Chapter 2

Question 1

Scoville scale

Answer 1

A measure of our detection of the amount of an ingredient called capsaicin in chili peppers

Question 2

Capsaicin

Answer 2

The active ingredient in chili peppers that provides the experience of hotness, piquancy, or spiciness

Question 3

Psychophysical scale

Answer 3

A scale on which people rate their psychological experience as a function of the level of physical stimulus

Question 4

Method of limits

Answer 4

Stimuli are presented in a graduated scale, and participants must judge the stimuli along a certain property that goes up or down

Question 5

Absolute threshold

Answer 5

The smallest amount of a stimulus necessary to be detected

Question 6

Difference threshold (JND)

Answer 6

The smallest difference between two stimuli that can be detected

Question 7

Ascending series

Answer 7

A series in which a stimulus gets increasingly larger along a physical dimension

Question 8

Descending series

Answer 8

A series in which a stimulus gets increasingly smaller along a physical dimension

Question 9

Crossover point

Answer 9

The point at which a person changes from detecting to not detecting a stimulus or vise versa

Question 10

Two point touch threshold

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Method of constant stimuli

Answer 11

A method whereby the threshold is determined by presenting the observer with a set of stimuli, some above threshold and some below it, in a random order

Question 12

Method of adjustment

Answer 12

A method whereby the observer controls the level of the stimulus and adjusts it to be at the perceptual threshold

Question 13

Point of subjective equality (PSE)

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Sensitivity

Answer 14

The ability to perceive a particular stimulus; it is inversely related to threshold

Question 15

Magnitude estimation

Answer 15

A psychophysical method in which participants judge and assign numerical estimates to the perceived strength of a stimulus

Question 16

Response compression

Answer 16

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 17

Response expansion

Answer 17

As the strength of a stimulus increases, the perceptual response increases even more

Question 18

Steve’s power law

Answer 18

A mathematical formula that describes the relationship between stimulus intensity and our perception; it allows for both response comprehension and expansion

Question 19

Catch trial

Answer 19

A trial in which the stimulus is not presented

Question 20

Forced choice method

Answer 20

A psychophysical method in which a participant is required to report when or where a stimulus occurs instead of whether it was perceived

Question 21

Signal detection theory

Answer 21

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

Question 22

False alarm

Answer 22

An error that occurs when a non-signal is mistaken for a target signal

Question 23

Miss

Answer 23

An error that occurs when an incoming signal is not detected

Question 24

Correct rejection

Answer 24

Occurs when a non-signal is dismissed as not detected

Question 25

Hit

Answer 25

When a signal is detected and present

Question 26

Criterion

Answer 26

An internal cutoff, determined by the observer, above which the observer makes one response and below which the observer makes another response

Question 27

Sensitivity (signal detection theory)

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve

Answer 28

A plot of false alarms versus hits for any given sensitivity, indicating all possible outcomes for a given sensitivity

Question 29

Sensorineural hearing loss

Answer 29

Permanent hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea or auditory nerve

Question 30

Conductive hearing loss

Answer 30

The inability of sound to be transmitted to the cochlea

Question 31

Audiologist

Answer 31

A trained professional who specializes in diagnosing hearing impairments

Question 32

Audiometer

Answer 32

A device that can present tones of different frequencies, from low in pitch to high in pitch, at different volumes from soft to loud

Question 33

Audiogram

Answer 33

A graph that illustrates the thresholds for the frequencies as measured by the audiometer

Question 34

Optometrist

Answer 34

A trained professional who specializes in diagnosing visual impairments and diseases

Question 35

Myopia

Answer 35

A condition causing an inability to focus clearly on far objects, also called nearsightedness; occurs because accommodation cannot make the lens thin enough

Question 36

Presbyopia

Answer 36

A condition in which incoming light focuses behind the retina, leading to difficulty focusing on close-up objects; common in older adults, in whom the lens becomes less elastic