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Dissertation Information for Jack Lewis Vevea

NAME:
- Jack Lewis Vevea

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- [No Discipline Recorded]

SCHOOL:
- University of Chicago (USA) (1996)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: Some mathematical models for distance in memory

Abstract: This dissertation develops and examines a series of mathematical models that link psychological discrimination tasks and direct reproduction tasks. (Discrimination tasks are those in which an individual is asked to distinguish between two stimuli; in reproduction tasks, the individual directly reproduces a duplicate of a previous stimulus.) The link is provided by employing the multivariate maximum likelihood approach to estimate a set of parameters that represent the means and standard deviations that would have been produced if subjects had used the reproduction response mode. The input to the models is a series of binary indicators of whether particular individuals judged specific remembered stimuli to be different from, or the same as, reference stimuli that were present at the time the judgment was made. The approach is developed for both unidimensional and multidimensional tasks. The quality of the maximum likelihood estimation is assessed by simulation. The bias and efficiency properties of estimates are examined and found to be good. The simulations further show that large-sample confidence intervals work relatively well for the parameters of greatest interest even in quite small samples, and that likelihood ratio tests reject false null hypotheses at approximately the nominal rates. Moreover, these tests are seen to be unusually powerful against reasonable non-null conditions. The utility of the models is demonstrated using real data sets generated from both one- and two-dimensional tasks. The patterns of responses observed are consistent with the theory of memory that inspired the development of the new statistical approach. The results of the new models are compared to the output of existing mathematical models for discrimination tasks. None of the existing methods is able to provide what the new models provide--a set of means and standard deviations, expressed in meaningful physical units, that describe the individual's actual estimate of the stimulus he experienced.

MPACT Scores for Jack Lewis Vevea

A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:20:43

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