i think its important to note that absolute threshold is minimum stimulus that an individuals is able to detect 50% of the time. There are some FLs that use that specific wording so its good to get used to it and know it.
Haven’t come across that in the FLs yet. In that case, I think it would make sense to keep. I do think that “person is able to detect” really doesn’t make the distinction between activating a sensory system (absolute threshold) or having enough energy to be brought into conscious awareness (threshold for conscious perception). Either way whatever AAMC says is best. Maybe there’s actually a better middle ground with including the previous wording with the addition that I suggested.
Any chance you recall what FL this is in/have the exact wording for this from the AAMC?
i do believe there is some validity to the wording that you state cause the “weakest amount of a stimulus” could be the magnitude of a stimulus or minimum stimulus. both of those sound better. I also agree with your statement that it does not always translate into conscious awareness but then I wasn’t sure if that’s inanttentional blindness or just being ignored by your sensory system. another textbook I found stated this, I think its good and also shows an example.
“The absolute threshold for any sensory input is formally defined as the minimum amount of physical energy that can be detected 50 percent of the time. Of course, the absolute threshold can vary between people and species. For example, the sound of a very soft humming noise might fall below the absolute threshold for a man who is partially
deaf but be above the absolute threshold for his granddaughter. Moreover, owls, which hunt at night, have much lower absolute thresholds than humans for hearing and can easily hear sounds that we cannot. In a similar way, absolute thresholds exist for other senses, including sight, smell, taste, and so on”
I don’t remember the FL but it will come up with the 50% wording for sure.
I’m honestly not really following your first paragraph. “i do believe there is some validity to the wording that you state cause the “weakest amount of a stimulus” could be the magnitude of a stimulus or minimum stimulus.” Do you mind explaining what you mean on this part? my point with this suggestion was that the absolute threshold and threshold for conscious perception are two terms that we are supposed to know. The absolute threshold is the minimum of stimulus energy that is needed to activate a sensory system and that this activation does not necessarily result in conscious perception. The previous extra sections: " that a person is able to detect" is unclear because saying a person is able to detect it would probably incorrectly suggest to many people that it is consciously perceived which is not necessarily the case and would instead better describe the threshold for conscious perception. Also I understand that the FL would say the 50% wording but I’m specifically wondering if they use the “that a person is able to detect” wording.
“I also agree with your statement that it does not always translate into conscious awareness but then I wasn’t sure if that’s inanttentional blindness or just being ignored by your sensory system” From my understanding its a combination of factors. By definition a stimulus that exceeds the absolute threshold stimulates the sensory system. However, there’s higher level processing involved for a detected stimuli to enter conscious perception. The reticular activating system (which we have a card on) plays a large role in this.
yea i thought u were having issues with some of the previous wording, which is why i agreed that it seemed to not be ideal. Uworld and another textbook i looked at all both say the point at which an individual detects a sensation or stimulus 50% of the time. So i think that it for sure is talking about detection of a sensation. in this case its talking abiout perception but this can all be impacted by signal detection theory.
yes, pons does play a role in determining which information is deemed important to be sent to other parts of the body, but this threshold isnt about that concept at all. its more about what is detected.
Yeah I also saw that UWorld says “The absolute threshold describes the intensity at which a stimulus is detected approximately 50% of the time.” and in QID: QId: 400229 (4908855) the participants are noting when they detect a tone so they are “consciously” perceiving it.
From KAPLAN: The absolute threshold is the minimum of stimulus energy that is needed to activate a sensory system. This threshold is therefore a threshold in sensation, not in perception. It is possible for sensory systems to send signals to the central nervous system without a person perceiving these signals. This lack of conscious perception may be because the stimulus is too subtle to demand our attention, or may last for too brief a duration for the brain to fully process the information. Note the difference between the absolute threshold and the threshold for conscious perception: a stimulus below the absolute threshold will not be transduced, and thus never reaches the central nervous system. A stimulus below the threshold of conscious perception arrives at the central nervous system, but does not reach the higher-order brain regions that control attention and consciousness. So, signals that are “subliminal” are strong enough to pass the absolute threshold, but not strong enough to pass the threshold of conscious perception.
These two definitions between UWorld and Kaplan seem somewhat contrary because Kaplan states that it is specifically related to activation of sensation not perception. The threshold of conscious perception is a step up in energy from the absolute threshold so I’m not sure how a stimulus just above the absolute threshold necessarily is able to reach the threshold of conscious perception 50% of the time. The definition from UWorld also doesn’t really draw a difference between the absolute threshold and threshold for conscious perception : The {{c1::threshold of conscious perception}} is the minimum stimulus energy that will create a signal large enough in size and long enough in duration to be brought into awareness. Is the suggestion then that the threshold of conscious perception involves the signal being “brought into awareness” 100% of the time? Khan academy offers a similar definition to UWorld in Khan Academy. People are similarly confused about how to then differentiate between the absolute threshold and threshold for conscious perception.
*In the Khan Academy comment section.
Maybe this was discussed previously and is the reason why the card currently has two definitions for the same term in the text and extra section.
Will definitely circle back to this when I come across the question in the FL and have AAMC’s definition. LMK if you end up coming across it again.