Absolute threshold
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A difference threshold is the amount of change necessary for an observer to report 50% of the time that a stimulus has changed. Absolute threshold is "the statistically determined minimum level of stimulation necessary to excite a perceptual system." The absolute threshold is an "average of the responses of a range of normal people." The difference threshold is the amount of change necessary for an observer to report 50% of the time every time that a value of a stimulus, such as a sound, has changed. So if I was shown different colored green circles, the closer the colors were, I would be less and less able to determine whether or not they were the same color green. The difference threshold occurs where I am able to determine that the color has changed 50% of the time.
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An absolute threshold is actually a stimulus that can be detected 51% of the time, since detection of a stimulus at 50% is chance detection.
