Scales are widely used to assess the personal experience of thermal conditions in built environments.Most commonly, thermal sensation is assessed, mainly to determine whether a particular thermal condition is comfortable for individuals. A 7-point thermal sensation scale has been used extensively, which is suitable for describing a one-dimensional relationship between physical parameters of indoor environments and subjective thermal sensation. However, human thermal comfort is not merely a physiological but also a psychological phenomenon. Thus, it should be investigated how scales for its assessment could benefit from a multidimensional conceptualization. Further, the paper challenges common assumptions related to the usage of thermal sensation scales, empirically supported by two analyses. These analyses show that the relationship between temperatures and subjective thermal sensation is nonlinear and depends on the type of scale used. Moreover, the results signify that most people do not perceive the categories of the thermal sensation scale as equidistant and that the range of sensations regarded as comfortable" varies largely. Therefore, challenges known from experimental psychology (describing the complex relationships between physical parameters, subjective perceptions, and measurement-related issues) need to be addressed by the field of thermal comfort and new approaches need to be developed.

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Behavioural, physiological and psychological adaptive processes are presumed reasons for the discrepancies between predicted mean vote and observed comfort votes during field studies. However, few are known about the individual portions of these processes. An experimental design was developed, which aims at identifying those portions and is meant for climate chambers with operable windows facing the exterior. This article looks in detail at behavioural and physiological reactions together with their effect on the perceived level of comfort. By means of multivariate regression analyses, these reactions are analysed in order to assess differences due to variations in indoor/outdoor conditions as well as the number of interactive opportunities. One of the results shows that the restriction to keep the window closed is counterbalanced by an increased amount of physiological reactions, such as an increased level of skin temperature, together with an increase of still permitted actions such as drinking. The results highlight the importance of detailed insights into single aspect of adaptive processes for a better