Stimulus Range Effect in Discomfort Glare Studies

Abstract

When asked for a subjective judgment, such as rating the discomfort from a glare source, the response of participants depends on the range of stimuli they are provided: this is known as a stimulus range effect. In the present note, the stimulus range effect is discussed in the context of discomfort glare studies. Its status is compared to various kinds of biases, in the metrological and in various psychological senses. This discussion leads to discard the idea that the stimulus range effect should be considered a bias in the case of discomfort glare. A methodology (stimulus range selection) is described to overcome the stimulus range effect problem in the modelling of discomfort glare, at least for engineering applications.