When any type of stimulus is received, it must be accompanied by some kind of force to affect us, but there is also an effect that consists precisely of the opposite. We are now talking about the absolute threshold with examples , to better know what it corresponds to and why it defines the limits of our perception .
What is the absolute threshold and examples?
In psychology, the absolute threshold is the least amount of intensity of a stimulus that is detected by a person’s senses . These senses include sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.
An example of an absolute threshold for hearing is the lowest pitch that is detectable by the human sense of hearing without other interruptions or other sounds. The absolute threshold of vision is the least amount of light that the human eye sees . An example of an absolute threshold in touch is the point at which a person begins to feel the heat of fire. For the sense of smell , it is the slightest indication of an odor that a person is able to detect when in a room . In terms of taste , the absolute threshold is the minimum level of taste that a person can detect.
Each sense has its own absolute threshold level and for each person it can vary. The term absolute threshold is often used in experimental research and neuroscience. In addition to the absolute threshold, there is the barely visible difference or the difference threshold. This is the smallest level of stimulation required for a person to determine when there is a difference between two stimuli. The main concept of absolute threshold is detectable at least 50% of the time.
As more concrete examples we can mention how our ear is able to perceive the sound of a clock from six meters away in a totally silent room. Or also, we are able to smell a perfume in a house with six rooms or see the flame of a candle 30 miles away.
However, as we have pointed out, these and other values will always depend on the environment in which we are located , since it is not the same to see the candle if it is dark, than if it is daytime.
The origin of the absolute threshold
The origin of this phenomenon is attributed to the German psychologist Ernst Heinrich Weber who was one of the first to investigate the limits of perception, as well as his ability to feel or discriminate the different stimuli in our environment. In fact , he developed Weber’s Law , in which he established the increase in intensity necessary to cause a change in sensations, proportional to the initial power.
According to the hypothesis proposed by Weber, in order to perceive some type of modification in the stimulus , the sensation that the subject had before experiencing the change must be taken into account . In this way, for example, in the case of holding an object that weighs only 100 grams, if you want to calculate the difference in your perception, it will be necessary to change the object for another that weighs more.
Weber’s law is considered one of the most important in physiological psychology, since it also arises as a result of the research method used by nineteenth-century scientists, the famous experimental method .
