Thurstonian psychophysics: Case III (Q1095075)

Thurstonian psychophysics is examined from the viewpoint of a theory of ``random comparisons'' which generalizes the notion of ``discriminal differences''. The assumption of normality which appears in all varieties of Thurstone models becomes a consequence in this theory. The theoretical scheme developed in this work clarifies the status of Thurstone's assumption of normality, placing in the deeper probabilistic context of stability. Under reasonable assumptions the author arrives at satisfactory conclusions as to the uniqueness of the scale.