The phenomenon of 2 x 2 x 2 arrays having nonmaximal rank with positive probability, pointed out by J. Kruskal (1989), is generalized to 2 x "n" x "n" arrays. It is concluded that a pair of asymmetric square matrices can be diagonalized simultaneously with positive probability. (SLD)

The phimax adjustment to phi (Pearson's product moment correlation applied to binary data) is explored. Phi/phimax is shown to be a measure of relationship apart from its affiliation with phi. The relations between phi/phimax and kappa and limitations of phi/phimax are discussed. (SLD)

Two experiments examined how pigeons differentiate response patterns along the dimension of number. In Experiment 1, 5 pigeons received food after pecking the left key at least N times and then switching to the right key (Mechner's Fixed Consecutive Number schedule). Parameter N varied across conditions from 4 to 32. Results showed that run length…

The paper reports some initiatives to freshen up the typical undergraduate business forecasting course. These include (1) students doing research and presentations on contemporary tools and industry practices such as neural networks and collaborative forecasting (2) insertion of Logistic Regression in the curriculum (3) productive use of applets…

A special but common type of scenario is one in which a company has a promotion that is designed to make the customer purchase more of their product than they otherwise might. Although this can be aimed specifically at children, it really applies to all persons. The basic premise is that the company issues a "set" of different items or…

Despite its intuitive appeal and popularity, Thorndike's constant ratio (CR) model for unbiased selection is inherently inconsistent in "n"-free selection. Satisfaction of the condition for unbiased selection, when formulated in terms of success/acceptance probabilities, usually precludes satisfaction by the converse probabilities of…

A truncated version of the Cauchy distribution is introduced. Unlike the Cauchy distribution, this possesses finite moments of all orders and could therefore be a better model for certain practical situations. One such situation in finance is discussed. Explicit expressions for the moments of the truncated distribution are also derived.

Confirms previously published research in concluding that specialty words tend to possess frequency distributions which cannot be described by a single Poisson distribution. (Author/PF)

The interest in developmental sequences and learning hierarchies is growing. One approach to the study of such sequences is to gather data on several variables, each of which corresponds to a stage, step, or phase in the sequence and to examine the associations between the variables as displayed in a contingency table. If the variables are…

A program named EXACON is presented which performs exact cellwise analyses of two-way contingency tables. One-tailed probabilities are computed for the observed frequency of each cell according to two different models. Even though exact probabilities are computed, EXACON does not demand much computer time even for fairly large samples. (Author/LMO)

A method for introducing ideas of probability theory is presented. The method is illustrated by solving a coin tossing" problem. (FL)

Three counterexamples demonstrate that the Dutch Identity conjecture of P. Holland about examinee ability (1990) does not hold in general. The counterexamples suggest that only under strong assumptions can it be true that the limits of log-manifest probabilities are quadratic. Three propositions giving such strong conditions are given. (Author/SLD)

This paper presents two probabilistic models based on the logistic and the normal distribution for the analysis of dependencies in individual paired comparison judgments such as might occur in educational research. Three applications illustrate the approach. (SLD)

A Bayesian approach to the testing of competing covariance structures is developed. Approximate posterior probabilities are easily obtained from the chi square values and other known constants. The approach is illustrated using an example that demonstrates how the prior probabilities can alter results concerning the preferred model specification.…

Several steps are taken to develop methods for analyzing systems that involve probabilistic causation. The basic ideas and distinctions are illustrated for systems with dichotomous variables. It is shown that these basic ideas have analogous counterparts in causal systems with continuous variables. By using a generalized conditional probability…