Köhlervergelijking

Köhlervergelijking, also known as the Köhler-Fechner law, is a principle in psychophysics that describes the relationship between a physical stimulus and the subjective perception of that stimulus. It is named after German physiologist Johann Heinrich Lambert who first formulated the general law and German physiologist Gustav Fechner who further developed it. The law posits that the magnitude of a perceived change in a sensation is proportional to the relative change in the stimulus.

In simpler terms, it suggests that to notice a difference in a sensation, the stimulus must be increased by a constant proportion, not a constant amount. For example, if you are holding a weight of 100 grams, you might notice an additional 10 grams. However, if you are holding a weight of 1000 grams, you would likely need to add 100 grams to perceive a difference. The law is often expressed mathematically as dS = k(dI/I), where dS is the change in sensation, k is a constant, and dI/I is the relative change in the stimulus intensity.

The Köhlervergelijking has been influential in the study of perception and has applications in various fields, including sensory science, marketing, and ergonomics. It helps explain why certain stimuli are more noticeable than others and how our senses adapt to different levels of stimulation. While the law holds true for a wide range of sensory modalities, it is not universally applicable and has limitations, particularly at very low or very high stimulus intensities.