Metaheuristics are optimization algorithms that efficiently solve a variety of complex combinatorial problems. In psychological research, metaheuristics have been applied in short-scale construction and model specification search. In the present study, we propose a bee swarm optimization (BSO) algorithm to explore the structure underlying a…

Structural equation mixture models (SEMMs), when applied as a semiparametric model (SPM), can adequately recover potentially nonlinear latent relationships without their specification. This SPM is useful for exploratory analysis when the form of the latent regression is unknown. The purpose of this article is to help users familiar with structural…

The authors empirically examined whether the validity of a residualized dependent variable after covariance adjustment is comparable to that of the original variable of interest. When variance of a dependent variable is removed as a result of one or more covariates, the residual variance may not reflect the same meaning. Using the pretest-posttest…

In this study, the role of teacher-student relationships and students' social and emotional skills as potential predictors of students' emotional and behavioural difficulties was investigated by tapping into 962 primary school students' perceptions via questionnaires. While significant correlations were found linking teachers' interpersonal…

A key element in science education is establishing and maintaining linkages between teachers and researchers that can eventuate in enhanced student outcomes. Determining when and where a new educational program or intervention results in an enhanced outcome can be sensitive to many different forces that the researcher must carefully manage. The…

This study examined the prediction of academic self-concept (English and Mathematics) and learning strategies (deep and surface), and their direction of effect, on academic achievement (English and Mathematics) of 8,354 students from 16 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Two competing models were tested to ascertain the direction of effect: Model A…

This research aimed to study the relationships between students' future goals (FGs) and their immediate achievement goal orientations (AGOs) among 5733 Singaporean secondary school students (M age = 14.18, SD = 1.26; 53% boys). To this end, we hypothesized that the relationships between like valenced FGs and AGOs (both intrinsic or both extrinsic)…

Statistical procedures based on the general linear model (GLM) share much in common with one another, both conceptually and practically. The use of structural equation modeling path diagrams as tools for teaching the GLM as a body of connected statistical procedures is presented. A heuristic data set is used to demonstrate a variety of univariate…

Ant colony optimization is a recently proposed heuristic procedure inspired by the behavior of real ants. This article applies the procedure to model specification searches in structural equation modeling and reports the results. The results demonstrate the capabilities of ant colony optimization algorithms for conducting automated searches.

Continuing a discussion of the topic of fit assessment in structural equation modeling, this article accepts the compromise proposed by H. Marsh (1998) and offers tentative heuristic models for interpreting fit indices that involve the new baseline model proposed by E. Rigdon (1998). (SLD)

A general linear model (GLM) framework is used to suggest that structure coefficients ought to be interpreted in structural equation modeling confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) studies in which factors are correlated. The computation of structure coefficients in explanatory factor analysis and CFA is explained. Two heuristic data sets are used to…

In this paper the binomial index of model fit is applied to four path-analytic or structural-equation models to demonstrate how this goodness-of-fit measure can be used and interpreted. In addition, the conclusions derived from the results of the binomial index of goodness of fit were compared to the statements presented by the authors of the…

A Monte Carlo study evaluated the effectiveness of different factor analysis extraction and rotation methods for identifying the known population multiple-indicator measurement model. Results demonstrate that exploratory factor analysis can contribute to a useful heuristic strategy for model specification prior to cross-validation with…

The most important things learned about violence and trauma in the past 20 years are that interpersonal violence is prevalent, with different forms co-occurring, and that victims' reactions are complex. Researchers are called to consider models that include the ecological context within which victims experience violence and trauma to gain a better…

This paper describes structural equation modeling (SEM) in comparison with another overarching analysis within the general linear model (GLM) analytic family: canonical correlation analysis. The uninitiated reader can gain an understanding of SEM's basic tenets and applications. Latent constructs discovered via a measurement model are explored and…