PSYA01H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3.2: Absolute Threshold, Tuning Fork, Musical Tone
Document Summary
Psychophysicists begin the measurement process with a single sensory signal to determine precisely how much physical energy is required to evoke a sensation in an observer. The simplest quantitative measurement in psychophysics is the absolute threshold, the minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus. The doorway that separates the inside from the outside of a house is a threshold, as is the boundary between two psychological states ( awareness and unawareness, for example). In finding the absolute threshold for sensation, the two states in question are sensing and not sensing some stimulus. Table 4. 2 lists the approximate sensory thresholds for each of the five senses. To measure the absolute threshold for detecting a sound, for example, an observer sits in a soundproof room wearing headphones linked to a computer. The outcome of such an experiment is graphed in figure 4. 2 on the next page.
