Multidimensional Scaling as a Method for Probing the Conceptual Structure of State Categories: An Individual Differences Analysis

Abstract

Twenty s u b j e c t s w e r e t r a i n e d a s o p e r a t o r s t o c l a s s i f y i n s t a n c e s o f s y s t e m d a t a i n t o one of f o u r system s t a t e c a t e g o r i e s . After t r a i n i n g , s u b j e c t s were a s k e d t o r a t e t h e s i m i l a r i t y b e t w e e n i n s t a n c e s o f s y s t e m s t a t e . R e s u l t s showed t h a t t h e d o m i n a n t d i m e n s i o n s used by an i n d i v i d u a l are r e l a t e d t o h i s / h e r performance on t h e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n t a s k .