Importance Of Absolute Thresholds
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Absolute Thresholds Absolute thresholds are one of the most common ways that humans interpret data, and perceive our environment. Every morning we wake up and begin the day with common routines based on individual needs. As the day progresses, we are on the move and don’t always have time to stop and realize what we are doing, how we need to react to our environment or choose behaviors based on given situations, luckily, we can fall back on our absolute thresholds to guide us. Absolute thresholds are important, can provide us with some quick ques that assist us throughout the day, but at the same time, have some major issues that don’t always produce the same results for different people. The best way to explain absolute thresholds is as
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Sometimes in circumstances beyond our control, sight is less than reliable. With the example above, if we smelled smoke, but it was dark outside, we might be in trouble. Our sight is limited when it is dark. If we were in a moon-lit house and smelled smoke but didn’t see fire we would need to turn on a light to better process the situation. As soon as the light began to increase from darkness, and we noticed an increase, we have identified our absolute threshold. This example would be best observed with a dimmer switch since it is equipped with a rheostat that gradually increases or decreases the intensity of light produced. Sight is probably the easiest of the five senses to explain, but what about …show more content…
These four senses are compiled in our brain and processed as cautionary information that jump starts our response. That is one of the reasons that absolute thresholds are very important to understand. There is one problem with these thresholds though. They are dependent on the person’s abilities at processing inputs and perceiving change applied to their five senses.
In a study by Ahadi, Milani and Malaveri (2015) it was determined that audiogram tests were only reliable for testing individual patients due to the fact that some tones were unrecognizable to people with damaged cochlear regions (p. 1,362). When this information is added to my previous example of emergency vehicle’s warning sirens, it is easy to understand that not everyone will hear a siren. Additionally, not everyone will have the same absolute threshold due to personal issues or handicaps to their ears, eyes, nose, body or
Sometimes in circumstances beyond our control, sight is less than reliable. With the example above, if we smelled smoke, but it was dark outside, we might be in trouble. Our sight is limited when it is dark. If we were in a moon-lit house and smelled smoke but didn’t see fire we would need to turn on a light to better process the situation. As soon as the light began to increase from darkness, and we noticed an increase, we have identified our absolute threshold. This example would be best observed with a dimmer switch since it is equipped with a rheostat that gradually increases or decreases the intensity of light produced. Sight is probably the easiest of the five senses to explain, but what about …show more content…
These four senses are compiled in our brain and processed as cautionary information that jump starts our response. That is one of the reasons that absolute thresholds are very important to understand. There is one problem with these thresholds though. They are dependent on the person’s abilities at processing inputs and perceiving change applied to their five senses.
In a study by Ahadi, Milani and Malaveri (2015) it was determined that audiogram tests were only reliable for testing individual patients due to the fact that some tones were unrecognizable to people with damaged cochlear regions (p. 1,362). When this information is added to my previous example of emergency vehicle’s warning sirens, it is easy to understand that not everyone will hear a siren. Additionally, not everyone will have the same absolute threshold due to personal issues or handicaps to their ears, eyes, nose, body or