College of Behavioral & Social Sciences

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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..

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    Comparing the Validity & Fairness of Machine Learning to Regression in Personnel Selection
    (2022) Epistola, Jordan J; Hanges, Paul J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In the realm of personnel selection, several researchers have claimed that machine learning (ML) can generate predictions that can out-predict more conventional methods such as regression. However, high-profile misuses of ML in selection contexts have demonstrated that ML can also result in illegal discrimination and/or bias against minority groups when developed improperly. This dissertation examined the utility of ML in personnel selection by examining the validity and fairness of ML methods relative to regression. Studies One and Two predicted counterproductive work behavior in Hanges et al.’s (2021) sample of Military cadets/midshipmen, and Study Three predicted job performance ratings of employees in Patalano & Huebner’s (2021) human resources dataset. Results revealed equivalent validity of ML to regression across all three studies. However, fairness was enhanced when ML was developed in accordance with employment law. Implications for the use of ML in personnel selection, as well as relevant legal considerations, are presented in my dissertation. Further, methods for further enhancing the legal defensibility of ML in the selection are discussed.
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    Multi-Informant Assessments of Adolescents' Fears of Negative and Positive Evaluation: How Well Do They Predict Behavior within Interactions with Unfamiliar Peers?
    (2020) Botkin, Tessa; De Los Reyes, Andres
    Social anxiety disorder is defined by an intense and distressing fear and avoidance of social situations with unfamiliar individuals, particularly those situations that provide the opportunity to be scrutinized (APA, 2013). A core feature of social anxiety involves fears of negative evaluation (FNE) and fears of positive evaluation (FPE). These core features are most commonly assessed using the Fear of Positive Evaluation Scale (FPES; Weeks et al., 2008) and the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE; Leary, 1983). A robust line of evidence supports the psychometric properties of these measures when administered to adults; we know little about these measures’ properties when administered to adolescents. This study tests links between multi-informant reports on the FPES and BFNE and adolescents’ behavior within interactions with unfamiliar peers. We recruited 105 adolescents for the study. Adolescents completed a battery of measures examining their thoughts and behaviors and then completed social interaction tasks with a confederate. Parents completed a battery of questionnaires about themselves and their adolescent’s thoughts and behaviors. Both parents and adolescents provide reports about adolescents’ fears of evaluation that relate to adolescents’ observed behavior within interactions with unfamiliar peers. However, relative to parents’ reports, adolescents’ reports across FNE and FPE more robustly relate to observed behavior within these interactions. Further, across both informants and evaluative domains, FPE provide incrementally valuable information when understanding how adolescents behave within interactions with unfamiliar peers.
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    Measurement of self-regulatory constructs across a continuum of performance conditions among kindergarten students
    (2013) Annotti, Lee Ann; Teglasi, Hedwig; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Measurement issues related to the assessment of Executive Functioning (EF) and social competence were examined with Kindergarten students (N = 62) and their teachers. Measures of constructs, such as EF and social competence, exist along a continuum of performance conditions, ranging from highly maximal, well-defined tasks with clear performance expectations to more typical, ill-defined tasks with ambiguous performance expectations. It is hypothesized that measures with maximal or typical performance conditions cannot be used interchangeably because the results gleaned from the measures generalize to different situations and different behaviors. This study employed observed variable path analyses to examine the model fit between measures of EF and social competence that present performance conditions that range from maximal to typical. The results indicate that performance conditions of measures significantly alter the relations between measures and the results gleaned from the opposing performance conditions predict different behaviors in different contexts. The results also suggest that more maximal measures of EF do not translate to the social world.
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    The Role of Epistemic Motivation in the Link between Arousal and Focus of Attention
    (2009) Orehek, Edward; Kruglanski, Arie W; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Over 60 years of research has led to a law-like acceptance of the Easterbrook (1959) hypothesis. Easterbrook (1959) famously reviewed the evidence on the arousal-attention link and concluded that as arousal increases, the range of cues utilized decreases, and the focus of attention narrows. However, the present set of eight studies suggests that the Easterbrook hypothesis needs to be seriously qualified. Recent developments in the understanding of the role of arousal in information processing suggests that rather than invariably leading to a focus of attention, arousal instead serves as information regarding the urgency and/or importance of active processing strategies (Storbeck & Clore, 2008). Because some processing strategies lead to a broadening of attention, arousal should sometimes be negatively related to a focusing of attention. A first set of four studies investigated the need for closure as it relates to the arousal-attention link. The need for closure refers to the motivation to make quick, firm judgments, and has been shown to lead to the use of fewer available cues. Because of this, it seems that the need for closure should lead to a tendency to focus one's attention. However, when need for closure is low, individuals tend to process more available cues, broadening attention in order to avoid reaching premature closure. The results indicate that when individuals are high on the need for closure, arousal is positively related to focus of attention, whereas when individuals are low on the need for closure, arousal is negatively related to focus of attention. A second set of four studies investigated the influence of the regulatory modes of locomotion and assessment on the arousal-attention link. Because locomotion is oriented towards movement, it should lead to a focus of attention. Because assessment is oriented towards making evaluations based on comparisons among alternatives, it should lead to a broadening of attention. The results show that when a locomotion mode is active, arousal is positively related to focus of attention, whereas, when an assessment mode is active, arousal is negatively related to focus of attention.