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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task: A Task of Attention and Impulse Control for Rodents
Published on: August 10, 2014
Square-root formula for choice reaction time
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455-0111, USA.
Abstract:
The power law of choice reaction time, first proposed by Kvãlseth (1980), is further discussed. It is shown that the so called Hick-Hyman law is a special case of the power law. It is suggested that a particular square-root case provides a most concise and adequate formula for predicting reaction time when the number of equiprobable stimulus-response pairs ranges from 1 to 10. A potential theoretical explanation is briefly discussed.
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