John C. Loehlin – författare

This volume reports on a study of 850 pairs of twins who were tested to determine the influence of heredity and environment on individual differences in personality, ability, and interests. It presents the background, research design, and procedures of the study, a complete tabulation of the test results, and the authors’ extensive analysis of their findings. Based on one of the largest studies of twin behavior conducted in the twentieth century, the book challenges a number of traditional beliefs about genetic and environmental contributions to personality development. The subjects were chosen from participants in the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test of 1962 and were mailed a battery of personality and interest questionnaires. In addition, parents of the twins were sent questionnaires asking about the twins’ early experiences. A similar sample of nontwin students who had taken the merit exam provided a comparison group. The questions investigated included how twins are similar to or different from nontwins, how identical twins are similar to or different from fraternal twins, how the personalities and interests of twins reflect genetic factors, how the personalities and interests of twins reflect early environmental factors, and what implications these questions have for the general issue of how heredity and environment influence the development of psychological characteristics. In attempting to answer these questions, the authors shed light on the importance of both genes and environment and form the basis for different approaches in behavior genetic research.

Latent Variable Models: An Introduction to Factor, Path, and Structural Equation Analysis introduces latent variable models by utilizing path diagrams to explain the relationships in the models. This approach helps less mathematically-inclined readers to grasp the underlying relations among path analysis, factor analysis, and structural equation modeling, and to set up and carry out such analyses. This revised and expanded fifth edition again contains key chapters on path analysis, structural equation models, and exploratory factor analysis. In addition, it contains new material on composite reliability, models with categorical data, the minimum average partial procedure, bi-factor models, and communicating about latent variable models.The informal writing style and the numerous illustrative examples make the book accessible to readers of varying backgrounds. Notes at the end of each chapter expand the discussion and provide additional technical detail and references. Moreover, most chapters contain an extended example in which the authors work through one of the chapter’s examples in detail to aid readers in conducting similar analyses with their own data. The book and accompanying website provide all of the data for the book’s examples as well as syntax from latent variable programs so readers can replicate the analyses. The book can be used with any of a variety of computer programs, but special attention is paid to LISREL and R.An important resource for advanced students and researchers in numerous disciplines in the behavioral sciences, education, business, and health sciences, Latent Variable Models is a practical and readable reference for those seeking to understand or conduct an analysis using latent variables.