Exploring the relationships between first impressions and MMI ratings: a pilot study.

The phenomenon of first impression is well researched in social psychology, but less so in the study of OSCEs and the multiple mini interview (MMI). To explore its bearing on the MMI method we included a rating of first impression in the MMI for student selection executed 2012 at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany (196 applicants, 26 pairs of raters) and analyzed how it was related to MMI performance ratings made by (a) the same rater, and (b) a different rater. First impression was assessed immediately after an applicant entered the test room.

Selection and academic success of medical students in Hamburg, Germany.

Background: Student selection at Hamburg medical school is based on the combination of a natural science knowledge test (HAM-Nat) and pre-university educational attainment.

Method: Of the 1565 medical students enrolled in Hamburg from 2012 to 2015 about half were admitted by an entrance test, half by quotas. First, we analysed sociodemographic determinants of entrance test performance.

Correcting the predictive validity of a selection test for the effect of indirect range restriction.

Background: The validity of selection tests is underestimated if it is determined by simply calculating the predictor-outcome correlation found in the admitted group. This correlation is usually attenuated by two factors: (1) the combination of selection variables which can compensate for each other and (2) range restriction in predictor and outcome due to the absence of outcome measures for rejected applicants.

Methods: Here we demonstrate the logic of these artifacts in a situation typical for student selection tests and compare four different methods for their correction: two formulas for the correction of direct and indirect range restriction, expectation maximization algorithm (EM) and multiple imputation by chained equations (MICE).

Are Exam Questions Known in Advance? Using Local Dependence to Detect Cheating.

Cheating is a common phenomenon in high stakes admission, licensing and university exams and threatens their validity. To detect if some exam questions had been affected by cheating, we simulated how data would look like if some test takers possessed item preknowledge: Responses to a small number of items were set to correct for 1-10% of test takers. Item difficulty, item discrimination, item fit, and local dependence were computed using an IRT 2PL model.

Dimensionality and predictive validity of the HAM-Nat, a test of natural sciences for medical school admission.

Background: Knowledge in natural sciences generally predicts study performance in the first two years of the medical curriculum. In order to reduce delay and dropout in the preclinical years, Hamburg Medical School decided to develop a natural science test (HAM-Nat) for student selection. In the present study, two different approaches to scale construction are presented: a unidimensional scale and a scale composed of three subject specific dimensions.

Reliability of a science admission test (HAM-Nat) at Hamburg medical school.

Objective: The University Hospital in Hamburg (UKE) started to develop a test of knowledge in natural sciences for admission to medical school in 2005 (Hamburger Auswahlverfahren für Medizinische Studiengänge, Naturwissenschaftsteil, HAM-Nat). This study is a step towards establishing the HAM-Nat. We are investigating parallel forms reliability, the effect of a crash course in chemistry on test results, and correlations of HAM-Nat test results with a test of scientific reasoning (similar to a subtest of the "Test for Medical Studies", TMS).

Criminal recidivism in sexual homicide perpetrators.

Forensic psychiatric reports on 166 sexual homicide perpetrators in Germany were retrospectively analyzed for criminal risk factors. Follow-up information about release and reconvictions from federal criminal records was available for 139 offenders; 90 (64.7%) had been released.

Sperm competition and female procurement of male resources : As explanations for a sex-specific time course in the sexual motivation of couples.

This study investigates changes in sexual motivation over the duration of a partnership in a population sample stratified by age. The results replicate and extend the findings of a previous study that was based on a sample of college students. In the samples of 30- and 45-year-olds, male sexual motivation remains constant regardless of the duration of the partnership.

Sexual motivation and the duration of partnership.

The variation of sexual motivation with duration of partnership is analyzed in data from a survey of German students. The sample of 1865 includes only students aged 19-32 who reported to be heterosexual and to live in a steady partnership. Main results are (1) sexual activity and sexual satisfaction decline in women and men as the duration of partnership increases; (2) sexual desire only declines in women; and (3) desire for tenderness declines in men and rises in women.