The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time is called what?

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time is called what?

• A. Just Noticeable Difference
• B. Absolute threshold
• C. Difference threshold
• D. Signal detection threshold

Answer: (C)

The difference threshold is the smallest change in a stimulus that a person can detect about half the time. That exact idea—the minimum difference between two stimuli needed for detection 50% of the time—matches this term. Some people also call it the just noticeable difference, but the core idea is the same: it’s a threshold for noticing a change in intensity. Absolute threshold, by contrast, is about the smallest amount of a stimulus needed to detect it at all, not the difference between two stimuli. A term like signal detection threshold isn’t a standard label here; signal detection theory focuses on how we distinguish signal from noise using decision criteria, rather than a single threshold for noticing differences.

The difference threshold is the smallest change in a stimulus that a person can detect about half the time. That exact idea—the minimum difference between two stimuli needed for detection 50% of the time—matches this term. Some people also call it the just noticeable difference, but the core idea is the same: it’s a threshold for noticing a change in intensity.

Absolute threshold, by contrast, is about the smallest amount of a stimulus needed to detect it at all, not the difference between two stimuli. A term like signal detection threshold isn’t a standard label here; signal detection theory focuses on how we distinguish signal from noise using decision criteria, rather than a single threshold for noticing differences.