Table of Contents
Editor's Introduction xv
Preface xvii
Acknowledgements xxi
Prologue: Physical Science Before 1800 xxiii
1 Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841) and Psychophysics 1
Introduction 1
Herbart's Career 1
Herbart's Educational Psychology 3
A Short Introduction to Herbart's Theory 4
"Clear and Distinct" Ideas: Vorstellungen 4
How Herbart Arrived at His Mathematical Psychology 6
Herbart's Statics 8
Herbart's Model Applied to Two Vorstellungen 9
Herbart's Model Applied to Three Vorstellungen 12
The Threshold Equation 14
Combinations of Vorstellungen 14
Herbart's Mechanics 15
Herbart's Theory Compared to Alternatives 18
Herbart's Success Compared with Newton's 18
Herbart's Theory of the Origin of the Time-Concept Compared with Hooke's 19
The Measurement of a Vorstellung's Strength Presented a Dilemma for Herbart 21
Chapter 1A: Herbart's Fragment on the Measurement of Vorstellungen 22
A Confrontation 22
The Discovery of the Confrontation 22
My Rendering of Herbart's Confrontation 24
Interpreting the Fragment 32
Summary 35
2 The Measurement and Variability of Physical Intensities 37
Introduction 37
William Whewell on "Extensive" and "Intensive" Measurements 37
Measurement from a Present-Day Perspective 37
Whewell's Beliefs 39
Of the Idea of a Medium as Commonly Employed 41
On the Measurement of Secondary Qualities 42
The Gaussian Distribution 47
The Problem it Poses for Non-Mathematicians 47
On the History of the Gaussian Distribution 48
Abraham de Moivre (1667-1754) 48
Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827): After 1817, the Marquis de Laplace 50
Johann Karl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) 52
Summary 53
3 An Introduction to Weber's Law 54
Introduction 54
Preliminary Remarks 54
The Connection between Gauss and the Scientist Members of Weber's Family 54
E. H. Weber's Experimental Work on the Touch-Sense 57
Weber's Writings on the Touch-Sense 57
The Contents and Importance of Weber's De Tactu (1834) 58
The Contents and Importance of Weber's Der Tastsinn (1846) 67
Weber as a Pioneer of Experimental Psychology 69
Summary 72
4 An Introduction to Fechner's Law 73
The Historical Background to Fechner's Law 73
Fechner's Early Research on Electricity 73
Fechner the Invalid 76
From Weber's Law to Fechner's Law: Fechner's Own Argument 82
The Absolute Threshold 84
"Sense-Distances" 84
A Numerical Demonstration of Fechner's Law 86
Fechner's Own Research Findings 89
General Overview 89
Using Lifted Weights to Examine the Validity of Weber's Law: Fechner's Large Experiment 90
Fechner's "Parallel Law" to Weber's Law 97
Fechner on Outer Versus Inner Psychophysics 98
Fechner's Outer Psychophysics 98
Fechner's Inner Psychophysics 99
Fechner's Passing 104
Summary 105
Appendix 1 Fechner's Theory and D, Bernoulli's (1738) Conjecture 105
Appendix 2 Fechner's Theory and Ideal Observer Theory 109
5 Psychophysics at Göttingen 112
G. E. Müller (1850-1934) 112
G. E. Müller's Reputation among Historians of Psychology 112
Müller and Schumann (1889) on Expectation ("Set") in Psychophysical Tasks 114
Martin and Müller (1899) on Individual Differences in Psychophysical Tasks 120
Summary 126
6 Measuring Psychological Magnitudes: I. Variability Measures 127
Measuring Variability 127
Titchener's Achievements 127
Titchcner (1901a, 1901b) on Qualitative Experimentation 129
Titchener (1905a, 1905b) on Quantitative Experimentation 130
Fechner's Own Equation Expressing how Variability Can Be Determined for Response Proportions 131
The Cumulative Gaussian Distribution 132
The Psychometric Function 132
The Müller-Urban weights 133
Other Estimations Used in Fechner's Psychophysics 135
Estimating the Numerical Value of an "Absolute" or "Differential" Threshold 135
Estimating the Numerical Value of the Proportion of Right Responses, (r/n) 136
Summary 137
7 Measuring Psychological Magnitudes: II. The Quantity Objection 139
Objections to Fechner's Psychophysics 139
The Meaning of "Quantity Objection" 139
Tannery's Importance in the History of the Quantity Objection 140
Von Kries (1882) on the "Equality" of Measurement-Units 142
Stadler (1878) on the Lack of "Homogeneity" between Stimulus and Sensation 144
The Arbitrary Aspects of Assigning Magnitudes to Sensations 148
Ernst Mach (1838-1916) on Wiry Sensations Matter in Physics 149
Mach's Career 149
Mach's View that Sensations Precede the Mechanical Sciences 150
Summary 152
8 The Power Law in Early Psychophysics 154
A Question in Visual Psychophysics 154
J.A.F. Plateau (1801-1883) 154
Plateau's (1872) Experiments 154
Hering's (1875) Criticism of Fechner's Psychophysics 156
Heritig's Experimental Contributions 157
Hering's Thought-Experiment 159
Delboeuf's Contributions to Psychophysics 160
Delboeuf's Career 160
Delboeuf's (1883) Ideas about Psychophysics 161
Helmholtz on Psychophysics 162
Delboeuf's (1873) Experiments on Psychophysics 163
Delboeuf's Influence on Titchener 169
Summary 169
Appendix: The Role of the Weight of the Apparatus Itself in Determining Hering's (1875) Weber Fractions 171
9 William James and Psychophysics 172
What James's Principles of Psychology Said about Fechner 172
James's Chapter 13 on "Discrimination and Comparison" 172
The Four Sections of Chapter 13 173
James on Fechner's Originality 176
An Evaluation of the Final Paragraph of Chapter 13 177
Late Nineteenth-Century Research on Confidence Ratings and Response Times in Psychophysics 180
Summary 182
Passing the Torch 184
Plateau, Hering, Delboeuf and Later Psychophysics 187
Plateau's Influence 187
Hering's Influence 188
References 193
Index 212
