MEASUREMENT OF AESTHETIC VALUE BY 'DIRECT' AND 'INDIRECT' METHODS

E kman , G. & K ünnapas , T. Measurement of aesthetic value by 'direct' and 'indirect' methods. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1962, 3 , 33–39.—The main features of 'direct' and 'indirect' methods for psychophysical measurement are briefly reviewed. An experiment is described, where the aesthetic value of 18 specimens of handwriting was measured by the direct method of ratio estimation and the indirect method of pair comparisons on the assumption of Thurstone's Case V. The scale constructed by the indirect method was a theoretically expected logarithmic function of the ratio scale obtained by the direct method. If the ratio scale is accepted as a criterion, the results show that a true interval scale may be constructed by the indirect method, in this experiment, provided that the assumption of constant variability is replaced by an assumption of proportional variability.     

MEASUREMENT OF 'POLITICAL.' PREFERENCES: A further study of direct and indirect scaling methods

The direct methods of ratio estimation and magnitude estimation and the indirect method of pair comparison were used to construct scales of liberalism and conservatism. It was found ( a ) that the scales of conservatism are linearly related to each other and ( b ) those of liberalism are also linearly related to each other but with a discontinuity in the middle of the range; one linear function for the conservative statements and another for the liberal statements, with the discontinuity occurring in the middle of the subjective scale. Liberalism vs. conservatism was found to be reverse. The linear function between all kinds of scales as well as the reverse relation between liberalism vs. conservatism suggest that the continuum of political preferences is metathetic.     

Intensity of the underlying figural process

A simple scaling technique is described by means of which proportions of frequencies may betransformed to scale values representing the intensity of the perceptual process. This technique is applied to data from experiments on directly observable figural fluctuations. The intensity of the underlying figural process is defined by a sine function with amplitude damping. Very good agreement between theoretical and empirical values demonstrates the applicability of the proposed model.     

VISUAL PERCEPTION OF CAPITAL LETTERS

The quantitative similarity of nine capital letters was studied (1) by the direct multidimensional ratio scaling method and (2) by the method of similarity analysis. Three factors, 'E', 'O' and T, were found. Factor loadings were nearly identical in both methods. A previously proposed equation did not describe the relation between subjective similarity and angular separation of percept vectors.     

NOTE ON RATIO ESTIMATION

Analysis of the individual matrices of ratio estimates, obtained in four experiments, show (1) that the subjective range of scales depends on the individual 'level of estimation', and (2) that the relation between scales representing low and intermediate level of estimation is a power function and the relation between the scales from high and intermediate levels is a logarithmic function.     

Developing of an English Version of the Aggressive Driving Behavior Test (AVIS). Improving the Construct Validity of Aggressive Driving

The research investigated the psychometric properties and the discriminant validity of the English version of the Questionnaire for the Assessment of Aggressive Driving Behavior (AVIS). Study 1 assessed the psychometric properties of the instrument. Internal consistency ranged from 0.77 to 0.92. Exploratory factor analysis did not support the original five factor structure, Instrumental Aggression and Acting Out being unified in a single factor. Following the confirmatory factor analysis a version with 26 items and 3 factors was obtained. Inter-scale correlations showed that the dimensions of the AVIS are inter-correlated. Study 2 verified the discriminant validity of the English version of the AVIS by testing the relationships between the AVIS dimensions and the DAX (Driving Anger Expression Inventory) dimensions. The results showed good discriminant validity, the dimensions of the two instruments being uncorrelated. In conclusion, the findings contribute to the development of the driving aggression construct by adding new dimensions to it.     

MULTIDIMENSIONAL RATIO SCALING AND MULTIDIMENSIONAL SIMILARITY OF SIMPLE GEOMETRIC FIGURES

The special case of purely qualitative multidimensional similarity was studied in four experiments concerned with simple geometric figures. A previously proposed equation did not describe the relation between subjective similarity and angular separation of the percept vectors. Factor analyses indicate that in the 'homogeneous' experiments (with parallelogram figures) there were two pairs of inversely related subjective attributes which vary as a function of the difference between the horizontal and vertical axes of the parallelogram, and that in the 'heterogeneous' experiments (different figures) there were four main independent subjective attributes.     

INTERINDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN SIMILARITY ESTIMATES OF PAINTINGS

KÜNNAPAS, T. & NORMAN, M. Intel-individual differences in similarity estimates of paintings. Scand. J. Psychol. , 1971, 12, 161–167.–Nine paintings by Cézanne were studied by the method of multidimensional similarity analysis. Three different groups of painters, students, and art school pupils participated in three experiments. Three factors were found: Factor I is called 'Complex horizontally arranged motive'; Factor II, 'Vertical central figure'; and Factor III, 'Central figure without background'. Comparison of different groups showed (1) that for paintings with the greatest loading in one of these factors no differences were obtained, (2) that differences between the groups are smallest in Factor I and greatest in Factor III, (3) that differences between the painters and students are greater than those between the painters and pupils, or between the pupils and the students, and (4) that interindividual differences between the groups are due, at least partly, to the formal artistic aspect which is most dominant in painters, in lower degree in pupils, and very little in students.