rating scale

an instrument that is used to assign scores to people or items along some numerical dimension, such as agreement with an attitude statement or frequency of occurrence. Rating scales can be classified according to the number of points along the dimension that is being assessed (e.g., a 5-point scale, 7-point scale) and the way in which the response labels are ordered along the dimension. See bipolar rating scale; Likert scale; semantic differential.

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Psychology term of the day

October 10th 2024

law of contrast

a principle of association stating that opposites are reminders of one another: encountering or thinking about one (e.g., a snow-covered field) tends to bring to mind the other (e.g., a sunny beach). Initially proposed as a distinct, essential concept in associationism, the law of contrast later came to be viewed as a special case of the law of contiguity.