Assessing recognition memory using confidence ratings and response times

Classification of stimuli into categories (such as ‘old’ and ‘new’ in tests of recognition memory or ‘present’ versus ‘absent’ in signal detection tasks) requires the mapping of internal signals to discrete responses. Introspective judgements about a given choice response are regularly employed in research, legal and clinical settings in an effort to measure the signal that is thought to be the basis of the classification decision. Correlations between introspective judgements and task performance suggest that such ratings often do convey information about internal states that are relevant for a given task, but well-known limitations of introspection call the fidelity of this information into question. We investigated to what extent response times can reveal information usually assessed with explicit confidence ratings. We quantitatively compared response times to confidence ratings in their ability to qualify recognition memory decisions and found convergent results suggesting that much of the information from confidence ratings can be obtained from response times.

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Current Task Activation Predicts General Effects of Advance Preparation in Task Switching

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169.53.4.260 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 53 (4) ◽

pp. 260-267 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Edita Poljac ◽

Ab de Haan ◽

Gerard P. van Galen

Keyword(s):

Task Performance ◽

Task Switching ◽

Shape Matching ◽

Response Times ◽

Error Rates ◽

Matching Task ◽

Task Switch ◽

Current Task ◽

Within Subjects ◽

And Task

Two experiments investigated the way that beforehand preparation influences general task execution in reaction-time matching tasks. Response times (RTs) and error rates were measured for switching and nonswitching conditions in a color- and shape-matching task. The task blocks could repeat (task repetition) or alternate (task switch), and the preparation interval (PI) was manipulated within-subjects (Experiment 1) and between-subjects (Experiment 2). The study illustrated a comparable general task performance after a long PI for both experiments, within and between PI manipulations. After a short PI, however, the general task performance increased significantly for the between-subjects manipulation of the PI. Furthermore, both experiments demonstrated an analogous preparation effect for both task switching and task repetitions. Next, a consistent switch cost throughout the whole run of trials and a within-run slowing effect were observed in both experiments. Altogether, the present study implies that the effects of the advance preparation go beyond the first trials and confirms different points of the activation approach ( Altmann, 2002) to task switching.

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A Moid of Performance Measures in Baseball

Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology ◽

10.1123/jsep.13.1.16 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 16-25 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Kerry S. Courneya ◽

Packianatian Cheiadurai

Keyword(s):

Task Performance ◽

Performance Measures ◽

National Collegiate Athletic Association ◽

Total Sample ◽

Future Research ◽

Regression Analyses ◽

Practical Applications ◽

Final Score ◽

And Task

The study was concerned with empirically confirming the proposed classification of the performance measures in baseball into tertiary, secondary, and primary measures based on their proximity to skill execution and task performance and with the extent to which these measures were contaminated by external factors. The data consisted of various performance measures derived from the box scores of games played by 10 teams from the National Collegiate Athletic Association during the 1988 season (N=381 games). For confirmatory purposes» the total sample was subdivided into home and away samples (N=762 observations). The results of correlational and regression analyses supported the proposition that the secondary measures would be more closely related to the tertiary measures than would the primary measures. Further» ran differential was the superior tertiary measure relative to win/loss and ratio of final score in reflecting skill execution and task performance. Practical applications of the model and directions for future research are then discussed.

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