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ERIC Number: EJ838375
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0033-2933
EISSN: N/A
Does Stevens's Power Law for Brightness Extend to Perceptual Brightness Averaging?
Bauer, Ben
Psychological Record, v59 n2 p171-186 Spr 2009
Stevens's power law ([Psi][infinity][Phi][beta]) captures the relationship between physical ([Phi]) and perceived ([Psi]) magnitude for many stimulus continua (e.g., luminance and brightness, weight and heaviness, area and size). The exponent ([beta]) indicates whether perceptual magnitude grows more slowly than physical magnitude ([beta] less than 1), directly as physical magnitude ([beta] [is isomorphic to] 1), or more quickly than physical magnitude ([beta] greater than 1). These exponents are typically determined using judgments of single stimuli. Miller and Sheldon (1969) found that the validity of Stevens's Power Law could be extended to the case where the mean of a property in an ensemble of items was judged (i.e., average length or average tilt where [beta] [is isomorphic to] 1). The present experiments investigate the extension of this finding to perceived brightness with [beta] [is isomorphic to] 0.33 and find evidence consistent with predictions made by Miller and Sheldon. (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.)
Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Mailcode 4609, Rehabilitation Institute, Carbondale, IL 62901-4609. Tel: 618-536-7704; e-mail: psychrec@siu.edu; Web site: http://www.siuc.edu/~ThePsychologicalRecord/index.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A