Test of the ratio judgment hypothesis

J Gen Psychol. 2014;141(2):130-50. doi: 10.1080/00221309.2014.883355.

Abstract

The hypothesis that we are capable of judging ratios of subjective intensities is widely used in psychology. Here, experimental results are reported that more stringently verify prior findings that people respond to sensory intensity differences while they execute the task of judging sensory intensity ratios. This verification was made on brightness and heaviness and for verbal and matching responses, suggesting that the results may be general for both sensory intensive dimensions and response systems. The results have implications for the comparisons of scores on evaluation scales based on ratio judgment.

Keywords: difference judgment; evaluation scales; ratio judgment.

MeSH terms

  • Discrimination, Psychological / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Judgment / physiology*
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Visual Perception / physiology*