Factor analysis is not restricted to explanatory and classificatory studies but has its place as a hypothesis-testing experimental tool. A study in the field of experimental esthetics is briefly described. In this study, a set of orthogonal reference factors summarized the essential characteristics of a set of random ‘paintings.’ The vectors of Ss, who had ranked the paintings, were inserted into this factor space to test a prediction regarding differences in vector positions related to different experimental treatments. Two advantages of this type of experimental design over more usual classical procedures are suggested.
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