Maximum-likelihood psychometric procedures in two-alternative forced-choice: Evaluation and recommendations

Abstract

Several new adaptive psychometric procedures have been proposed that use maximum-likelihood methods to estimate points on a subject's psychophysical function. These developments are summarized, and some psychometric situations that pose special problems for the new approaches are examined. The problem areas include the effects of threshold changes during the testing session, the impact of errors made by the subject, and differences between yes-no and two-alternative forced-choice situations. Data are presented from both human subjects and computer simulations. Strengths and weaknesses of the new procedures are identified and recommendations are made for their use. © 1987 Psychonomic Society, Inc.