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NOTE ON THE VALIDITY OF THE POWER LAW
Author(s) -
Mashhour Madjid
Publication year - 1965
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9450.1965.tb01038.x
Subject(s) - psychology , scale (ratio) , power law , matching (statistics) , relation (database) , power (physics) , law , social psychology , statistics , mathematics , computer science , data mining , physics , thermodynamics , political science , quantum mechanics
On the basis of previous experimental findings, it is argued that the power law is not based on a true (subjective) ratio scale, but on a quasi‐ratio scale. Hence, and in spite of the results of the cross‐modality matching, the validity of the power law, as well as the validity of models and equations in which a subjective scale is involved, is doubted. It is further indicated that the validity of Brown's law can, under special conditions, be tested by the relation between subjective variables of velocity, length and time. Finally, the relation between the power law and Luce's theorem is discussed briefly.