An examination of least-squares regression modeling of catastrophe theory.

Although catastrophe theory appears to have substantial heuristic value in many areas of psychology, its acceptance has, to some extent, been hampered by the lack of a well-developed analytic framework. Two recent articles by Guastello (1987, 1988) suggest that a change-score least-squares regression model provides a method for testing catastrophe theory models. This article reviews these regression analysis procedures. The problems in the approach are detailed, then demonstrated with computer-generated data sets