ABSTRACT
This chapter explains to define dimensional integrality and to present a theory of integrality that explains the manner and conditions under which integrality operates. The term integrality, like many pieces of contemporary psychological jargon, has both intuitive and technical meanings. The proliferation of types of integrality might lead one to question the unitary nature of integrality as a theoretical concept. An alternative approach to the problem, however, can point out the source of the difficulty. The theory of integrality to be discussed has a purely psychophysical base. Integrality is defined as a property of the mapping of a physical specification of complex stimulation into the multidimensional psychological characteristics of the stimulation as perceived. W. R. Garner's approach entails the use of converging operations and their associated phenomena as the definition of integrality. Highly discriminable dimensions seem to acquire a salience that can dominate performance regardless of their interaction with other stimulus dimensions.
