Overview

A comprehensive survey of the dominant methods for separating perceptual from decisional effects and for studying perceptual interactions. A comprehensive survey of the dominant methods for separating perceptual from decisional effects and for studying perceptual interactions. Human performance in any perceptual or cognitive task can change for a variety of reasons. Signal detection theory (SDT) and its multidimensional generalization, general recognition theory (GRT), are by far the dominant methods for determining whether a change in performance is due to a change in perception or a change in how perceptual or cognitive information is used to select a response. In addition, GRT is the dominant method for studying perceptual interactions. In this book, author F. Gregory Ashby covers how SDT and GRT are used in thousands of published articles that span an enormous range of fields, including vision and all other areas of perception, memory, decision-making, eyewitness testimony, response time modeling, face perception, visual search, categorization, perceived similarity, preference, stereotyping, implicit learning, fMRI data analysis, and food science. The book includes examples that illustrate how the various methods are applied, as well as Matlab code to perform several key computations.

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9780262052511

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Reviews

ENDORSEMENTS “Ashby has undoubtedly authored a veritable treasure here. He authoritatively covers the quantitative foundations of signal detection with applications to perception and cognition employing observables of response and confidence frequencies, response times, and neural underpinnings.” —James T. Townsend, Distinguished Professor, Rudy Chair of Psychological and Brain Science, Indiana University “This is the book I wish I’d had in grad school. Ashby cuts through the noise and shows how decision theory actually explains perceptual and cognitive processes.” —John T. Wixted, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of California, San Diego “Combining intuitive psychology with graceful mathematics, Ashby has crafted a crucial resource for researchers across many fields. His integration of detection and recognition theory was urgently overdue. This is the first book to cover statistical decision theory comprehensively. His careful attention to researchers’ use of this powerful theory in their work is extraordinary.” —J. David Smith, Professor Emeritus, University at Buffalo, State University of New York “Ashby's text is a long-overdue addition to the literature, with critical expansions and extensions to contemporary topics. Written with Ashby's signature clarity, this is destined to be a staple of graduate education.” —Michael J. Wenger, Professor, the University of Oklahoma; coauthor of Cognitive Psychology “Ashby focused his considerable technical skills and clear reasoning to produce a masterpiece of great value to a wide audience. This work spans many different fields in the behavioral and physical sciences.” —Daniel M. Ennis, President, Institute for Perception; author of Thurstonian Models

Author Information

F. Gregory Ashby is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychological & Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2017, he was awarded the Howard Crosby Warren Medal for outstanding achievement in experimental psychology in the United States and Canada.

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