Abstract
Six psychological dimensions were recovered from similarity judgments of 20 random forms using Kruskal’s nonmetric scaling technique. These were related to 10 physical factors describing the forms by using canonical correlation analysis and rotations of the resulting vectors. Four factors accounted for 2/3 of the variance of the intersection of the physical and psychological spaces for each of 11 Ss. The factors are described as Complexity, Curvature, Curvature Dispersion, and Straight-length Dispers ion. The problem of the proper psychological distance metric is discussed, and individual differences among Ss are analyzed. The results lead to the conclusion that the four major factors found may be good representations of processes occurring in the perceptual system.
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The research reported in this paper was sponsored by the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory. Aerospace Medical Division, Air Force Systems Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, under contract number F 33615-67-C-1280 with Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. This paper has been identified by the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory as AMRL-TR-67-131. Further reproduction is authorized to satisfy needs of the United States Government.
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Stenson, H.H. The psychophysical dimensions of similarity among random shapes. Perception & Psychophysics 3, 201–214 (1968). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212729
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212729