Passage Psychophysiology Examines the Relationship Between the Properties of a Physical

Passage
Psychophysiology examines the relationship between the properties of a physical stimulus (eg, amplitude of sound waves) and how we perceive that stimulus (eg, loudness) .  However, this relationship is often accompanied by a degree of uncertainty as the stimulus of interest, or signal, can be confounded by various sources of noise.  Noise can be either external (arising from the environment) or internal (arising from physiological sources) .To investigate the effect of distraction on auditory perception, researchers tested the ability of subjects to detect auditory tones presented during a visual-memory task.  The study included 90 participants age 18-65, and each participant completed 10 trials.  Trials consisted of five 800-Hz tones presented randomly while participants viewed a set of 15 sequential pictures of common objects on a computer screen.  The objects fell into one of three categories: animals, vehicles, or things that make noise.  Half the participants were asked to memorize as many objects as they could (objects group) , and half were asked to remember only the categories of objects they saw (categories group) .  Tones were presented bilaterally within a range of 0-20 dB.  Participants noted when they detected a tone during the trial by pressing a button.  Results of the study are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1  Mean percentage of tones correctly identified in each visual-memory task group (Note: Error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals.)
W. Yost ©2007 Academic Press.
-Which psychophysiology concept determines how high the volume of the tone must be for participants to detect it roughly half the time?

A) Absolute threshold
B) Difference threshold
C) Just noticeable difference
D) Sensory adaptation

Correct Answer:

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