ABSTRACT
Can the knowledge we have gained in sensory psychophysics be applied to the realm of social attitude assessment? This question comes to mind only because sensory psychophysics, in comparison with social attitude theory, is so advanced that it is likely to be profitable when ideas of the former are made use of in the latter. However, whereas sensory psychophysics is based on the study of subjective magnitude in relation to physical magnitude, social psychophysics is divested of any prior measured physical correlate. Accordingly, turning to sensory psychophysics, the question of where to find a prototype theory not restricted to psychophysical settings and able to incorporate non-metric stimulation is promptly raised. What really is desired then is a comprehensive theory of sensation. How close has psychophysics come to this goal?
