Abstract
Magnitude estimations of the warmth aroused by radiant stimulation of the forehead showed that warmth obeys the psychophysical power law when the’ duration of the stimulus is relatively long (3 or 6 sec). When duration is short (0.25, 0.5. or 1 sec), however, warmth grows as a more complex function of irradiation. The family of psychophysical functions measured for the various durations can be used to generate the rules by which radiant intensity and duration trade to preserve constant warmth. These rules vary systematically from complete temporal summation (i.e., complete reciprocity) near threshold to less and less complete summation as warmth level increases. When, however, the stimulus is expressed as an equivalent change of temperature in the skin, there is no summation, only adaptation. It can be shown that temporal summation observed psychophysically must result from the heat-transfer properties of skin tissue.
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This research was supported by Grant AFOSR 70-1950 from the United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
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Marks, L.E., Stevens, J.C. Temporal summation related to the nature of the proximal stimulus for the warmth sense. Perception & Psychophysics 14, 570–576 (1973). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211199
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211199