A method for determining the difference threshold of judging weight difference in material handling

Abstract

The difference threshold is an important index in psychophysics. A simple and effective method combining the pairwise comparison procedure of AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and the method of constant stimuli is proposed to determine the difference threshold in judging weight difference. The difference thresholds obtained by the proposed approach were 3.87% and 3.96% with the standard's weights at 8.2 kg and 20 kg respectively. The results are very close to the findings of carlson, Drury and Webber (1977), as well as Hsia and Drury (1986), which also support the validity of the method. Further, it is interesting to find that wearing gloves has no effect on the difference threshold in judging weight difference. It indicates that human's capability of judging weight difference is not affected when wearing gloves to perform material handling tasks. © 1991.