Conceptual Structure and Group Processes in an Inter-Nation Simulation. Part One: The Perception of Simulated Nations

Author(s):

Driver, Michael J.

Publication Year:

1962

Report Number:

RB-62-15

Source:

ETS Research Bulletin

Document Type:

Report

Page Count:

371

Subject/Key Words:

National Institute of Mental Health, Office of Naval Research, United States Air Force. Office of Scientific Research, Group Dynamics, International Relations, Multidimensional Scaling, Perception, Simulation, Situational Tests, Social Cognition

Abstract

The purposes of the study were to uncover the general structure of the concept used to perceive social groups acting as simulated nations, to determine whether the complexity and content of this perceptual concept would shift under varying situational stresses and to discover whether differences in the complexity of this specific concept could be traced to a measure of generalized cognitive complexity. In general, the study found that, by multidimensional scaling, meaningful dimensions in the concept employed to perceive simulated nations could be discovered. It was also found that both content and structure in this social concept varied in provocative ways as a function of situational stress and characteristic levels of generalized complexity in perceivers.

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