Jason and Mark were talking in class, but so was everyone else. As they continued to discuss their day's adventures, it suddenly became clear to them that the teacher was staring at them. They didn't realize that the class had been called to order and what was once only one conversation among many was now disruptive. Jason apologized quickly, and the teacher resumed her normal activities. This is a good example of how a consumer's ability to detect a difference between two stimuli is ________.
A) absolute
B) negligible
C) relative
D) embedded

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This scenario illustrates relative threshold, which is the level of strength a stimulus must reach in order for it to be perceived as different from another stimulus. In this case, the level of background noise (conversations among students) was high, making it difficult for the teacher to detect the specific conversation that was disruptive. Once the noise level decreased (i.e. class was called to order), the teacher was able to perceive the difference between the disruptive conversation and the rest of the ambient noise.

Jason and Mark Were Talking in Class, but So Was