title: Adaptive threshold estimation with unforced-choice tasks.
abstract: This paper evaluates an adaptive staircase procedure for threshold estimation that is suitable for unforced-choice tasks-ones with the additional response alternative don't know. Within the framework of a theory of indecision, evidence is developed that fluctuations of the response criterion are much less detrimental to unforced-choice tasks than to yes/no tasks. An adaptive staircase procedure for unforced-choice tasks is presented. Computer simulations show a slight gain in efficiency if don't know responses are allowed, even if response criteria vary. A behavioral comparison with forced-choice and yes/no procedures shows that the new procedure outdoes the other two with respect to reliability. This is especially true for naive participants. For well-trained participants it is also slightly more efficient than the forced-choice procedure, and it produces a smaller systematic error than the yes/no procedure. Moreover, informal observations suggest that participants are more comfortable with unforced tasks than with forced ones.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Allgemeine Psychologie, Universität Leipzig, Germany. christian@kaernbach.de
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kaernbach
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008144:Loudness Perception; D008297:Male; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D011601:Psychophysics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological