Growth of sensation on seven continua as measured by force of handgrip

Abstract

College students as well as professional personnel produced forces on a hand dynamometer to match various levels of subjective intensity for 5 kinds of stimuli (electric current, light, noise, tone, vibration). The forms of the 5 equal-sensation functions can be predicted by the ratio scales of subjective intensity determined independently by the procedure of numerical estimation. The results add further evidence to the validity of the general psychophysical law that subjective magnitude grows as a power function of stimulus magnitude. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1960 American Psychological Association.