As Jesse closes her eyes, Joe puts two tiny boxes in Jesse's hands. In her right hand, the box is empty, but the box in her left hand contains two small Hershey's kisses. Jesse has no problem picking the box in her left hand as the heavier of the two. However, Joe next takes two equal 2-pound bags of candy and adds the two small kisses to one of the bags. Then Joe puts a bag of candy in each of her hands and Jesse is unable to pick which one has the extra kisses. This inability to perceive the weight in the second situation can be explained by:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Weber's law explains that the ability to perceive differences in weight (or other stimuli) is relative to the magnitude of the stimuli. The difference in weight between the two bags is too small relative to their total weight for Jesse to detect.

As Jesse Closes Her Eyes, Joe Puts Two Tiny Boxes