Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
Psychology Department, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.
Aggress Behav. 2019 Jul;45(4):377-388. doi: 10.1002/ab.21830. Epub 2019 Mar 10.
Competitive reaction time tasks (CRTTs) have been used widely in social science research, but recent criticism has been directed at the flexible quantification strategies used with this methodology. A recent review suggests that over 150 different quantification strategies have been used in this literature, and there is evidence to suggest that different operationalizations can affect the results and interpretations of experiments using CRTTs. In the current investigation, we reanalyze data from four existing samples from two different sites (total N = 600) to examine how the relations between a range of personality traits and aggression vary based on how aggression is operationalized. Our results suggest that there is a modest degree of heterogeneity in effect size and direction for these relations, and that effect size and direction were most consistent for traits more generally related to lab aggression (e.g., psychopathy, low Five-Factor Model agreeableness). In addition, profile matching analyses suggest that different operationalizations yield empirical correlates that are quite similar to one another, even when quantifying absolute rather than relative similarity. These results were consistent across site, methodology, and type of sample, suggesting that these issues are likely generalizable across most labs using CRTTs. We conclude with suggestions for future directions, particularly emphasizing the need for adequately-powered samples, and for researchers to preregister a plan for how CRTT data will be analyzed.
竞争反应时间任务 (CRTT) 在社会科学研究中得到了广泛应用，但最近有人批评这种方法使用的灵活量化策略。最近的一篇评论表明，在这一文献中已经使用了超过 150 种不同的量化策略，有证据表明，不同的操作化方式会影响使用 CRTT 的实验的结果和解释。在当前的研究中，我们重新分析了来自两个不同地点的四个现有样本的数据（总 N=600），以检验在不同的攻击性操作化方式下，一系列人格特质与攻击性之间的关系如何变化。我们的结果表明，这些关系的效应大小和方向存在一定程度的异质性，并且对于与实验室攻击性更相关的特质（例如，精神病态、五因素模型中较低的宜人性），效应大小和方向最为一致。此外，特征匹配分析表明，即使量化的是绝对而不是相对相似性，不同的操作化方式也会产生非常相似的实证相关性。这些结果在地点、方法和样本类型上都是一致的，这表明这些问题可能在大多数使用 CRTT 的实验室中具有普遍性。我们最后提出了未来的研究方向的建议，特别是强调需要有足够大的样本量，以及研究人员需要预先注册分析 CRTT 数据的计划。
