A simple test of the Law of Initial Values
Abstract
The conceptualization and testing of the Law of Initial Values remains a controversial issue. We critically review common procedures to test the Law, and a simple test of the Law is described and illustrated. The reduction of variance from the pretest to the posttest is crucial in this test.
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The law of initial values holds that an initial value has a large impact on the strength and direction of a response, such that a higher pre-stimulus level leads to a smaller post-stimulus response.
“The law of initial values gives further insight into this issue by highlighting that an initial value has a large impact on the strength and direction of a response, such that a higher pre-stimulus level will lead to a smaller post-stimulus response or, in other words, a smaller response when there is a greater initial value19–21.”
From Guidelines for wrist-worn consumer wearable assessment of heart rate in biobehavioral research (2020) · cites this paper as [19]
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- Authors
- GEENEN, R., & VAN DE VIJVER, F. J. R.
- Affiliations
- University Medical Center Utrecht (NL)
- ORCID
- GEENEN, RINIE
- Venue
- Psychophysiology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1993-09
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 525-530
- ISSN
- 0048-5772 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-8986
- OpenAlex
- W2065132148
- Cited by
- 52
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 4.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychophysiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research portal (Tilburg University) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Keywords
- law of initial values, pretest effects, variance reduction, pretest-posttest design, test validity, measurement invariance
- MeSH terms
- Heart Rate, Humans, Psychophysiology, Regression Analysis
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