A general approach to confirmatory maximum likelihood factor analysis

We describe a general procedure by which any number of parameters of the factor analytic model can be held fixed at any values and the remaining free parameters estimated by the maximum likelihood method. The generality of the approach makes it possible to deal with all kinds of solutions: orthogonal, oblique and various mixtures of these. By choosing the fixed parameters appropriately, factors can be defined to have desired properties and make subsequent rotation unnecessary. The goodness of fit of the maximum likelihood solution under the hypothesis represented by the fixed parameters is tested by a large samplex ² test based on the likelihood ratio technique. A by-product of the procedure is an estimate of the variance-covariance matrix of the estimated parameters. From this, approximate confidence intervals for the parameters can be obtained. Several examples illustrating the usefulness of the procedure are given.This work was supported by a grant (NSF-GB 1985) from the National Science Foundation to Educational Testing Service.     

The Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor on Mental Patient Treatment Teams

This study asked the question: What are the role expectancies of treatment personnel in the treatment community and are they consistent across patients' emotional condition? An 83-item inventory was developed and administered under three different sets of instructions, each characterizing a different patient condition. Treatment staff and administrators were asked to rate items on the basis of the level of expectancy they held for their team vocational rehabilitation counselor. The analyses suggest that treatment staff and counselors do not agree on role expectations and that patient condition is a significant mediating variable.     

Retroactive inhibition as a function of similarity of meaning in free-recall learning

Summary Retroactive inhibition in free-recall learning was measured under six degrees of meaningful similarity: zero, low, low-medium, medium, medium-high, and high. For each degree of similarity, an experimental and a control group of 20 Ss each learned a list of 20 unrelated adjectives through three cycles of alternate study and unpaced free recall. Immediately thereafter, the experimental group learned a second list of 20 adjectives, while the control group rested. Finally, a single recall trial was administered to both groups to measure first-list retention. The results have revealed a relationship which is at variance with the relationships observed in both serial and paired-associate learning but conforms to the curvilinear function earlier formulated by Skaggs and Robinson. Fresh arguments are offered in defence of the Skaggs-Robinson hypothesis.     

Reading and typing

As an extension to an earlier study on typing, an experiment was carried out on skilled touch typists in which they were asked to type texts that differed in word structure and word length. It was predicted from certain assumptions about the reading process that there should be significant effects of structure, length and their interaction. These predictions were confirmed.