title: Adaptive decision processes in perceptual comparisons: effects of changes in the global difficulty context.
abstract: Adaptive decision processes were investigated in experiments involving an unexpected change in the global ease or difficulty of the task. Under accuracy stress, a shift from an easy to a difficult context induced a marked increase in decision time, but a shift from a difficult to an easy context did not. Under speed stress, a shift to a more difficult context induced lower accuracy and rated confidence, depending on the difficulty of the decisions. A view of caution developed in D. Vickers's (1979) accumulator theory--whereby one seeks to base decisions on more information--is compared with a view based on slow and fast guessing theory (W. M. Petrusic, 1992; W. M. Petrusic & J. V. Baranski, 1989a)--whereby one seeks to base decisions on more diagnostic information. On balance, the findings support the latter view.
authors.affiliation: Judgement and Decision Making Group, Defence Research and Development Canada, Toronto, Ontario. joe.baranski@drdc-rddc.gc.ca
authors.forename: Joseph V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Baranski
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Petrusic
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention; D003657:Decision Making; D011897:Random Allocation; D014796:Visual Perception