When Malia went to her doctor, he gave her a hearing test. During the test, the doctor presented tones to Malia through earphones. The tones varied only along the loud-soft dimensions (from very loud to very soft). The doctor asked Malia to raise her hand whenever she heard a sound. The doctor was testing Malia's __________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The doctor was testing Malia's absolute threshold, which is the minimum intensity of a stimulus that can be detected 50% of the time. The other options are not relevant to the described situation. Auditory convergence refers to the process by which multiple neurons send signals to a single neuron, refractory threshold refers to the period of time after a neuron has fired when it cannot fire again, and difference threshold refers to the minimum difference between two stimuli that is detectable 50% of the time.

When Malia Went to Her Doctor, He Gave Her a Hearing