Biomedical subjects

W H Batchelder

Publications and source records attributed to W H Batchelder.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Statistical methods for characterizing similarities and differences between semantic structures.

This paper describes a variety of statistical methods for obtaining precise quantitative estimates of the similarities and differences in the structures of semantic domains in different languages. The methods include comparing mean correlations within and between groups, principal components analysis of interspeaker correlations, and analysis of variance of speaker by question data. Methods for graphical displays of the results are also presented. The methods give convergent results that are mutually supportive and equivalent under suitable interpretation. The methods are illustrated on the semantic domain of emotion terms in a comparison of the semantic structures of native English and native Japanese speaking subjects. We suggest that, in comparative studies concerning the extent to which semantic structures are universally shared or culture-specific, both similarities and differences should be measured and compared rather than placing total emphasis on one or the other polar position.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed1997

A multinomial modeling analysis of memory deficits in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

Data from the immediate recall task of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease neuropsychological test battery were disaggregated into nine subject groups and analyzed with traditional statistics as well as with a general processing tree (GPT) model of free recall. The groups represented four levels of severity of Alzheimer's and vascular dementia, as well as a ninth group of healthy elderly controls. It was demonstrated that the patterns of success and failure of recall to individual items across successive trials contained much more information than the marginal trial-to-trial performance scores traditionally used in scoring the test. The GPT model analyzed recall performance in terms of three levels of item storage: unstored, intermediate, and long-term. Associated with the intermediate and long-term storage levels were respective retrieval parameters. Statistical methods enable one to estimate the parameters for each group, and the analyses revealed group differences in long-term storage that were not evident in a statistical analysis of the marginal trial-to-trial performance scores.

Aged↗

PubMed1995

A measurement-theoretic analysis of the fuzzy logic model of perception.

The fuzzy logic model of perception (FLMP) is analyzed from a measurement-theoretic perspective. FLMP has an impressive history of fitting factorial data, suggesting that its probabilistic form is valid. The authors raise questions about the underlying processing assumptions of FLMP. Although FLMP parameters are interpreted as fuzzy logic truth values, the authors demonstrate that for several factorial designs widely used in choice experiments, most desirable fuzzy truth value properties fail to hold under permissible rescalings, suggesting that the fuzzy logic interpretation may be unwarranted. The authors show that FLMP's choice rule is equivalent to a version of G. Rasch's (1960) item response theory model, and the nature of FLMP measurement scales is transparent when stated in this form. Statistical inference theory exists for the Rasch model and its equivalent forms. In fact, FLMP can be reparameterized as a simple 2-category logit model, thereby facilitating interpretation of its measurement scales and allowing access to commercially available software for performing statistical inference.

Attention↗

PubMed1995

A multinomial modeling analysis of the recognition-failure paradigm.

The recognition-failure paradigm has received much theoretical consideration, especially the Tulving-Wiseman function and its exceptions. We show that the Tulving-Wiseman function does a poor job of accounting for the data, both when its fit is measured with a model-based, goodness-of-fit statistic and when a logically equivalent reformulation of the function is compared with data. We then present a simple multinomial model based on retrieval-independence theory that is capable of measuring storage and retrieval processes in recognition failure. The model is used to conduct a meta-analysis of the recognition-failure paradigm, and shows that violations of the Tulving-Wiseman function occur under conditions in which weak storage is coupled with strong retrieval. In addition, if storage and retrieval are assumed to be positively correlated across conditions, the model produces a theoretically motivated, alternative equation to the Tulving-Wiseman function that provides a virtually identical fit to the data.

Humans↗