Detection Theory Analysis Research Articles

Modulation of perception and neurophysiological correlates of brief CO2 laser stimuli in humans using concurrent large fiber stimulation

It has been postulated that peripheral large fiber stimulation could modulate pain perception, probably by gating the input from Aδ- and C-fibers. The present study examined the effects of concurrent large fiber stimulation on the perception and neurophysiological correlates of brief CO2 laser stimuli known to activate Aδ- and C-nociceptor endings selectively. Four test stimuli of brief non-painful and painful CO2 laser pulses (duration 50 ms; diameter 5 mm; intensity range 0.116-0.212 J) were delivered at random every 5-10 s on the dorsum of the left forearm of ten healthy subjects. Large fiber stimulation was performed by a dynamic soft brush applied either adjacently to test stimuli (segmental brush condition) or on the dorsum of the contra-lateral foot (extrasegmental brush condition). Perception, reaction time (RT) and laser-evoked potentials (LEPs) were examined for conditions with brush and without brush (control condition). The signal detection theory (SDT) was used to evaluate the discrimination performance and the decision criterion. During extrasegmental brushing, these variables were unaffected as compared with control conditions. During segmental brushing, the absolute detection threshold increased, the probability of detection decreased and the RT increased. Interestingly, the stimulus-response curve of detected stimuli and late LEPs did not change significantly. SDT analysis showed that segmental brushing did not change the discrimination performance or sensitivity but increased significantly the subject's decision criterion for reporting sensation. It was concluded that segmental brushing acted primarily at supra-spinal levels and not by gating the input from small primary afferents activated selectively by brief CO2 laser stimuli.

Insomniacs' Perception of Wake Instead of Sleep

To establish if insomniacs' underestimation of sleep time is due to reduced ability to discriminate between sleeping and waking states. Two night's home polysomnography were compared to sleep diaries. Five laboratory nights employed a series of recorded questions regarding perception of prior sleep-wake state, which were presented during sustained wake and interrupted Stage 2 and REM sleep. Sleep laboratory and participants' homes. Fourteen insomniacs were compared to 8 good sleepers. Mean age for both groups was 58 years. N/A. A signal detection theory analysis was applied to participants' responses to questions presented overnight in the laboratory concerning judgement of prior sleep-wake state and confidence in their decision. Insomniacs had reduced sleep-wake discriminability in addition to a greater bias toward reporting prior wakefulness in the laboratory compared to good sleepers. These measures correlated significantly with the degree of underestimation of total sleep and overestimation of wake recorded at home. Insomniacs' underestimation of total sleep time is the product of prior sleep being misperceived as wake time upon awakening overnight. This misperception may play a role in the perpetuation of insomnia.

Two bs or not two Bs? A signal detection theory analysis of repetition blindness in a counting task.

Stimulus repetition usually benefits performance. A notable exception is repetition blindness (RB), in which subjects fail to report a repeated stimulus in a rapid serial visual presentation. Theories differ in attributing RB to either perceptual encoding or memory retrieval and to impaired discrimination versus response bias. In the present study, subjects judged whether one or two letters were imbedded in sequences of digits. Unlike previous studies, false guesses of two unrepeated letters were distinguished from false guesses of two repeated letters. When repeated- and unrepeated-letter trials were randomly intermixed (Experiment 1), RB was entirely attributable to response bias. However, when they were separately blocked (Experiments 2 and 3), RB was manifested in discriminability (d'). The results support perceptual-encoding accounts of RB but indicate that effects on discriminability depend on subjects' processing strategies.

Using signal detection methods for analysis of operant performance in mice

Several factors account for murine cognitive abilities, and manipulation of genes which would act at the effector molecules involved in stimulus processing, reward-related properties and/or motor output can easily confound behavioural data obtained from mouse mutants responding on cognitive tasks. Therefore, tests may be needed which allow a better dissociation between true cognitive processes (accuracy) and other factors that may alter performance (motor or motivational bias). Part of this can be achieved by using methods which enable parametric variation of task difficulty. Part of it can also be achieved by using data analysis that allows a distinction between accuracy and bias, such as the mathematical methods of signal detection theory (SDT). SDT formally addresses the possibility that a given gene product or lack thereof affects performance by affecting motivation rather than cognition. It proposes that performance in a task depends on two factors, that is the sensitivity (or accuracy) of the neural systems mediating a cognitive process and the subject's motivational state, the latter of which can be represented as bias. SDT analysis can be easily applied to murine data. This overview will discuss the advances and limitations of the various SDT measures and illustrate the value of this type of analysis for understanding cognitive performance of mice.

Creativity, schizotypy, and laterality

Introduction. Previous research has found associations between creativity (or semantic association), schizotypy, and laterality when each of the three pairings has been studied individually, leading to three relatively distinct bodies of literature. Methods. This study attempted to integrate previous research by providing measures of all three constructs in a within subjects correlational design. Participants were 30 undergraduate students who completed four measures of creativity, three schizotypy scales, and a lateralised lexical decision task. Signal detection theory (SDT) was used to analyse the laterality data. Results. Normal individuals with relatively lower SDT response criteria for stimuli presented to the left visual field/right hemisphere had higher schizotypy scores and higher performance on a verbal creativity test. Conclusions. These results extend previous findings by using SDT analyses to show for the first time that individuals scoring higher on certain schizotypy and creativity tests exhibited differences in response criteria to more readily accept right hemisphere responses, rather than exhibiting hemispheric differences in sensitivity (ability). The findings accord with theories proposing that higher schizotypy and creativity may partly arise from a lowering of criteria for evidence and/or from a shift to reliance on processing strategies that are more dependent on the right cerebral hemisphere.

The Application of Signal Detection Theory to Decision-Making in Forensic Science

Signal Detection Theory (SDT) has come to be used in a wide variety of fields where noise and imperfect signals present challenges to the task of separating hits and correct rejections from misses and false alarms. The application of SDT helps illuminate and improve the quality of decision-making in those fields in a number of ways. The present article is designed to make SDT more accessible to forensic scientists by: (a) explaining what SDT is and how it works, (b) explicating the potential usefulness of SDT to forensic science, (c) illustrating SDT analysis using forensic science data, and (d) suggesting ways to gain the benefits of SDT analyses in the course of carrying out existing programs of quality assessment and other research on forensic science examinations.

Using cognitive science methods to assess the role of social information processing in sexually coercive behavior.

Seventy-four undergraduate men completed cognitive performance tasks assessing perceptual organization, classification, and category learning, as well as self-report measures relevant to sexual coercion. The stimuli were slides of Caucasian women who varied along affect and physical exposure (i.e., sensuality) dimensions. Data were analyzed using a weighted multidimensional scaling model, signal-detection theory analyses, and a connectionist learning model (RASHNL; J. K. Kruschke & M. K. Johansen, 1999). Individual differences in performance on the classification and category-learning tasks were congruent with individual differences in perceptual organization. Additionally, participants who showed relatively more attention to exposure than to affect were less sensitive to women's negative responses to unwanted sexual advances. Overall, the study demonstrates the feasibility and utility of cognitive science methods for studying information processing in psychopathology.

Designing Automated Alerting Systems: Standard and Fuzzy Signal Detection Theory and Bayesian Analysis

Quantitative models of human-automation interaction can aid in the design of automation for effective human use. The application of signal detection theory (SDT), Bayesian analysis, and fuzzy SDT to the design of automated alerting and warning systems is discussed. SDT and Bayesian analysis can be used to design automated systems with high posterior probabilities of correct response to hazards. Fuzzy SDT can provide estimates of performance that better capture the temporal and contextual variability inherent in real-world hazards that need to be detected by automated warning systems.

Book Reviews : Signal Detection Theory and ROC Analysis in Psychology and Diagnostics : Collected Papers. By JOHN A. SWETS. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1996, 308 pages, $54.95, hardbound

Book Reviews : Signal Detection Theory and ROC Analysis in Psychology and Diagnostics : Collected Papers. By JOHN A. SWETS. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1996, 308 pages, $54.95, hardbound

Erratum to: A signal detection theory analysis of an unconscious perception effect

Erratum to: A signal detection theory analysis of an unconscious perception effect

A signal detection theory analysis of an unconscious perception effect.

The independent observation model (Macmillan & Creelman, 1991) is fitted to detection-identification data collected under conditions of heavy masking. The model accurately predicts a quantitative relationship between stimulus detection and stimulus identification over a wide range of detection performance. This model can also be used to offer a signal detection interpretation of the common finding of above-chance identification following a missed signal. While our finding is not a new one, the stimuli used in this experiment (redundant three-letter strings) differ slightly from those used in traditional signal detection work. Also, the stimuli were presented very briefly and heavily masked, conditions typical in the study of unconscious perception effects.

Group Performance Depends on the Majority Rule

Some group decisions require a two-thirds or three-quarters majority of the people voting; others require only a simple majority. Does the accuracy of a group's decision making depend on which majority rule is used? A signal detection theory analysis was used to answer this question. Each member of a group was presented with a noisy display of either a signal or a nonsignal, and then each member cast a yes or no vote for the existence of a signal. The group decision was determined by a majority rule of the members' votes. Normative groups and groups of 5 or 7 people exhibited the same behavior: Performance was best when the group used a simple-majority rule and decreased when the group used more stringent rules. The worst performance was produced by a unanimous rule. Some group members adopted more liberal response criteria when the majority rule was made more stringent.

Prognosis and sleep disordered breathing in heart failure

The ability to detect and compensate for errors is crucial in producing effective, goal-directed behavior. Human error processing is reflected in two event-related brain potential components, the error-related negativity (Ne/ERN)...

Terrain Awareness Using a Terrain Enhanced Primary Flight Display

The present research investigated factors contributing to the effectiveness of using a terrain enhanced primary flight display for detecting and avoiding potential Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accidents. Situational factors involve the position of the aircraft with respect to the terrain in vertical separation and two forms of horizontal separation (line-of-sight distance and lateral position). Three levels of pilot experience were also investigated (high-time pilots, low-time pilots, and non-pilots). Participants viewed static scenes on a Primary Flight Display containing conformal perspective terrain information and made decisions regarding the necessary course of action. The selected actions were analyzed using accuracy, accident rate, signal detection theory (SDT) parameters, and response latency. Results indicated that the interaction of simple perceptual factors combine to have a complex effect on performance in terms of perceptual sensitivity and decision making strategy. The application of signal detection theory analysis greatly improved the understanding of performance across the various conditions.

A signal detection theoretic analysis of the Carney model of auditory processing

Computational models of human auditory processing provide a platform on which to apply signal detection theory (SDT) directly to the ‘‘output‘‘ of various peripheral processes. Theoretical performance predicted by standard SDT analyses which do not incorporate such models often substantially exceeds measured performance. These discrepancies are commonly compensated for by adding a physiologically unspecified source of ‘‘internal noise.’’ By applying SDT to auditory models it is possible to evaluate whether the performance predicted at various stages of the auditory system provides a more accurate estimate of human performance than standard approaches which incorporate internal noise. Our previous work indicates that integrating SDT with a deterministic model of the human auditory system affords theoretical performance predictions that match experimental measurements more closely than traditional approaches. In the work presented here, SDT is integrated with Carney’s model of auditory processing [Carney, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 93 (1993)]. This model incorporates physiologically based models of the basilar membrane and inner hair cell mechanisms, as well as a nonhomogeneous Poisson process to model nerve discharge times. The performance predicted by this model is presented, and its relationship to previous results and to modeling assumptions is discussed. [Work supported by NIH.]

Quantitative ocular tests for myasthenia gravis: a comparative review with detection theory analysis

Many reports in the literature describe a variety of ocular signs in myasthenia gravis. To determine the utility of laboratory recordings of ocular signs in the evaluation for myasthenia, we reviewed all previous studies of quantitative measures of eye movements or intra-ocular pressures. We selected those studies with data presented for both myasthenic and non-myasthenic ocular palsies. Signal detection theory was used to evaluate the discriminative power of each variable. The characteristics of saccades and quick phases of optokinetic nystagmus at the start of recording were poor at distinguishing between myasthenic and non-myasthenic palsies, except when the comparison was solely between myasthenia and chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia. The effects of fatigue on saccadic parameters were also not discriminative, though there was insufficient data to evaluate this adequately. Changes induced by edrophonium in the amplitude or peak velocity of saccades or optokinetic quick phases were good diagnostic tests, retaining high sensitivities when criteria were set to yield a specificity of 95%. Most of these parameters were less efficient as screening tests, with modest specificities when criteria were set to yield a sensitivity of 95%. The change in optokinetic quick phase amplitude recorded by infrared oculography was the best test, with ideal characteristics of 97% specificity and sensitivity at a criterion of zero change. This analysis suggests that eye movement recordings of saccades or optokinetic nystagmus have potential as useful and inexpensive tests for myasthenia, and warrant further study.

Analysis of cognitive function in animals, the value of SDT

The search for a better understanding of cognitive decline in man has lead to the use of increasingly complex procedures in animal research. The analysis of the data generated in such experiments has been greatly facilitated by the wider use of computer assisted techniques. These techniques can only be as good as the hypotheses they are used to test. Signal detection theory (SDT) provides a rational framework within which to work. The procedures are derived from human cognitive neuropsychology and are already used to some extent in primate but to a lesser degree in rodent research. The use of SDT offers two main advantages: first, a testable hypothesis as to the manner in which competing processes arrive at choice between various courses of action; second, the statistical procedures offer clear advantages over more traditional approaches by reducing the chances of misinterpretation. Though relatively easy to apply some care must be exercised in the protocol design and the choice of SDT indices if the full value of the approach is to be achieved. If experimental designs can be developed to include the appropriate use of SDT analysis; both the power of such protocols, and their value in the understanding of cognitive function, will provide a major step forward for animal-based research.

Testing models of decision making using confidence ratings in classification.

Classification implies decision making (or response selection) of some kind. Studying the decision process using a traditional signal detection theory analysis is difficult for two reasons: (a) The model makes a strong assumption about the encoding process (normal noise), and (b) the two most popular decision models, optimal and distance-from-criterion models, can mimic each other's predictions about performance level. In this article, the authors show that by analyzing certain distributional properties of confidence ratings, a researcher can determine whether the decision process is optimal, without knowing the form of the encoding distributions. Empirical results are reported for three types of experiments: recognition memory, perceptual discrimination, and perceptual categorization. In each case, the data strongly favored the distance-from-criterion model over the optimal model.

Signal Detection Theory Analysis of Performance in a Simulated Radiological Survey Task

Signal Detection Theory Analysis of Performance in a Simulated Radiological Survey Task

EXTRACTING MORE INFORMATION FROM THE TRIANGLE TASK

ABSTRACTIn a recent paper Berglund et al. (1993) applied the triangle task in conjunction with economic incentives to assess the bias and sensitivity of panelists discriminating between food and beverage products. A re‐examination of the data from that study casts doubt on their interpretation of the results. Detection theory analyses of performance in sensory difference tests are increasingly used in food science and, where appropriate, permit independent bias and sensitivity measures to be extracted from discrimination data without the additional costs associated with the economic incentives test.