A generalized simplex for factor analysis

By a simplex is meant a set of statistical variables whose interrleations reveal a simple order pattern. For the case of quantitative variables, an order model was analyzed previously which allowed only for positive correlations among the variables and a limited type of gradient among the correlation coefficients. The present paper analyzes a more general model and shows how it is more appropriate to empirical data. Among the novel features emerging from the analysis are: (a) the factoring implied of the correlation matrix; (b) the use of a non-Euclidean distance function; and (c) the possible underlying psychological theories.Read at the International Congress of Psychology, Montreal, June 7–12, 1954. This research was facilitated in part by an uncommitted grant-in-aid to the writer from the Behavioral Sciences Division of the Ford Foundation.