A Procedure for Obtaining Initial Values of Parameters in the RAM Model.

An algorithm for obtaining initial values for the minimization process in covariance structure analysis is developed that is more generally applicable for computing parameters connected to latent variables than the currently existing ones. The algorithm is formulated in terms of the RAM model but can be easily extended to model specifications used in other structural equation programs (e.g., LISREL, Joreskog & Sorbom, 1988, or EQS, Bentler, 1989).