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Construction of Some Judgment Spaces

Author(s):
Boldt, Robert F.
Publication Year:
1961
Report Number:
RB-61-18
Source:
ETS Research Bulletin
Document Type:
Report
Page Count:
100
Subject/Key Words:
National Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Naval Research, Interpersonal Relationship, Multidimensional Scaling, Peer Evaluation, Similarity Ratings, Social Cognition

Abstract

Critical factors in the differing reactions of observers toward known persons, and thus important ones for interpersonal relations, are the preconceptions which observers bring to particular social situations. Because of inherent difficulties in communicating through language the organization of these preconceptions, use of dimensional judgment models for studying these preconceptions is proposed. These dimensional models require estimation on an interval scale of interstimulus distances (relative interpoint distances). Measurement of relative interpoint distances may be achieved using judgments of relative similarity of stimulus pairs. Multidimensional scaling studies of a variety of stimulus types have been conducted in the past. In none of these have the assumptions required been tested in applications where known persons are the stimuli. The general objective of this experiment was the application of two multidimensional scaling methods to construction of judgment spaces where the points are known persons.

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