D. Bimler et J. Kirkland, MULTIDIMENSIONAL-SCALING OF HIERARCHICAL SORTING DATA APPLIED TO FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, Scandinavian journal of psychology, 38(4), 1997, pp. 349-357
A new algorithm for multidimensional scaling analysis of sorting data
and hierarchical-sorting data is tested by applying it to facial expre
ssions of emotion. We construct maps in ''facial expression space'' fo
r two sets of still photographs: the I-FEEL series (expressions displa
yed spontaneously by infants and young children), and a subset of the
Lightfoot series (posed expressions, all from one actress). The analys
is avoids potential artefacts by fitting a map directly to the subject
's judgments, rather than transforming the data into a matrix of estim
ated dissimilarities as an intermediate step. The results for both sti
mulus sets display an improvement in the extent to which they agree wi
th existing maps. Some points emerge about the limitations of sorting
data and the need for caution when interpreting MDS cofigurations deri
ved from them.