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Receiver operating characteristics in the lexical decision task: evidence for a simple signal-detection process
Arthur M Jacobs1, Ralf Graf, Annette Kinder
1Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt, Germany. Arthur.Jacobs@ku-eichstaett.de
Abstract:
This study provides further evidence for the hypothesis that performance in the lexical decision task is based on the output of a signal detection mechanism, as implemented by the multiple read-out model of word recognition (MROM; J. Grainger & A. M. Jacobs, 1996). We extend the MROM to allow predictions of receiver operating characteristics in a data-limited variant of the lexical decision task and show that the model provides accurate descriptions of the data. Our results challenge all models of word recognition that do not include a familiarity assessment mechanism. They also suggest that under data-limited conditions a deadline mechanism for generating "no" responses in the lexical decision task may not necessarily be functional.