Abstract
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.
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This research was supported by PHS Grant MH16400 from the National Institute, of Mental Health.
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Grice, G.R., Brunt, R.L., Kushner, B.A. et al. Stimulus intensity, catch trial effects, and the speed-accuracy tradeoff in reaction time: A variable criterion theory interptation. Memory & Cognition 2, 758–770 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198152
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198152