Method-of-limits thresholds are distorted by subjects’ response tendencies

Evidence

Alternatively, in measurements of difference thresholds, two sound events are presented with a small difference in their attributes, and subjects perform a discrimination task, reporting if they perceive a difference in the auditory events. The method of limits, in general, is prone to bias, since the tendency to report the stimulus one way or another affects the results. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 918

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

• XREF: Response-bias contamination directly parallels signal detection theory’s criterion construct — a reader mapping acoustics to measurement design would connect these.

Related

• The method of limits is inherently prone to response bias (similarity 0.92)
• Threshold estimates reflect both ear sensitivity and listener response bias (similarity 0.86)
• Response bias can contaminate any psychophysical threshold estimate (similarity 0.85)
• Thresholds can be measured by tracing stimulus change until perception flips (similarity 0.83)
• Tracking audiometry maps hearing thresholds but ignores response bias (similarity 0.83)
• Threshold measurement method, not listener differences, caused the 10 dB gap (similarity 0.83)
• Response bias distorts threshold measurements in hearing experiments. (similarity 0.83)
• Auditory assessment must account for the listener’s response bias, not just sensitivity (similarity 0.83)
• Accuracy and function-shape information trade off against speed in threshold measurement (similarity 0.82)
• Perceptual thresholds blur because listener internal noise varies by personality (similarity 0.82)
• Thresholds are measured by presenting many stimulus levels and fitting a psychometric function (similarity 0.82)
• Response bias shifts audiometric thresholds away from a patient’s true hearing abilities (similarity 0.82)
• The method of adjustment is flexible but yields listener-dependent thresholds (similarity 0.82)
• The method of limits estimates thresholds by averaging ascending and descending detection levels (similarity 0.81)
• Neither conservative nor liberal response bias yields accurate hearing thresholds (similarity 0.81)