Fechner’s elusive parallel law

Helen E. Ross, Nicholas Wade

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

Weber's Law states that the differential threshold or just-noticeable-difference (jnd) is proportional to the physical intensity of the stimulus. Fechner built up his logarithmic law of sensation intensity from Weber's Law and the assumption that all jnds are subjectively equal. He thought it important that the Parallel Law should also hold. The Parallel Law states that, when perceived stimulus intensity is changed by something other than physical intensity (such as adaptation), Weber's Law continues to hold: discrimination should be unchanged provided the perceived values of the two stimuli change in the same ratio. Fechner claimed that weight discrimination was unaffected by weight adaptation; he was unsure about light adaptation; and he claimed that tactile length discrimination was unaffected by perceived changes caused by the bodily location of the stimulus. Modern research on adaptation for weights and other sensory stimuli shows that changes occur both in perceived intensity and in discrimination. Discrimination between stimuli is usually finest when the adaptation level is appropriate to the test level. There is insufficient evidence concerning the discrimination of tactile length and visual length when perceived length is changed. However, the Parallel Law may be untestable because of the difficulty of obtaining measures in the same experiment both for changes in discrimination and for the ratios of the perceived changes of the stimuli.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationFechner’s legacy in Psychology
Subtitle of host publication150 years of Elementary Psychophysics
EditorsJoshua A. Solomon
Place of PublicationLeiden
PublisherBrill Academic Publishers
Pages25–38
Number of pages14
ISBN (Electronic)9789004192010
ISBN (Print)9789004192201
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Feb 2011

Keywords

  • Weber’s law
  • Fechner’s law
  • parallel law
  • discrimination
  • adaptation
  • weight
  • light
  • length

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Fechner’s elusive parallel law'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this