In this paper we present a new methodology for detecting differential item functioning (DIF). We introduce a DIF model, called the random item mixture (RIM), that is based on a Rasch model with random item difficulties (besides the common random person abilities). In addition, a mixture model is assumed for the item difficulties such that the items may belong to one of two classes: a DIF or a non-DIF class. The crucial difference between the DIF class and the non-DIF class is that the item difficulties in the DIF class may differ according to the observed person groups while they are equal across the person groups for the items from the non-DIF class. Statistical inference for the RIM is carried out in a Bayesian framework. The performance of the RIM is evaluated using a simulation study in which it

Whereas a small number of studies have focused on the impact of extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism on the way people communicate, little is known about how the big five personality traits relate to individual differences in the specific types of communication-related situations selected in daily life. For a period of five days, people were asked to report on the types of conversations they initiated earlier that day (N = 168). Multilevel negative binomial regression analysis showed that the specific types of conversations initiated in daily life can be predicted by individual differences in extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. As such, the results show that individual differences in personality are not only reflected in the way people behave once they communicate, but also in the situations that people report to select in daily life.

SummaryThe relation between affect and retrospective duration estimation has hardly been examined. In this paper, we contribute to filling this gap by studying the influence of arousal on the remembered duration of positive events. On the basis of the contextual change model, we expected that high‐arousal positive events would be remembered as longer compared with low‐arousal positive events. To test this hypothesis, we set up a naturalistic study in which participants were asked at the end of a pleasant amusement park ride at the local fair to rate how pleasant and aroused they felt during the ride as well as to estimate the ride's duration. Feeling more aroused during a ride was associated with longer estimates of the ride's duration. Results are discussed within the framework of retrospective time estimation models. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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