title: Diffusion Decision Model: Current Issues and History.
abstract: There is growing interest in diffusion models to represent the cognitive and neural processes of speeded decision making. Sequential-sampling models like the diffusion model have a long history in psychology. They view decision making as a process of noisy accumulation of evidence from a stimulus. The standard model assumes that evidence accumulates at a constant rate during the second or two it takes to make a decision. This process can be linked to the behaviors of populations of neurons and to theories of optimality. Diffusion models have been used successfully in a range of cognitive tasks and as psychometric tools in clinical research to examine individual differences. In this review, we relate the models to both earlier and more recent research in psychology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 1835 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA. Electronic address: ratcliff.22@osu.edu.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ratcliff
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Level 12, Redmond Barry Building 115, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Philip L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Australia, Aviation Building, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.
authors.forename: Scott D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 1835 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Gail
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McKoon
mesh_terms: D058256:Brain Waves / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008960:Models, Psychological
keywords: diffusion model; nonstationarity; optimality; response time