Low and variable correlation between reaction time costs and accuracy costs explained by accumulation models:...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Individual differences research
• Psychometric methods

Background:

• Task performance is often used to measure cognitive abilities and psychological processes.
• Reaction time (RT) costs and error costs are frequently used interchangeably to infer cognitive processes.
• A key assumption is a strong correlation between RT and error costs within the same task.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the empirical relationship between reaction time (RT) costs and error costs across various cognitive tasks.
• To test the assumption of a strong correlation between RT and error costs in cognitive individual differences research.

Main Methods:

• A meta-analysis was conducted on 114 effects from established cognitive tasks.
• Data from tasks like Stroop, implicit association task, and flanker were synthesized.
• The study analyzed the correlation between RT costs and error costs.

Main Results:

• A general pattern of weak or no association was found between RT costs and error costs (mean r = .17).
• Evidence accumulation models explain this weak correlation through differences in accumulation rate and response threshold.
• Subtractions between conditions may not isolate processing costs from response caution.

Conclusions:

• The choice between using RT costs or error costs has significant theoretical implications.
• Evidence accumulation models provide a framework for understanding the dissociation between RT and error costs.
• Reinterpreting cognitive task performance measures within decision models is crucial for accurate inferences about cognitive abilities.