The Measurement of Sensation [Hardcover]

S. S. Stevens' famous paperOn the Psychophysical Law, published in 1957, ignited a controversy that continues to this day--how to accurately measure sensation. For example, how can the perception of sensation diverge so sharply from the magnitude of the stimulus? How should it be measured? This book offers a concise but detailed introduction to the issues arising from this controversy. It presents the most important arguments in the field, plus a comprehensive survey of the data to allow readers to form their own opinions on the debate.

1. The origins of a controversy
2. Can sensation be measured?
3. Fehcner's law - the normal model
4. A reinterpretation of sensory discrimination - the chi-squared model
5. Stevens' power law
6. The physiological basis of sensation
7. Scaling sensation
8. Matching just noticeable differences
9. Judging relations between sensations
10. The psychophysical primitive
11. Why Stevens' law is a power law
12. The stimulus range
13. How then can sensation be measured?

Filled with theoretical concepts, historical overviews, psychophysical and physiological data, mathematical models, and scholarly insights, the book is an intellectual tour de force. This contemporary overview of what Fechner called a physics of the mind will appeal to specialists in psychophysics, mathematical psychology, sensation and perception, and cognitive and information processing. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --Choice