Weber's law, a concept taught in most Introduction to Psychology courses, states that the ratio of the intensity of a stimulus to the "just noticeable" incremen intensity is constant, that is, the ratio doesn't depend on the intensity of the stimulus. The ratio is called the "Weber fraction," so a concise statement of Webe law is that "the Weber fraction is constant, regardless of the stimulus intensity." It turns out that Weber's law is not so much a law as it is a rule of thumb, sinc it is violated in many situations. For instance, for some auditory stimuli, the Weber fraction does depend systematically on the stimulus intensity. The following bivariate data are the experimental data obtained for one listener in an auditory intensity discrimination task. For each of the ten stimulus intensities x (in decibels), the Weber fraction y (in decibels) is shown. Figure 1 is a scatter plot of the data. Stimulus intensity, x (in decibels) Weber fraction, y (in decibels) 35 -0.57 40 -0.1 45 -1.46 50 -1.02 (sjaq uogpe.

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**Relating the Sample Correlation Coefficient and the Parameters**

Weber's law, a concept taught in most Introduction to Psychology courses, states that the ratio of the intensity of a stimulus to the "just noticeable" increment of intensity is constant. That is, the ratio doesn't depend on the intensity of the stimulus. The ratio is called the "Weber fraction," so a concise statement of Weber's law is that "the Weber fraction is constant, regardless of the stimulus intensity." It turns out that Weber's law is not so much a law as it is a rule of thumb, since it is violated in many situations. For instance, for some auditory stimuli, the Weber fraction does depend systematically on the stimulus intensity.

The following bivariate data are the experimental data obtained for one listener in an auditory intensity discrimination task. For each of the ten stimulus intensities \( x \) (in decibels), the Weber fraction \( y \) (in decibels) is shown. Figure 1 is a scatter plot of the data.

| Stimulus Intensity, \( x \) (in decibels) | Weber Fraction, \( y \) (in decibels) |
|------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| 35                                       | -0.57                                |
| 40                                       | -0.1                                 |
| 45                                       | -1.46                                |
| 50                                       | -1.02                                |
| 55                                       | -1.96                                |
| 60                                       | -2.62                                |
| 65                                       | -3.15                                |
| 70                                       | -3.16                                |
| 75                                       | -4.23                                |
| 80                                       | -4.24                                |

**Figure 1: Scatter Plot Description**

The scatter plot on the right shows the data points plotted with stimulus intensity (in decibels) on the x-axis and Weber fraction (in decibels) on the y-axis. The data points suggest a downward trend, indicating a potential negative correlation between the stimulus intensity and the Weber fraction.

The least-squares regression line for these data has a slope of approximately \(-0.0039\).

**Questions:**

(a) What is the value of the y-intercept of the least-squares regression line for these data? Round your answer to at least four decimal places.

(b) What is the value of the sample correlation coefficient for these data?
Transcribed Image Text:**Relating the Sample Correlation Coefficient and the Parameters** Weber's law, a concept taught in most Introduction to Psychology courses, states that the ratio of the intensity of a stimulus to the "just noticeable" increment of intensity is constant. That is, the ratio doesn't depend on the intensity of the stimulus. The ratio is called the "Weber fraction," so a concise statement of Weber's law is that "the Weber fraction is constant, regardless of the stimulus intensity." It turns out that Weber's law is not so much a law as it is a rule of thumb, since it is violated in many situations. For instance, for some auditory stimuli, the Weber fraction does depend systematically on the stimulus intensity. The following bivariate data are the experimental data obtained for one listener in an auditory intensity discrimination task. For each of the ten stimulus intensities \( x \) (in decibels), the Weber fraction \( y \) (in decibels) is shown. Figure 1 is a scatter plot of the data. | Stimulus Intensity, \( x \) (in decibels) | Weber Fraction, \( y \) (in decibels) | |------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------| | 35 | -0.57 | | 40 | -0.1 | | 45 | -1.46 | | 50 | -1.02 | | 55 | -1.96 | | 60 | -2.62 | | 65 | -3.15 | | 70 | -3.16 | | 75 | -4.23 | | 80 | -4.24 | **Figure 1: Scatter Plot Description** The scatter plot on the right shows the data points plotted with stimulus intensity (in decibels) on the x-axis and Weber fraction (in decibels) on the y-axis. The data points suggest a downward trend, indicating a potential negative correlation between the stimulus intensity and the Weber fraction. The least-squares regression line for these data has a slope of approximately \(-0.0039\). **Questions:** (a) What is the value of the y-intercept of the least-squares regression line for these data? Round your answer to at least four decimal places. (b) What is the value of the sample correlation coefficient for these data?
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