Extended similarity trees

Proximity data can be represented by an extended tree, which generalizes traditional trees by including marked segments that correspond to overlapping clusters. An extended tree is a graphical representation of the distinctive features model. A computer program (EXTREE) that constructs extended trees is described and applied to several sets of conceptual and perceptual proximity data.This research was supported in part by a National Science Foundation Pre-doctoral Fellowship to the first author.A magnetic tape containing both the EXTREE program described in the article and ADDTREE/P program for fitting additive trees can also be obtained from the above address. Requests for the program should be accompanied by a check for $25 made out to Teachers College, to cover the costs of the tape and postage.     

Nearest neighbor analysis of point processes: Applications to multidimensional scaling

A new approach for evaluating spatial statistical models based on the (random) number 0 ≤ N(i, n) ≤ n of points whose nearest neighbor is i in an ensemble of n + 1 points is discussed. The second moment of N(i, n) offers a measure of the centrality of the ensemble. The asymptotic distribution of N(i, n) and the expected degree of centrality for several spatial and nonspatial point processes is described. The use of centrality as a diagnostic statistic for multidimensional scaling is explored.     

DAILY HASSLES AND COPING STRATEGIES OF DUAL-EARNER AND NONDUAL-EARNER WOMEN

Comparisons were made of dual-earner and nondual-earner women's stress and coping strategies. A questionnaire was developed from the Hassles Scale (Kanner, Coyne, Schaefer, & Lazarus, 1981) and the Ways of Coping Checklist (Folkman & Lazarus, 1980). Dual-earner women reported significantly more hassles than nondual-earner women. However, there were no significant differences on intensity level of these hassles. Several between- and within-group differences on coping strategies were found. Both groups tended to use more problem-focused coping strategies than emotion-focused coping strategies and, contrary to expectations, both groups expressed overall satisfaction with their coping strategies.     

On the study of statistical intuitions

The study of intuitions and errors in judgment under uncertainty is complicated by several factors: discrepancies between acceptance and application of normative rules; effects of content on the application of rules; Socratic hints that create intuitions while testing them; demand characteristics of within-subject experiments; subjects' interpretations of experimental messages according to standard conversational rules. The positive analysis of a judgmental error in terms of heuristics may be supplemented by a negative analysis, which seeks to explain why the correct rule is not intuitively compelling. A negative analysis of non-regressive prediction is outlined.     

Representations of qualitative and quantitative dimensions

Geometric representations of psychological dimensions are analyzed and compared to an alternative set-theoretical approach. Judgments of similarity between forms and figures reveal the following effects: (a) qualitative attributes are curved relative to quantitative attributes, contrary to intradimensional subtractivity; (b) quantitative attributes augment differences in qualitative attributes, contrary to interdimensional additivity; (c) adding a new dimension with a fixed value increases similarity, contrary to translation invariance. The implications of these results to multidimensional representations of proximity data are discussed.     

Determining Factors in Choice of Arcade Games and their Consequences upon Young Male Players

Two experiments, one conducted with male university students and the other with male high school and junior high school students, investigated (a) determinants of preferences for driving-type games widely available in public game arcades, and (b) the effects of extended play upon mood and motivation to continue playing. Four games were investigated: these were Death Race and Demolition Derby , which simulate violent, antisocial driving behavior; and Night Driver and Le Mans , which simulate skilled prosocial driving behavior. Preference for arcade games simulating aggressive behavior was found to be independent of personality and mood. However, preferences were closely related to the performers' c]apabilities. Players who exhibited higher levels of skill preferred the more skilldemanding games and those who showed less skill preferred aggression games, suggesting the operation of competency motivation in that the players preferred games appropriate to their level of skill. Subjects reported that the games were exciting, but extended play produced discomfort or an increase in negatively toned moods (fatigue, anxiety, and depression) and a decrease in positively toned moods (social affection, surgency, skepticism, concentration and vigor). However, these effects were not found to be a function of the anti- or prosocial content in the specific games studied and may well be effects accompanying activities that are subjectively fatiguing.     

Distortions in memory for maps

Evidence is presented for systematic errors in memory for real and artificial maps, local environments, and visual forms. These errors are attributed to two heuristics that are derived from principles of perceptual organization. Maps of countries or localities are conceived of as figures in backgrounds. Remembering the absolute location of figures is difficult, and is facilitated by remembering locations relative to other figures and/or relative to the natural directions of the figure. In alignment, figures are lined up relative to one another, a phenomenon related to perceptual grouping by proximity. In rotation, the natural axes induced by a figure converge with frame axes (north-south, east-west, or horizontal, vertical), a phenomenon related to perceptual organization by common fate. Heuristic-induced errors occur in a variety of tasks, and even when subjects are explicitly forewarned. These heuristics may be invoked in forming representations as well as in inference, and function analogously to syntax in locating smaller elements in larger units.     

Additive similarity trees

Similarity data can be represented by additive trees. In this model, objects are represented by the external nodes of a tree, and the dissimilarity between objects is the length of the path joining them. The additive tree is less restrictive than the ultrametric tree, commonly known as the hierarchical clustering scheme. The two representations are characterized and compared. A computer program, ADDTREE, for the construction of additive trees is described and applied to several sets of data. A comparison of these results to the results of multidimensional scaling illustrates some empirical and theoretical advantages of tree representations over spatial representations of proximity data.We thank Nancy Henley and Vered Kraus for providing us with data, and Jan deLeeuw for calling our attention to relevant literature. The work of the first author was supported in part by the Psychology Unit of the Israel Defense Forces.     

The Temporal Consistency of Personality Effects: Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey

Personality traits have been posited to function as stable influences on political attitudes and behavior. Although personality traits themselves exhibit high levels of temporal stability, it is not yet known whether the effects of these traits are marked by comparable temporal consistency. To address this question, this research note examines data from Wave 13 (2003–2004), Wave 15 (2005–2006) and Wave 17 (2007–2008) of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). Twenty‐seven behavioral and 14 attitudinal dependent variables are studied. Consistency of effects is gauged via a series of multilevel models in which personality effects are permitted to vary by year. High levels of temporal consistency are observed for personality traits as represented by the Big Five framework.