Abstract
The effects of the base referent or standard stimulus on the scale values obtained in the magnitude estimation scaling of 34 frequency expressions was investigated using 208 subjects and two different referents ("sometimes" and "fairly many times"). MANOVA and ANOVA findings indicated that the two referents yielded statistically significant differences in scale values, and t tests of differences between the current and previously obtained scale values supported this conclusion. Finally, the scale values produced by the two referents led to the selection of different sets of 5-point response anchors, suggesting that the divergence in results was also of practical importance. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.
