Selective interest and psychological practice: A new interpretation of the Burt affair

Anomalies in Burt's twin data have precipitated a prolonged and inconclusive controversy between those who accuse him of fabrication and those who defend his integrity. Here it is suggested that the argument arose in part because differing personal, and especially political, interests predisposed psychologists to diverse interpretations of the evidence. ‘Selective interest’ (James, 1890) leads to a concentration of attention on partial data. The participants in the controversy readily detected this fault in their opponents, but rarely in themselves. It is then suggested that this same factor accounts for the deficiencies in Burt's kinship data. His research was especially vulnerable to ‘selective interest’, and the numerical anomalies in his reports are consistent with this interpretation. It is questioned whether scientific techniques can ever wholly replace personal judgment, with its potential for selective bias.     

Coming Full Circle in the History of Factor Indeterminancy

Nearly 70 years ago, eminent mathematician Edwin Bidwell Wilson attended a dinner at Harvard where visitor Charles Spearman discussed the "two-factor theory" of intelligence and his just-released book The Abilities of Man. Wilson, having just discovered factor indeterminacy, attempted to explain to Spearman and the assembled guests that Spearman's two-factor theory might have a non-uniqueness problem. Neither Spearman nor the guests could follow Wilson's argument, but Wilson persisted, first through correspondence, later through a series of publications that spanned more than a decade, involving Spearman and several other influential statisticians in an extended debate. Many years have passed since the Spearman-Wilson debates, yet the fascinating statistical, logical, and philosophical issues surrounding factor indeterminacy are very much alive. Equally fascinating are the sociological issues and historical questions surrounding the way indeterminacy has periodically vanished from basic textbooks on factor analysis. In this article, I delineate some of these historical-sociological issues, and respond to a critique from some recent commentators on the history of factor indeterminacy.     

Investigating Group Differences on Cognitive Tests Using Spearman's Hypothesis: An Evaluation of Jensen's Method

Jensen has posited a research method to investigate group differences in cognitive tests. This method consists of first extracting a general intelligence factor by means of exploratory factor analysis. Secondly, similarity of factor loadings across groups is evaluated in an attempt to ensure that the same constructs are measured. Finally, the correlation is computed between the loadings of the tests on the general intelligence factor and the mean differences between groups on the tests. This part is referred to as a test of "Spearman's Hypothesis", which essentially states that differences in g account for the main part of differences in observed scores. Based on the correlation, inferences are made with respect to group differences in general intelligence.

The validity of these inferences is investigated and compared to the validity of inferences based on multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. For this comparison, population covariance matrices are constructed which incorporate violations of the central assumption underlying Jensen's method concerning the existence of g and/or violations of Spearman's Hypothesis. It is demonstrated that Jensen's method is quite insensitive to the violations. This lack of specificity is observed consistently for all types of violations introduced in the present study. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis emerges as clearly superior to Jensen's method.     

The Early History of Multivariate Techniques in Psychological Research

The origins of multivariate techniques are traced to Galtun, and the circumstances and precedents for Pearson's development of the method of principal components are described. Some early forms of factor extraction are reviewed with emphasis upon the assumptions involved. The different purposes of general psychology and of individual psychology are shown to entail differences in factoring technique. Burt's adoption of the hypothetico-disjunctive method in connection with factor analysis is explained and illustrated. Some fundamental similarities between analysis of variance and correlational analysis are discussed; and arguments are given for the joint application of these and other mathematical procedures now available for handling multivariate problem.     

Inspection time: Discovery or rediscovery?

Historical studies which have used stimulus presentation time as a variable in attempting to investigate intelligence are reviewed in the light of current findings with measures of inspection time. It is argued that James McKeen Cattell's measure of ‘perception time’ anticipated the notion that there are important individual differences in the time required for simple discriminations and that these might correlate with more global measures of mental ability. The failure of the anthropometric approach to intelligence and the arrival of Binet's more practical testing method contributed to the dormancy of Cattell's concepts although several studies over the next 60 years (including Burt's 1909/10 study) confirm the hypothesis that measures of psychometric intelligence correlate with timed stimulus presentations across a wide spectrum of experimental procedures.     

An Evaluation of Spearman's Hypothesis by Manipulating g Saturation

Spearman's Hypothesis holds that the magnitude of mean White–Black differences on cognitive tests covaries with the extent to which a test is saturated with g. This paper evaluates Spearman's Hypothesis by manipulating the g saturation of cognitive composites. Using a sample of 16,384 people from the General Aptitude Test Battery database, we show that one can decrease mean racial differences in a g test by altering the g saturation of the measure. Consistent with Spearman's Hypothesis, the g saturation of a test is positively and strongly related to the magnitude of White–Black mean racial differences in test scores. We demonstrate that the reduction in mean racial differences accomplished by reducing the g saturation in a measure is obtained at the cost of lower validity and increased prediction errors. We recommend that g tests varying in mean racial differences be examined to determine if the Spearman's Hypothesis is a viable explanation for the results.     

PERSONALITY STRUCTURE CHECKED IN PRIMARY OBJECTIVE TEST FACTORS,FOR A MIXED NORMAL AND PSYCHOTIC SAMPLE

An experiment was undertaken to determine how far the consistent personality structure previously found separately in noma1 and psychotic populations, in terms of factors measured in objective behaviaral perfomance within the age of a joint normal-psychotic population. One hundred variables embodied in 66 types of subjects were chosen to mark 18 known factors measured on 114 adult (men and women) normals and 228 psychotics. The number of-factors measured by the test was 24. They rotated to a very conspicuous simple structure resolution reaching 82% in the hyperplane. By Burt's congruence test 20 of these matched the factors (the 18 intended, plus 2 others) as known in the homogeneous population.     

Extending the Debate Between Spearman and Wilson 1929: When do Single Variables Optimally Reproduce the Common Part of the Observed Covariances?

The covariances of observed variables reproduced from conventional factor score predictors are generally not the same as the covariances reproduced from the common factors. We sought to find a factor score predictor that optimally reproduces the common part of the observed covariances. It was found algebraically that—under some conditions—the single observed variable with highest loading on a factor reproduces the non-diagonal elements of the observed covariance matrix more exactly than the conventional factor score predictors. This finding is linked to Spearman's and Wilson's 1929 debate on the use of single variables as factor score predictors. A population-based and a sample-based simulation study confirmed the algebraic result that taking a single variable can outperform conventional factor score predictors in reproducing the non-diagonal covariances when the nonzero loading size and the number of nonzero loadings per factor are small. The results indicated that a weighted aggregation of variables does not necessarily lead to an improvement of the score over the variable with the highest loading.     

GRADIVA: FREUD,FETISHISM, AND POMPEIAN FANTASY

This paper is a critical reconsideration of Freud's analysis (1907) of Wilhelm Jensen's novella Gradiva: A Pompeian Fantasy (1903). Freud's interest was aroused by the parallels between Jensen's presentation of dreams and Freud's model of dream formation just published in The Interpretation of Dreams (1900). Freud also acclaims Jensen's presentation of the formation and “cure” of his protagonist's delusion about a marble bas‐relief of a woman walking. This paper argues for the centrality of the phenomenon of fetishism, briefly considered but excluded from Freud's analysis. The fantasy of Gradiva as “the necessary conditions for loving” (Freud 1910, pp. 165–166) is also a key thesis of the essay, which makes use of the newly translated Freud–Jensen correspondence contained in this article's Appendix.     

Relationships between the Eysenck personality questionnaire,Strelau temperament inventory and Freiburger beschwerdenliste gesamtform

A correlational and factor analysis was carried out on test scores for the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, Strelau Temperament Inventory and Freiburger Beschwerdenliste Gesamtform. Results suggest a convergence between Eysenck's personality factors and Strelau's questionnaire-based measures of neo-Pavlovian nervous system properties, and provide further evidence of a correspondence between these measures and psychosomatic disease.     

Who discovered Spearman's rank correlation?

Spearman's Rank Correlation coefficient rho is the one nonparametric measure of association to feature in most modern courses, textbooks and computer packages in elementary statistics. This paper covers the tortuous route to the present position over the period 1904 to the early 1950s, casting considerable doubt on the way as to the easy identification of any one person (including Spearman) with the coefficient.     

Princess Elisabeth and the Problem of Mind-Body Interaction

This paper focuses on Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia's philosophical views as exhibited in her early correspondence with Rene Descartes. Elisabeth's criticisms of Descartes's interactionism as well as her solution to the problem of mind-body interaction are examined in detail. The aim here is to develop a richer picture of Elisabeth as a philosophical thinker and to dispel the myth that she is simply a Cartesian muse.     

The Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms,Second Edition,Revised and Expanded

A collection of books, ephemera, and correspondence belonging to Lawrence Kaye Hyde located in the San Diego State University Library provides an intriguing glimpse into 19th- and 20th-century Western Esotericism. Hyde belonged to numerous metaphysical organizations and maintained a wide-ranging correspondence with religious thinkers around the world. By considering Hyde's unique esoteric library against the backdrop of current scholarship in Western Esoteric Studies, this article examines key concepts in the field (such as gnosis, concordance, and the cultic milieu) and assesses the collection's potential for supporting research in this emerging discipline.     

Louis Guttman's Contributions to Classical Test Theory

This article focuses on Louis Guttman's contributions to the classical theory of educational and psychological tests, one of the lesser known of his many contributions to quantitative methods in the social sciences. Guttman's work in this field provided a rigorous mathematical basis for ideas that, for many decades after Spearman's initial work, had been somewhat ambiguous and not adequately formalized. It anticipated later developments that are more widely known in education and psychology.     

Sándor,Gizella, Elma: A biographical journey1

In recent years, particularly with the publication of the Freud‐Ferenczi correspondence, it has become clear that the rich theoretical dialogue between Freud and Ferenczi, a dialogue that may be seen as constitutive for psychoanalytic discourse in recent decades, was intensely intertwined with their complex personal relationship. Two women‐Gizella Pálos, who eventually became Ferenczi's wife, and her daughter Elma, who was both Ferenczi's and Freud's analysand, and with whom Ferenczi fell in love‐played a crucial role in shaping the Freud‐Ferenczi relationship. Their own voices, however, have so far been barely heard. This paper is a preliminary report of a biographical research project which aims to complete the puzzle, by getting to know better Gizella, Elma and their family, with the help of numerous original sources, many of them unpublished till now. The emerging picture tends to confirm Ferenczi's initial view of Elma as a person of depth and integrity, rather than Freud's view of her as fundamentally disturbed; countertransference‐love, it is suggested, may have facilitated fuller perception rather than clouding it. The question of the impact of Elma's ‘confusion of tongues’ with Ferenczi and with Freud on her subsequent life is also discussed.     

Secular Declines in Spearman's g: Some Evidence from the United States

The Flynn Effect (J. Flynn, 1987) refers to the apparent increases in intelligence quotient (IQ) observed over the past few decades. A related phenomenon is that the variance in test scores accounted for by Spearman's g (C. Spearman, 1904) varies according to IQ level. That is, g accounts for less variance in high IQ groups than in low IQ groups. Spearman termed this variant aspect of g the “law of diminishing returns.” This study extends prior research on the Flynn Effect and the law of diminishing returns by examining changes in the statistical importance of Spearman's g that may accompany secular increases in IQ. Based on the standardization data from the United States versions of the Wechsler scales (i.e., Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence, D. Wechsler, 1967; Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, D. Wechsler, 1949; Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, D. Wechsler, 1955), this study indicated that, in most cases, the statistical significance of Spearman's g has indeed declined over the past several years. A. R. Jensen (1998) suggested that the components of the Flynn Effect warrant special investigation. The present study addresses this issue, in part by analyzing the Verbal and Performance subscales of the Wechsler scales. Additionally, this study further confirms the law of diminishing returns as applicable to different ages and time periods.     

Correspondence Bias and American Sentiment in the Wake of September 11, 20011

This experiment examined correspondence bias associated with the expression of pro‐ or anti‐American sentiment in the months following September 11, 2001. Participants read a pro‐ or anti‐United States essay written by a person whose name was varied to suggest that he either was or was not a Muslim. Participants were informed either that the position taken in the essay had been chosen or assigned. Inferences made about the essay writer's true opinions demonstrated strong and consistent correspondence bias only when participants believed the essay writer was not a Muslim. When participants believed the essay writer was a Muslim, correspondence bias was diminished on one measure and disappeared completely on another. These findings are consistent with the notion that participants were concerned about rushing to incorrect conclusions about a Muslim target person. The strong correspondence bias exhibited by participants making judgments about a non‐Muslim is consistent with Gilbert and Malone's (1995) assertion that unrealistic expectations lead to correspondence bias.     

The Impact of Women in Advertisements on Attitudes Toward Women

The present study extends existing research showing a link between images of women in advertisements and sexual attitudes. We examined also the impact of seeing sex image and progressive advertisements on attitudes toward feminism and the women's movement. Ninety-two undergraduate academic and technology white middle-class students were assigned to one of two conditions: rating either sex image or progressive advertisements. All participants then completed four subscales of M. R. Burt's [(1980) “Cultural Myths and Supports for Rape,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 38, pp. 217-230] Sexual Attitudes Survey and R. E. Fassinger's [(1994) “Development and Testing of the Attitudes Toward Feminism and the Women's Movement (FWM) Scale,” Psychology of Women Quarterly, Vol. 18, pp. 389-402] Feminism and Women's Movement Scale. Major findings include replication of previous data showing a relation between viewing sex image advertisements and reporting attitudes supportive of sexual aggression. Those seeing sex image advertisements also showed lower acceptance of feminism. It is suggested that continuous presentation of such advertisements undermines women's striving for equality.     

Intellectual abilities of Japanese children: An assessment of 212–812-year-olds derived from the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities

It is proposed that the conflicting evidence on Japanese intelligence has arisen because the Japanese have a distinctive profile of abilities. To investigate this hypothesis, a number of Japanese abilities were calculated from the Japanese standardization of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities and Japanese values were derived for the major factors in the Burt-Vernon hierarchical model of intelligence. It was found that Japanese children do not differ from American children on general intelligence (Spearman's g), score significantly higher on the group perceptual factor and significantly lower on the group verbal factor. Japanese children also display an idiosyncratic pattern at the level of the primary abilities. They are strong on spatial and drawing abilities and weak on verbal comprehension, memory, and word fluency. It is suggested that this distinctive profile of Japanese abilities goes some way towards resolving the conflicting results on Japanese intelligence obtained by different investigators.     

A Factor-Analytic Model for Assessing Individual Differences in Response Scale Usage

This article proposes a factor-analytic model, intended for graded-response or continuous-response personality and attitude items, which includes an additional multiplicative person parameter that models the individual's response mapping process. The model, which is a modification of Spearman's (1904) factor analysis (FA) model, is parameterized as both an FA model and an item response theory (IRT) model and is fully developed to the extent that it can be used in applications. Procedures for (a) calibrating the items and assessing data fit, (b) obtaining individual estimates of both person parameters, (c) determining measurement precision, and (d) assessing differential predictability are proposed and discussed. The potential advantages of the proposal, its practical relevance, and its relations with other approaches are also discussed. Its functioning is assessed with a simulation study and 3 empirical examples in the personality domain.