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Front-Line Officer's Problems | John F. Wake
Cardiff 1891
6 May 1891 and Little Frederick Street was once again in the news. It certainly was not the first time nor would it be the last. A woman came running up to PC Price in Millicent Street. The time was around 8:00 pm. 'Come quick, there's hell going on', she said.
The officer walked quickly to Little Frederick Street and, as he approached, the sounds of a full-blown domestic dispute got louder and louder. On the pavement outside number 27 was a drunk woman systematically smashing every pane of glass in the windows of the house. He found out her name was Margaret Jones. There had been an almighty quarrel and a fight in the house, with a seemingly innocent party named Catherine Collins. It was Catherine's brother that Margaret was after, why we do not know. But poor Catherine had a jug thrown at her, knocking her to the
ground. She was then pulled to her feet by the hair resulting in a handful being torn from her scalp. Margaret was arrested and charged.
In her fit of drunken rage, she had smashed twenty-one panes of glass, damaged the window frames, hospitalised Catherine Collins, and been another burden to the overstretched Cardiff Borough Police.
As it was her first offence she was fined half a crown (2/6d or 12½p) for assaulting Catherine, plus the costs of the windows, jug, and other damages. If she failed to pay it was prison for fourteen days.
The above offence, which was a common occurrence, adds another job into the daily life of the police. If someone did not pay their fine a warrant was issued, and they had to be arrested all over again. Not an easy task in a busy house, especially if the person named on the warrant does not want to come quietly. Sometimes the person simply could not pay even if the they wanted to so emotions ran high with reports of women crying and begging on their knees for the police to give them more time.
It was a problem for patrolling police officers when they came up against violent and savage women. It was common for male officers to fight women as though man-to-man with women who had been brought up in backstreet hovels. Many were homeless and drifted from man to man, sailor to sailor, or via various workhouses, just to survive.
How did society deal with Lizzy Hutchings? She appeared deeply disturbed and even when in the Union Workhouse she was angry and violent towards staff and other residents. When one day she started smashing the panes of glass in the Refuge the staff had to fight to get her into a strait jacket, or as they called it a 'strait waistcoat'.
Police officers today know how difficult it is to placate hysteria in an individual, as of course do the other professionals who work within mental health institutions. The officers who were called to the Workhouse soon found out they had a problem. Hutchings had torn off her straight jacket and thrown it on the fire. She was still fighting and screaming as she was taken to the police station. She calmed down for a time then exploded once again into violence. These fits were taking up the time of the officers detailed to look after her. She was put before the court, an officer close by should she turn violent again.
Lizzie Hutchings was described as 'an object of pity, being without a friend in the world'. She was sent to prison for twenty-one days for her violent conduct. If she continued her behaviour it would be the lunatic asylum.
An officer simply did not know what awful events he was to encounter next on the streets, in the numerous drinking establishments, or in the workhouse. This extended to who to believe. What if a known thief came up to you in Charlotte Street and said, 'I've just been robbed'? Does a constable tell him to be on his way or listen to his story? To add to that, what if the thief had also been drinking. A dilemma in which officers may have thought, 'Let the court decide'.
So, when John the thief went to a Charlotte Street brothel and was relieved of £2/14 (£2.70) – from his wallet by Ann the prostitute, the court decided: case dismissed.
Walking past the Caledonian Hotel, 27 Charlotte Street, an officer may see local lady Angel Lucretia Donovan popping in for a drink. A pleasant 'Good morning' was exchanged. But would Angel be so pleasant after gin and whisky? A policeman had to know his locals to be able to police them.
The Town Hall police station, which fronted St Mary Street, from which those police officers ventured, was not one to be proud of. It had a yard in Westgate Street and over the road the small Fire Station but inside it was cramped. In its early years the river Taff flowed past the door of the Fire House, before it was re-routed. Many police officers of the time had dual roles, they were trained as fire officers. A dedicated Fire Department, run under separate officialdom, was yet to come.
There were two distinct centres in St Mary Street. The Town Hall where in the middle years of Superintendent Jeremiah Box Stockdale's reign, Sergeant Tom Aubrey was the supervisor / station officer. The other was the Town Prison and Police Station with Stockdale himself in charge there.
In the Town Prison and Police Station all officers were in one small room, Superintendent, Inspector, Sergeants and Constables. All the paraphernalia of an office, desks and chairs etc, were packed into the room. The room carried the smell of the oil lamps the men carried and those that lit the room. There was no cell but there were outside yards where arrested people were paraded. This would change in later years. The females had to walk through the male yards which made the situation difficult. There were rooms that separately held men and women but only with space for one seat. In fact, they could quite easily talk to one another. Others simply lay packed together on the cold floor.
This was Cardiff's main police station in the mid-nineteenth century. Not a place a cold and wet officer would want to return to for refreshment in the middle of the night.
Constable Price paraded in the main yard at the rear of the building, with eight others. He stood there as part of a dead-straight line, immaculate in his Cardiff Borough uniform, holding his whistle and truncheon aloft for the Sergeant to check. He was given permission by the Sergeant to spend the first half hour of his duty completing his statement from yesterday.
He was the first officer to arrive at the Glamorgan Canal by the Hayes Bridge where a bargee had sighted the body of a newborn baby in the water. Price had hooked it out and put it in a sack to be carried to the Dead House. Not another one, he must have thought. It was a regular occurrence, sometimes monthly, to find a newborn in the back lanes, the canal, the feeders, or the River Taff itself.
He had to walk down to the dead house, where he knew there would be a place for it, and then most probably would have to observe the post-mortem. He would have appeared later that day at the quickly convened Coroner's Court, usually at the Town Hall if in central Cardiff, where the jury would probably rule that the child was abandoned at birth then thrown into the canal. As was usual, the mother could not afford to keep it, or was forced into the sad crime by some other cause.
Yesteryear's copper had a different world on his hands, dealing with many contradictory incidents we do not see today. Constable Price was given his beat by the Sergeant, a block of just a few streets, but those few streets were trouble whatever time of the day or night. His block was between Bridge Street and Bute Terrace. It commenced from Little Bridge Street to Stanley Street and everything south to Bute Terrace. A tightly packed and volatile area where trouble could occur without warning, usually caused by alcohol or overcrowding.
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This tale of Victorian policing comes from Horrors of the Dead House. As a former police officer, John F. Wake brings his investigative expertise to the macabre true crime stories that haunt Cardiff's streets.
https://geni.us/Dead-House
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John F. Wake
John F. Wake has presented talks on Wales and its attractions around the world, from Washington DC to Dubai. He has also penned plays performed at various Cardiff locations and the Edinburgh Festival. John has VIP-chauffeured many world-famous people on their visits to Wales. He joined the Cardiff City Police in 1965 and posted to Bute Street (Tiger Bay) police station, then became a Detective Inspector with the South Wales Police. John has recently undertaken lectures on his books.
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Home People Personalities The art of making a beautiful mess
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The art of making a beautiful mess
By Wanda Daly | Editor
Fluid art, liquid art, acrylic pouring… whatever you call it, there's nothing more satisfying than creating abstract masterpieces by letting colour run wild. Vanessa Mayhew takes us through the process to creating show-stopping art.
From the peaceful corners of her Hillcrest studio, Vanessa Mayhew uses acrylics with a runny consistency to create psychedelic works of art that are as much about the creative process as they are about the finished product.
Watching her pour colour onto canvas is an experience that can be described in a similar nature to that of metamorphosis. As the colours blend and warp, you find yourself less concerned with perfection and more excited about the unknown, because the end result is never quite what you'd imagined.
A Jill of all crafts and mistress of none (as she dubs herself), perfectly sums up Vanessa's attitude to everything creative. With her red hair and deep green eyes, she radiates joy as she puts on her artist's smock and begins to pick out the colours she fancies for her next work of 'fluid art' as she calls it.
Who doesn't love an excuse to make a beautiful mess?
"As an artist always learning to expand on my skills, I opened my studio (VM Arts) at Meadow Garden off Inanda Road to teach mosaicking and pewter. Art is often an expression of the emotions you feel in life that guide and teach you the greatest lessons about love, fear, heartbreak and happiness. It was a time of self-discovery for me too. I had gone through some hard times, was stuck in a job I hated and was questioning who I really was. But in spite of the heavy weight on my shoulders, there was a nagging feeling that I had a bigger purpose. That's when I discovered fluid art."
Through fluid art, Vanessa says she learned to explore the beauty of her own feelings and at the same time she began to play with the mess that it created. She thrived on it so much that she decided to host art lessons in fluid art and now teaches others this exciting art technique three times a week, sharing with them how to mix paints and get them all at an even consistency so that nature and fluid dynamics can do the rest.
"Fluid art is huge overseas and it's slowly becoming more recognised here. I'm excited to share that I was recently invited to exhibit in an art gallery in London – something that has really elevated my passion for this medium of art. What's so great about fluid art is that it opens itself to anyone, whether you have an artistic background or not. It's very immediate and you cannot anticipate what comes out, but it is generic and abstract – more about colour and an image that can be looked at by different people and perceived in many different ways. Anybody is able to create with this technique; women, children and men (yes, I do have men in my classes and they love it!) It's pure escapism – an opportunity to leave the outside world at the door and immerse yourself in creativity."
The key to a good acrylic pour is consistency… of paint that is. You'll want to use fluid acrylics, which have a much thinner consistency than heavy bodied acrylics. If you only have thicker acrylics on hand, you can still use them, but you'll want to thin them out with water.
While fluid acrylics have a high viscosity, you will still want to add something to create the consistency you are after. What you add depends on whether you are doing a coated pour, where the finished product has bold, even layers of colour, or a wash pour, where the finished product almost looks like layers of watercolour. To get the viscosity and pouring rate you'd like, you can first adjust with water.
"Beyond water, a good pouring medium is key. Alcohol is a popular additive used to create interesting circular cells, which occur when the fast-drying alcohol tries to escape. Glue, silicon and certain other oils can also be used. All can yield interesting results but may diminish the longevity of your painting as they can change the properties of the paint."
Vanessa stresses that experimentation is key, but two basic techniques for pouring paint will get you started on a journey to creating your own masterpiece – straight or dirty pouring.
"With the dirty pour technique which I use most often in my classes, all your paints are placed into one cup prior to being poured across the canvas. Consistency is key here – if the paints are too runny they will blend together in the cup and come out muddy, but once you get a feel for the densities you can create with different colours, you'll see that anything is possible."
It's intense, loads of fun and judging by the sheer number of vibrant canvasses busy drying in her studio, many bright-eyed beginner artists eager to try their hand at fluid art have already walked through her door. Better yet is that most, if not all, have found great satisfaction in creating something that doesn't look wrong, simply because there are no hard and fast rules.
When you understand the science of fluid art, you suddenly have a lot more control over work that was once seemingly only accidental.
"You can easily Google the materials and weights of certain pigments within paints and then pick colours to mix and swipe, but here is always a bit of mystery as to what your final piece will look like, and that is part of the joy of this technique."
Once dried, each piece can be left as is or finished off with resin. This, Vanessa says, is a personal choice, depending on whether the created piece lends itself to it, as well as the overall look and feel you would like to achieve in the space where you might hang it.
"Creating art can be so personal, but the feedback I've had surrounding fluid art has been incredibly positive. It has made me realise there is a need for this kind of art. I found a medium through which to express myself in a way I was never able to before, and I hope, through this medium, to be able to reach out to others and offer them a different experience, a new way of tapping into mixed emotions and let it all go. In an ideal world, as well as teaching others how to master the art of fluid art, I would like to work my way into the world of interior décor, and see a time ahead where my own art is recognised and desired by home décor enthusiasts. Fluid art opens up so many possibilities and is definitely worth exploring and adding to any artist's tool belt. There's something so deeply satisfying about combining colours and watching them spill across a surface towards endless possibility."
You can follow Vanessa on Facebook: VM Arts or Instagram @vanessamayhewcreative or contact her on 084 407 5570.
psychedelic works
Vanessa Mayhew
Wanda Daly | Editor
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Ladbrokes Australia launched in 2013, making it one of Australia's newest sports betting agencies. However, Ladbrokes certainly have plenty of experience in the bookmaker market as Ladbrokes is a long established and much trusted sports betting company based in the UK. Being one of the biggest sports books in the world, Ladbrokes' acquisition of Bookmaker.com.au and entering into the Australian sports betting market was welcomed due to their focus on horse racing, their great sports betting markets and their efficient service and customer support. Find out more about Ladbrokes Australia in our full Ladbrokes Australia review.
As soon as you load up Ladbrokes.com.au, it is clear there is a focus on betting on Australian horse racing. Their trademark logos are of a talking horse or the 'lads' - a group of punters you will recognise in yourself or certainly in your friendship group. If you see the promos, the horse and lads are often holding a smart phone with the Ladbrokes logo, so there is also no doubt that Ladbrokes Australia have a strong focus on modern betting via the Ladbrokes iPhone / Android app.
The betting navigation menu on Ladbrokes Australia will be very familiar to those who have bet on Bookmaker.com.au before. The main menu is broken up into four sections: 'Racing', 'Sports', 'Novelty', 'Promotions'. This system is very easy to navigate, especially for finding horse racing meetings and quick access to each race on any given racing card. The graphics to navigate from thourghbread racing to Harness and greyhound racing is also great. Ladbrokes Australia is certainly one of the clicker looking Australian sports betting agencies.
Ladbrokes are certainly among the best Australian betting agencies for horse racing, with a wide range of features, excellent coverage of betting markets and very competitive odds.
Ladbrokes Australia excels in its simplicity. Depositing and withdrawing is made very easy and the betting account functions are laid out in an easy-to-understand manner. Punters will be happy to find it easy to take out their winnings and aren't run around in circles when doing so. Ladbrokes Australia also has a reputation for paying out winning bets quickly, especially in horse racing where they immediately "Pay on Interim Dividends". In addition, Ladbrokes Australia also pays out on both the interim winner and the official winner even if there is a protest and it is upheld.
Ladbrokes Australia perhaps don't offer as many sports betting options as some of the other Australian sports betting agencies out there, but they certainly excel when betting on Australian horse racing. Their promotions are often great, but again, they often focus on horse racing more than other sports.
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Aspects like the Ladbrokes ATM card and the 'Cash In' show that Ladbrokes Australia are extremely keen to offer cutting edge features in Australian sports betting. These innovations aren't likely to slow down with Ladbrokes proving they are committed to staying ahead of the curve.
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To claim the full Ladbrokes Australia bonus, punters must make a first bet of $500 and then that amount will be 100% in bonus bets. If the first bet is less than $500, then Australian sports bettors will still simply receive 100% of their first bet amount. So this offer is great for all punters, regardless of how much you want to bet!
The great thing about the Ladbrokes Australia $500 bonus bet match is that the bonus terms are far more flexible than most other online sports betting sites.
Terms and Conditions: Ladbrokes Australia bonus bets can be used on any selection with a dividend over $1.50. There can only be one bonus bet per race or event and it must be placed on a fixed odds market. Be sure to check out the full terms and conditions of the Ladbrokes Australia deposit bonus at their website before making any deposits.


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A teenager has been attacked outside a family-friendly pub in Basildon.
The victim was assaulted outside The Four Seasons in Victoria Road, Laindon, shortly before 1am today (Thursday, May 17).
Officers believe the male, who is in his late teens, was involved in a disturbance between a group of people.
He was rushed to hospital with serious injuries but these are not believed to be life-threatening.
Photos taken at the scene this morning show a large cordon erected outside the premises, which is part of the Hungry Horse brand.
Police and forensics could be seen carrying out investigations, with cones put in place and photographs being taken.
A spokeswoman for Essex Police said: "An area search was conducted and officers at Basildon CID are progressing enquiries.
"Anyone with information should call us on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."


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Home > Entertainment > Taste of the Town > Making Memories at Miner's Pub at Iron Valley
Making Memories at Miner's Pub at Iron Valley
By digital editor on August 22, 2018
Whether it's a perfect golf game, a fun evening with friends and family, or a catered event by Iron Valley Catering, no one makes memories like Miner's Pub at Iron Valley.
If you have a special event coming up, be sure to consider celebrating at Miner's Pub and Iron Valley Golf Club. There are a variety of venues at Iron Valley, ranging from smaller, intimate events to bigger outdoor venues with capacity for hundreds of guests. It's the perfect spot to get engaged, celebrate your wedding reception, hold a wedding or baby shower, mark a special birthday, have an anniversary party or honor the new retiree. It may only be August, but it's not too early to plan your holiday festivities at Iron Valley.
At Iron Valley Golf Club and Miner's Pub, it feels like you are a member at an exclusive country club. But everyone is a member here and you can play golf, dine, enjoy drinks with friends and plan special events with no membership fee at this public golf club and pub.
Throughout the seasons, Executive Chef Jeffry Dodson puts the accent on fresh and flavorful creations for lunch, dinner or appetizers. The menu features their famous Crab Cakes with no filler, Iron Valley Wings, build your own burger, pan seared Chicken Marsala with mushrooms, Chicken Lemone with lemon and capers, Ultimate Grilled Cheese, Salmon Imperial, Miner's Scallops, Angus Reserve steaks, Brick Oven Flatbreads, unique sandwiches, salads, and much more.
Iron Valley Golf Club is a public golf course and restaurant with a breathtaking panoramic view of the gold and green rolling hills of Cornwall. The golf club opened in the spring of 2000 on a 352-acre tract of land named for the historical ironworks dating back to the late 1700s. The golf course was designed by the world renowned P.B. Dye.
Miner's Pub is open every day at 11 a.m. and is located at 201 Iron Valley Drive, Lebanon. Just take Route 322 West and get off at the Cornwall exit. Follow the signs to Iron Valley through a wooded residential area that leads to the golf course and pub. For reservations or to find out more, call 717-279-7409 or check the website at www.ironvalley.com.
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On 9/13 sesquius wrote: I found this book to be an interesting read. First off, the book cover doesn't look anything like what you would expect a Christian publisher to display on its shelves. Looks more at home in the general fiction area. In a way, that's good to be able to delve into other markets. But considering the ... Love the cover!


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Tax Cut 2.0: Will It Be a Boon for Retirees?
DEAN STANSEL
There's talk on Capitol Hill of a new round of federal tax cuts. Last December's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) has been credited with helping fuel economic growth, along with federal regulatory reform, which has slowed the growth of (and in some cases reduced) the burden of federal regulations.
With most measures of the economy showing robust growth, there is momentum for further reductions in the federal tax burden. Details are still under discussion, but making the personal income tax cuts in the TCJA permanent seems to be a top priority.
They're currently set to expire after 10 years. While that would be helpful in the long-run, it may not get done in this mid-term election year.
However, in good news for Florida's retirees, there does seem to be bipartisan support for changes in the tax code related to retirement savings.
A recent report from Northwest Mutual revealed that 21 percent of Americans have no retirement savings at all and about two-thirds of those who do think that their funds are insufficient to maintain them through retirement.
Our savings rate has historically fallen behind that of other countries. There are efforts in place to tinker with the tax code to encourage greater savings.
For example, there are numerous provisions in the tax code that make it harder for small businesses to offer retirement plans. Eliminating those obstacles to such Multiple Employer Plans, which help them share the cost of those plans, would help more employees of small businesses have access to an employer-provided retirement plan.
Given the reluctance of many Americans to save for retirement, one advantage of employer-provided retirement plans is that they often automatically enroll their employees and make contributions on their behalf, which also makes it easier for employees to get started building a nest egg for retirement.
Some on Capitol Hill are proposing a new tax credit for offering such retirement plans. Other provisions being discussed include making it easier for employers to offer annuities, which would make it harder for retirees to outlive their savings.
Universal savings accounts and changes to Health Savings Accounts are also being considered. While an increase in the savings rate would be beneficial in some ways, the downside of all of these changes is that they would serve to make the tax code more complicated.
The Tax Foundation estimates that taxpayers spend 8.9 billion hours per year complying with IRS requirements, which translates to $409 billion each year, more than 2 percent of GDP.
A simpler solution would be to allow full deductibility of all savings from taxable income. That would essentially change the tax base from income to consumption, which thereby eliminates the current penalty on productive activity.
Another way to help future retirees accumulate more savings is to follow the lead of 31 other countries and reform our Social Security system to give individuals real ownership over the money they pay into the system.
Changing to such a system of personal accounts would mean that those who die before retirement age would be able to pass along all of those accumulated funds to their heirs. Our current system has been essentially a Ponzi scheme from the very beginning and in some ways could be said to already be insolvent.
If countries like Australia, the United Kingdom, even Argentina, Chile, China, Mexico, and Russia can give their people ownership over the retirement funds their tax dollars support, surely we can do so in the U.S.
Dean Stansel, a fifth generation Florida native, is an economist at the O'Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom in Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business in Dallas.
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About Us
Marisa Reyes, an L.A. native with Mexican roots, is a lifelong learner, teacher, and world traveler whose curiosity to experience different cultures and adventure has taken her around the globe.
She has attained her B.A. in Liberal Studies and a Master's of Library and Information Science, which has allowed her to be a school, academic, and public librarian since 2010. To bring balance to the mind body connection, she also teaches Kundalini and Yoga Nidra for workshops and retreats. In 2013, she traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand to study Thai massage and become a Chi Nei Tsang Abdominal Massage practitioner. In addition, she is also a California-certified massage therapist who takes people into a deep state of relaxation, allowing the parasympathetic nervous system to rest and heal. Her passions include dancing, hiking, hooping, riding her bicycle, creating art, prepping healthy foods, holding space for ceremonial gatherings, and so much more. She is also a Moon Dancer with the Ollintlahuimetztli tradition, in Teotihuacan, Mexico which has played a significant role in her spiritual growth.
Her soul's purpose is to help people create connection to themselves and others so that we can all learn and grow with each other, opening up a space for play, celebration, and authenticity.
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Michael Meier is a Medical Massage Therapist from Innsbruck, Austria. He has nearly two thousand hours of medical massage training, and hundreds hours more in over 30 other massage modalities. Beginning in 2006, he has worked in clinics, hospitals, and 5 star resorts throughout Europe. Throughout his travels, he studied to become an Ayurvedic prakriti analyst in Bangalore, India. His goal is to bring peace and balance to all the people with whom he works. His medical knowledge combined with his intuitive sense makes him a powerful healer.
In 2013, Michael and Marisa met on their solo travels through Southeast Asia, crossing paths in Cambodia. They journeyed together through Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Bali, and the Philippines. Once Marisa's trip came to an end, she returned home while Michael continued to Australia to pursue work. Six months later they reunited in Australia where they started a successful business providing massage and yoga.
Being the travel adventurers they are, they ventured back to Thailand to study Chi Nei Tsang, a powerful abdominal massage. They continued through Myanmar to India where they complete a Hatha Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh.


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Keeping eye on the prize
By Fred Mitchell and Tribune staff reporter
Bernard Berrian would bend over backward to help the Bears reach the Super Bowl.
The speedy receiver did exactly that early in the fourth quarter Sunday, making an acrobatic catch of a Rex Grossman pass before executing a back flip into the end zone. The 33-yard touchdown reception gave the Bears a 25-14 lead en route to their romp in the NFC championship game.
"It was just focusing on the ball, helping my quarterback," Berrian said. "Rex is going to throw the ball up and give us chances to make plays.
"I was fortunate to do that. The ball was a little underthrown, but he gave me a chance to make a play on it."
Berrian came through with a team-high five catches for 85 yards as the Bears punched their ticket to Super Bowl XLI on Feb. 4 in Miami.
"Bernard has played great football for us all year," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "A lot of people think Bernard is just a speed guy. He can do that, but he also has great toughness and is a great competitor. He's maturing and developing into a great every-down receiver."
Grossman completed only 11 of 26 passes for 144 yards, but he came up with the big plays late in the game to complement a running attack that produced 196 yards on the ground behind Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson.
"We want to be a balanced offense," Berrian said. "Everyone is always talking about everybody else's offense all the time. We have a great offense."
Turner said: "You have to have balance in this league. If you're one-dimensional or don't make plays in the passing game, they can stop it."
Turner's task last week was not only to prepare his players for Sunday's game plan, but also to settle their nerves so they could execute the plays efficiently.
"That's part of the challenge for us as coaches and part of their challenge to stay focused," he said.
"We have great leadership on this team. It doesn't just come from us coaches. We have Olin Kreutz, John Tait, Ruben Brown, Fred Miller, Muhsin Muhammad, Thomas Jones, Desmond Clark ... we have a bunch of veteran guys to help drive that point home."
When their job was done, the players celebrated their first trip to the Super Bowl in 21 years.
"When the clock showed zero, the emotions were running crazy," Berrian said. "It has been our dream to be in the Super Bowl. Now we have to go down there and win it."
Copyright © 2023, Chicago Tribune


text:
\section[About Java]{About \proglang{Java}}

\section{Introduction}

Assessment instruments are widely used to measure individuals \emph{latent traits}, that is, internal characteristics that cannot be directly measured. An example of such assessment instruments are educational and psychological tests. Each test is composed of a series of items and an examinee's answers to these items allow for the measurement of one or more of his or hers latent traits. When a latent trait is expressed in numerical form, it is called an \emph{ability} or \emph{proficiency}.

Ordinary tests, hereon called linear tests, are applied using the orthodox paper and pencil strategy, in which tests are printed and all examinees are presented with the same items in the same order. One of the drawbacks of this methodology is that individuals with either high or low proficiencies must answer all items in order to have their proficiency estimated. An individual with high proficiency might get bored of answering the whole test if it only contains items that he or she considers easy; on the other hand, an individual of low proficiency might get frustrated if he is confronted by items considered hard and might give up on the test or answer the items without paying attention.

With these concerns in mind, a new paradigm in assessment emerged in the 70s. Initially named \emph{tailored testing} by \citet{lord_statistical_1968}, these were tests in which items were chosen to be presented to the examinee in real time, based on the examinee's responses to previous items. The name was changed to computerized adaptive testing (CAT) due to the advances in technology that facilitated the application of such a testing methodology using electronic devices, like computers and tablets.

In a CAT, the examinee's proficiency is evaluated after the response of each item. The new proficiency is then used to select a new item, theoretically closer to the examinee's real proficiency. This method of test application has several advantages compared to the traditional paper-and-pencil method, since examinees of high proficiency are not required to answer all the low difficulty items in a test, answering only the items that actually give some information regarding his or hers true knowledge of the subject at matter. A similar, but inverse effect happens for those examinees of low proficiency level.

Finally, the advent of CAT allowed for researchers to create their own variant ways of starting a test, choosing items, estimating proficiencies and stopping the test. Fortunately, the mathematical formalization provided by Item Response Theory (IRT) allows for tests to be computationally simulated and the different methodologies of applying a CAT to be compared under different constraints. Packages with these functionalities already exist in the \proglang{R} language \citep{magis_random_2012} but not yet in \proglang{Python}, to the best of the authors' knowledge. \pkg{catsim} was created to fill this gap, using the facilities of established scientific packages such as \pkg{numpy} and \pkg{scipy}, as well as the object-oriented programming paradigm supported by \proglang{Python} to create a simple, comprehensive and user-extendable CAT simulation package.

\section{Related Work}

The work on \pkg{catsim} is comparable to similar open-source CAT simulation packages such as \pkg{catR} \citep{magis_random_2012}, \pkg{catIrt} \citep{steven_w._nydick_catirt:_2015} and \pkg{MAT} \citep{seung_w._choi_mat:_2015}. While \pkg{catsim} does not yet implement Bayesian examinee proficiency estimation (like the three aforementioned packages) and simulation of tests under Multidimensional Item Response Theory (like \pkg{MAT}), it contributes with a range of item selection methods from the literature, as well as by taking a broader approach by providing users with IRT-related functions, such as bias, item and test information, as well as functions that assist plotting item curves and test results. Furthermore, \pkg{catsim} is the only package of its kind developed in the \proglang{Python} language, to the best of the authors' knowledge.

Similarly, another open-source package that works with adaptive testing is \pkg{mirtCAT} \citep{chalmers_generating_2016}, which provides users an interface that enables the creation of both adaptive and non-adaptive tests. While \pkg{catsim}'s main purpose is not the construction of tests, it allows users to simulate tests under different circumstances and anticipate possible issues before creating a full-scale test.

CATSim, a homonymous program by Assessment Systems\footnote{\url{http://www.assess.com/catsim}}, is a commercial CAT analysis tool created with the purpose of assisting in the development of adaptive testing. While it provides further constraints on item selection as well as the inclusion of polytomous models, it is supposed to be used as a standalone application and not as an extensible software library and thus does not allow users to create their own item selection methods (constrained or otherwise) as well as integrate with other software as \pkg{catsim} allows.

\section{Item Response Theory}

As a CAT simulator, \pkg{catsim} borrows many concepts from Item Response Theory (IRT) \citep{lord_statistical_1968, rasch_item_1966}, a series of models created in the second part of the 20th century with the goal of \emph{measuring latent traits}. \pkg{catsim} makes use of Item Response Theory one-, two-, three- and four-parameter logistic models, in which examinees and items are represented by a set of numerical values (the models' parameters). Item Response Theory itself was created with the goal of measuring latent traits as well as assessing and comparing individuals' proficiencies by allocating them in proficiency scales, inspiring as well as justifying its use in adaptive testing.

The logistic models of Item Response Theory are unidimensional, which means that a given assessment instrument only measures a single proficiency (or dimension of knowledge). The instrument, in turn, is composed of \emph{items} in which examinees manifest their latent traits when answering them.

In unidimensional IRT models, an examinee's proficiency is represented as \(\theta\). Usually, \(-\inf < \theta < \inf\), but since the scale of \(\theta\) is up to the individuals creating the instrument, it is common for the values to be around the normal distribution \(N(0; 1)\), such that \(-4 < \theta < 4\). Additionally, \(\hat\theta\) is the estimate of \(\theta\). Since a latent trait can't be measured directly, estimates need to be made, which tend to get closer to the theoretically real \(\theta\) as the test progresses in length.

Under the logistic models of IRT, an item is represented by the following parameters

\begin{itemize}
	\item \(a\) represents an item's \emph{discrimination} parameter, that is, how well it discriminates individuals who answer the item correctly (or, in an alternative interpretation, individuals who agree with the idea of the item) and those who don't. An item with a high \(a\) value tends to be answered correctly by all individuals whose \(\theta\) is above the items difficulty level and wrongly by all the others; as this value gets lower, this threshold gets blurry and the item starts not to be as informative. It is common for \(a > 0\);
	\item \(b\) represents an item's \emph{difficulty} parameter. This parameter, which is measured in the same scale as \(\theta\), shows at which point of the proficiency scale an item is more informative, that is, where it discriminates the individuals who agree and those who disagree with the item. Since \(b\) and \(\theta\) are measured in the same scale, \(b\) follows the same distributions as \(\theta\). For a CAT, it is good for an item bank to have as many items as possible in all difficulty levels, so that the CAT may select the best item for each individual in all ability levels;
	\item  \(c\) represents an item's \emph{pseudo-guessing} parameter. This parameter denotes what is the probability of individuals with low proficiency values to still answer the item correctly. Since \(c\) is a probability, \(0 < c \leq 1\), but the lower the value of this parameter, the better the item is considered;
	\item  \(d\) represents an item's \emph{upper asymptote}. This parameter denotes what is the probability of individuals with high proficiency values to still answer the item incorrectly. Since \(d\) represents an upper limit of a probability function, \(0 < d \leq 1\), but the lower the value of this parameter, the better the item is considered;
\end{itemize}

For a set of items \(N\), when \(\forall i \in N, d_i = 1\), the four-parameter logistic model is reduced to the three-parameter logistic model; when \(\forall i \in N, c_i = 0\), the three-parameter logistic model is reduced to the two-parameter logistic model; if all values of \(a\) are equal, the two-parameter logistic model is reduced to the one-parameter logistic model. Finally, when \(\forall i \in N, a_i = 1\), we have the Rasch model \citep{rasch_item_1966}. Thus, \pkg{catsim} is able of treating all of the logistic models presented above, since the underlying functions of all logistic models related to test simulations are the same, given the correct item parameters.

Under the four-parameter logistic model of IRT, the probability of an examinee with a given \(\theta\) value to answer item \(i\) correctly, given the item parameters, is given by \citep{magis_note_2013}

\begin{equation}\label{eq:icc}
	P(X_i = 1| \theta) = c_i + \frac{d_i-c_i}{1+ e^{a_i(\theta-b_i)}}
\end{equation}

The information \(i\) gives is calculated as \citep{magis_note_2013}

\begin{equation}\label{eq:iif}
	I_i(\theta) = \frac{a^2[(P(\theta)-c)]^2[d - P(\theta)]^2}{(d-c)^2(1-P(\theta))P(\theta)}
\end{equation}

In the one-parameter and two-parameter logistic models, an item is most informative when its difficulty parameter is close the examinee's proficiency. In the three-parameter and four-parameter logistic models, the \(\theta\) value where each item maximizes its information is given by \citep{magis_note_2013}

\begin{equation}\label{eq:maxinf}
	\argmax_{\theta}I(\theta) = b + \frac{1}{a} log \left(\frac{x^* - c}{d - x^*}\right)
\end{equation}

where

\[ x^* = 2 \sqrt{\frac{-u}{3}} cos\left\{\frac{1}{3}acos\left(-\frac{v}{2}\sqrt{\frac{27}{-u^3}}\right)+\frac{4 \pi}{3}\right\} + 0.5 \]

\[ u = -\frac{3}{4} + \frac{c + d - 2cd}{2} \]

\[ v = -\frac{c + d - 1}{4} \]

The item characteristic curve, given by Equation~\ref{eq:icc}; the item information curve, given by Equation~\ref{eq:iif}; and the maximum information point, obtained with Equation~\ref{eq:maxinf} are graphically represented in figure \ref{fig:item_curve} for a randomly generated item.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=.6\textwidth]{img/item_curve}
	\caption{An item characteristic curve and its corresponding information curve, created with \pkg{catsim} plotting functions.}\label{fig:item_curve}
\end{figure}

Equations \ref{eq:icc}, \ref{eq:iif} and \ref{eq:maxinf} are available in \pkg{catsim} under module \code{catsim.irt} as \code{icc()}, \code{inf()} and \code{max_info()}, respectively. High performance versions of the same functions, which return the response probability and information for all items in the bank, given a \(\theta\) value, or return the \(\theta\) values that maximize information for the entire item bank at once, are also available in the same module as \code{icc_hpc()}, \code{inf_hpc()} and \code{max_info_hpc()}. These versions were developed using the \pkg{numexpr} \citep{numexpr} package.

The sum of the information of all items in a test is called \emph{test information} \citep{de_ayala_theory_2009}:

\[I(\theta) = \sum_{j \in J} I_j(\theta).\]

The amount of error in the estimate of an examinee's proficiency after a test is called the \emph{standard error of estimation} \citep{de_ayala_theory_2009} and it is given by

\begin{equation} \label{eq:see}
	SEE = \sqrt{\frac{1}{I(\theta)}}.
\end{equation}

Since the denominator in the right-hand side of the \(SEE\) is \(I(\theta)\), it is clear to see that the more items an examinee answers, the smaller \(SEE\) gets. Additionally, the variance in the estimation of \(\theta\) is given by \(Var = SEE^2\).

Another measure of internal consistency for the test is test reliability, a value with similar applicability to Cronbach's \(\alpha\) in Classical Test Theory. It is given by \citep{thissen2000reliability} \[ Rel = 1 - \frac{1}{I(\theta)}. \] Its value is always lower than 1, with values close to 1 indicating good reliability. Note, however, that when \(I(\theta) < 1\), \(Rel < 0\). In such cases, the use of \(Rel\) does not make sense, but this situation may be fixed with the application of additional items to the examinee.

\pkg{catsim} provides these functions in the \code{catsim.irt} module.

\subsection{Item bank}

In \pkg{catsim}, a collection of items is represented as a \code{numpy.ndarray} whose rows and columns represent items and their parameters, respectively. Thus, it is referred to as the \emph{item matrix}. The most important features of the items are situated in the first three columns of the matrix, which represent the parameters \(a\), \(b\) and \(c\), respectively. Item matrices can be generated via the \code{catsim.cat.generate_item_bank} function as follows:

\begin{verbatim}
items = generate_item_bank(5, '1PL')
items = generate_item_bank(5, '2PL')
items = generate_item_bank(5, '3PL')
items = generate_item_bank(5, '4PL')
items = generate_item_bank(5, '4PL', corr=0.5)
\end{verbatim}

These examples depict the generation of an array of five items according to the different logistic models. In the last example, parameters \(a\) and \(b\) have a correlation of \(0.5\), an adjustment that may be useful in case simulations require it \citep{chang_-stratified_2001}. Parameters are extracted from the following probability distributions: \(a \sim N(1.2, 0.25)\), \(b \sim N(0, 1)\), \(c \sim N(0.25, 0.02)\) \citep{barrada_method_2010} and \(d \sim U(0.94, 1)\), generated using \pkg{numpy}'s \code{random} module.

After the simulation, \pkg{catsim} adds a fifth column to the item matrix, containing each item's exposure rate, commonly denoted as \(r\). Its value denotes how many times an item has been used and it is calculated as follows:

\[r_i = \frac{q_i}{N}\]

Where \(q_i\) represents the number of tests item \(i\) has been used on and \(N\) is the total number of tests applied.

\pkg{catsim} also validates and normalizes item matrices by checking if item parameters are within their minimum and maximum bounds and creating additional columns in the matrix. \(1 \times n\), \(2 \times n\) and \(3 \times n\) matrices can be transformed into a \(4xn\) using the \code{irt.normalize_item_bank()} function. The function assumes existent columns represent parameters \(b\), \(a\), \(c\) and \(d\), in that order, and adds any missing columns with default values, in such a way that the matrix still represents items in their original logistic models.

\section{Computerized adaptive testing}

Unlike linear tests, in which items are sequentially presented to examinees and their proficiency estimated at the end of the test, in a computerized adaptive test (CAT), an examinees' proficiency is calculated after the response of each item \citep{lord_broad-range_1977,lord_applications_1980}. The updated knowledge of an examinee's proficiency at each step of the test allows for the selection of more informative items \emph{during} the test itself, which in turn reduce the standard error of estimation of their proficiency at a faster rate.

In general, a computerized adaptive test has a very well-defined lifecycle, presented in figure \ref{fig:cat}.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=.5\textwidth]{img/cat}
	\caption{The iterative process of a computerized adaptive test.}\label{fig:cat}
\end{figure}

\begin{enumerate}
	\item The examinee's initial proficiency is estimated;
	\item \label{itm:two} An item is selected based on the current proficiency estimation;
	\item The proficiency is reestimated based on the answers to all items up until now;
	\item \textbf{If} a stopping criterion is met, stop the test. \textbf{Else} go back to step \ref{itm:two}.
\end{enumerate}

In \pkg{catsim}, each phase is separated in its own module, which makes it easy to create simulations combining different methods for each phase. Each module will be explained separately.

\section{Package architecture}

\pkg{catsim} was built using an object-oriented architecture, an approach which introduces benefits for the package maintenance and expansion. Each phase in the CAT lifecycle is represented by a different abstract class in the package. Each of these classes represent either a proficiency initialization procedure, an item selection method, a proficiency estimation procedure or a stopping criterion. The implementations of these procedures are made available in dedicated modules. Users and contributors may independently implement their own methods for each phase of the CAT lifecycle, or even an entire new CAT iterative process while still using \pkg{catsim} and its features to simulate tests and plot results, they respect the contracts of the provided abstract classes. Modules and their corresponding abstract classes are presented on table \ref{tbl:modules_classes}.

\begin{table}
	\centering
	\begin{tabular}{|r|l|}
		\hline
		\textbf{Abstract class}              & \textbf{Module with implementations} \\
		\hline
		\code{catsim.simulation.Initializer} & \code{catsim.initialization}         \\
		\hline
		\code{catsim.simulation.Selector}    & \code{catsim.selection}              \\
		\hline
		\code{catsim.simulation.Estimator}   & \code{catsim.estimation}             \\
		\hline
		\code{catsim.simulation.Stopper}     & \code{catsim.stopping}               \\
		\hline
	\end{tabular}
	\caption{Modules involved in the simulation and their corresponding abstract classes.}\label{tbl:modules_classes}
\end{table}

\subsection{Proficiency initialization}

The initialization procedure is done only once during each examinee's test. In it, the initial value of an examinee's proficiency \(\hat\theta_0\) is selected. Ideally, the closer \(\hat\theta_0\) is to \(\theta\), the faster it converges to \(\theta\), the examinee's true proficiency value \citep{sukamolson_computerized_2002}. The initialization procedure may be done in a variety of ways. A standard value can be chosen to initialize all examinees (\code{FixedInitializer}); it can be chosen randomly from a probability distribution (\code{RandomInitializer}); the place in the item bank with items of more information can be chosen to initialize \(\hat\theta_0\) \citep{dodd_effect_1990} etc.

In \pkg{catsim}, initialization procedures can be found in the \code{catsim.initialization} module.

\subsection{Item selection}

At time step \(t\) and a given value for \(\hat\theta_t\), an item \(i_t\) is chosen from the item bank and presented to the examinee. The answers to all \(i_{0 \to t}\) items are then used to estimate \(\hat\theta_{t + 1}\).

Table \ref{tbl:sel_methods} lists the available selection methods provided by \pkg{catsim}. Selection methods can be found in the \code{catsim.selection} module.

\begin{table}
	\centering
	\begin{tabular}{r|l}
		\textbf{Class}                       & \textbf{Author}                     \\
		\hline
		\code{AStratifiedBBlockingSelector}  & \citet{chang_-stratified_2001}      \\
		\code{AStratifiedSelector}           & \citet{chang_-stratified_1999}      \\
		\code{ClusterSelector}               & \citet{meneghetti_metolodogia_2015} \\
		\code{IntervalIntegrationSelector}   & ---                                 \\
		\code{LinearSelector}                & ---                                 \\
		\code{MaxInfoBBlockingSelector}      & \citet{barrada_maximum_2006}        \\
		\code{MaxInfoSelector}               & \citet{lord_broad-range_1977}       \\
		\code{MaxInfoStratificationSelector} & \citet{barrada_maximum_2006}        \\
		\code{RandomSelector}                & ---                                 \\
		\code{RandomesqueSelector}           & \citet{kingsbury_procedures_1989}   \\
		\code{The54321Selector}              & \citet{mcbride_reliability_1983}    \\
		\hline
	\end{tabular}
	\caption{Item selection methods implemented in \pkg{catsim}.}\label{tbl:sel_methods}
\end{table}

\code{MaxInfoSelector} selects \(i_{t+1}\) as the item that maximizes information gain, that is, to select \(\argmax_{i \in N} I_i(\hat\theta_t)\). This method guarantees faster decrease of standard error. However, it has been shown to have drawbacks, like causing overexposure of few items in the item bank while ignoring items with smaller information values.

\code{AStratifiedSelector}, \code{MaxInfoStratificationSelector}, \code{AStratifiedBBlockingSelector} and \code{MaxInfoBBlockingSelector} are classified \citep{georgiadou_review_2007} as stratification methods. In the first one, the item bank is sorted in ascending order according to the items discrimination parameter and then separated into \(K\) strata (\(K\) being the test size), each stratum containing gradually higher average discrimination. The \(\\alpha\)-stratified selector then selects the first non-administered item from stratum \(k\), in which \(k\) represents the position in the test of the current item the examinee is being presented. The second method separates items in strata according to their maximum \(I(\theta)\) value. The last two are variants in which item difficulty is guaranteed to have a distribution close to uniform among the \(K\) strata, after the discovery that there is a positive correlation between \(a\) and \(b\) \citep{chang_-stratified_2001}.

\code{RandomSelector}, \code{RandomesqueSelector} and \code{The54321Selector} are methods that apply randomness to item selection. The first one selects items randomly from the item bank; the second selects an item randomly from the \(n\) most informative items at that step of the test, \(n\) being a user-defined variable. The last method also selects between the \(n\) most informative items, but at each new item that is selected, \(n=n-1\), guaranteeing that more informative items are selected as the test progresses.

\code{LinearSelector} is a selector that mimics a linear test, that is, item indices are predefined and all examinees are presented the same items. This method is useful for the simulation of an ordinary paper and pencil test.

\code{ClusterSelector} clusters items according to their parameter values and selects items from the cluster that contains either the most informative item or the highest average information.

\code{IntervalIntegrationSelector} is an experimental selection method that selects the item whose integral around an interval \(\delta\) of the peak of information is maximum, like so \[ \argmax_{i \in N} \int_{\hat\theta - \delta}^{\hat\theta + \delta}I_i(\hat\theta). \] It uses \pkg{scipy.integrate} \code{quad} function for the process of integration.

\subsection{Proficiency estimation}

Proficiency estimation occurs whenever an examinee answers a new item. After an item is selected, \pkg{catsim} simulates an examinee's response to a given item by sampling a binary value from the Bernoulli distribution, in which the value of \(p\) is given by Equation~\ref{eq:icc}. Given a dichotomous (binary) response vector and the parameters of the corresponding items that were answered, it is the job of an estimator to return a new value for the examinee's \(\hat\theta\). This value reflects the examinee's proficiency, given his or hers answers up until that point of the test.

In \proglang{Python}, an example of a list that may be used as a valid dichotomous response vector is as follows:

\code{response_vector = [True, True, True, False, True, False, True, False, False]}

Estimation techniques are generally separated between maximum-likelihood estimation procedures (whose job is to return the \(\hat\theta\) value that maximizes a \emph{likelihood} function, presented in \code{catsim.irt.log_likelihood}) and Bayesian estimation procedures, which use prior information of the distributions of examinee's proficiencies to estimate new values for them.

The likelihood function of a given \(\hat\theta\) value given the answers to \(I\) items is given by

\[L(X_{Ij} | \theta_j, a_I, b_I, c_I) = \prod_{i=1} ^ I P_{ij}(\theta)^{X_{ij}} Q_{ij}(\theta)^{1-X_{ij}}\]

For mathematical reasons, finding the maximum of \(L(X_{Ij})\) includes using the product rule of derivations. Since \(L(X_{Ij})\) has \(j\) parts, it can be quite complicated to do so. Also, for computational reasons, the product of probabilities can quickly tend to 0, so it is common to use the log-likelihood in maximization/minimization problems, transforming the product of probabilities in a sum of probabilities. This function, presented in \pkg{catsim} as \code{catsim.irt.log_likelihood}, is given by

\[\log L(X_{Ij} | \theta_j, , a_I, b_I, c_I) = \sum_{i=1} ^ I \left\lbrace x_{ij} \log P_{ij}(\theta)+ (1 - x_{ij}) \log Q_{ij}(\theta) \right\rbrace .\]

\pkg{catsim} provides a maximum likelihood estimation procedure based on the hill climbing optimization technique, called \code{HillClimbingEstimator}. Since maximum likelihood estimators tend to fail when all observed values are equal, the provided estimation procedure employs the method proposed by \citet{dodd_effect_1990} to select the value of \(\hat\theta\) as follows:

\[ \hat{\theta}_{t+1} = \left\lbrace \begin{array}{ll}
	\hat{\theta}_t+\frac{b_{max}-\hat{\theta_t}}{2} & \text{if } X_t = 1 \\
	\hat{\theta}_t-\frac{\hat{\theta}_t-b_{min}}{2} & \text{if }  X_t = 0
	\end{array} \right\rbrace , \]

	where \(b_{max}\) and \(b_{min}\) are the maximum and minimum \(b\) values in the item bank, respectively.

	The second estimation method uses \pkg{scipy} \citep{jones_scipy_2001} optimization module, more specifically the \code{differential_evolution()} function, to find the global maximum of the likelihood function. These proficiency estimation procedures can be found in the \code{catsim.estimation} module.

	Figure \ref{fig:est_eval} shows the performance of the available estimators. \code{HillClimbingEstimator} evaluates the log-likelihood function an average of 7 times before reaching a step-size smaller than \(10e-5\), while the \pkg{scipy}-based \code{DifferentialEvolutionEstimator} evaluates the function four times more.

	\begin{figure}
		\centering
		\includegraphics[width=.5\textwidth]{img/estimation_1}\includegraphics[width=.5\textwidth]{img/estimation_2}
		\caption{Average number of function evaluations and graphical representation of function maxima found by the available estimation methods in \pkg{catsim}.} \label{fig:est_eval}
	\end{figure}

	Estimators may benefit from prior knowledge of the estimate, such as known lower and upper bounds for \(\hat\theta\) or the value of \(\hat\theta_t\) when estimating \(\hat\theta_{t + 1}\).

	\subsection{Stopping criterion}

	Since items in a CAT are selected during the test, a stopping criterion must be chosen such that, when achieved, no new items are presented to the examinee and the test is deemed finished. These stopping criteria might be achieved when the test reaches a fixed number of items or when the standard error of estimation from Equation~\ref{eq:see} \citep{de_ayala_theory_2009} reaches a lower threshold \citep{lord_broad-range_1977}, among others. Both of the aforementioned stopping criteria are implemented as \code{MaxItemStopper} and \code{MinErrorStopper}, respectively, and are located in the \code{catsim.stopping} module.

	\section{The simulation process}

	The simulation process is configured using the \code{Simulator} class from the \code{catsim.simulation} module. A \code{Simulator} is created by passing an \code{Initializer}, a \code{Selector}, an \code{Estimator} and a \code{Stopper} object to it, as well as either an empirical or generated item matrix and a list containing examinees \(\theta\) values or a number of examinees. If a number of examinees is passed, \pkg{catsim} generates their \(\theta\) values from the normal distribution, using as \(\mu_\theta = \mu_b\) and \(\sigma_\theta = \sigma_b\), where \(b\) represents the difficulty parameter of all items in the item matrix. If an item matrix is not provided, \(\mu_\theta = 0\) and \(\sigma_\theta = 1\).

	When used in conjunction with the \code{Simulator}, all four abstract classes (\code{Initializer}, \code{Selector}, \code{Estimator} and \code{Stopper}) as well as their implementations have complete access to the current and past states of the simulation, which include:

	\begin{enumerate}
		\item item parameters;
		\item indexes of the administered items to all examinees;
		\item current and past proficiency estimations of all examinees;
		\item each examinee's response vector.
	\end{enumerate}

	The following example depicts the process of creating the necessary objects to configure a \code{Simulator} and calling the \code{simulate()} method to start the simulation.

	\begin{verbatim}
from catsim.cat import generate_item_bank
from catsim.initialization import RandomInitializer
from catsim.selection import MaxInfoSelector
from catsim.estimation import HillClimbingEstimator
from catsim.stopping import MaxItemStopper
from catsim.simulation import Simulator

initializer = RandomInitializer()
selector = MaxInfoSelector()
estimator = HillClimbingEstimator()
stopper = MaxItemStopper(20)
s = Simulator(generate_item_bank(100), 10)
s.simulate(initializer, selector, estimator, stopper)
	\end{verbatim}

	During the simulation, the \code{Simulator} calculates and maintains \(\hat\theta\), \(SEE\) and \(Var\) after every item is presented to each examinee, as well as the indexes of the presented items in the order they were presented. These values are exposed as properties of the \code{Simulator} and are accessed as \code{s.estimations}, \code{s.see}, \code{s.var}, \code{s.administered_items} and so on.

	\subsection{Validity measures}

	A series of validity measures have been implemented, in order to evaluate the results of the adaptive testing simulation. The first two are measurement bias and mean squared error \citep{chang_-stratified_2001}, while the last two are the root mean squared error and test overlap rate \citep{barrada_maximum_2006, barrada_methods_2007, barrada_test_2009, barrada_method_2010, barrada_optimal_2014}.

	\[Bias = \frac{\sum_{j=1}^{J} (\hat{\theta}_j - \theta_{j})}{J}\]

	\[MSE = \frac{\sum_{j=1}^{J} (\hat{\theta}_j - \theta_{j})^2}{J}\]

	\[RMSE = \sqrt{\frac{\sum_{j=1}^{J} (\hat{\theta}_j - \theta_{j})^2}{J}}\]

	\[T = \frac{N}{Q}S_{r}^2 + \frac{Q}{N}\]

	The first three are indicators of the error of measurement between the \(J\) examinees' true proficiency \(\theta_j\) and the proficiency estimated at the end of the CAT, \(\hat\theta_j\). Test overlap rate, according to \citet{barrada_test_2009}, ``provides information about the mean proportion of items shared by two examinees'', where \(N\) indicates the number of items in the item bank, \(Q\) is the number of items in the test and \(S_r^2\), the variance in the exposure rates of all items. A value of \( T = 0.3\) indicates that two examinees share, on average, \(30\%\) of the same items in a test. It is possible to see that, since \(\frac{Q}{N}\) is a constant, \(T\) reaches its lowest value when \(S_r^2 \approx 0\). For that, all items in the item bank must be used in a homogeneous way.

	After the simulation, the \code{Simulator} calculates the aforementioned validity measures and exposes them as properties, which are accessed as \code{s.bias}, \code{s.mse}, \code{s.rmse} and \code{s.overlap_rate}.

	\subsection{Plotting items and results}

	\pkg{catsim} provides a series of plotting functions in the \code{catsim.plot} module, which uses \pkg{matplotlib} \citep{Hunter:2007} to plot item curves, as well as plotting proficiency estimations and validity measures for each item answered by every examinee during the simulation.

	The following example shows how to plot an item's charectaristic curve, its information curve as well as both curves in the same figure, as presented in figure \ref{fig:item_curve}.

	\begin{verbatim}
item = generate_item_bank(1)[0]
plot.item_curve(item[0], item[1], item[2], item[3], ptype='icc')
plot.item_curve(item[0], item[1], item[2], item[3], ptype='iic')
plot.item_curve(item[0], item[1], item[2], item[3], ptype='both')
	\end{verbatim}

	Given a simulator \code{s}, the test progress of an examinee can be plotted using the function \code{test_progress()} and passing the examinee's index, like so:

	\begin{verbatim}
plot.test_progress(simulator=s, index=0, true_theta=s.examinees[0],
info=True, var=True, see=True)
	\end{verbatim}

	These commands generate the graphics depicted in figure \ref{fig:progress}.

	\begin{figure}
		\centering
		\includegraphics[width=.7\textwidth]{img/progress_2}
		\caption{Graphics showing the progress of certain measurements during an examinee's test.}\label{fig:progress}
	\end{figure}

	At last, item exposure rates can be plotted via the \code{item_exposure()} function. Given a simulator \code{s} or an item matrix \code{i} with the last column representing the items exposure rate, item exposure can be plotted as the following example shows:

	\begin{verbatim}
plot.item_exposure(simulator=s, par='b')
plot.item_exposure(items=i, ptype='line')
	\end{verbatim}

	Both of these commands generate graphics similar to the one shown in figure \ref{fig:exposures}. The \code{par} parameter allows exposure rates to be sorted by one of the item parameters before plotting. The \code{ptype} parameter allow the chart to be plotted using either bars or lines.

	\begin{figure}
		\centering
		\includegraphics[width=.7\textwidth]{img/exposures}
		\caption{Chart presenting item exposure rates of an item bank.}\label{fig:exposures}
	\end{figure}
	\section{Independent usage}

	Aside from being used in the simulation process, implementations of \code{Initializer}, \code{Selector}, \code{Estimator} and \code{Stopper} may also be used be used independently. Given the appropriate parameters, each component is able to return results in an accessible way, allowing \pkg{catsim} to be used in other software programs. Table \ref{tbl:independent} shows the main functions of each component, the parameters they commonly use and their return values.

	\begin{table}
		\centering
		\begin{tabular}{|r|c|p{5.5cm}|p{3cm}|}
			\hline
			\textbf{Class}     & \textbf{Main method} & \textbf{Common parameters}                                                  & \textbf{Returns}                                     \\
			\hline
			\code{Initializer} & \code{initialize}    & None                                                                        & \(\hat\theta_0\)                                     \\
			\hline
			\code{Selector}    & \code{select}        & item bank, indexes of administered items, \(\hat\theta_t\)                  & Index of the next item                               \\
			\hline
			\code{Estimator}   & \code{estimate}      & item bank, indexes of administered items, \(\hat\theta_t\), response vector & \(\hat\theta_{t+1}\)                                 \\
			\hline
			\code{Stopper}     & \code{stop}          & parameters of administered items, \(\hat\theta_t\)                          & \code{True} to stop the test, otherwise \code{False} \\
			\hline
		\end{tabular}
		\caption{Main functions of each component and the parameters they commonly use.}\label{tbl:independent}
	\end{table}

	The code below exemplifies the independent usage of CAT components outside of the simulator.

	\begin{verbatim}
bank_size = 5000
items = generate_item_bank(bank_size)
responses = [True, True, False, False]
administered_items = [1435, 3221, 17, 881]

initializer = RandomInitializer()
selector = MaxInfoSelector()
estimator = HillClimbingEstimator()
stopper = MaxItemStopper(20)

est_theta = initializer.initialize()
item_index = selector.select(items=items,
    administered_items=administered_items,
    est_theta=est_theta)
new_theta = estimator.estimate(items=items,
    administered_items=administered_items,
    response_vector=responses, est_theta=est_theta)
_stop = stopper.stop(administered_items=items[administered_items],
    theta=est_theta)
	\end{verbatim}

	\section{Examples}

	This section presents different examples of running simulations through \pkg{catsim}. Figure \ref{fig:example1} presents a simulation with 10 examinees, a random \(\hat\theta_0\) initializer, a maximum information item selector, a hill climbing estimator and a stopping criterion of 20 items.

	\begin{verbatim}
s = Simulator(items, 10)
s.simulate(RandomInitializer(), MaxInfoSelector(),
HillClimbingEstimator(), MaxItemStopper(20))
catplot.test_progress(simulator=s,index=0)
	\end{verbatim}

	\begin{figure}
		\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.7\textwidth]{img/example1}
		\caption{CAT results of an examinee. Items were selected by the maximum information selector and test stops at 20 items.}
		\label{fig:example1}
	\end{figure}

	Figure \ref{fig:example2} presents a way of using predetermined proficiencies by passing either a \code{list} or a one-dimensional \code{numpy.ndarray}. It also uses the minimum error stopping criterion, making each examinee have tests of different sizes.

	\begin{verbatim}
examinees = numpy.random.normal(size=10)
s = Simulator(items, examinees)
s.simulate(RandomInitializer(), MaxInfoSelector(),
HillClimbingEstimator(), MinErrorStopper(.3))
catplot.test_progress(simulator=s,index=0, info=True)
	\end{verbatim}

	\begin{figure}
		\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.7\textwidth]{img/example2}
		\caption{CAT results of an examinee. Items were selected by the maximum information selector and test stops when a minimum error threshold is reached.}
		\label{fig:example2}
	\end{figure}

	The last example shows a linear item selector, whose item indexes are selected in order from a \code{list}. The example shows indexes being randomly selected from the item bank, but they can also be passed directly, such as \code{indexes = [1, 10, 12, 27, 116]}.

	\begin{verbatim}
s = Simulator(items, 10)
indexes = numpy.random.choice(items.shape[0], 50, replace=False)
s.simulate(RandomInitializer(), LinearSelector(indexes),
HillClimbingEstimator(), MaxItemStopper(50))
catplot.test_progress(simulator=s,index=0, info=True, see=True)
	\end{verbatim}

	\begin{figure}
		\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.7\textwidth]{img/example3}
		\caption{Test results of an examinee. Items were selected linearly and test stops at 50 items.}
		\label{fig:example3}
	\end{figure}

	\section{Discussion}

	This paper has presented \pkg{catsim}, a computerized adaptive testing simulator written in \proglang{Python}. \pkg{catsim} separates each phase in the CAT iterative process into different components and provides implementations of different methods from the literature, as well as interfaces which can be used by end users to create their own methods. The simulator provides a complete history of the test progress for each examinee, including items chosen, answers given and measures taken after each answer, as well as validity measures for the whole test. Simulation results, item parameters and exposure rates can then be plotted with the provided functions.

	\pkg{catsim} fills a gap in the \proglang{Python} scientific community, being the only package specialized in computerized adaptive tests and the logistic models of Item Response Theory. Other functionalities that may benefit the community include item parameter and examinee proficiency estimation through a dichotomous data matrix and the implementation of Bayesian estimators, whose behavior contrasts with the maximum likelihood estimators already provided.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


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text:
The Art of Entertainment Auction and Exhibition
Van Eaton Galleries is proud to present "The Art of Entertainment", a 700 item Popular Culture and Disneyland exhibition and auction. This collection brings together original artwork, props, artifacts, and historical items from memorable moments of Popular Culture and Disneyland history. Highlights of this collection include original Drew Struzan artwork from the "Back to the Future" trilogy, original Charles Addams artwork from "Murder by Death", two wooden Nautilus models used in the creation of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", as well as items from "Star Wars", "The Simpsons", "Star Trek", "E.T.", "Spaceballs", "Mary Poppins", and the over 60-year history of Disneyland. Spanning categories of film, television, comics, superheroes, science fiction, and more, this one-of-a-kind exhibition and auction celebrates the Art of Entertainment and the cultural significance it plays in our lives.
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text:
Mastodon to Man: An 1845 "Giant" from Tennessee
Another thing that is not the remains of a giant human: skull of a juvenile mastodon (cast).
My last several posts about historical accounts of "ancient giants" have examined, among other things, claims for the existence of skeletons with double rows of teeth. I have argued that phrases like "double teeth all around," common in the 19th century, can be shown to be describing a distinctive wear pattern on the teeth rather than the existence of multiple, concentric rows of teeth. All of the cases I've looked at so far have been related to remains of humans described as "giants," estimated in the original accounts to have ranged from about 6'8" to 8' tall.
There are several historical accounts of the discovery of "giants" that were much taller: 10' . . . 12' . . . up to 38' tall. I'm not sure how different giantologists interpret these remains and fit them into their various stories, but I'm guessing there is probably a spectrum of opinion. Real? Not real? I'll let them tell you what they think. I'll tell you what I think.
The remains of "giants" in this very large size class are mostly like the remains of fossil animals. This idea is neither new nor particularly controversial. As Jason Colavito touched in this blog post, this pattern of mistaken identity was evident even at the time the bones were being discovered.
For those who doubt that the bones of large animals were interpreted (or intentionally misinterpreted) as those of giant humans, I offer the following three accounts. The first two are 1845 newspaper accounts of the discovery of purported giant human remains. The third, published in the American Journal of Science in 1846, provides a professional evaluation of one set of those remains based on firsthand observation. Spoiler alert: they were mastodon bones.
First, from the Cleveland Herald (September 10, 1845) [number 135 in my database]:
A GIANT EXHUMED.—We are informed on the most reliable authority that a person in Franklin county, Tennessee, while digging a well, a few weeks since, found a human skeleton, at the depth of fifty feet, which measures eighteen feet in length. The immense frame was entire with an unimportant exception in one of the extremities. It has been visited by several of the principal members of the medical faculty in Nashville, and pronounced unequivocally, by all, the skeleton of a huge man. The bone of the thigh measured five feet; and it was computed that the height of the living man, making the proper allowance for muscles, must have been at least twenty feet. The finder had been offered eight thousand dollars for it, but had determined not to sell it any price until first exhibiting it for twelve months. He is now having the different parts wired together for this purpose. These unwritten records of the men and animals of other ages, that are from time to time dug out of the bowels of the earth, put conjecture to confusion, and almost surpass imagination itself.—Madison Banner.
Second, from the New York Herald (December 12, 1845) [number 136 in my database]:
THE GIANT SKELETON.—The skeleton discovered in Williamson county in this State, and supposed to be that of a human being, has frequently been referred to, within a few days past, in the House of Representatives. Notwithstanding the description given of it, as Wouter Van Twiller would say, "we have our doubts about the matter." This skeleton was found about sixty feet beneath the surface of the earth, embedded in a stratum of the hardest kind of clay. The bones are said to be in a perfect state of preservation, and weigh in the aggregate fifteen hundred pounds. All the large and characteristic bones are entire, and the skull, arms, and thigh bones, knee pans, shoulder sockets and collar bones remove all doubts, and the animal to whom they belonged has been decided "to belong to the genus homo." This gentleman, when he walked the earth, was about eighteen feet high, and when clothed in flesh must have weighed not less than 3000 pounds. "The bones of the thigh and leg measure six feet six inches; his skull is said to be about two-thirds the size of a flour barrel, and capable of holding in its cavities near two bushels. (He must have had a goodly quantity of brains, and if intellect be in proportion to the size of the brain, he must have possessed extraordinary intellectual powers). The description further states, that "a coffee cup of good size could be put in the eye-sockets." The jaw teeth weight from 8 ½ to 6 pounds. It is stated that an eminent physician and anatomist is engaged in putting the skeleton together, and that is will shortly be ready for public exhibition.—Nashville Orthopolitan.
These two accounts from 1845 appear to describe different discoveries of similar remains, both from Tennessee (but different counties). The measurements of the femur differ, but the estimated height (18') is the same. In the first account, we see the same "rule of thumb" for the relationship between femur length and height that was applied to the Ellensburg skeleton (height = 4x femur length).
The next piece is from a paper by William M. Carpenter published in the March 1846 (Volume 1, page 244) issue of the American Journal of Science (available here).
ART. XII.—Remarks on some Fossil Bones recently brought to New Orleans from Tennessee and from Texas ; by William M. Carpenter, M.D., Prof. in the Med. Coll. of Louisiana.
I.Fossils from Tennessee—the "gigantic Fossil Man," (being the skeleton of a young mastodon.) Much interest has been recently excited by the announcement of the discovery in Tennessee of the remains of a man eighteen feet high. The papers teemed with accounts of the prodigy, and public confidence was secured by the assertion that the distinguished physicians of the west had testified that they were human remains. About the last of December these remains reached this city; and on the first of January I was requested by a distinguished surgeon here to go with him on the invitation of the proprietor to examine them, and give an opinion. They had been erected in a high room; the skeleton was sustained in its erect position by a large upright beam of timber. At a glance it was apparent that it was nothing more than the skeleton of a young mastodon, (one of Godman's Tetracaulodons, with sockets for four tusks.) The bones of the leg and ankle were complete, the metatarsal bones wanting. Most of the vertebrae were present; the ribs mostly of wood. The pelvic arrangement was entirely of wood; the scapulae were present, but somewhat broken, and were rigged on with a most human-like elevation; pieces of ribs supplying the want of clavicles. The osseous parts of the head were portions, nearly complete, of the upper and lower jaws. Some of the molars were quite complete; of the tusks, only one little stump remained, but the four alveoli of the upper jaw had large incisive looking wooden teeth fitted into them, and the lower jaw supplied to correspond. The cranium was entirely wanting from the lower margin of the orbits, back; but a raw-hide cranium was fitted o, which was much more becoming to the animal in his new capacity than the old one would have been.
The artificial construction was principally in the pelvis and head; and take it as thus built up, with its half human, half beast-like look, and its great hooked incisive teeth, it certainly must have conveyed to the ignorant spectator a most horrible idea of a hideous, diabolical giant, of which he no doubt dreamed for months. To one informed in such matters it really presented a most ludicrous figure.
The person who had it for exhibition was honest, I believe, in his convictions as to its being the remains of a man, having been confirmed in them by numerous physicians, whose certificates he had in his possession; and having asked and received my opinion, he determined to box it up, never to be exhibited again as the remains of a human being.
The "giant" that was examined by Carpenter could have been the one from Franklin County, the one from Williamson County, or perhaps even a completely different one. Regardless, what we have here is a fascinating first person account of one of the "giants" that was traveling around the county being exhibited (for money) in the mid-1800s: it was a wired-together composition of wood, leather, and fossil elephant bones.
Who should we believe? The newspapers or Carpenter? That's an easy one.
William M. Carpenter was a physician and naturalist, educated at West Point. He was not a lightweight, and was clearly conversant in the anatomy of fossil mammals (the remainder of his 1846 paper contains technical descriptions of fossil ox and tapir bones from Texas, among other things). Not every physician in 1845 would have had his training, interest, and experience. And keep in mind that this was a time when information about the natural world was rapidly expanding. American mastodon (Mammut americanum, into which Tetracaulodon is now folded) was only formally named in 1792, and On the Origin of Species was not published until 1859. I do not think that it is wise to assume that everyone with medical training at the time could reliably identify the skeletal remains of extinct animals, or reliably discriminate them from "giant" human remains. Weighing the 1845 newspaper accounts against Carpenter's 1846 paper, I think it is clear which is the more credible interpretation.
It would be pretty sweet if someone could find the box containing the contrivance described by Carpenter: the "gigantic Fossil Man" belongs in a history museum and would be a wonderful thing to include in a display about the emergence of a scientific understanding of the past that was ongoing in the mid-1800s. If you find it and donate it somewhere where it can be displayed for what it is, I'll give you fifty bucks and a Major Award that is not a leg lamp. Look for a box with the words "Skeleton of Giant" crossed out.
Brilliant! Just minutes after finishing this post I found this 2013 paper by Kevin Smith entitled "The Williamson County Giant (aka A Pleistocene Mega-Human)." It contains much more detail that I've assembled here. Bravo!
Terry J. Deveau
Great job on the blog post. It is wonderful when mistakes and errors (and hoaxes, etc.) can be corrected, and the record set straight. It takes a lot of work to do this, of course, and it is understandable that neither yourself, or even a few public-minded volunteers can take-on the whole body of purported claims of this nature.
In the interest of fairness, however, would you, or Kevin Smith, or anyone with equivalent academic standing, do a similar analysis and report of one of the many instances in the historical record where the claims cannot be so easily dismissed? There are many such examples to choose from within just the Smithsonian's own official publications; scientific reports made by accredited scientists of the day, not newspaper accounts of travelling side shows.
Thanks for the comment, Terry.
As I've said before, I don't think all these claims of "giants" can or should necessarily be dismissed for any single reason: they're not all hoaxes or frauds, and I would not assume up front that they're all cases of exaggeration or misinterpretation. But I'm certain many of them are. I think you really have to look careful at all the information available (including historical contexts) to have a chance to get to the heart of the "giants" phenomenon. Why would there not be some tall people in prehistory, just as there are today? But in order to have a chance to understand the role of those people in prehistoric societies (a very interesting issue), you first need to figure out which of the cases may be "real" and which are nonsense. It is clear that reported cases of "giants" have a spectrum of origins, including outright hoaxes, misinterpreted animal bones, and exaggerated estimates of size. Somewhere in all of this "noise" may be some actual examples of pretty tall people, as one would expect just based on normal human variation. I don't think we can confidently identify them without doing a lot of sifting, however. Stay tuned!
If everyone in the world stood two feet tall I'd be a "giant". The stature of the race of men has steadily decreased since bible times.
Thanks for the comment, Robert.
I don't believe there is any direct evidence that human stature has steadily decreased since "Bible times." What are you referring to?
Franklin, TN is in Williamson County. Considering the two reports are so similar, I assume the initial report meant Williamson County but said a Franklin County instead. Franklin County, TN would have been barely inhabited at the time, if even in existence. Was this finding at the sight of Fort Grainer?
There is more credible evidence for giants than there is for the extremist religion of evolution. Today's science is no more than hypothesis, called science, and giants, dragons, etc. do not fit anywhere into their religious beliefs. It appears that your religion has blinded you to the truth.


text:
History of Antietam National Cemetery (page 21)
space devoted to the erection of a monument commemorative of the great event of the battle, and the heroism of those who sleep at its foot and around it. The design of the monument, which was adopted at a meeting of the Board, held in the city of Baltimore, on the 16th day of September, 1867, seems to meet all requirements in a military, national and patriotic point of view. It is the Colossal Statue of an American Soldier standing guard over the remains of the loyal dead, and, when completed, will be the largest work of its kind in the country. The estimated cost is thirty thousand dollars. The Statue alone will weigh eighty-six tons.
The dedication of the grounds to the sacred purposes for which they were designed, occurred on the fifth anniversary of the battle — the 17th day of September, 1867 — at which time also was laid the corner stone of the Monument, with appropriate ceremonies.
Through the sacrifices and blood they shed, and the lives they rendered up, the Union has been preserved, our institutions are unimpaired, and our Government is strengthened; therefore should we honor and keep green the memory of the loyal volunteer whose work has been accomplished, and the benefit of whose deeds and prowess as a Nation we today enjoy.
wcac021
Maryland. Board of Trustees of the Antietam National Cemetery.
Washington County Free Library.
J.W. Woods, printer, Baltimore
Antietam National Cemetery; United States History, Civil War, 1861-1865, Registers of dead.
Washington County, Md; 1862-1869.