Abstract
Performance in a recognition task involving two amplitudes of the same tone was investigaled over a wide range of presentation schedules. The task was arranged so that there was no trial-to-trial feedback or other information regarding the relative frequencies of the two tones. The hit and false alarm rates (the proportion of “loud” responses to loud and soft stimuli, respectively) on any given trial were strongly influenced by the stimulus and response on the preceding trial. In general, Ss tended to repeat the last response and were more accurate after a stimulus alternation than after a stimulus repetition. In addition, hit and false alarm rates were inversely related to the presentation probability of the loud tone, in contrast to the direct relation typically found in signal detection experiments and in recognition experiments with trial-to-trial feedback. A mathematical model incorporating three processes (memory, comparison, and decision) was shown to give a good account of these data.
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Tanner, T.A., Haller, R.W. & Atkinson, R.C. Signal recognition as influenced by presentation schedules. Perception & Psychophysics 2, 349–358 (1967). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210070
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210070