Abstract
If the discriminal distributions of signal-detectability theory evolve in time according to a normal Markov process, they can be characterized by Brownian motion generalized with a constant bias determined by signal strength. If the process is stopped at the first occurrence of a preset criterion displacement, the resulting latency distribution provides a model for the central component of simple reaction time. Discussed are properties of the distribution which should be useful in obtaining experimental predictions from neural-counting assumptions, and in relating reaction times to basic variables of the theory of signal-detectability.
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This paper was written while the author was on a post-doctoral fellowship at the Mental Health Research Institute, University of Michigan, supported by U.S.P.H.S. Training grant T01-MH-7417-07.
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Emerson, P.L. Simple reaction time with markovian evolution of gaussian discriminal processes. Psychometrika 35, 99–109 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02290596
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02290596