Inverse cross-modality matching: A test of ratio judgment consistency for group and individual data

Direct and inverse cross-modality matches made by 20 subjects were assessed for ratio judgment consistency. Each subject matched apparent duration to loudness, and vice versa, in both a directly and an inversely proportional manner. All four tasks were repeated twice so that individual differences could be examined using interrepetition correlations. Group data exhibited the appropriate inverse relationship indicative of consistency, although the inverse matches were slightly curvilinear and resembled earlier studies with inverse attribute scales. Some individuals showed a high degree of consistency but many departed widely from inverse proportionality. Individual differences in exponents, which occurred for both types of tasks, were not removed by S. S. Stevens’ (1971) regression balance procedure. However, interrepetition correlations for the differences in the absolute values of the direct and inverse exponents of individuals were nonsignificant, suggesting that when subjects’ exponents differed for the two types of tasks they did so on a random basis. The latter finding implies that subjects would give inversely proportional matches were it not for random factors. The findings were discussed in relation to other types of ratio consistency.