Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/916518
- Title
- Observing evidence accumulation during multi-alternative decisions
- Author/Creator
-
Brown, Scott;
Steyvers, Mark;
Wagenmakers, Eric-Jan
- Institution
- The University of Newcastle. Faculty of Science & Information Technology, School of Psychology
- Description
- Most decision-making research has focused on choices between two alternatives. For choices between many alternatives, the primary result is Hick’s Law — that mean response time increases logarithmically with the number of alternatives. Various models for this result exist within specific paradigms, and there are some more general theoretical results, but none of those have been tested stringently against data. We present an experimental paradigm that supports detailed examination of multi-choice data, and analyze predictions from a Bayesian ideal observer model for this paradigm. Data from the experiment deviate from the predictions of the Bayesian model in interesting ways. A simple heuristic model based on evidence accumulation provides a good account for the data, and has attractive properties as a limit case of the Bayesian model.
- Relation
- Journal of Mathematical Psychology Vol. 56, Issue 6, p. 453-462
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmp.2009.09.002
- Date
- 2009
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Keyword(s)
-
probabilistic inference;
Hick’s Law;
optimal observer models;
speed–accuracy tradeoff
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/916518
- Identifier
- ISSN:0022-2496
- Reviewed
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