Representations of Perceived Relations among the Properties and Variables of a Complex System
- 1 January 1987
- journal article
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics
- Vol. 17 (1) , 52-60
- https://doi.org/10.1109/tsmc.1987.289332
Abstract
Three different techniques for representing human understanding of complex systems were compared. Novice veterinary students and cardiovascular research experts made judgments of the relations among the properties and variables of a complex system, the mechanical heart / blood vessel system. They also described the variables and properties by a series of bipolar ratings. A variety of analyses showed that the novices tended to conceptualize the system in static anatomic terms. Experts showed a more integrative conceptualization and distinguished more clearly than students between relations involving only system properties and those involving system variables. The methods of multidimensional scaling, agglomerative hierarchical clustering, and elementary digraphs were used to represent perceived relations among system variables and properties. It was concluded that the simplest form of representation, a digraph, has several advantages over the other representations.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- The internal representation of numbersPublished by Elsevier ,2004
- A directed graph representation based on a statistical hypothesis testing and application to citation and association structuresIEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 1984
- Problem solving and the development of abstract categories in programming languagesMemory & Cognition, 1981
- Similarity as distance: A structural principle for semantic memory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 1977
- Problem Solving in Semantically Rich Domains: An Example from Engineering Thermodynamics*Cognitive Science, 1977
- Subjective structures and operations in semantic memoryJournal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1976
- Toward Interpretation of Complex Structural ModelsIEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 1974
- A model for analogical reasoningCognitive Psychology, 1973
- Semantic distance and the verification of semantic relationsJournal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1973
- A psychological study of the semantics of animal termsJournal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1969