Abstract
Threshold levels for warmth aroused by infrared irradiation were measured in sLx Ss at durations between 0.05 and 10 sec. Beyond a critical duration of about a second, the threshold does not depend on duration. Below critical duration time t trades for irradiance ϕ by the formula ϕ = kt−0.82. That these properties do not depend much on areal extent of stimulation was demonstrated by a study that compared temporal summation for two different areas of the same S’s skin. Individual differences in apparent absolute sensitivity were explored under the rubric of the theory of signal detection.
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This research was supported by United States Public Health Service Grant No. ES00354-05.
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Stevens, J.C., Okulicz, W.C. & Marks, L.E. Temporal summation at the warmth threshold. Perception & Psychophysics 14, 307–312 (1973). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212396
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212396