Sampling Plans for Fitting the Psychometric Function

Garcı́a-Pérez, Miguel A.; Alcalá-Quintana, Rocío

doi:10.1017/s113874160000514x

Cited by 49 publications

(62 citation statements)

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“…15, all auditory delays at or below −200 ms and at or above 150 ms render uninformative data, and only the six auditory delays between −150 and 100 ms are useful to estimate model parameters. A way around the uncertainty as to which set of auditory delays would be needed for each observer is to use adaptive sampling methods analogous to those that efficiently solve this problem in other contexts (García-Pérez & Alcalá-Quintana, 2005). Note, however, that the example considered here reveals that all the remaining model parameters are reasonably well estimated, and the same was true in the remaining cases affected by boundary estimates.…”

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confidence: 99%

On the discrepant results in synchrony judgment and temporal-order judgment tasks: a quantitative model

2012

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Research on the perception of temporal order uses either temporal-order judgment (TOJ) tasks or synchrony judgment (SJ) tasks, in both of which two stimuli are presented with some temporal delay and observers must judge the order of presentation. Results generally differ across tasks, raising concerns about whether they measure the same processes. We present a model including sensory and decisional parameters that places these tasks in a common framework that allows studying their implications on observed performance. TOJ tasks imply specific decisional components that explain the discrepancy of results obtained with TOJ and SJ tasks. The model is also tested against published data on audiovisual temporal-order judgments, and the fit is satisfactory, although model parameters are more accurately estimated with SJ tasks. Measures of latent point of subjective simultaneity and latent sensitivity are defined that are invariant across tasks by isolating the sensory parameters governing observed performance, whereas decisional parameters vary across tasks and account for observed differences across them. Our analyses concur with other evidence advising against the use of TOJ tasks in research on perception of temporal order.

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confidence: 99%

On the discrepant results in synchrony judgment and temporal-order judgment tasks: a quantitative model

2012

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“…The psychometric function for detection was estimated from data gathered with one of the procedures recommended by García-Pérez and Alcalá-Quintana (2005), namely, adaptive fixed-step-size staircases involving the 1-up/1-down rule and using a step up of 0.6 log units and a step down of 0.2 log units. Each staircase proceeded until 30 reversals had occurred.…”

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Empirical Performance of Optimal Bayesian Adaptive Estimation

Garcı́a-Pérez

Alcalá-Quintana²

2009

Span. j. psychol.

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Simulation studies have shown how Bayesian adaptive estimation methods should be set up for optimal performance. We assessed the extent to which these results hold up for human observers, who are more subject to failure than simulation subjects. Discrimination and detection experiments with two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) tasks were used for that purpose. Forty estimates of the point of subjective equality (PSE, or the 50% correct point on the psychometric function for discrimination) and 32 estimates of detection threshold (the 80% correct point on the psychometric function for detection) were taken for each of four observers with the optimal Bayesian method, while data for fitting the psychometric function Ψ were gathered concurrently with an adaptive method of constant stimuli governed by fixed-step-size staircases. The estimated parameters of the psychometric function served as a criterion for comparison. In the discrimination task, PSEs for each observer were distributed around the independently estimated 50% correct point on Ψ and their variability was occasionally minimally larger than simulation results indicated it should be. In the detection task, the distribution of threshold estimates was consistently above the independently estimated 80% correct point on Ψ and their variability was as expected from simulations. A close analysis of these results suggests that the optimal Bayesian method is affected by growing inattention or fatigue in detection tasks (factors that are not considered in simulations), and limits the practical applicability of Bayesian estimation of detection thresholds. Keywords: bayesian adaptive methods, sequential procedures, psychophysics, threshold, point of subjective equality, 2AFC tasks Los métodos bayesianos de estimación adaptativa han sido optimizados en varios estudios de simulación. En este trabajo evaluamos hasta qué punto los resultados obtenidos en las simulaciones son aplicables a observadores humanos. Para ello se sometió a cuatro observadores a dos tipos de experimento (discriminación y detección) con la tarea de elección forzada entre dos alternativas (2AFC). La configuración óptima del método bayesiano sirvió para obtener, por cada observador, 40 estimaciones del punto de igualdad subjetiva (PSE, que es el punto de la función psicométrica que lleva aparejado un porcentaje de éxito del 50% en un experimento de discriminación) y 32 estimaciones del umbral de detección, definido como el punto de la función psicométrica cuyo porcentaje de éxito asociado es el 80%. Simultáneamente, se utilizó el método adaptativo de los estímulos constantes para obtener una estimación independiente de los parámetros la función psicométrica Ψ de cada observador que sirviera como criterio de comparación. En la tarea de discriminación, y para todos los observadores, las distribuciones de los PSE se situaron en torno a los puntos del 50% de Ψ estimados de manera independiente y la variabilidad fue sólo ligeramente superior a la esperada a partir de las simulaciones. Por el contrario, e...

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“…Because such perceptual threshold tests are common and because many trials are needed to yield accurate and precise psychometric fits, studies spanning 50 yr (Garcia-Perez and Alcala-Quintana 2005;Green 1990;Hall 1968Hall , 1981Harvey 1986;Kaernbach 1991;Kontsevich and Tyler 1999;Leek 2001;Lim and Merfeld 2012;Pentland 1980;Shen et al 2015;Shen and Richards 2012;Taylor and Creelman 1967;Treutwein 1995;Watson and Pelli 1983;Watt and Andrews 1981;Wetherill and Levitt 1965;Wichmann and Hill 2001a,b) have reported efforts to improve threshold test efficiency (i.e., to reduce the number of trials), but only modest efficiency improvements have accumulated. (For a brief review of these papers, see Karmali et al 2015, who also present a theoretic analysis of these sampling issues, accompanied by both simulations and human data.)…”

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A quantitative confidence signal detection model: 1. Fitting psychometric functions

Merfeld

2016

Journal of Neurophysiology

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Yi Y, Merfeld DM. A quantitative confidence signal detection model: 1. Fitting psychometric functions. J Neurophysiol 115: 1932J Neurophysiol 115: -1945J Neurophysiol 115: , 2016. First published January 13, 2016; doi:10.1152/jn.00318.2015.-Perceptual thresholds are commonly assayed in the laboratory and clinic. When precision and accuracy are required, thresholds are quantified by fitting a psychometric function to forced-choice data. The primary shortcoming of this approach is that it typically requires 100 trials or more to yield accurate (i.e., small bias) and precise (i.e., small variance) psychometric parameter estimates. We show that confidence probability judgments combined with a model of confidence can yield psychometric parameter estimates that are markedly more precise and/or markedly more efficient than conventional methods. Specifically, both human data and simulations show that including confidence probability judgments for just 20 trials can yield psychometric parameter estimates that match the precision of those obtained from 100 trials using conventional analyses. Such an efficiency advantage would be especially beneficial for tasks (e.g., taste, smell, and vestibular assays) that require more than a few seconds for each trial, but this potential benefit could accrue for many other tasks.thresholds; decision-making; confidence rating; confidence calibration MEASURING THRESHOLDS IS PROBABLY the most common psychophysical procedure in use today; applications range from experimental psychology to neuroscience to economics to engineering. Fitting psychometric functions using categorical data analyses (Agresti 1996) that describe the relationship between a stimulus characteristic (e.g., amplitude) and a subject's forced-choice categorical responses provides a standard approach used to estimate thresholds (Green and Swets 1966; Macmillan and Creelman 2005).A recent comprehensive analysis (Garcia-Perez and AlcalaQuintana 2005) concluded that only maximum likelihood methods should be used when accuracy and precision of psychometric function fit parameters is important and, furthermore, showed that more than 100 forced-choice trials are generally required to yield acceptable fit parameter estimates. Because such perceptual threshold tests are common and because many trials are needed to yield accurate and precise psychometric fits, studies spanning 50 yr (Garcia

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Sampling Plans for Fitting the Psychometric Function

Cited by 49 publications

References 48 publications

On the discrepant results in synchrony judgment and temporal-order judgment tasks: a quantitative model

On the discrepant results in synchrony judgment and temporal-order judgment tasks: a quantitative model

Empirical Performance of Optimal Bayesian Adaptive Estimation

A quantitative confidence signal detection model: 1. Fitting psychometric functions

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