A new scaling technique for absolute judgments

The results of an experiment using the method of absolute judgments can be viewed as a matrix of conditional probabilities in which the rows represent stimuli and the columns responses. The cosine of the angle between two row vectors is a measure of the similarity of the corresponding stimuli. This cosine provides the basis for a method of scaling the stimuli. Unlike the method of paired comparisons, this new technique does not require arbitrary fixing of a unit of measurement. A numerical example is given.