Solutions to some problems in the implementation of conjoint analysis

Methodological problems encountered in implementing conjoint analysis include (1) the impractically large set of multiattribute choice alternatives created by the factorial combination of more than a few attributes, (2) the hypothetical nature of the alternatives in the choice set, and (3) the assumption that each individual’s preferences can be described by the same composition rule. The techniques of tailoring, belief matching, and axiom testing are suggested as solutions to these problems, and their use is demonstrated in a conjoint analysis study of individuals’ contraceptive preferences. It is noted that tailoring and belief matching can also be used as methodological enhancements in functional measurement studies.     

Application of model-selection criteria to some problems in multivariate analysis

A review of model-selection criteria is presented, with a view toward showing their similarities. It is suggested that some problems treated by sequences of hypothesis tests may be more expeditiously treated by the application of model-selection criteria. Consideration is given to application of model-selection criteria to some problems of multivariate analysis, especially the clustering of variables, factor analysis and, more generally, describing a complex of variables.     

Application of a large sampling criterion to some sampling problems in factor analysis

A technique is presented to test the completeness of factor solutions and also to test the significance of common-component loadings. The chisquare test involved is based upon the asymptotic normal properties of the residuals.The research work on which the results presented are based was conducted under the supervision of Prof. P. S. Dwyer, Mathematics Department, University of Michigan. The complete results of this research were presented in a Ph. D. thesis, June, 1951.     

Individual needs and charismatic promises

Using psychoanalytic theory, the author explains how a woman came to devote herself to a man's group that conceived of itself as the New Kingdom of God. He refers to notes from counseling sessions with the woman, Jane, and to excerpts from the book,T, which is an autobiography of the group's leader, Thomas. The author compares their ego profiles as measured on ego assessment scales and argues that this allows us to see how Thomas gained his charismatic status.     

Understanding conditional promises and threats

Conditional promises and threats are speech acts that are used to manipulate other people's behaviour. Studies on human reasoning typically use propositional logic to analyse what people infer from such inducements. While this approach is sufficient to uncover conceptual features of inducements, it fails to explain them. To overcome this limitation, we propose a multilevel analysis integrating motivational, linguistic, deontic, behavioural, and emotional aspects. Commonalities and differences between conditional promises and threats on various levels were examined in two experiments. The first shows that both types of inducements are understood as being complementary on the linguistic level, but not reversible, due to the specific temporal order of their actions. In addition, it gives a first assessment of emotional reactions. The second experiment investigated the novel question of whether complementary promises and threats, despite semantic differences, both imply an obligation to cooperate on the deontic level. The data corroborate this hypothesis, and they support various appraisal-theoretical assumptions on the elicitation of emotions. They also reveal that content affects not only the attribution of emotions, but also the deontic interpretation.     

Methods of solving some personnel-classification problems

The personnel-classification problems considered in this paper are related to those studied by Brogden (2), Lord (6), and Thorndike (8). Section 1 gives an approach to personnel classification. A basic problem and variations of it are treated in section 2; and the computation of a solution is illustrated in section 3. Two extensions of the basic problem are presented in section 4. Most of the methods indicated for computing solutions are applications of the simplex method used in linear programming (see 1, Chs. XXII, XXIII). The capabilities of a high speed computer in regard to the simplex method are discussed briefly (see section 1).This work was supported in part by the United States Air Force under Contract AF 33(038)-25192, monitored by the Personnel Research Laboratory of the Air Training Command Human Resources Research Center. Permission is granted for reproduction, translation, publication, use, and disposal in whole or in part by or for the United States Government.     

Practice and some methodological problems in unidimensional information transmission

Fifty circular lights differir.g in diameter from 4 to 53 cm and increasing by 1 cm were presented 135 times each to five Ss who were asked to identify each circle. Presentations were in random order. Indices of information transmission (T), response equivocation H S(R), and response uncertainty H(R) were calculated for different phases of the experiment for individual and pooled (across Ss) responses. Results have shown systematic rising of transmission and lowering of H S(R), while H(R) remained almost constant. All transmission indices calculated from pooled responses were systematically lower than comparable indices calculated from individual responses. Individual and pooled T values calculated from all responses given during the experiment were not representative for the level of identification performance at the end of the experiment. Conclusions were reached that (1) channel capacity indices should not be calculated from all individual responses given during the experiment or from pooled responses of different Ss, and (2) indices of channel capacity should be calculated only after the performance of Ss has reached a final and stable level, which means after enough repetitions of each stimulus.     

Some big ideas for some big problems

Although most psychologists do not see sustainability as a psychological problem, our environmental predicament is caused largely by human behaviors, accompanied by relevant thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and values. The huge task of building sustainable cultures will require a great many psychologists from a variety of backgrounds. In an effort to stimulate the imaginations of a wide spectrum of psychologists to take on the crucial problem of sustainability, this article discusses 4 psychological approaches (neo-analytic, behavioral, social, and cognitive) and outlines some of their insights into environmentally relevant behavior. These models are useful for illuminating ways to increase environmentally responsible behaviors of clients, communities, and professional associations.     

On some structural aspects of physical problems

Bachelard's concept of the problématique is used in order to classify physical problems and their interrelations. This classification is effectuated along two dimensions. Along the horizontal dimension, physical problems are divided into the kinds that the different modes of physics' development define. These modes are themselves determined by the interplay among the conceptual system, the object and the experimentation transactions specific to physics. Along the vertical dimension, physical problems are classified according to the different stages of maturation they have to undergo before the process of their solution is effectively undertaken. To determine these maturation stages, the Althusserian conception of ideology is used. The interrelations between physical problems are examined through the introduction and elaboration of the notion interdependence network.It is a pleasure to thank Marcello Pera and Kostas Gavroglou for their very helpful comments and criticisms.     

Inferences from counterfactual threats and promises

We examine how people understand and reason from counterfactual threats, for example, "if you had hit your sister, I would have grounded you" and counterfactual promises, for example, "if you had tidied your room, I would have given you ice-cream." The first experiment shows that people consider counterfactual threats, but not counterfactual promises, to have the illocutionary force of an inducement. They also make the immediate inference that the action mentioned in the "if" part of the counterfactual threat and promise did not occur. The second experiment shows that people make more negative inferences (modus tollens and denial of the antecedent) than affirmative inferences (modus ponens and affirmation of the consequent) from counterfactual threats and promises, unlike indicative threats and promises. We discuss the implications of the results for theories of the mental representations and cognitive processes that underlie conditional inducements.     

Why promises and threats need each other

Despite the pervasive use of promises and threats in social life, very little research has been devoted to examining the effectiveness of these interpersonal tactics in promoting cooperation in social dilemmas. Based on the Goal‐Prescribes‐Rationality principle, we hypothesized that cooperation should be most strongly enhanced when promises and threats are communicated in combination, rather than in isolation. Also, we hypothesized that the combination of promises and threats should be especially effective among individuals with prosocial rather than proself orientations. Two studies provided good evidence for the latter hypothesis, in that the combination of promises and threats was only effective in people with prosocial orientations, people who are concerned with equality and collective interest. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Phase- or energy-based face discrimination: some problems

Fourier analysis may be used to obtain the amplitude and phase spectra of images. Spectra from two images can then be recombined in an attempt to produce images with identical phase spectra but different amplitude spectra or with identical amplitude but different phase spectra. Kleiner and Banks (1987) and Kleiner (1987) used this technique to determine if the amplitude (energy) or phase characteristics of images form the basis for infant face preferences. This article describes how some of the procedures used by these researchers, for example, luminance normalization and photographic production of transparencies of images, probably prevented the images from having the desired characteristics, thus making interpretation of their studies very difficult. Additional potentially confounding issues to be addressed when repeating these or similar experiments are also discussed. These difficulties arise from the distinction between the numerical phase values obtained through the mathematical process and those that are visually effective.