Contrast effects in the child’s judgment of lifted weight

TLDR: In this paper, the anchor-AL trend follows a cubic trend, whereas for younger Ss a monotonic contrast effect trend was obtained, interpreted in terms of cognitive rather than sensory contrast effects in psychophysics.

Abstract: In this study on anchor effectiveness, the hypothesis that the locus of inflection points of adaptation level varies with chronological age was tested and confirmed. Altogether 62 Ss, divided into four age groups (4;8-12;11 years) had to judge either a 20- to 180-g weight series or a 200- to 400-g series, with anchor values ranging either from 95 to 1700 g or from 16 to 270 g, according to Helson’s standard experimental paradigm which was slightly modified with regard to children’s testing perceptual response. For children more than 7;0 years old, the anchor-AL trend follows a cubic trend, whereas for younger Ss a monotonic contrast effect trend was obtained. These results are interpreted in terms of cognitive rather than sensory contrast effects in psychophysics.