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Intensity |
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Intensity was a term introduced by
Bannister (1960) as ‘intensity of relationship’ among constructs. It
was the total (or average) of measures of association (initially
matching coefficients, later correlations)
between constructs. In Fransella and Bannister (1977) it was defined as
the sum of the spearman rank-order correlations squared and multiplied
by 100. More widely acceptable ways of representing average
correlations is via the root-mean-square correlation, and this is often
viewed today as the usual operationalizations of intensity. It is also
widely used as a measure of cognitive complexity.
Bannister and Mair (1968, p.161) point out the major problem with this
average (that it does not take account of the heterogeneity of size of
correlations among constructs), subsequently alluded to in connection
with monolithic construing by
Mahklouf-Norris, Jones and Norris (1970) and recently demonstrated by
Bell (2003). |
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References
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- Bannister,
D. (1960) Conceptual structure in thought disordered schizophrenics. Journal
of Mental Science, 108, 1230-1249.
- Bell,
R.C. (2003) An evaluation of indices used to represent construct
structure. In G. Chiari and M. L. Nuzzo (Eds.) Psychological
Constructivism and
the Social World, Milano: Angeli (EPCA Publications).
- Fransella,
F. and Bannister, D. (1977) A manual for the repertory
grid technique. London: Academic Press.
- Mahklouf-Norris,
F., Jones, H.G., and Norris, H. (1970) Articulation of
the conceptual structure in obsessional neurosis. British Journal
of Social and Clinical Psychology, 9, 264-274.
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Richard C. Bell
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