Up-and-down procedure
The up-and-down procedure is like a game (but a serious one for researchers) where we are trying to figure out how much of something is too much or too little. Let's say we are trying to find out how much sugar a person can taste in their drink before it becomes too sweet.
First, we start with a big amount of sugar in the drink. If the person says it's too sweet, we go down in the amount of sugar we add for the next drink. If the person says it's not sweet enough, we add more sugar for the next drink.
We keep going up and down like this until we find the sugar amount where the person says the drink is just right - not too sweet and not too bland.
The important part is that we don't guess based on what we think is right, we let the person's answers guide us. And we keep track of all the ups and downs to help us figure out the right amount.
This game helps researchers figure out the threshold (or limit) for how much of something is too much or too little.
First, we start with a big amount of sugar in the drink. If the person says it's too sweet, we go down in the amount of sugar we add for the next drink. If the person says it's not sweet enough, we add more sugar for the next drink.
We keep going up and down like this until we find the sugar amount where the person says the drink is just right - not too sweet and not too bland.
The important part is that we don't guess based on what we think is right, we let the person's answers guide us. And we keep track of all the ups and downs to help us figure out the right amount.
This game helps researchers figure out the threshold (or limit) for how much of something is too much or too little.