SEQUENTIAL DETERMINANTS OF INFORMATION PROCESSING IN SERIAL AND DISCRETE CHOICE REACTION TIME

Reveals that the measure of average stimulus information (H) is confounded with the probability of nonrepetition of the stimuli in most of the experimental conditions whose results have been taken as evidence in support of the linear relationship between choice RT and H. Results of a serial and a discrete experiment, designed to unconfound these 2 variables, lead to a rejection of the information hypothesis. The RT for repetition was faster than for nonrepetitions, and both were decreasing linear functions of their respective conditional probabilities. The manner in which the slope and the intercepts of these linear functions are affected by changes in the number of alternatives, stimulus-response compatibility, and response-to-stimulus interval is discussed. It is also shown that the present approach not only accounts for data which had previously been described by the information hypothesis, but for results which departed from the hypothesis as well. Errors are discussed in a manner which supplements the main argument. It is shown that the molar results of RT experiments can be systematically accounted for in terms of the characteristics of easily distinguishable differentially sensitive partitions in these data. (25 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.