Method effects in psychological assessment are described as systematic variation observed in measurement that originates from the method of measurement instead of from the attribute, which the scale or measurement procedure is expected to capture. Method effects are major sources of impairment of the quality of measurement. Because of a method effect a scale or measurement procedures does not or only partly measure what is expected to measure.

Cardiopulmonary bypass is necessary to adequately treat patients in the course of cardiac surgery. The kidney is the first to react to cardiopulmonary bypass. Postoperative acute renal failure is a much feared complication associated with high mortality after heart surgery, Frank Muench (Universitätsklinik Erlangen) emphasizes in the new textbook "Extracorporeal Circulation".

Remembering the past and imagining the future are two processes that can be summarized under the term "mental time travel" and that seem to share largely overlapping neural substrates. We observe an important impact of "mental time travel" for decision-making and well-being. When does mental time travel occur? Dr. Julia Weiler answers (in: "Chronobiology and Chronopsychology"):

Written exams typically used at German-speaking universities often do not represent the learning objectives of the respective course appropriately. Moreover, they do not allow for criterion-referenced inferences regarding the degree to which the learning objectives have been met, and they are statistically unconnected across different test cycles. To overcome these shortcomings Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey and colleagues propose applying a combination of established methods from the fields of educational measurement and psychometrics to written university exams (in: Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling).