Remembrance of sounds past: Memory and psychophysical scaling.

Abstract

What is the role of long-term memories of previous stimulus-response mappings, and of previous sensory and perceptual experiences generally, in psychophysical scaling judgments? I conducted four experiments in an attempt to provide some preliminary answers to this question. In each experiment, subjects made judgments of the loudness of sounds on 3 successive days. Stimulus intensities were drawn randomly from the same set on Days 1 and 3 but from a different set, either all 12 dB higher or all 12 dB lower, on Day 2. Four different types of psychophysical scaling judgments were studied: category judgment without an experimenter-induced identification function, ratio magnitude estimation with a variable standard, absolute magnitude estimation, and cross-modality matching. The first two methods required completely relative judgment, the last two completely absolute judgment. Data from all methods reveal profound effects of stimulus-response mappings experienced on previous days (long-term memory) and immediately previous stimuli and responses (short-term memory) on responses to current stimuli. Responses were typically a compromise between absolute and relative judgment. Individual differences were dramatic.