Abstract
In this experiment the subject was asked to judge the intensity of a sound in terms of one of a series of values ranging from 1 to 9. Number 5 was to be reserved for those impressions which fell so directly in the middle of a series that it was impossible to assign values either above or below. The results showed that the psychometric functions secured by this method compare favorably with those secured by the relative procedures. Time-errors tended to be negative at the upper end of the intensity scale and positive at the lower end. The following tentative generalizations are drawn with respect to time-errors in general: (1) The trace of the first member of a pair of stimuli presented for judgment with respect to intensity decreases in magnitude after the first 3 seconds, thus shifting the intensity of the second member upwards. (2) When an impression from some closely related secondary stimulus enters the comparison field, the intensity of the second member is shifted in the direction opposite to that of this impression. (3) High intensities, when judged on an absolute scale, are shifted upwards; low intensities downwards. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)