Unified analysis of accuracy and reaction times via models of decision making

Abstract

Over the past half century, cognitive scientists have developed sophisticated models to explain decision making in simple forced-choice experiments. These models are able to explain both accuracy and reaction times (RTs). On a practical level, these models deal with many of the nuisances that come with analyzing RT data, such skewed RT distributions, and speed-accuracy trade-offs. On a theoretical level, they quantify the dissociable elements of the decision-making process, providing a clearer picture of the effects of experimental manipulations and individual differences. However, despite being extremely popular in the cognitive sciences, such models are almost never used in psychoacoustics. This paper briefly introduces the most widely used decision-making model (the drift-diffusion model), and provides some recommendations for its use in future psychoacoustical research.