The Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff in Processing Different Classes of Material.

摘要

Stimulus material, relative stress on speed versus accuracy, and memory load varied in a visual recognition task. In all cases reaction time (RT) was found to be a linear function of the central processing uncertainty (Hc) associated with the number of items in memory: RT = a + b(Hc). Stimulus material (letters versus random forms) affected only the slope constant b, which was higher for the less familiar random forms. Increasing the emphasis on accuracy resulted in increases in the intercept a, but did not affect the slope. (Author)