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Relevance of unjustified strong assumptions when utilizing signal detection theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2004

Thomas O. Nelson
Thomas O. Nelson
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 tnelson@glue.umd.edu http://www.bsos.umd.edu/psyc/faculty/tnelson/index.html
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Abstract

Several conclusions depend on a version of signal detection theory that assumes performance is based on underlying equal-variance normal distributions of trace strength. Such conclusions are questionable without empirical justification for that assumption. A thought experiment is presented to show how the assumption is probably invalid, and empirical evidence is cited for the assumption's invalidity in research on human memory.

Type
Brief Report
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 26 , Issue 3 , June 2003 , pp. 351
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

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