A number of studies on the time-order error (TOE) and related perceptual and judgmental phenomena are reviewed. It is concluded that the TOE should be classified as a perceptual phenomenon that can be understood and predicted with adaptation-level theory and the notion of sensation weighting. It is also concluded that sensation weighting underlies assimilation and contrast phenomena and that it is a manifestation of a general cognitive principle: the utilization of generic information to supplement specific stimulus information.

Sixteen pairs of successive tones, with different amplitude combinations, were presented with 16 combinations of tone duration and interstimulus interval. A separate group of 12 subjects was assigned to each presentation condition and made comparative loudness judgments for each of the pairs. Perceived within-pair loudness differences were scaled by a Thurstonian method using the subjective width of the "equal" category as the unit. The scale differences were well described by weighted linear combinations of the sensation magnitudes of the tones in the pairs. The time error can be regarded as an effect of this differential weighting. For the longer interstimulus intervals, the weight of the second tone was the greater, causing the usual inverse relation between time error and stimulus intensity level. For the shorter interstimulus intervals, these effects were reversed. An analysis of the pattern of weights led to the development of two models, one of which is a generalization of Michels and Helson's time error model. The weights could be interpreted as reflecting the differential efficiency of the loudness information from the two compared stimuli.

In five experiments, participants made comparative judgments of paired successive or simultaneous stimuli. Time- or space-order errors were obtained, which varied with the interstimulus interval (ISI) or stimulus duration, as well as with the stimulus level. The results, in terms of scaled subjective differences, are well described by Hellström's (1979) sensation-weighting model. With successive presentation, in comparisons of line length and tone loudness, the first stimulus had the greater weight in determining the subjective difference for short ISIs, the second for longer ISIs. In comparisons of duration (auditory and visual), the second stimulus had the greater weight. For simultaneously presented line lengths, the left stimulus had the greater weight.

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Drawing from collaborative public management, this article seeks to contribute to public service logic by focusing on what precedes the public service user's realization of value: the value proposition. A new care model for elderly people with multiple chronic diseases shows that coordinators with an inter-organizational mission, vertical and horizontal supporting structures, trust established through relationships, and recognition of service systems' embeddedness in social systems are pivotal for the ability of public service organizations to develop coordinated value propositions. The contribution to policy and practice is an increased understanding of a coherent, rather than fragmented, welfare system for users/citizens.