Small-sample characterization of stochastic approximation staircases in forced-choice adaptive threshold estimation

Faes, Luca; Nollo, Giandomenico; Ravelli, Flavia; Ricci, Leonardo; Vescovi, Massimo; Turatto, Massimo; Pavani, Francesco; Antolini, R.

doi:10.3758/bf03193747

Cited by 46 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Figure 4 also shows that the IQR seems to slightly increase as the step size increases. These results are comparable to the findings from Faes et al (2007). Overall, our results suggest that ASA with a large initial step size leads to an excellent convergence to the target.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 82%

“…Since one of our primary concerns is to study the practical use of the range of step sizes is fairly covered by our simulation, which ranges from 0.1 to 2 log units. These step sizes are comparable to those used in other studies in psychophysics (see, e.g., Faes et al, 2007;García-Pérez, 1998, and are adequate to show the pattern of convergences. See also the text in the next section for details.…”

Section: Bcdsupporting

confidence: 57%

“…In recent years, researchers have investigated via simulations some asymptotic and small-sample properties of two nonparametric adaptive methods-namely, the fixed-step-size up-down (García-Pérez, 1998) and the (accelerated) stochastic approximation (Faes et al, 2007). In the present article, we extend both methods to the simple reaction time (RT) situation for the measure of signal intensities that elicit certain (fixed) RT percentiles.…”

Section: National Taiwan University Taipei Taiwanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The reader is also referred to Treutwein (1995) or for a mathematically oriented introduction to this subject in the framework of psychophysics. In recent years, researchers have investigated via simulations some asymptotic and small-sample properties of two popular nonparametric adaptive methods: the fixed-step-size up-down (García-Pérez, 1998, which includes the transformed up-down and other variants, and the (accelerated) stochastic approximation (Faes et al, 2007).…”

Section: Adaptive Methods For Rt Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Weibull distribution is very flexible and is one of the commonly used forms for the underlying psychometric function. For example, the Weibull-distributed psychometric function was conveniently assumed in the simulation studies of García-Pérez (1998) for testing the fixed-step-size up-down method and of Faes et al (2007) for testing the (accelerated) stochastic approximation method. In the pres ent study, the underlying RT distribution is assumed to be a Weibull.…”

Section: Simulation Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Applications of nonparametric adaptive methods for simple reaction time experiments

Hsu

Chen

2009

Attention, Perception & Psychophysics

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1664It has been common in reaction time (RT) experiments to use the ANOVA to analyze means across covariate conditions. For example, the Stroop task (Stroop, 1935) employs the nominal covariates of a color word and the text color in which it is written, and mean RTs of covariate categories are the objects analyzed (see MacLeod, 1991, for a review). However, when dealing with continuous covariates, such as age, IQ, stimulus intensity, symbolic distance, word frequency, and so on, the ANOVA approach-with its categorized means-tends to ignore the potentially rich relations between covariates and RTs. To remedy this situation, researchers have started to develop alternative, process-based methodologies for RT analysis. For example, Rouder and colleagues (Rouder, Lu, Speckman, Sun, & Jiang, 2005;Rouder, Sun, Speckman, Lu, & Zhou, 2003) have provided a general Bayesian framework to model RT (distributions) as a function of continuous covariates.In the present article, we challenge the nominal-covariate approach for continuous covariates in a within-subjects design from a different perspective. We provide a principled method for integrating continuous covariates into RT modeling. The idea originated from the adaptive methods commonly used in psychophysical research for detection and discrimination. We introduce the notion of "sensitivity" and describe the algorithms to estimate it. In principle, this method can be applied to any continuous covariate. For instance, to study the relationship between word frequency and naming times in the so-called "go/no-go" experimental paradigm, in which subjects are instructed to press a button if the presented string is an English word but to refrain from pressing if the presented string is a nonword (see, e.g., Gomez, Ratcliff, & Perea, 2007), one may use the method to estimate the word frequency needed to elicit a certain RT at a given percentile. 1 In the following section, we will briefly describe a "sensitivity function" in the context of a simple RT experiment and a commonly studied continuous covariate: the signal intensity/contrast. We will also motivate our development from a small-sample perspective, arguing that our method is an appropriate RT design for estimating the sensitivity function efficiently. Simple RTIn a standard simple RT experiment, a trial starts with a warning signal, followed by a foreperiod, at the end of which the signal is presented. The participant is required to react to the presence of the signal as quickly as possible Luce, 1986).Historically, Piéron's law has been one of the most widely cited functional forms specifying the relation between the RT and the signal intensity i (Luce, 1986): ( ) from which one sees that the parameters R, , and K are now functions of the probability . 3 Influenced by the seminal work of Falmagne (1985) on the near miss to Weber's law in psychophysics for detec- Applications of nonparametric adaptive methods for simple reaction time experiments YUNG-FONG HSU AND YEN-HO CHEN National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanA...

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Bcdsupporting

confidence: 57%

Section: National Taiwan University Taipei Taiwanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Adaptive Methods For Rt Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Simulation Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Applications of nonparametric adaptive methods for simple reaction time experiments

Hsu

Chen

2009

Attention, Perception & Psychophysics

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The preload force affects the perception threshold of muscle vibration-induced movement illusions

2018

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The control and the execution of motor tasks are largely influenced by proprioceptive feedback, i.e. the information about the position and movement of the body. In 1972, it was discovered that a vibratory stimulation applied non-invasively to a muscle or a tendon induces a movement illusion consistent with the elongation of the vibrated muscle/tendon. Although this phenomenon was reported by several studies, it is still unclear how to reliably reproduce it because of the many different features of the stimulation altering the sensation (e.g. frequency, duration, location). By performing a psychophysical test, we analysed the effects of the stimulation point and the preload force on the minimum stimulation amplitude needed to elicit an illusion of movement. In particular, we stimulated two groups of healthy subjects on three target regions of the biceps brachii muscle (the distal tendon, the muscle belly and one of the proximal tendons) applying three preload force ranges (0.5–0.75N, 1–2N and 3–4N). Our results showed that the minimum stimulation amplitude eliciting a sensation is affected by the preload force. On the contrary, it did not change significantly among the three stimulated regions. Nevertheless, the reported vividness of the illusion of movement changed across the stimulated points decreasing while moving from the distal to the proximal tendons. Overall, these outcomes contribute to the scientific debate on the features that modulate the vibration-induced movement illusion proposing ways to increase the reliability of the procedure in basic and applied research studies.

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Encoding and decoding amplitude-modulated cochlear implant stimuli—a point process analysis

2010

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Cochlear implant speech processors stimulate the auditory nerve by delivering amplitude-modulated electrical pulse trains to intracochlear electrodes. Studying how auditory nerve cells encode modulation information is of fundamental importance, therefore, to understanding cochlear implant function and improving speech perception in cochlear implant users. In this paper, we analyze simulated responses of the auditory nerve to amplitude-modulated cochlear implant stimuli using a point process model. First, we quantify the information encoded in the spike trains by testing an ideal observer's ability to detect amplitude modulation in a two-alternative forced-choice task. We vary the amount of information available to the observer to probe how spike timing and averaged firing rate encode modulation. Second, we construct a neural decoding method that predicts several qualitative trends observed in psychophysical tests of amplitude modulation detection in cochlear implant listeners. We find that modulation information is primarily available in the sequence of spike times. The performance of an ideal observer, however, is inconsistent with observed trends in psychophysical data. Using a neural decoding method that jitters spike times to degrade its temporal resolution and then computes a common measure of phase locking from spike trains of a heterogeneous population of model nerve cells, we predict the correct qualitative dependence of modulation detection thresholds on modulation frequency and stimulus level. The decoder does not predict the observed loss of modulation sensitivity at high carrier pulse rates, but this framework can be applied to future models that better represent auditory nerve responses to high carrier pulse rate stimuli. The supplemental material of this article contains the article's data in an active, re-usable format.

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Small-sample characterization of stochastic approximation staircases in forced-choice adaptive threshold estimation

Cited by 46 publications

References 27 publications

Applications of nonparametric adaptive methods for simple reaction time experiments

Applications of nonparametric adaptive methods for simple reaction time experiments

The preload force affects the perception threshold of muscle vibration-induced movement illusions

Encoding and decoding amplitude-modulated cochlear implant stimuli—a point process analysis

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