The Perception of Cyber and Traditional Risks: Experience of Using the Psychometric Paradigm Approach

This article presents the results of using the “psychometric paradigm” methodology (P. Slovic, B. Fischhoff, S. Lichtenstein and others) to study the perception of cyber risks and compare them to other risks designated as “traditional”. The respondents in an online survey were presented seven cyber risks (from computer games to hacker attacks and viruses) and 65 traditional risks (from natural disasters to nuclear power plants and terrorism), assessed based on 8 characteristics. As a result, computer games were perceived differently compared to other cyber risks: first of all, they do not induce fear. Other cyber risks are concentrated in an area of relatively obscure and moderately frightening risks, but they do not form a separate cluster. Radiation therapy, herbicides and pesticides are the closest to cyber risks in the two-dimensional space of risk perception. The results of this pilot survey may be considered a reflection of the sample used, where the main participants were active Internet users who were able to distinguish between the presented cyber risks.

“The art of imposing measurement upon the mind”: Sir Francis Galton and the genesis of the psychometric paradigm

Sir Francis Galton singlehandedly instigated the navigational settings for the discipline of psychometrics by presupposing that mental attributes are measurable. In turn, this presupposition became the defining pillar of the psychometric paradigm. There were no scientifically sound reasons for adopting this presupposition and those Galton gave beg the question every time. So, what drove him to endorse this presupposition? Two considerations steered him in this direction: first, his Pythagorean philosophy of science according to which measurement is a necessary feature; and second, his desire to present eugenics as a science, which, given his Pythagorean vision, entailed that eugenics must involve measurement of relevant mental attributes. The quantitative presupposition guiding psychometrics throughout its history was, therefore, a spin-off from Galton’s marketing strategy for the pseudoscience of eugenics.

The Perception of Food Products in Adolescents, Lay Adults, and Experts: A Psychometric Approach

With nearly 40% of global mortality attributable to dietary factors, citizens are encouraged to eat more healthily. But how do people conceptualize healthy foods—and how is this conceptualization embedded in their cognitive representations of food ecology? Adolescents, lay adults, and nutritional experts rated a large, heterogeneous set of food products on a diverse set of characteristics, and we applied the psychometric paradigm pioneered in risk-perception research to identify the dimensions structuring the cognitive representations of those foods. We then used the foods’ scores on these dimensions to predict respondents’ judgments of the healthiness of those foods. Animal-based nutrients (e.g., cholesterol, fat, protein) and naturalness levels (e.g., processing, artificial additives) were the two central dimensions structuring respondent representations of the foods. Relative to the other two groups, the adolescents’ representations were less differentiated. Perceived healthiness was determined by multiple factors, but its strongest predictor was a food’s naturalness. These structures emerged for all respondent groups, but there was a high degree of variability among the adolescents.

A primer on cognitive diagnostic modelling for the healthcare professions education

Criticism about the hegemonic psychometric paradigms currently used in the healthcare professions education includes claims of reductionism, objectification, and poor compliance to assumptions. Perhaps the most crucial criticism comes from learners' difficulty in interpreting and making meaningful use of summative scores, besides the potentially detrimental impact of scores on learners. Therefore, the term "post-psychometric era" became popular, despite persisting calls for sensible use of modern psychometrics. In recent years cognitive diagnostic modelling (CDM) has emerged as a new psychometric paradigm capable of providing meaningful diagnostic feedback. CDM allows the measurement of multiple dimensions operationalised as categorical latent variables. These features enable more qualitative feedback over a much larger number of specific cognitive attributes, while concurrently preventing the necessity of providing numerical scores as feedback to test takers. This paper aims to provide an overview of CDM to teachers involved in developing and evaluating assessment tools used in the healthcare professions education. It introduces the foundations of CDM and illustrates its applications on a hypothetical medical knowledge test using simulated data as a proof-of-concept. CDMs may represent a revolutionary new psychometric paradigm, overcoming the known limitations found in the currently hegemonic psychometric approaches, offering the possibility of more qualitative feedback and better alignment with competency-based curricula and modern programmatic assessment frameworks.

Piagetian Tasks and Psychometric Intelligence: Different or Similar Constructs?

Research on cognitive ability is done in different paradigms. In the Piagetian paradigm, cognitive ability focuses on cognitive development along qualitative stages. Interactive real scenarios, “Piagetian tasks”, are constructed for measurement. According to age, tasks differing in complexity are applied in individual measurements. In the psychometric paradigm, the investigation of cognitive ability focuses on individual differences. Intelligence is seen as a quantitative construct with gradual differences between persons and ages. Paper-and-pencil tests with items differing in difficulty are used for IQ measurement of single persons or school classes. However, do those tasks measure two distinct cognitive abilities? Solving tasks in both approaches requires basic (speed, working memory) and complex cognitive abilities (reasoning, understanding). Regarding empirical relationships, we used three Austrian samples (in kindergarten four to six years old N = 40, in primary school six to eight years old N = 40, and nine to ten years old N = 41). They were tested with psychometric tests (Raven CPM or SPM) and Piagetian tasks. In addition, mental speed (ZVT) was measured in the two school samples. The average observed correlation between IQ and Piagetian tasks was r = .51. In factor analyses, the tests loaded on a common factor of general intelligence. Further analyses revealed that mental speed is correlated more strongly with psychometric ( r = .50) than with Piagetian tasks ( r = .39), while Piagetian tasks are more related to parental education indicators (speed: r = .11, Raven: r = .20, Piaget: r = .25).

An Integrated Model of Perceived Risk and Risk-Reducing Strategies in the Tunisian Stock Market

This chapter examines the antecedents and consequences of the perceived risk of investors towards the Tunisian stock market. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to 411 individual investors chosen by 24 brokerage firms. Using the structural equation model, we operationalize the risk following the psychometric paradigm according to subjective variables (i.e. familiarity and controllability). Results prove that controllability is a significant factor in the formation of perceived risk. We also show that several factors related to the investor, the listed companies and to the stock market can influence the perceived risk by the investor towards the Tunisian stock market. Similarly, we find that perceived risk leads to intensive information search, good performance and a strong reinvestment intention. These results attest the importance of the risk perception in the decision-making process.

Risk-Perception Formation Considering Tangible and Non-Tangible Aspects of Cycling: A Flemish Case Study

Risk perception influences cycling attributes toward its adoption. Researchers are investigating attributes associated with risk formation. In this study, various attributes were selected which influence the user’s formation of risk perception. For this purpose, an online questionnaire survey was conducted in Flanders, among all segments of the population (N = 774). Participants were asked questions for attributes relating to risk formation. Results suggested that risk formation among users evolves around tangible to non-tangible attributes. The spectrum of risk perception was developed which visualizes risk evolution, considering various attributes. Surprisingly, elements such as “comfort”, surface evenness, and policies were rated as being neutral. Infrastructure and the presence of opposite road users tend to be foreseen as critical factors for risk formation. Risk perception varies depending upon psychometric paradigm shifts, such as dread and unknown risk. This strange notion is considered to lie in a space between dread and unknown risk. This explains the difference in risk perception, knowingly or not knowingly (subconsciously), yet expressing cognitively and evolving inside. This is an interesting finding, but reasons behind such a motive need to be explained. A possible explanation behind such behavior is that people tend to change their responses due to knowledge acquisition during the survey.

Risk Literacy and Environmental Education: Does Exposure to Academic Environmental Education Make a Difference in How Students Perceive Ecological Risks and Evaluate Their Risk Severity?

Developed understanding of environmental problems, consequences, and risks constitutes a core target of environmental education (EE). Ecological risks (ERs) are inherently complex, interconnected, and subject to perceptual biases. To explore whether an exposure to EE in academia improves ER literacy, we compared ER perception of students who were exposed to EE (“EE majors”) with students who were not (“non-EE majors”) Drawing on the psychometric paradigm from risk perception research, we compared ER perception between the two groups to identify whether the students perceive, appraise, and prioritize ERs differently, and whether they provide different reasons for their decisions and evaluations. We found significant differences in the perception of overall severity of environmental problems, especially of the less “popular” and familiar ones, characterized by global, complex, and extensive consequences. Compared to non-EE majors, EE majors perceived most ERs as more certain, personal, and temporally and spatially close. Risk prioritization and the reasons given for these choices also differed; EE major students’ choices were mostly guided by holistic reasons, whereas the non-EE major students’ explanations were more anthropocentric or one-dimensional. The discussion focused on the importance of ER literacy in reducing misconceptions of environmental problems and on developing an informed assessment of their severity.