Proposes a modified subjective expected utility formulation as a model for better understanding helping behavior. Subjects were undergraduate students. (MP)

Available from Stanley J. Bowers, Executive Director, NTA-TIA, 21 East State Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215; single copy $5.00. (IRT)

Relationships between the Rasch test analysis model, the law of comparative judgment, and additive conjoint measurement are discussed. (Author/JKS)

A modified gravity model for predicting regional recreation travel is constructed and tested on data describing ski trips in California. (MM)

Consistent, asymptotically efficient and asymptotically normal stepwise estimators are given for a subclass of the uniparametric and multiparametric exponential families. Estimators are derived from the Robbins-Monro stochastic approximation procedure with certain families of random variables arising from the normalized log-likehood. Three…

An experimental paradigm is proposed for investigating interpersonal conflicts under conditions of intergroup competition. Two alternative models are proposed and their testable implications are derived and discussed. The effects of predecisional communication are examined and several extensions of the basic paradigm are outlined. (Author/LMO)

Exploratory factor analysis derives its key ideas from many sources, including Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Descartes, Pearson and Yule, and Kant. The conclusions of exploratory factor analysis are never complete without subsequent confirmatory factor analysis. (Author/GDC)

This analysis of Zipf's law uses an index for the sequence of observed values of the variables in a Zipf-type relationship. Three important properties relating rank, count, and frequency are identified, shapes of Zipf-type curves are described, and parameters of the Mandelbrot-Zipf law are discussed. (Author/LRW)

A unidimensional latent trait model for continuous ratings extends Andrich's rating formulation which assumes the response process at latent thresholds is based on the dichotomous Rasch model. The separability of the structural and incidental parameters is demonstrated and a procedure for estimating the parameters is outlined. (Author/GDC)

Multivariate models for the triangular and duo-trio methods are described, and theoretical methods are compared to a Monte Carlo simulation. Implications are discussed for a new theory of multidimensional scaling which challenges the traditional assumption that proximity measures and perceptual distances are monotonically related. (Author/GDC)

Description of management games continues a previous article's discussion of how mathematical modeling and microeconomic concepts can be used by players. Highlights include an initial condition simulating a profit-maximizing monopoly; simulating the transition from monopoly to oligopoly; and how mathematical properties of the model affect final…

Compares and expands upon two approaches to dealing with fuzzy relational databases. The proposed similarity measure is based on a fuzzy Hausdorff distance and estimates the mismatch between two possibility distributions using a reduction process. The consequences of the reduction process on query evaluation are studied. (Author/EM)

Relations on a finite set V are viewed as weighted graphs. Using the language of graph theory, two methods of partitioning V are examined: selecting threshold values and applying them to a maximal weighted spanning forest, and using a parametric linear program to obtain a most adhesive partition. (Author/EM)

A binomial test for hierarchical dependency is presented. The null hypothesis is that all members of a population who possess a certain skill are a subset of the members who possess another skill. The model, assumptions, formula derivations, and procedures for the test are explained. An illustrative hypothesis is provided. (Author/LMO)

The application of the theory of fuzzy sets to the description of information retrieval systems makes it possible (1) to take into account the fact that the degree of importance of the particular terms is of a continuous character, (2) to formalize the relations between terms describing documents and information requests (fuzzy thesaurus).…