Originally published in 1989, this volume carefully catalogues and classifies the effect of bias on quantitative judgments. Each bias is described by model and examples of this bias are given. The examples include both theoretical investigations carried out in the laboratory to study bias and practical illustrations. They are accompanied by a discussion of methods of avoiding bias, where this is possible. An early look into this now widely recognised subject, this book was an invaluable resource for investigators and practitioners in applied science at the time.
Preface. Acknowledgments. 1. A New Approach to Magnitude Judgments 2. Outline of Biases in Quantifying Judgments 3. Bias in Psychophysical Methods 4. Subjectively Equal Stimulus Spacing and the Stimulus Spacing and Stimulus Frequency Biases 5. Centering Biases 6. Logarithmic Response Bias 7. Contraction Bias 8. Range Equalizing Biases 9. Transfer Bias 10. Bias in the Production of Power Functions. References. Author Index. Subject Index.
Biography
E. C. Poulton
Reviews for the original edition:
"It is a unique book… It is an encyclopaedic account of the systematic errors that can occur when subjects try to attach magnitudes to their experiences…" Philip T. Smith, Reading University
"…It is much needed and will be much cited. It compiles a wealth of otherwise disparate information into a structure unified by a consistent viewpoint and in a way that will be of practical use to people working with human judgement in pure and applied science." A.W. Macrae, Birmingham
"Poulton writes in a crisp clear style which is easy to follow and undergraduates here will have no difficulty in understanding him." Donald Laming, University of Cambridge
