Parallel Processing Response Times and Experimental Determination of the Stopping Rule

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Computational modeling
• Information processing

Background:

• Previous research indicated limitations of serial and some parallel models in predicting self-terminating effects.
• Self-terminating processing effects are frequently observed in experimental data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To generalize "impossibility" theorems to a broader class of parallel models.
• To demonstrate the inability of certain parallel models to account for self-terminating effects.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical analysis and mathematical proof.
• Generalization of existing impossibility theorems for computational models.
• Analysis of constraints on parallel processing models.

Main Results:

• Proved that non-super capacity exhaustive parallel models cannot predict self-terminating effects.
• Established conditions under which parallel models fail to account for these effects (target processing speed relative to non-targets).

Conclusions:

• The findings strongly support the validity of self-terminating processing models.
• Limitations of exhaustive parallel models in cognitive psychology are highlighted.
• Experimental evidence for self-terminating effects is further corroborated.