Use of the Speed Accuracy Trade-Off to Characterize Information Processing in Schizophrenics and Normals

Abstract

Subjects performed a signal discrimination task under four conditions: normal pace, accuracy, speed, and SATO (equal effort to speed and accuracy). Characteristically, schizophrenics demonstrated decreased accuracy, poorer compliance, increased total response time, and increased simple reaction time. Surprisingly, central processing time (decision time) was equivalent. Analysis of processing resource allocation identified significant group differences only under the SATO condition. Here, controls balanced attentional resources but patients worked almost exclusively for speed. Under conjoint performance conditions, patients apparently minimize categorical processing time at the expense of accuracy. These data are interesting as they identify specific circumstances under which schizophrenics manifest an attentional deficit.

The speed-accuracy tradeoff: history, physiology, methodology, and behavior

“…In schizophrenics for instance, at least one modeling study suggests that relative to controls, patients suffer from increased sensory noise (Cutsuridis et al, 2014) and one explicit SAT study provides anecdotal support (Schweitzer and Lee, 1992). Similar conclusions are reached for Parkinson's Disease patients (Wylie et al, 2009).…”

Low IQ scores in schizophrenia: primary or secondary deficit?

“…This could be especially important when speed of information processing is partly responsible for lower intelligence in schizophrenia. It has been known for some time that speed of information processing is impaired in schizophrenia, and also when patients are not medicated (28–32). Like intelligence, speed of information processing is already apparent at the onset of psychotic illness (33).…”