What is Pathfinder Network Analysis?

Pathfinder algorithms take estimates of the proximities between pairs of items as input and define a network representation of the items. The network (a PFNET) consists of the items as nodes and a set of links (which may be either directed or undirected for symmetrical or non-symmetrical proximity estimates) connecting pairs of the nodes. The set of links is determined by patterns of proximities in the data and parameters of Pathfinder algorithms. For details on the method and its applications see R. Schvaneveldt (Editor), Pathfinder Associative Networks: Studies in Knowledge Organization. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1990.

Below is a fragment of a network generated from a text analysis of a dictionary. The fragment shows all nodes within three links of the word, "bank."