Abstract
CROSSMAN1 investigated the time taken to discriminate between stimuli, and produced an empirical expression for the ease of discrimination between two stimuli (their ‘discriminability’ D) the inverse of which (the ‘confusion function’) was proportional to the time taken to discriminate. The characteristics of this function were that it depended upon the ratio of the stimulus values concerned, and not upon their absolute magnitudes, and that it tended to 0 and ∞ as this ratio tended to 0 and 1 respectively. The present communication outlines a mathematical model of perception processes, from which a theoretical confusion function was derived.
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References
Crossman, E. R. F. W., Quart. J. Exp. Psych., University of London, 7, No. 4, 176 (1955).
Cane, V. R., J. Roy. Stat. Soc., 18, No. 2, 177 (1956).
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HAMMERTON, M. A Mathematical Model for Perception and a Theoretical Confusion Function. Nature 184, 1668–1669 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/1841668b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1841668b0
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