The nature of psychological thresholds.
Jeffrey N. Rouder, Richard D Morey
Psychological Review July 1, 2009 DOI: 10.1037/a0016413 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Humans Unconsciousness Association Cues Pattern recognition, visual Sensory thresholds Subliminal stimulation Psychological theory Attention Psychometrics Signal detection, psychological |
| Key points | Proposes a process-neutral definition of threshold as the maximum stimulus intensity at which the distribution of mental states or behavioral events does not differ from baseline, termed "task thresholds." Argues these thresholds allow for graded perception and activation and can be estimated with modified item response psychometric measurement models, providing a theoretical basis for subliminal priming and perception. |
Abstract
Following G. T. Fechner (1966), thresholds have been conceptualized as the amount of intensity needed to transition between mental states, such as between states of unconsciousness and consciousness. With the advent of the theory of signal detection, however, discrete-state theory and the corresponding notion of threshold have been discounted. Consequently, phenomena such as subliminal priming and perception have a reduced theoretical basis. The authors propose a process-neutral definition of threshold that allows for graded perception and activation throughout the system. Thresholds correspond to maximum stimulus intensities such that the distribution of mental states does not differ from that when an appropriate baseline stimulus is presented. In practice, thresholds are maximum intensities such that the probability distribution on behavioral events does not differ from that from baseline. These thresholds, which the authors call task thresholds, may be estimated with modified item response psychometric measurement models.
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
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