Variable criterion analysis of brightness effects in simple reaction time

Using light onset as the stimulus in simple reaction time (SRT), the effect of stimulus intensity was studied in both between-subjects and within-subjects experimental designs. There was a strong intensity effect in both conditions but no significant interaction between the effect of stimulus intensity and the type of design. This differs from previous results with auditory stimuli where such an interaction has been demonstrated. When the criterion parameters of variable criterion theory were evaluated directly, the only significant effect was greater criterion variability in the between-subjects condition. Theoretical functions describing the growth of sensory strength for each intensity had different starting points and were largely parallel, showing only late temporal divergence. This provides an explanation of the rarity, in the SRT literature, of interactions between visual intensity and criterion variables. Correlations illustrating the relations between reaction time (RT) measures and theoretical criterion parameters are presented. Absence of the predicted relation between intensity and RT variability is evidence against theories relating RT to impulse rate treated as a Poisson process.     

The role of prosody in the interpretation of structural ambiguities: a study of anticipatory eye movements

An eye-tracking experiment examined whether prosodic cues can affect the interpretation of grammatical functions in the absence of clear morphological information. German listeners were presented with scenes depicting three potential referents while hearing temporarily ambiguous SVO and OVS sentences. While case marking on the first noun phrase (NP) was ambiguous, clear case marking on the second NP disambiguated sentences towards SVO or OVS. Listeners interpreted case-ambiguous NP1s more often as Subject, and thus expected an Object as upcoming argument, only when sentence beginnings carried an SVO-type intonation. This was revealed by more anticipatory eye movements to suitable Patients (Objects) than Agents (Subjects) in the visual scenes. No such preference was found when sentence beginnings had an OVS-type intonation. Prosodic cues were integrated rapidly enough to affect listeners' interpretation of grammatical function before disambiguating case information was available. We conclude that in addition to manipulating attachment ambiguities, prosody can influence the interpretation of constituent order ambiguities.     

Bridging the idiographic-nomothetic divide: a follow-up study

In a replication and extension of Grice (2004), participants in the current study rated themselves and other known individuals on scales constructed from their own personal constructs and on marker items for the Big Five model personality traits. Confirmatory components analyses revealed excellent fit for the Big Five Model when applied to aggregate trait ratings but highly variable fit when applied to participants' individual ratings. Comparisons of the personal construct and trait ratings indicated an approximate average overlap of only 51%, and additional analyses revealed several factors that contributed to the uniqueness of the personal constructs. These findings were discussed in the context of the idiographic-nomothetic distinction drawn in personality psychology.     

On Muddled Reasoning and Mediation Modeling

The hope of mediation modeling is that psychologists can go beyond tests of association to truly uncover mechanisms of change. We argue this hope can be realized only if psychologists make important distinctions regarding causality and inference. From the perspective of Aristotelian philosophy, mediation models are sequences of efficient causes, and psychologists should therefore seek to identify those persons who can be traced through the entire sequence successfully. By reanalyzing data from two mediation studies we demonstrate that contemporary, aggregate methods of analysis are not suitable for this task because they are instead focused on making inferences about population parameters. In both studies alternative, person-centered methods revealed that majorities of participants were not traceable through the statistically significant mediation models.     

Scale Imposition as Quantitative Alchemy: Studies on the Transitivity of Neuroticism Ratings

It is common practice in psychology to devise “measurement” procedures by imposing rating scales (e.g., Likert items) onto phenomena and treating the values they produce as quantities. The validity of these procedures goes untested. Validity checks are instead performed on sets of these measurement procedures (i.e., multi-item scales). We present results from three studies suggesting that people cannot be assumed to preserve transitivity when comparing themselves and others on NEO Neuroticism-domain trait items. As transitivity is one of the fundamental axioms of quantitative measurement, these studies challenge the validity of Neuroticism scales at the level of individual scale items.     

What makes targets redundant?

Two letter-classification experiments that investigated target-redundancy effects on reaction time (RT) were conducted. Both experiments were replicated with choice reaction time (CRT) and go/no-go (GNG) procedures. In each experiment, there were two single-target conditions, one with a noise letter and one without. In one experiment, the letter classes were two letters that could be of either case. In the second experiment, each class consisted of two different capital letters. In both experiments, there were two redundant-targets conditions, one with identical targets and one with the different members of a class. In both of the GNG experiments, redundancy gains were obtained comparing the different-targets condition with the no-noise, single-target condition. Redundant stimuli are ones that lead to the same response. Visually different stimuli may be processed in parallel and jointly activate a response. GNG procedures are more sensitive than CRT in the investigation of redundancy effects.     

Accurate reaction time research with the TRS-80 microcomputer

Procedures for reaction time research with 1-msec accuracy are described using the video display of the TRS-80 microcomputer. The LVB Corporation interface is also employed. Use of the cassette recorder as a voice key in this research is illustrated. A sample assembly language program is presented.     

Stimulus intensity,catch trial effects,and the speed-accuracy tradeoff in reaction time: A variable criterion theory interptation

Ss responded to a 1,000-Hz tone of 50, 80, or 100 dB. Catch trial conditions were none, blank trials, a red light, a noise, and an 1,800-Hz tone. Auditory catch signals were of the same intensities. RT distributions in the first three conditions were well described by a family of exponential growth functions dependent upon stimulus intensity and by the parameters of normal criterion distributions dependent upon catch trial conditions and between-session variability. Performance in the auditory catch trial conditions was not dependent upon the same set of sensory growth functions. Performance in these conditions was described by a two-dimensional analysis of information transmitted as a function of time and interpreted in terms of variable criterion theory. The speed-accuracy tradeoff in this situation appears to depend upon differential rates of growth of intensity and associative information and the criterion used in responding to this information.