Sequential dependencies and regression in psychophysical judgments

AbstractA tendency for judgments of stimulus magnitude to be biased in the direction of the value of the immediately preceding stimulus is found in magnitude estimations of loudness. This produces a bias in the empirical psychophysical function that results in underestimation of the exponent of the unbiased function presumed to relate number and stimulus intensity, N = aSn. The biased judgment can be represented as a power product of focal and preceding stimulus intensity, Nij= aS m Sjb. A bias-free estimate of the correct exponent, n, can be obtained from the relation n = m + b.

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