A Single-Boundary Accumulator Model of Response Times in an Addition Verification Task.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Mathematical Cognition
• Human Decision Making

Background:

• Competing theories exist regarding the interaction between encoding and calculation in mental arithmetic.
• Additive models suggest format does not affect calculation, while interactive models propose a direct impact.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test additive versus interactive models of mental arithmetic.
• To investigate the influence of problem format on cognitive calculation processes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a single-boundary accumulator model (shifted Wald distribution) to analyze reaction time (RT) distributions.
• Employed an arithmetic verification task to assess participants' cognitive responses.

Main Results:

• The accumulator model provided a comprehensive description of RT distributions.
• Problem format was found to directly affect the drift rate, a key parameter in calculation.

Conclusions:

• Findings support interactive models of mental arithmetic, indicating format directly impacts calculation.
• The study highlights the utility of accumulator models for sensitive testing of cognitive process effects.