Abstract
Choice reaction latencies were measured at three different a priori probabilities for two stimulus alternatives. Unlike the results of some other studies, the mean latency of a given response was nearly the same whether the response was correct or incorrect. The discriminable stimuli were a 1000- or a 1700-Hz tone presented at 70 dB SPL. Latencies and standard deviations, based on about 17,000 observations, are reported for three observers. The data are compared with predictions of the optimum sequential model of Wald and Stone and two modifications of that random-walk model, one proposed by Link and Heath and the other proposed by Laming. Fast-guess analyses were also carried out. The three-parameter version of either the sequential or the modified random-walk models provided reasonably accurate predictions of the mean data for each observer. The parameters estimated by the fast-guess analysis were unrealistic. There are three obvious differences between this experiment and most previous choice reaction-time experiments. First is stimulus modality#x2014;we used an auditory signal, whereas most of the previous studies used a visual signal. Second, the observers practiced more in this experiment than in most previous experiments. Finally, there was a random foreperiod with a heavy penalty for anticipations. One or more of these factors is the probable reason for the discrepancy between our results and those of previous studies.
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Luce, R. D.Reaction times. Manuscript in preparation, 1983.
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This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation.
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Green, D.M., Smith, A.F. & von Gierke, S.M. Choice reaction time with a random foreperiod. Perception & Psychophysics 34, 195–208 (1983). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202946
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202946