A constructive-associative model of the contextual dependence of unidimensional similarity.
Conditions under which pairwise dissimilarity ratings should reflect manipulations of the stimulus distribution were outlined by a model that proposed these effects. These conditions arise from either a context dependent process for constructing implicit scale values or a process that uses previously established stimulus-response associates. Consistent with the model, results from 3 experiments using unidimensional psychophysical stimuli demonstrated disordinal context effects on pairwise dissimilarity ratings when (a) there was a 3-s delay between presentation of pair members or (b) a unidimensional rating task preceded the pairwise dissimilarity ratings. Global effects of density were fit well by a model that extended A. Parducci's (1983) range-frequency theory to dissimilarity ratings. Local density effects were generally consistent with predictions from C.L.Krumhansl's (1978) distance-density theory.
Wedell
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DH
Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia 29208, USA. wedell@garnet.cla.sc.edu
D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011601:Psychophysics; D012858:Size Perception