Perceptual Awareness of Energy Requirements of Familiar Objects

Conducted 3 experiments to assess undergraduates' perceptual awareness of energy requirements in their immediate surroundings (e.g., refrigerators, automobiles, toasters). In Exp I, 48 Ss sorted 61 energy items (labeled on cards) into categories based on general similarity and similarity in terms of energy consumed in an hour of continuous use. Cluster analysis revealed that items were grouped according to function and size but not by energy requirements. In Exp II, 24 Ss rank ordered 19 household appliances according to energy consumption and volume. The judged order of energy consumption matched the actual order (watts/hour) moderately well, but significant deviations from accuracy occurred for items whose perceived volume appeared to exert an influence on perceived energy consumption. Some large objects were seen to require high energy even though their actual consumption is relatively low. Similarly, small objects were thought to consume small amounts of energy even though the opposite is true. Parallel results were obtained in Exp III (20 Ss) with the method of numerical magnitude estimation. (4 ref)