Question

the principle that predicts that parents of newborns will hear their children crying while siblings sleep through the night is known as:

perceptual constancy

absolute threshold

signal detection theory

Explanation:

• Perceptual constancy refers to perceiving objects as stable despite sensory changes, not related to detecting specific sounds like a baby's cry.
• Absolute threshold is the minimum stimulus intensity to detect a signal, but it doesn't account for why parents (with motivation/expectation) detect the cry while siblings don't.
• Signal detection theory involves factors like a person’s sensitivity to a signal and their response bias (e.g., parents are more motivated to detect the baby’s cry, so they “hear” it while siblings, with less motivation, do not). This matches the scenario.

Answer:

C. Signal detection theory