Proportional profiles and latent structure

The identity of problem and solution in Lazarsfeld's latent structure analysis and Cattell's proportional profiles is pointed out. Anderson's latent structure solution is adapted to proportional profiles to yield a possible solution for the communality and rotational problems in factor analysis. A numerical example of the latter is provided.This paper was initiated at the University of North Carolina and completed at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.     

An extension of Anderson's solution for the latent structure equations

Anderson's solution for the latent structure equations is summarized and then extended in two ways so as to involve all items simultaneously.This article was written while the author was employed at The University of North Carolina.     

Three multivariate models: Factor analysis,latent structure analysis,and latent profile analysis

The factor analysis model and Lazarsfeld's latent structure scheme for analyzing dichotomous attributes are derived to show how the latter model avoids three knotty problems in factor analysis: communality estimation, rotation, and curvilinearity. Then the latent structure model is generalized into latent profile analysis for the study of interrelations among quantitative measures. Four latent profile examples are presented and discussed in terms of their limitations and the problems of latent metric and dimensionality thereby raised. The possibility of treating higher order empirical relations in a manner paralleling their various uses in the latent structure model is indicated.The latter model is anticipated in an earlier paper by Green [12].The major portion of this paper was completed at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. The opinions expressed are those of the author and are not to be construed as reflecting official Department of the Army policy.     

A simple procedure for rearranging matrices

Guttman's scalogram board technique for reordering the columns and rows of a matrix is described and its disadvantages are pointed out. A simple and inexpensive procedure for doing the same job without these disadvantages is outlined.I am grateful to Professor Jozef Cohen of the University of Illinois for a five-minute conversation which greatly simplified the procedure described here.     

New reasons for realism

Summary Both the psychology of perception and the philosophy of perception seem to show a new face when the process is considered at its own level, distinct from that of sensation. Unfamiliar conceptions in physics, anatomy, physiology, psychology, and phenomenology are required to clarify the separation and make it plausible. But there have been so many dead ends in the effort to solve the theoretical problems of perception that radical proposals may now be acceptable. Scientists are often more conservative than philosophers of science. I end, therefore, as I began, with a plea for help.     

Factoring the circumplex

This paper presents a way of factoring the Guttman circumplex to get factor weights whose pattern is close to that postulated by Guttman for the circumplex. An empirical example, including a crude procedure for diagonal estimation, is shown. Other sources of nonuniqueness are discussed, and the limitation to odd-numbered complexity for the tests is indicated. An orthodox factor analysis is applied to the example, and this provides a basis for comparison of the two opposing models.     

A developmental study of visual search behavior

Children in second, fourth and sixth grades and college sophomores were compared on a visual search and scanning task under three experimental condilions. In Condition I, a single target letter was sought in a list of letters of low visual confusability. In Condition II, two target letters were sought but only one appeared in a given list. In Condition III, a single target letter was sought in a list of letters of high confusability. Search time decreased with age in all three tasks. Searching for two targets was no harder than searching for one. A highly confusable visual context increased search time at all age levels.