Interactive Scaling with Individual Subjects

A metric multidimensional scaling (MDS) procedure based on computer-subject interaction is developed, and an experiment designed to validate the procedure is presented. The interactive MDS system allows generalization of current MDS systems in two directions: (a) very large numbers of stimuli may be scaled; and (b) the scaling is performed with individual subjects, facilitating the investigation of individual as well as group processes. The experiment provided positive support for the interactive MDS system. Specifically, (a) individual data are amenable to meaningful interpretation, and they provide a tentative basis for quantitative investigation; and (b) grouped data provide meaningful interpretive and quantitative results which are equivalent to results from standard paired-comparisons methods.