A method for sensation scaling based on an analogy between perception and judgment

Abstract

Two techniques for studying judgment are discussed. In the first of these one assumes invariance of perception over different judgment processes and conceives of the properties of one judgment process as known. Then, perceptions may be estimated under this process and utilized in the study of other judgment processes of interest. A second technique disposes of the reliance up on a basic, “known” process and instead suggests that perception be treated as free parameters to be estimated from data. The paper then proceeds to show how this second technique may be used under certain conditions on perception themselves. A concept of sensation is introduced which is thought of as generating percepts in formally the same manner as percepts are thought of as generating judgments. The idea is tried out on the perception of movement time. A simple perception process appears to give a good fit to data.