A choice theory analysis of similarity judgments

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Abstract
The selection of one of several stimuli as most similar to a reference stimulus is assumed to satisfy a choice axiom that permits assigning ratio scale values to each variable-reference stimuli pair. The logarithm of this scale is treated as a distance measure, leading to the following testable conclusions about the pairwise choice probabilities as the reference stimulus is varied. First, the plot is a symmetrically truncated ogive with horizontal tails. Second, if two pairs of choice stimuli have the same midpoint, the ogive of one pair is part of the ogive of the other. In terms of this model, the hysteresis and midpoint displacement effects in the method of bisection are discussed, and relations with Coombs' unfolding techniques are explored.

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