Katie is interested in how much lemon juice needs to be added to water for her friend Paul to detect it. She knows that a glass with only water (i.e., no lemon juice) will clearly be below threshold. She gives Paul this solution followed by 5 other solutions with an increasing amount of lemon juice. Paul reports being able to taste the lemon flavor at solution #4. Katie is employing the:
A) method of sensitivity
B) method of adjustment
C) method of limits
D) method of constant stimuli

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Katie is using the method of limits as she is testing Paul's threshold for detecting the lemon juice by gradually increasing the amount of lemon juice in the solutions until he can detect its presence. In this method of psychophysical testing, the experimenter gradually increases or decreases the intensity of a stimulus until the participant detects or stops detecting it, allowing for the determination of a threshold.

Katie Is Interested in How Much Lemon Juice Needs to Be