Using PPT to account for randomness in perception

Abstract

According to many theories of decision making, of which signal detection theory is the most prominent, randomness is the main factor responsible for imperfect performance. These theories imply that correcting for attenuation due to randomness should result in perfect scores as long as the participants use nonextreme decision criteria. On the basis of a recent advance termed potential performance theory (Trafimow & Rice, Psychological Review 115:447-462, 2008), we performed auditory and visual detection experiments and corrected the scores for attenuation. Most participants in both experiments tended to perform at a less-than-perfect level, even after their scores were corrected. The findings demonstrate that at least one systematic factor influences detection that is not included in signal detection theory. © 2012 Psychonomic Society, Inc.