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A Note on the Discovery of a g Factor by Means of Thurstone's Centroid Method of Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

J. P. Guilford*
Affiliation:
University of Southern California

Abstract

A fictitious factor matrix including 16 tests and 3 factors, one of which was ag factor, was prescribed. From it two typical factor problems, including errors of sampling, were derived. Students in training, without awareness of the factor patterns, arrived at essentially correct solutions by the use of Thurstone's centroid method with rotation of axes. Errors in the calculated factor matrix were very close in size to the sampling errors in the correlation coefficients. It is concluded that a g factor need not escape detection by Thurstone's procedures if the criteria of complete simple structure are not demanded.

Type
Original Paper
Copyright
Copyright © 1941 The Psychometric Society

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References

* Thurstone, L. L. The vectors of mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1925, 156.

* Thomson, G. H. The factorial analysis of human ability. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1939, Ch. XVII.