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Updated: May 20, 2026

A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons
Published on: November 9, 2018
An accuracy-response time capacity assessment function that measures performance against standard parallel
James T Townsend1, Nicholas Altieri
1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 East 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. jtownsen@indiana.edu
Abstract:
Measures of human efficiency under increases in mental workload or attentional limitations are vital in studying human perception, cognition, and action. Assays of efficiency as workload changes have typically been confined to either reaction times (RTs) or accuracy alone. Within the realm of RTs, a nonparametric measure called the workload capacity coefficient has been employed in many studies (Townsend & Nozawa, 1995). However, the contribution of correct versus incorrect responses has been unavailable in that context. A nonparametric statistic that is capable of simultaneously taking into account accuracy as well as RTs would be highly useful. This theoretical study develops such a tool for two important decisional stopping rules. Preliminary data from a simple visual identification study illustrate one potential application.
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