title: Individual differences in components of reaction time distributions and their relations to working memory and intelligence.
abstract: The authors bring together approaches from cognitive and individual differences psychology to model characteristics of reaction time distributions beyond measures of central tendency. Ex-Gaussian distributions and a diffusion model approach are used to describe individuals' reaction time data. The authors identified common latent factors for each of the 3 ex-Gaussian parameters and for 3 parameters central to the diffusion model using structural equation modeling for a battery of choice reaction tasks. These factors had differential relations to criterion constructs. Parameters reflecting the tail of the distribution (i.e., tau in the ex-Gaussian and drift rate in the diffusion model) were the strongest unique predictors of working memory, reasoning, and psychometric speed. Theories of controlled attention and binding are discussed as potential theoretical explanations.
authors: Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany. schmiedek@mpib-berlin.mpg.de
authors: Florian
authors: F
authors: Schmiedek
authors: Klaus
authors: K
authors: Oberauer
authors: Oliver
authors: O
authors: Wilhelm
authors: Heinz-Martin
authors: HM
authors: Süss
authors: Werner W
authors: WW
authors: Wittmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003210:Concept Formation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016011:Normal Distribution; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011340:Problem Solving; D011930:Reaction Time; D012660:Semantics; D013223:Statistics as Topic