-musicians: a "rapid learning" approach

Although cognitive music psychology has a long tradition of expert–novice comparisons, experimental training studies are rare. Studies on the learning progress of trained novices in hearing harmonic relationships are still largely lacking. This paper presents a simple training concept using the example of tone/triad similarity ratings, demonstrating the gradual progress of non-musicians compared to musical experts: In a feedback-based “rapid learning” paradigm, participants had to decide for single tones and chords whether paired sounds matched each other well. Before and after the training sessions, they provided similarity judgments for a complete set of sound pairs. From these similarity matrices, individual relational sound maps, intended to display mental representations, were calculated by means of non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), and were compared to an expert model through procrustean transformation. Approximately half of the novices showed substantial learning success, with some participants even reaching the level of professional musicians. Results speak for a fundamental ability to quickly train an understanding of harmony, show inter-individual differences in learning success, and demonstrate the suitability of the scaling method used for learning research in music and other domains. Results are discussed in the context of the “giftedness” debate.

Die subjektive Repräsentation der Schweiz in deutsch- und französischsprachigen Landesteilen

Zusammenfassung: Drei Erhebungsverfahren (Hierarchisches Sortieren, Paralleles Sortieren und Freie Aufzahlung) kartieren die subjektive Landkarte der Schweiz. Die an den Universitaten Zurich und La...

The Hofmethode: Computing Semantic Similarities between E-Learning Products

The key task in building useful e-learning repositories is to develop a system with an algorithm allowing users to retrieve information that corresponds to their specific requirements. To achieve this, products (or their verbal descriptions, i.e. presented in metadata) need to be compared and structured according to the results of this comparison. Such structuring is crucial insofar as there are many search results that correspond to the entered keyword. The Hofmethode is an algorithm (based on psychological considerations) to compute semantic similarities between texts and therefore offer a way to compare e-learning products. The computed similarity values are used to build semantic maps in which the products are visually arranged according to their similarities. The paper describes how the Hofmethode is implemented in the online database edulap, and how it contributes to help the user to explore the data in which he is interested.