What is the difference threshold? Does Weber’s law describe the difference threshold as an absolute difference or a ratio (or percentage)? Be able to identify the smallest difference that can be detected using Weber’s law.
Added by Cristina N.
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Step 1: Define the difference threshold (also called the just noticeable difference, JND): it is the minimum amount by which a stimulus must change for a person to detect that a change has occurred. Show more…
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What principle states that to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a minimum percentage rather than a constant amount? a. Absolute threshold b. Different threshold c. Signal detection theory d. Priming e. Weber's law
Satyam G.
Weber's law, a concept taught in most Introduction to Psychology courses, states that the ratio of the intensity of a stimulus to the "just noticeable" increment in intensity is constant, that is, the ratio doesn't depend on the intensity of the stimulus. The ratio is called the "Weber fraction," so a concise statement of Weber's law is that "the Weber fraction is constant, regardless of the stimulus intensity." It turns out that Weber's law is not so much a law as it is a rule of thumb, since it is violated in many situations. For instance, for some auditory stimuli, the Weber fraction does depend systematically on the stimulus intensity. The following bivariate data are the experimental data obtained for one listener in an auditory intensity discrimination task. For each of the ten stimulus intensities x (in decibels), the Weber fraction y (in decibels) is shown. Figure 1 is a scatter plot of the data. Also given is the product of the stimulus intensity and the Weber fraction for each of the ten stimuli. (These products, written in the column labelled "xy", may aid in calculations.)
Adi S.
The Weber-Fechner law describes how human beings perceive differences. Suppose, for example, that a person first hears a tone with a frequency of 400 hertz (cycles per second). He is then tested with higher tones until he can hear the difference. The ratio between these values describes how well this person can hear differences. a. Suppose the next tone he can distinguish has a frequency of 404 hertz. What is the ratio? b. According to the Weber-Fechner law, the next higher tone will be greater than 404 by the same ratio. Find this tone. c. Write the discrete-time dynamical system for this person. d. Suppose the experiment is repeated on a musician, and she manages to distinguish 400.5 hertz from 400 hertz. What is the fifth tone she can distinguish?
Sri K.
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