Psychol. [L. līmen = ‘threshold’; introduced as an equivalent for G. schwelle (a term first used by Herbart, Psychol., 1824).] The limit below which a given stimulus ceases to be perceptible; the minimum amount of stimulus or nerve-excitation required to produce a sensation. Also called THRESHOLD.
1895. Titchener, Külpe’s Outl. Psychol., 48. The just noticeable stimulus is technically termed the stimulus limen [G. Reizschwelle], and the just noticeable stimulus-difference the difference limen [G. Unterschiedsschwelle]. Ibid. (1901), Exper. Psychol., I. 140. The method given for the determination of the limen.
