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Are you sure? The relationship between response certainty and performance in visual detection using a perimetry-style
Phillip Bedggood1, Aiza Ahmad1, Adam Chen1
1Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Journal of Vision
|August 27, 2020
Summary
Incorporating response certainty into psychophysical methods can improve detection threshold estimation. Collecting certainty data may reduce trials needed for accurate visual field testing by 30-40%.
Area of Science:
- Visual psychophysics
- Ophthalmology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Conventional psychophysical methods often disregard response confidence.
- Estimating visual detection thresholds is crucial for diagnosing and monitoring visual impairments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how incorporating certainty judgments can enhance the efficiency of visual detection threshold estimation.
- To compare psychometric functions for detection versus "absolute certainty" in a perimetry task.
Main Methods:
- Five healthy subjects performed a temporal two-alternative forced-choice (2-AFC) detection task with certainty ratings.
- The method of constant stimuli characterized detection and certainty psychometric functions across four visual eccentricities.
- Simulations of adaptive ZEST runs predicted efficiency gains from using certainty information.
Main Results:
- The threshold for certainty was 0.5–1.0 dB worse than for detection, with similar slopes across eccentricities.
- A two-stage model suggests detection and certainty-given-detection psychometric functions are equivalent.
- Utilizing certainty information is predicted to improve estimation efficiency by approximately 30%–40%.
Conclusions:
- Response certainty provides valuable information for improving visual detection threshold estimation.
- Integrating certainty judgments into visual field testing can lead to more efficient and potentially more accurate assessments.
- This approach may optimize perimetry by reducing the number of trials required.
