Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA)

A set of statistical techniques for the analysis of mean differences when there are multiple outcome (i.e., dependent) variables.  It is comparable to the analysis of variance of univariate data, but in MANOVA groups are compared on n (2 or more) dependent variables simultaneously.  The most commonly used test is Wilks’ lambda that is based …

Multitrait-multimethod matrix

Introduced by Donald T. Campbell (1916-1996) and Donald W. Fiske (1916-1983) in 1959, it is one approach to establishing construct validity, and thus convergent and discriminant validity, of different methods measuring various psychological abilities or traits.  It consists of the following components that are depicted in the table below: 1. a matrix of two or …

Multisensory cue integration

The process by which separatesensory cues to (typically) the same event in the external environment arecombined (integrated) into a single multisensory percept.  Recent models of this process have argued thatmature adults achieve this in an optimal way via maximum likelihood estimation that is they weight each cue in the combined estimate in accordance with itsreliability (Ernst & …

Multiple cohort study

Astudy in which more than one group, or cohort, of participants are measured ontwo or more occasions.  Multiple cohortstudies permit researchers to examine the potential influence of ‘periodeffects’ (e.g., cultural factors specific to the period in which the study isconducted) on the outcome in question by assessing whether the longitudinalfindings generalise across different cohorts.  See …

Multilevel modeling (MLM)

Designed to handle hierarchical and clustered data, it is a statistical technique developed by Harvey Goldstein and colleagues to analyse longitudinal data in which there are variables at several levels, with the lower levels being nested in the higher ones.  While it is a form hierarchical regression analysis, analogous to multivariate analysis of variance for repeated measures …

Mullen Scales of Early Learning

Abehavioral assessment of cognitive development for infants and toddlers.  Thisone-on-one assessment between a researcher and the participant and caregiver isdesigned to provide measures of motor, visual, sensory, social and languagedevelopment.  It was developed and published by Eileen Mullen in 1995.  Mullen, E. M. (1995). Mullen scales of early learning. Circle Pines,MN: American Guidance Service. See …

Mucins

Glycoproteins (chemical combinations of complex carbohydrate and protein) that form mucous gels coating the interior surfaces of the digestive tract.  This gel acts to prevent digestion of the intestinal wall by digestive enzymes, water loss through the intestinal wall, bacteria from adhering to the intestinal cells, and toxins from being absorbed into the body, as …

MRI morphometry

Use of quantitative three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging techniques to determine the volume of the imaged brain and its sub-structures of interest.  Sometimes referred to as volumetric structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI).  See Brain (neuro-) imaging, Cerebral cortex (development), Structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI)