SHS 311 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT ANSWERS 2026
1. What are objective psychophysics?-CORRECT ANSWER- Measure of what a listener can hear.
Detection, discrimination,
recognition. Loudness, localization, pitch perception
2. What are subjective psychophysics?-CORRECT ANSWER- Measure of what a listener does
hear. Sensory scaling and
matching.
3. What are absolute thresholds?-CORRECT ANSWER- minimal amount of stimulation that can
be detected
4. What are difference thresholds?-CORRECT ANSWER- lowest level of stimulation required to
sense that a change in
stimulation has occurred
5. What is the limitation of classical objective psychophysical tasks?-CORRECT ANSWER- The
threshold is
suppose to represent a measure of the sensitivity (e.g., of the auditory system) to the changed
stimulus parameter
(e.g., stimulus level or frequency), but the classical methods do not take response bias into
consideration. Response
bias is when situations that are not associated with sensitivity (expectations, experience, and
instructions) affect the
listener's tendency to choose one response or the other, and affect the measure threshold.
6. What is a psychometric function?-CORRECT ANSWER- Psychometric functions relate a
measure of listener's perfor
mance (e.g., percent of time that a stimulus is detected) to a measure of the stimulus (e.g.,
stimulus intensity level).
, 7. How is threshold computed on a psychometric function?-CORRECT ANSWER- Thresholds are
derived from
psychometric functions at the level at which the stimulus is detected 50% of the time
8. What is a hit?-CORRECT ANSWER- patient says yes and signal was present (correct detection)
9. What is a Miss?-CORRECT ANSWER- patient says no and signal was present (incorrect
rejection)
10. What is a false alarm?-CORRECT ANSWER- patient says yes and signal wasn't present
(incorrect detection)
11. What is a correct rejection?-CORRECT ANSWER- patient says no and there is no signal
present
12. How do you compute percent correct P(C) based on the information in a
stimulus-response table?-CORRECT ANSWER- P[C] = (Hit Rate + Correct Rejection Rate) / 2
13. What is an ROC?-CORRECT ANSWER- receiver operator characteristics
The Hits vs. False Alarms are
plotted on an ROC curve
14. What measure can be derived from the ROC function that indicates a
bias-free measure of sensitivity?-CORRECT ANSWER- Each ROC curve represents a different
Sensitivity, while points on
an ROC curve represent different Response Bias. Thus, a measure, like the area under an ROC
curve, is a measure of
Sensitivity that does not change with Bias.
15. What are the Minimum Audible Field (MAF) measures of the thresholds of
hearing?-CORRECT ANSWER- The minimum detectable level of a sound is measured at the
position of head in a free field with
negligible reflections from surfaces. Typically, the sound is assumed to come from directly in
front of the listener.
1/7
SHS 311 Final Exam
CORRECT ANSWERS 2026
1. What are objective psychophysics?-CORRECT ANSWER- Measure of what a listener can hear.
Detection, discrimination,
recognition. Loudness, localization, pitch perception
2. What are subjective psychophysics?-CORRECT ANSWER- Measure of what a listener does
hear. Sensory scaling and
matching.
3. What are absolute thresholds?-CORRECT ANSWER- minimal amount of stimulation that can
be detected
4. What are difference thresholds?-CORRECT ANSWER- lowest level of stimulation required to
sense that a change in
stimulation has occurred
5. What is the limitation of classical objective psychophysical tasks?-CORRECT ANSWER- The
threshold is
suppose to represent a measure of the sensitivity (e.g., of the auditory system) to the changed
stimulus parameter
(e.g., stimulus level or frequency), but the classical methods do not take response bias into
consideration. Response
bias is when situations that are not associated with sensitivity (expectations, experience, and
instructions) affect the
listener's tendency to choose one response or the other, and affect the measure threshold.
6. What is a psychometric function?-CORRECT ANSWER- Psychometric functions relate a
measure of listener's perfor
mance (e.g., percent of time that a stimulus is detected) to a measure of the stimulus (e.g.,
stimulus intensity level).
, 7. How is threshold computed on a psychometric function?-CORRECT ANSWER- Thresholds are
derived from
psychometric functions at the level at which the stimulus is detected 50% of the time
8. What is a hit?-CORRECT ANSWER- patient says yes and signal was present (correct detection)
9. What is a Miss?-CORRECT ANSWER- patient says no and signal was present (incorrect
rejection)
10. What is a false alarm?-CORRECT ANSWER- patient says yes and signal wasn't present
(incorrect detection)
11. What is a correct rejection?-CORRECT ANSWER- patient says no and there is no signal
present
12. How do you compute percent correct P(C) based on the information in a
stimulus-response table?-CORRECT ANSWER- P[C] = (Hit Rate + Correct Rejection Rate) / 2
13. What is an ROC?-CORRECT ANSWER- receiver operator characteristics
The Hits vs. False Alarms are
plotted on an ROC curve
14. What measure can be derived from the ROC function that indicates a
bias-free measure of sensitivity?-CORRECT ANSWER- Each ROC curve represents a different
Sensitivity, while points on
an ROC curve represent different Response Bias. Thus, a measure, like the area under an ROC
curve, is a measure of
Sensitivity that does not change with Bias.
15. What are the Minimum Audible Field (MAF) measures of the thresholds of
hearing?-CORRECT ANSWER- The minimum detectable level of a sound is measured at the
position of head in a free field with
negligible reflections from surfaces. Typically, the sound is assumed to come from directly in
front of the listener.
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SHS 311 Final Exam
