chapter 2

Question 1

scoville scale

Answer 1

• measure of our detection of the amount of capsaicin in chilli peppers

Question 2

capasicin

Answer 2

• active ingredient in chilli peppers that provides the experience of heat/spice

Question 3

psychophysical scale

Answer 3

• scale on which people rate their psychological experiences as a function of the level of a physical stimulus

Question 4

just noticeable difference (JND)/ difference threshold

Answer 4

• smallest amount of physical change observers notice as perceptual change

Question 5

method of limits

Answer 5

• stimuli are presented on a graduated scale
• participants must judge the stimuli along a certain property that goes up or down

Question 6

absolute threshold

Answer 6

• smallest difference between two stimuli that can be reliably detected

Question 7

crossover point

Answer 7

• point at which a person changes from detecting to not detecting a stimulus or vice versa

Question 8

two-point touch threshold

Answer 8

• minimum distance at which two touches are perceived as two touches and not one

Question 9

method of constant stimuli

Answer 9

• method where the threshold is determined by presenting the observer with a set of stimuli, some above threshold and some below

Question 10

method of adjustment

Answer 10

• observer controls the level of stimulus and adjusts it to be at the perceptual threshold
• intuitive for the participant

Question 11

point of subjective equality (PSE)

Answer 11

• the settings of two stimuli at which the observer experiences them as identical

Question 12

sensitivity

Answer 12

• ability to perceive a particular stimulus
• inversely related to threshold

Question 13

magnitude estimation

Answer 13

• psychophysical method
• participants judge and assign numerical estimates to the perceived strength of a stimulus

Question 14

response compression

Answer 14

• as the strength of a stimulus increases, so does the perceptual response BUT the perceptual response does not increase by as much as the stimulus increases

Question 15

response expansion

Answer 15

• as the strength of the stimulus increases, the perceptual response increases even more

Question 16

catch trial

Answer 16

• trial in which the stimulus is not presented

Question 17

forced-choice method

Answer 17

• psychophysical
• participant required to report when or where a stimulus occurs instead of whether it was perceived

Question 18

signal detection theory

Answer 18

• in every sensory detection or discrimination, there is both sensory sensitivity to the stimulus and a criterion used to make a cognitive decision

Question 19

signal detection analysis
miss

Answer 19

• error, incoming signal not detected

Question 20

signal detection analysis
correct rejection

Answer 20

• non-signal is dismissed as not present

Question 21

signal detection analysis
hit

Answer 21

• signal is detected and signal is present

Question 22

signal detection analysis
criterion

Answer 22

• bias that can affect the rate of hits and false alarms
• past experience to inform current judgements

Question 23

signal detection analysis
sensitivity

Answer 23

• the ease or difficulty with which an observer can distinguish signal from noise

Question 24

d’ (d-prime)

Answer 24

• a mathematical measure of sensitivity

Question 25

signal detection analysis
receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve

Answer 25

• a plot of false alarms versus hits for any given sensitivity
• indicating all possible outcomes for a given sensitivity
• captures all aspects of signal detection theory in one graph

Question 26

when d’ =

Answer 26

• 0, perceiver can’t discriminate between signal and noise
• as d’ increases, hits and correct rejections increase and misses and false alarms decrease

Question 27

masking

Answer 27

• difficulty in seeing one stimulus when it is quickly replaced by a second stimulus that occupies the same or adjacent spacial locations

Question 28

sensorineural hearing loss

Answer 28

• permanent hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea or auditory nerve to the primary auditory cortex

Question 29

conductive hearing loss

Answer 29

• inability of sound to be transmitted to the cochlea

Question 30

audiometer

Answer 30

• device presents tones of different frequencies from low in pitch to high and different volumes from soft to loud

Question 31

audiogram

Answer 31

• graph that illustrates the thresholds for the frequencies measured by the audiometer