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Testing Equivalence with Repeated Measures: Tests of the Difference Model of Two-Alternative Forced-Choice Performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Miguel A. García-Pérez  and
Rocío Alcalá-Quintana
Miguel A. García-Pérez*
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
Rocío Alcalá-Quintana
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Miguel A. García-Pérez. Departamento de Metodología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense, Campus de Somosaguas. 28223 Madrid (Spain). Phone: +34-913943061. Fax: +34-913943189. E-mail: miguel@psi.ucm.es
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Abstract

Solving theoretical or empirical issues sometimes involves establishing the equality of two variables with repeated measures. This defies the logic of null hypothesis significance testing, which aims at assessing evidence against the null hypothesis of equality, not for it. In some contexts, equivalence is assessed through regression analysis by testing for zero intercept and unit slope (or simply for unit slope in case that regression is forced through the origin). This paper shows that this approach renders highly inflated Type I error rates under the most common sampling models implied in studies of equivalence. We propose an alternative approach based on omnibus tests of equality of means and variances and in subject-by-subject analyses (where applicable), and we show that these tests have adequate Type I error rates and power. The approach is illustrated with a re-analysis of published data from a signal detection theory experiment with which several hypotheses of equivalence had been tested using only regression analysis. Some further errors and inadequacies of the original analyses are described, and further scrutiny of the data contradict the conclusions raised through inadequate application of regression analyses.

Resolver problemas teóricos o empíricos requiere en ocasiones contrastar la equivalencia de dos variables usando medidas repetidas. El mero planteamiento de este objetivo supone un desafío para la lógica subyacente a los métodos de contraste de hipótesis estadísticas, que están diseñados para evaluar la magnitud de la evidencia contraria a la hipótesis nula y de ningún modo permiten evaluar la evidencia a favor de ella. En algunos contextos aplicados se ha abordado el problema utilizando métodos de regresión y contrastando la hipótesis de que la pendiente es 1 y la hipótesis de que la ordenada en el origen es 0 (o simplemente la primera de ellas cuando se fuerza la regresión “por el origen”). Este trabajo muestra que esa estrategia conlleva tasas empíricas de error tipo I muy superiores a las tasas nominales bajo cualquiera de los modelos de muestreo más comúnmente implicados en estudios de equivalencia. Como alternativa, se propone una estrategia basada tanto en pruebas tipo ómnibus que incluyen contrastes de medias y varianzas como en análisis sujeto a sujeto (cuando la situación lo permita). Un estudio de simulación con estas pruebas muestra que la tasa empírica de error tipo I se ajusta a la tasa nominal y que la potencia de los contrastes es adecuada. A modo de ilustración, se aplican estos contrastes para re-analizar los datos de un experimento psicofísico sobre detección de contraste que originalmente sólo fueron analizados mediante regresión por parte de los autores del estudio, pese a que todas las hipótesis consideradas implicaban equivalencia con medidas repetidas. Nuestro reanálisis permite una inspección más minuciosa de los datos que revela contradicciones entre las características empíricas de los datos y las conclusiones extraídas mediante la aplicación inadecuada de métodos de regresión. Los resultados de este re-análisis también invalidan las conclusiones extraídas en la publicación original.

Keywords

statistical equivalencerepeated measuresSignal Detection TheoryYes–No2AFCinterval biasStandard Difference Modelequivalencia estadísticamedidas repetidasTeoría de D etección de SeñalesSí–Noelección forzada entre dos alternativasefectos de orden
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , November 2011 , pp. 1023 - 1049
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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