Abstract
The dispersions of estimates of sensitivity obtained from the yes-no, two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC), matching-to-sample, and same-different tasks were examined to determine which task would be more appropriate to use in a given experimental context. Consideration was given to the effects of corrections for extreme sampled proportions. These corrections result in biased estimators, and hence the mean-square deviation of the sampled values about the population mean [MSD\((\hat d')\)], rather than that about the mean of the estimates [VAR16\((\hat d')\)]> indicates more completely the extent of the error in the estimator. For barely discriminable events (d′ ≃ 0.5), the yes-no and 2AFC tasks had the lowest values of MSD\((\hat d')\). However, for very discriminable events (d′ > 3), the same-different and matching-to-sample tasks had lower values of MSD\((\hat d')\).
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This research was partially funded by a grant from the New Zealand Lottery Science Board. A.J.L. is in the Department of Statistics, University of Auckland.
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Hautus, M.J., Lee, A.J. The dispersions of estimates of sensitivity obtained from four psychophysical procedures: Implications for experimental design. Perception & Psychophysics 60, 638–649 (1998). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206051
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206051