The application of Fourier deconvolution to reaction time data: a cautionary note

The Fourier transform method in conjunction with frequency domain smoothing techniques has been suggested as a powerful tool for examining components in a serial, additive reaction time model (P. L. Smith, 1990). Robustness and sensitivity to violations of the assumptions of serial model of this method are evaluated. When an incorrect distribution was used in recovering an unobserved component, results gave no information to show that an incorrect distribution was used, and the results were just as interpretable as those obtained using the correct distribution. These results demonstrate that the assumptions underlying the method cannot be assessed by the result of deconvolution, and the method cannot show that the purported component is actually from the serial combination.