Based on a review of prior research, a causal model was proposed to explain the relationship between child abuse, dissociation, depression, and revictimization. In the model, dissociation and depression were proposed as mediator variables, developing out of child abuse and leading to revictimization. Subjects were 301 male and female university…

A theoretical and philosophical revision of the concept of fit in structural equation modeling and its relation to a confirmation bias is developed. The neutral character of fit indexes regarding this issue is argued, concluding that protection against confirmation bias relies on model modification strategy and scientist behavior. (SLD)

Explores cause-effect models and their role in educational research, reviewing various kinds of causal models. Concludes that cause-effect provides a powerful, persuasive, and nearly universal explanation for social and psychological processes despite the inability to detect it directly. (SLD)

Explains causal path modeling, addressing common misconceptions. Emphasizes the real-world validity of causal relationships depicted in models. Uses examples from research on the antecedents of career success. (Contains 37 references.) (SK)

Based on the division of attained change for each treated individual into causal and noncausal change, the product-moment correlation between causal change and initial level is studied and compared with the correlation between attained change and initial level. Relevant formulas for true scores at population level are presented. (SLD)

Critiques violence prediction via methods for quantifying accuracy that fail to control for base rates or biases and describes how receiver-operating characteristic analysis can compensate. Via reanalysis of datasets from previously published studies suggests that mental health professionals' violence predictions are substantially more accurate…

A practical theory is offered for probing external validity, the generalization of causal relationships. This alternative theory is built around five principles abstracted from research on construct validation. It emphasizes purposive sampling for theoretical ends rather than random sampling to represent a population. (SLD)

A causal model that delineates the processes whereby clinical social workers experience burnout and job dissatisfaction was developed and evaluated using linear structural relationship techniques. The model was tested on questionnaire data from Florida social workers (N=165). Role conflict, role ambiguity, and social support were studied as…

Marital interaction processes that are predictive of divorce or marital stability and processes that discriminate between happily and unhappily married stable couples are explored (N=130). Seven types of process models are examined, and results are discussed. Divorce and stability were predicted with 83% accuracy, and satisfaction with 80%…

Examines the claim that it is necessary to change an organization's culture in order to bring about organizational change. Considers the purported causal relationship between the role of the leader and organizational learning and develops the notion of culture as cognitive process based on research in cultural anthropology and cognitive science.…

Summarizes a study exploring the relationship between higher education and economic development, using cointegration and Granger-causality tests. Results show a significant causality from higher education efforts in Sweden, United Kingdom, Japan, and France. However, a similar causality link has not been found for Italy or Australia. (68…

Parental monitoring, teacher support, classmate support, and friend relationship presumably affect adolescents' runaway from home. According to social control theory, social control based on conventional social norms would prevent adolescent runaway, but association with friends may erode such control. This expectation appears to hold true in a…

In the analysis of stimulus competition in causal judgment, 4 variables have been frequently confounded with respect to the conditions necessary for stimuli to compete: causal status of the competing stimuli (causes vs. effects), temporal order of the competing stimuli (antecedent vs. subsequent) relative to the noncompeting stimulus,…

In 4 experiments, the author explored the spontaneous construction of spatial situation models during discourse comprehension by using the sentence-recognition paradigm of J. D. Bransford, J. R. Barclay, and J. J. Franks (1972). In Experiment 1, signaling causal relevance of spatial relations was a necessary precondition for replicating their…

Can people learn causal structure more effectively through intervention rather than observation? Four studies used a trial-based learning paradigm in which participants obtained probabilistic data about a causal chain through either observation or intervention and then selected the causal model most likely to have generated the data. Experiment 1…