Clinical threshold testing uses undefined observation intervals to prevent anticipation from lowering thresholds.

Evidence

In this procedure, the tester (often the audiologist) presents a stimulus and waits briefly for a patient response (a “yes” or a “no”). This paradigm uses an undefined observation interval, that is, the patient (or listener) does not know when the stimulus will be presented. In this way, the method prevents a patient from anticipating when a stimulus is presented, ensuring that the method will not yield a threshold lower than the true threshold. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 303

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the undefined observation interval and its purpose.