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Comparison between the psychophysical methods of magnitude and categories estimation of illness seriousness

In this study, 15 diagnoses were selected and evaluated by the methods of estimation of magnitudes and estimation of categories. These methods were performed by 46 subjects (10 physicians, 20 nurses and 16 psychologists). The results show that the non-metric continuum of seriousness of an illness exhibits prothetic characteristics and the variability of estimates is a linear function of the magnitude estimation, thus confirming that Ekman's law is also valid for non-metric continua.

psychophysics


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