Skip to main content
Log in

The applicability of deadline models: Comment on Glickman, Gray, and Morales (2005)

  • Published:
Psychometrika Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Glickman, Gray, and Morales (this issue) propose a statistical model for measuring the unobserved latency of stimulus-controlled processes. The model accounts for both speed and accuracy and does so by assuming participants set an internal deadline. If a stimulus-controlled response is not produced by the deadline, the participant then guesses. The applicability the model is discussed in this comment. The deadline model yields specific predictions for the case in which stimulus difficulty is manipulated in a within-block manner. In this case, it is reasonable to assume that stimulus difficulty does not affect the deadline. It is shown that in common perceptual and cognitive domains, extant data do not fully meet these predictions. Hence, practitioners need be aware of the possibility and consequences of model misspecification.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson J.A. (1991). Why, having so many neurons, do we have so few thoughts? In: Hockley W.E., Lewandowsky S. (eds) Relating Theory and Data: Essays on Human Memory in Honor of Bennet B. Murdock. Erlbaum, Hillsdale NJ, pp 477–507

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown S., Heathcote A. (in press). A ballistic model of choice response time. Psychological Review

  • Espinoza-Varas B., Watson C. (1994). Effects of decision criterion on latencies of binary decisions. Perception Psychophysics 55:190–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Luce R.D. (1986). Response Times. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ollman R.T., Billington M.J. (1972). The deadline model for simple reaction times. Cognitive Psychology 3:311–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratcliff R., Rouder J.N. (1998). Modeling response times for decisions between two choices. Psychological Science 9:347–356

    Google Scholar 

  • Rouder J.N., Sun D., Speckman P.L., Lu J., Zhou D. (2003). A hierarchical Bayesian statistical framework for skewed variables with an application to response time distributions. Psychometrika 68:587–604

    Google Scholar 

  • Rouder J., Lu J., Speckman P.L., Sun D., Jiang Y. (in press). A hierarchical model for estimating response time distributions. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review

  • Ruthruff E. (1996). A test of the deadline model for speed-accuracy tradeoffs. Perception Psychophysics 55:56–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith P.L., Vickers D. (1988). The accumulator model of two choice discrimination. Journal of Mathematical Psychology 32:135–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Usher M., McClelland J.L. (2001). On the time course of perceptual choice: The leaky competing accumulator model. Psychological Review 108:550–592

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeffrey N. Rouder.

Additional information

This research is supported by NSF grant SES - 0095919 to J. Rouder, D. Sun, and P. Speckman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rouder, J.N. The applicability of deadline models: Comment on Glickman, Gray, and Morales (2005). Psychometrika 70, 427–430 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11336-004-1215-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11336-004-1215-4

Keywords

Navigation