Chapter published in:
Sensory Experiences: Exploring meaning and the senses
Danièle Dubois, Caroline Cance, Matt Coler, Arthur Paté and Catherine Guastavino
[Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research 24] 2021
► pp. 537–572

Chapter 15
Free sorting task for exploring sensory categories

Article outline
  • 15.1Background
    • 15.1.1A shift from the psychophysical tradition
    • 15.1.2The task
    • 15.1.3Free sorting tasks in psychology and sensory sciences
    • 15.1.4Theoretical framework for free sorting task
    • 15.1.5Free sorting task for sensory experiences
  • 15.2Guidelines and recommendations
    • 15.2.1Modality-specific procedure of free sorting task
      • 15.2.1.1Instructions
      • 15.2.1.2Stimuli selection vs. “objects” to be sorted
      • 15.2.1.3Participants
    • 15.2.2Output analysis
      • 15.2.2.1Mathematical analysis
        • Clustering stimuli
        • Representing categories as additive trees
        • Representing categories as central partition
        • Clustering participants, or measuring inter-participant agreement
        • Going further
        • Within-group distance
        • Levels of categorization
        • Incomplete designs
        • Fuzzy boundaries
      • 15.2.2.2Verbal analysis
    • 15.2.3Reconnecting to physical description of stimuli
  • 15.3Conclusions: Interests of free sorting task
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 01 December 2021
https://doi.org/10.1075/celcr.24.15pat
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