Relationship between perceived and actual frequency represented by common rating scale labels

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Psychophysics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Subjective interpretation of frequency terms is crucial for self-report measures.
• Previous research indicates potential biases in how individuals perceive and report frequency.
• Understanding this relationship is vital for accurate data collection and analysis in various fields.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the precise relationship between subjective frequency terms and objective frequency values.
• To determine if this relationship is linear or nonlinear and identify a suitable mathematical model.
• To assess the consistency of this relationship across different elicitation methods and response scales.

Main Methods:

• Conducted two experiments to gather subjective frequency estimates from participants.
• Employed various methods for eliciting these estimates.
• Utilized different frequency response scales for data collection.

Main Results:

• Found a significant nonlinear relationship between subjective frequency interpretation and objective values.
• This relationship is accurately described by a logarithmic function.
• The logarithmic pattern remained consistent across different experimental conditions and response scales.

Conclusions:

• Subjective frequency reports, while potentially accurate in reflecting experience, do not represent equal intervals of actual frequency.
• The logarithmic relationship highlights a systematic distortion in subjective frequency perception.
• Findings have significant implications for interpreting Likert-type frequency scales and other self-report measures in research.