psychological construct Construct (psychology), also hypothetical construct or psychological construct, is a tool used to facilitate understanding of human behavior. A psychological construct is a label for a domain of behaviors. Behavioral sciences use constructs such as conscientiousness, intelligence, political power, self-esteem, and group culture. For example, if a student sees another sitting in a classroom before an examination biting her nails and fidgeting, the interpretation might be that she is experiencing anxiety.[1] In that case, anxiety is a construct that underlies the behavior that is observed. A construct is a hypothesized cause for a certain behavior. A construct derives its name from the fact that it is a mental construction, derived from scientific process: observing natural phenomena, inferring the common features of those observations, and constructing a label for the commonality or the underlying cause. A construct derives its scientific value from the shared meaning it represents for different people. If a construct is clearly articulated and the phenomena it encompasses are clearly defined, it becomes a useful conceptual tool that facilitates communication. Once defined, constructs become objects of conceptual scrutiny in their own right. Constructs summarize behavioral domains. Constructs are the building blocks of scientific theories.
True Score Theory
Factor analysis 요인 분석은 인자 (factor) 또는 요인이라고 불리는 잠재적으로 적은 숫자의 관찰되지 않은 변수(variable)들로, 관찰된 서로 상관인 변수 (variable)들 사이에서의 분산 (variance)을 설명하기 위한 통계학적 방법이다. 예를 들어, 6개의 관측된 변인 (variable)들의 분산 (variation)은 2개의 관측되지 않은 근본적인 변인을 반영할 수도 있다. 인자 분석은 관측되지 않은 잠재변수에 대하여 이런 연결된 분산(joint variation)을 찾는다. 관측된 변수들은 "오차" (error)를 추가하여, 가능한 인자들의 선형 결합으로 모형화된다. 요인 분석은 독립된 내재 변인을 찾는 것을 목적으로 한다.