A first-order latent growth model assesses change in an unobserved construct from a single score and is commonly used across different domains of educational research. However, examining change using a set of multiple response scores (e.g., scale items) affords researchers several methodological benefits not possible when using a single score. A…

An important question regards how we use environmental boundaries to anchor spatial representations during navigation. Behavioral and neurophysiological models appear to provide conflicting predictions, and this question has been difficult to answer because of technical challenges with testing navigation in novel, large-scale, realistic spatial…

The structure of the human brain changes in several ways throughout childhood and adolescence. Perhaps the most salient of these changes is the strengthening of white matter tracts that enable distal brain regions to communicate with one another more quickly and efficiently. Here, we sought to understand whether and how white matter changes…

This study explored the controversy surrounding working memory: whether it is a unitary system providing general purpose resources or a more differentiated system with domain-specific sub-components. A total of 348 participants completed a set of 6 working memory tasks that systematically varied in storage target contents and type of information…

This article presents our response to Oud and Folmer's "Modeling Oscillation, Approximately or Exactly?" (2011), which criticizes aspects of our article, "Latent Differential Equation Modeling of Self-Regulatory and Coregulatory Affective Processes" (2011). In this response, we present a conceptual explanation of the derivative-based estimation…

We examine emotion self-regulation and coregulation in romantic couples using daily self-reports of positive and negative affect. We fit these data using a damped linear oscillator model specified as a latent differential equation to investigate affect dynamics at the individual level and coupled influences for the 2 partners in each couple.…

This study estimates the causal effects of six corrective actions for children's problem behaviors, comparing four types of longitudinal analyses that correct for pre-existing differences in a cohort of 1,464 4- and 5-year-olds from Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) data. Analyses of residualized gain scores found…

Structural equation models are presented as alternative models for examining longitudinal data. The models include (a) a cross-lagged regression model, (b) a factor model based on latent growth curves, and (c) a dynamic model based on latent difference scores. The illustrative data are on motivation and perceived competence of students during…

This article offers different examples of how to fit latent growth curve (LGC) models to longitudinal data using a variety of different software programs (i.e., LISREL, Mx, Mplus, AMOS, SAS). The article shows how the same model can be fitted using both structural equation modeling and multilevel software, with nearly identical results, even in…