Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Ratio Scales, Category Scales, And Variability In The Production Of Loudness And Softness, Bruce Schneider, Harlan Lane

Harlan Lane

Several studies have shown that category scales are nonlinearly related to ratio scales of subjective magnitude. A variability model has been proposed previously to account for this departure from linearity. This article examines the model in the light of the empirical relations that enter into it: the ratio scale of subjective magnitude, the corresponding category scale, and the variability of judgments in both physical and psychological units. These relations are determined, through repeated measurement with a single observer, for the psychological continuum, loudness, and its inverse, softness. The ratio scales are shown to be reciprocals, and the category scales complements. …