Dissociation within the anterior attentional system: Effects of task complexity and irrelevant information on reaction time speed and accuracy.

Patients with focal frontal or nonfrontal lesions were compared with control participants on 4 reaction time (RT) tasks varying in levels of complexity based on a feature-integration model of detection. Superior medial lesions affected simple RT speed. Increasing the demands of feature detection did not differentially affect speed of correct responses among the groups. Frontal structures appear to play little role in correct integration of features during detection. The analysis of error types within the complex task revealed a frontal lobe hemispheric distinction between sensitivity and bias: right dorsolateral-decreased sensitivity; left dorsolateral-altered response bias. The frontal lobes, particularly right dorsolateral, were required to inhibit an incorrect response. There are at least 3 functionally and anatomically separable anterior attentional processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Somatosensory processing in the biological relatives of schizophrenia patients: A signal detection analysis of two-point discrimination.

This study examined 2-point discrimination performance in 1st-degree biological relatives (n?=?39) of individuals with schizophrenia and normal adult control participants (n?=?30) recruited from the community. They completed an objective 2-point discrimination task, adapted for use with a signal detection approach to permit separation of discriminability (i.e., sensitivity, d') from response bias/criterion (or motivation, lnβ). Relatives revealed poorer performance on the d' index compared with controls. The 2 groups did not differ on lnβ, suggesting a genuine difference in sensitivity but not response bias. The sensitivity deficit might reflect decreased spatial acuity and/or impaired intensity cue processing of tactile stimuli. Poor performance on the d' index was most closely associated with 2 schizotypic features, namely "odd beliefs/magical thinking." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a psychophysics of agency: Detecting gain and loss of control over auditory action effects.

Theories of agency--the feeling of being in control of one's actions and their effects--emphasize either perceptual or cognitive aspects. This study addresses both aspects simultaneously in a finger-tapping paradigm. The tasks required participants to detect when synchronization of their taps with computer-controlled tones changed to self-controlled production of tones, or the reverse. For comparison, the tone sequences recorded in these active tapping conditions were also presented in passive listening conditions, in which participants had to detect the transition from computer to human control, or vice versa. Signal detection theory was applied to separate sensitivity from bias. Sensorimotor cues to agency were found to increase sensitivity in the active conditions compared with the passive conditions, which provided only perceptual cues. Analysis of bias revealed a tendency to attribute action effects to self-control. Thus, judgments of agency rely on veridical sensorimotor cues but can also be subject to cognitive bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some more sensitive measures of sensitivity and response bias.

In this article, the author proposes a new pair of sensitivity and response bias indices and compares them to other measures currently available, including d′ and β of signal detection theory. Unlike d′ and β, these new performance measures do not depend on specific distributional assumptions or assumptions about the transformation from stimulus information to a discrimination judgment. With simulated and empirical data, the new sensitivity index is shown to be more accurate than d′ and 16 other indices when these measures are used to compare the sensitivity levels of 2 experimental conditions. Results from a perceptual discrimination experiment demonstrate the feasibility of the new distribution-free bias index and suggest that biases of the type defined within the signal detection theory framework (i.e., the placement of a decision criterion) do not exist, even under an asymmetric payoff manipulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonparametric indexes of sensitivity and response bias.

Notes that dissatisfaction with theoretically based indexes of sensitivity and bias in detection and recognition experiments has motivated research into nonparametric indexes. Various suggestions from past work are presented and discussed with regard to their independence of particular theories. A particularly satisfactory measure of sensitivity is considered the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. While no measure of bias is independent of sensitivity, the false-alarm rate can itself be used when experiments fail to reveal a change in the latter. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensitivity reductions in false recognition: A measure of false memories with stronger theoretical implications.

Signal detection analyses of recognition memory indicate that a bias to respond "old" is large for critical words that are centrally related with previously encoded word lists, is small for words that are less related, and is not observed for unrelated words. Also, recognition sensitivity has not been previously shown to differ between those conditions, which has focused debate over how to explain false recognition on the bias differences. In 3 experiments, critical-word sensitivity was lower than sensitivity for other word types, but related-word sensitivity was not lower than sensitivity for unrelated words. Extant models that predict reduced critical-word sensitivity also predict lower sensitivity for related words than for unrelated words. These results provide crucial new constraints on theoretical explanations of false memories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing the belief bias effect with ROCs: Reply to Dube, Rotello, and Heit (2010).

Comments on an article by Dube, Rotello, and Heit (see record 2010-14834-005). The authors argued (a) that the so-called receiver operating characteristic is nonlinear for data on belief bias in syllogistic reasoning; (b) that their data are inconsistent with Klauer, Musch, and Naumer's (see record 2000-02818-008) model of belief bias; (c) that their data are inconsistent with any of the existing accounts of belief bias and only consistent with a theory provided by signal detection theory; and (d) that in fact, belief bias is a response bias effect. In this reply, we present reanalyses of Dube et al.'s data and of old data suggesting (a) that the receiver operating characteristic is linear for binary “valid” versus “invalid” responses, as employed by the bulk of research in this field; (b) that Klauer et al.'s model describes the old data significantly better than does Dube et al.'s model and that it describes Dube et al.'s data somewhat better than does Dube et al.'s model; (c) that Dube et al.'s data are consistent with the account of belief bias by misinterpreted necessity, whereas Dube et al.'s signal detection model does not fit their data; and (d) that belief bias is more than a response bias effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suggestions for altered auditory sensitivity, the negative subject effect and hypnotic susceptibility: A signal detection analysis.

In Experiment I, using 96 undergraduates, low susceptibles (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A) showed higher sensitivity than high susceptibles, and hypnotic induction failed to affect the sensitivity of either highs or lows. Among the high susceptibles, suggestion to either increase or decrease acuity produced increments in sensitivity and reduced individual differences. Suggestions (regardless of the direction of change suggested) probably motivated high susceptibles, who would have otherwise performed inefficiently, to perform as efficiently as low susceptibles. With respect to response bias, high-susceptible Ss given a suggestion for increased acuity behaved in terms of suggested demands; they showed an increased tendency to respond "signal." Low-susceptible Ss given the same suggestion responded in a counterdemand or "negative subject" fashion; they developed a bias to say "noise." Exp II used a more difficult discrimination task with 80 Ss to replicate and extend this counterdemand effect in low susceptibles. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response bias: Characteristics of detection theory, threshold theory, and "nonparametric" indexes.

Models of discrimination based on statistical decision theory distinguish sensitivity (the ability of an observer to reflect a stimulus–response correspondence defined by the experimenter) from response bias (the tendency to favor 1 response over others). Measures of response bias have received less attention than those of sensitivity. Bias measures are classified here according to 2 characteristics. First, the distributions assumed or implied to underlie the observer's decision may be normal, logistic, or rectangular. Second, the bias index may measure criterion location, criterion location relative to sensitivity, or likelihood ratio. Both parametric and "nonparametric" indexes are classified in this manner. The various bias statistics are compared on pragmatic and theoretical grounds, and it is concluded that criterion measures have many advantages in empirical work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response bias factors and the sensoristatic model of sensory restriction.

Considers that the sensoristatic model of sensory restriction claims sensory isolation lowers sensory thresholds. Evidence for this claim rests on traditional psychophysical procedures which according to signal detection (TSD) theory may confound pure sensory shifts with motivational factors. A TSD analysis of 1 type of sensory restriction procedure, isolation of a circumscribed area of the skin, revealed that in 9 adult males heightened sensitivity on a cutaneous discrimination task was due primarily to sensory factors. Response bias factors were not a significant source of variance. Results offer further support of the sensoristatic model of sensory restriction. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol alters men's perceptual and decisional processing of women's sexual interest.

The current investigation examines the etiology of men's errors in sexual perception after moderate alcohol use. Sensitivity and bias estimates, derived from multidimensional signal detection analysis, revealed that men's alcohol-influenced performance was associated with declining sensitivity to the distinction between women's friendliness and sexual interest. However, sensitivity to the distinction between conservative and provocative clothing was unaffected. Similarly, an alcohol dose led to an increased bias to respond that women's ambiguous cues were sexual interest (rather than friendliness) but did not influence response thresholds for clothing style. Thus, there was specificity to the perceptual and decisional changes associated with alcohol use rather than a simple degradation of men's capacity to process all dating-relevant cues in the environment. Given the link between alcohol use, sexual misperception, and acquaintance-initiated sexual coercion, understanding the etiology of sexual misperception in the context of alcohol use may inform sexual coercion prevention efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Semantic priming and sensitivity in lexical decision.

M. J. Farah (1989) argued that qualitatively different attentional mechanisms underlie perceptual and semantic priming. The crux of this argument is her claim that semantic priming, unlike perceptual priming, does not alter sensitivity. It is suggested that the evidential base for this claim is weak, and 4 experiments are reported in which semantic priming altered sensitivity. In Exps 1, 3, and 4, lexical decision was reliably primed by associates, and signal detection analyses indicated that both sensitivity and bias were affected. In Exp 2, significant semantic priming was also demonstrated with a 2-alternative forced choice paradigm in which performance is independent of criterion bias. These results challenge the claim that semantic priming does not alter sensitivity. The broader implications of these results are considered for attentional mechanisms and for J. A. Fodor's (1983, 1985) modularity claims. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depressive symptoms and alterations in sucrose taste perception: Cognitive bias or a true change in sensitivity?

Examined whether changes in response bias and/or sucrose detection thresholds were associated with symptoms of depression. Ss were 49 18–34 yr old undergraduates and 1 52-yr-old outpatient who had been diagnosed with major depressive episode. Sucrose detection thresholds were measured (1) in Ss with high and low Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) scores who did not meet standard criteria for current Major Depressive Episode (MDE); and (2) in Ss who did fulfill standard criteria for MDE. Ss with low HAM-D scores produced significantly more false alarms than the other 2 groups but taste sensitivity did not vary significantly across groups. Results suggest that changes in response bias underlie previously reported increases in sucrose taste thresholds in depressed Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual attention modulates signal detectability.

The mechanism by which visual–spatial attention affects the detection of faint signals has been the subject of considerable debate. It is well known that spatial cuing speeds signal detection. This may imply that attentional cuing modulates the processing of sensory information during detection or, alternatively, that cuing acts to create decision bias favoring input at the cued location. These possibilities were evaluated in 3 spatial cuing experiments, with a total of 22 university students. Peripheral cues were used in Exp 1, and central cues were used in Exps 2 and 3. Cuing similarly enhanced measured sensitivity, P(A) and d′, for simple luminance detection in all 3 experiments. Under some conditions it also induced shifts in decision criteria (beta). These findings indicate that visual–spatial attention facilitates the processing of sensory input during detection either by increasing sensory gain for inputs at cued locations or by prioritizing the processing of cued inputs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancy and visual-spatial attention: Effects on perceptual quality.

When we expect important stimuli at a particular spatial location, how does our perceptual sensitivity change over space? Subjects were cued to expect a target stimulus at one location and then required to perform one of the following tasks at that and three other locations: luminance detection, brightness discrimination, orientation discrimination, or form discrimination. The analysis of subjects' performance according to signal detection theory revealed changes in both sensitivity and bias for each of these tasks. Sensitivity was maximally enhanced at the location where a target stimulus was expected and generally decreased with distance from that location. Factors that influenced the gradient of sensitivity were (a) the type of task performed and (b) the spatial distribution of the stimuli. Sensitivity fell off more steeply over distance for orientation and form discrimination than for luminance detection and brightness discrimination. In addition, it fell off more steeply when stimuli were near each other than when they were farther apart. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A table for the calculation of d' and BETA.

The methodology of signal detection theory is a preferred technique for assessing an S's ability to discriminate the occurrence of discrete binary events. A compact table is presented which will permit precise calculation of signal detection parameters, d' (discrimination index) and BETA (response bias), for hit and false alarm rate combinations in the range from .01-.99. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Signal detection analyses of repetition blindness.

Three experiments used a signal detection model to demonstrate that repetition blindness (N. Kanwisher; see record 1988-34836-001) reflects a reduction in sensitivity (d°) for the detection of repeated compared with unrepeated visual targets. In Experiment 1, repetition blindness (RB) was found for rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) letter sequences, whether the visual targets were specified by category membership (vowels) or as 1 of 2 prespecified letters (e.g., A or O). In Experiment 2, RB was found to a similar degree even when the 1st critical item was displayed for twice as long as the other list items, although overall performance was considerably improved. Experiment 3 found RB for displays containing just 2 simultaneously presented letters. These results support Kanwisher's (1987) account of RB as a genuine perceptual effect, and rule out alternative accounts of RB as the result of response bias, output interference, or guessing biases. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validation of a detector of response bias on a forced-choice test of nonverbal ability.

Validation studies of a 2-alternative forced-choice test used to detect faked cognitive impairment are reported. In Study 1, 177 college students were given substantial financial incentives to fake believable impairment. Rate of detection was compromised by financial incentives, but the test demonstrated superior specificity and sensitivity relative to other measures of response bias. Study 2 and Study 3 included neuropsychology (n?=?134) and forensic (n?=?18) evaluees, who were administered several tests of response bias. One decision rule for the forced-choice test demonstrated greater sensitivity than the other measures of response bias and displayed moderately good agreement with clinician ratings of individual testing response style. Although it was originally intended to identify malingering, it is concluded that psychometric tasks can only detect biased responding and that the determination of malingering must be based on overall clinical evaluation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

No Special K! A signal detection framework for the strategic regulation of memory accuracy.

Two experiments investigated criterion setting and metacognitive processes underlying the strategic regulation of accuracy on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) using Type-2 signal detection theory (SDT). In Experiment 1, report bias was manipulated by penalizing participants either 0.25 (low incentive) or 4 (high incentive) points for each error. Best guesses to unanswered items were obtained so that Type-2 signal detection indices of discrimination and bias could be calculated. The same incentive manipulation was used in Experiment 2, only the test was computerized, confidence ratings were taken so that receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves could be generated, and feedback was manipulated. The results of both experiments demonstrated that SDT provides a viable alternative to A. Koriat and M. Goldsmith's (1996c) framework of monitoring and control and reveals information about the regulation of accuracy that their framework does not. For example, ROC analysis indicated that the threshold model implied by formula scoring is inadequate. Instead, performance on the SAT should be modeled with an equal-variance Gaussian, Type-2 signal detection model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of the cochlear microphonic response as an indicant of auditory sensitivity: Review and evaluation.

The validity of the use of the cochlear microphonic (CM) isopotential function as an index of auditory sensitivity was assessed by (a) examining the characteristics of CM recordings to determine if there were any sources of bias inherent in the technique that might influence its representation of sensitivity, (b) qualitatively comparing the shapes of CM and behavioral "audiograms" of 16 animal species obtained in previous studies, and (c) making a quantitative estimate and statistical evaluation of the correspondence between the 16 pairs of audiograms. Potential high frequency bias was found in the CM recording technique, which would be expected to reduce the correspondence between CM isopotential functions and behavioral audiograms. Examination of the 16 pairs of audiograms showed that on the average, the use of a linear rule to predict behavioral audiograms from CM isopotential functions could account for more than 40% of the variance in the behavioral data. The lack of a well-defined region of maximum sensitivity in the CM audiograms was the most consistent shape discrepancy between the 2 data sets. Moreover, the CM audiogram was only an indicator of relative, not absolute, sensitivity. Several possibilities for improving the correspondence between behavioral and CM audiograms are suggested. (58 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)