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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Comparison of auditory-evoked potential detection methods using signal detection theory.

The performance of statistical evoked-potential detection methods was compared with that of human observers and among themselves by means of receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves. The test material was a collection of brain stem auditory-evoked responses obtained from 98 infants with 60 and 30 dB nHL clicks. The observers and the statistical methods had to discriminate these responses from control recordings obtained without acoustic stimulation. Although the observers' criteria on different days varied considerably, the discrimination capacity was more stable. The discrimination capacity depended on the observers' experience. The statistical methods tested were the correlation coefficient (CCR), the standard deviation ratio (SDR) and a new method named T2R. The most efficient detection method was T2R. For false-alarm rates of 0.01 the statistical methods were more efficient than the human observers. Signal detection theory is useful for the evaluation of evoked-potential analysis methods.

Brain Stem

[Event related brain potentials and signal detection: decision confidence and signal probability].

This paper is concerned with the relation of two components of the late positive complex, P300 and slow wave, to parameters of signal detection theory. In the first experiment, basically a replication of Squires et al., signal probability was 50% and a six point rating scale was used for subjects' answers. Whereas for the P300 the well known relation to subjective confidence (and thus to response criteria) was confirmed, a similar relation could not be found for the slow wave. In the second experiment the local signal probability was varied from 25% to 75% on a trial to trial basis. Under these conditions neither the P300 nor the slow wave exhibited a relation to signal-probability, whilst the relation to decision-confidence was preserved.

Adult

Effects of bicuculline on signal detectability in lateral geniculate nucleus relay cells.

The lateral geniculate nucleus conveys the center-surround organized retinal receptive fields to the cortex in a way that does not significantly alter their spatial structure. However, non-retinal influences may change the 'strength' (detectability) of the signal under conditions of anesthesia, arousal and attention. A previous analysis of receiver operating characteristic curves in cat suggests that a reduction in signal detectability occurs in lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) relay cells in anesthetized animals in comparison to the retinal afferents. In the present study, it was found that antagonism of GABAA receptors with bicuculline (BIC) increased signal detectability in LGN relay cells in the tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri). This change is consistent with the hypothesis that feedforward and/or feedback GABAergic circuits in the LGN differentially affect the retinogeniculate transfer ratio for visually driven activity versus maintained (spontaneous) activity. Under conditions of arousal or attention, signal detectability may be increased by brainstem activation, thus increasing the flow of information in the visual system.

Action Potentials

Effect of wearing chemical protective clothing in the heat on signal detection over the visual field.

Sensitivity for detecting visual signals distributed at various locations throughout the visual field was studied in 16 male subjects who were all exposed to two degrees of ambient heat (91 degrees F/61% RH; 55 degrees F/35% RH) while wearing the Army chemical protective clothing system; also to 70 degrees F/35% RH while wearing Army battle-dress uniform (fatigues). Response time for signal detection increased systematically and significantly with peripheralization of stimulus locations. It was most impaired in the superior and inferior visual field areas and least affected along the horizontal axis area. The data support previous results obtained using this task. Both the MOPP and the heat + MOPP exposure conditions produced highly significant systematic increases in response time to all signals; the worst performance occurred under the heat + MOPP combination. Implications for visual performance while wearing chemical protective gear are discussed.

Adolescent

Application of signal detection theory to error detection in ballistic motor skills.

Signal detection procedures were used to measure subjects' ability to detect errors in performance as they tried to hit a target in a ballistic motor task, since current methods were found to have several important shortcomings. Two tasks were used; one involved moving a slide 24.1 cm in 150 msec (temporal target), and the other involved rolling a ball at a visible target (spatial target). Subjects in both tasks were poor at detecting errors. Variability in the perceptual processes, measured by signal detection proceudres, was found to be about twice as much as that in the motor processes, measured by calculating variable error. This finding was inconsistent with a strictly closed-loop model of motor skills. Signal detection theory was also able to fill a gap in present theories of motor learning by explaining why some of the subjects in this experiment were able to detect errors better in the absence of knowledge of results.

Feedback

Signal detection analysis of conditioning data.

Signal detection analysis of learning and conditioning data provides for a greater distinction to be made between learning and performance through the use of the two signal detection parameters, d' and B. The use of the two parameters permits alternative interpretation of several types of data sets discussed. This analytic technique may be used with either discrete trial or free-response data. The present article reveiws applications of signal detection parameters in the literature, and provides for their extension to other uses.

Conditioning, Classical

Odor detection performance of rats following d-amphetamine treatment: a signal detection analysis.

The effects of d-amphetamine sulfate (0.2, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.6 mg/kg SC) on the odor detection performance of 16 adult male Long Evans rats was assessed using high precision olfactometry and a go/no-go operant signal detection task. The drug or saline was administered every 3rd day in a counterbalanced order, with the injections occurring 5 min before each 260-trial test session. Relative to saline, enhanced detection performance to the target stimulus (ethyl acetate), as measured by a non-parametric signal detection index (SI), was observed following administration of 0.2 mg/kg of the drug, whereas decreased detection performance was observed following administration of 1.6 mg/kg of the drug. Significant increases in the responsivity index (RI) occurred at the higher drug dosages for the lower odorant concentrations. In addition, small but statistically significant increases in the latency to respond in the presence of the odor (i.e., S+ response latency) were present at the higher drug dosages. Overall, these data suggest that (a) odor detection performance is enhanced by low doses of amphetamine, (b) odor detection performance is depressed by moderate doses of amphetamine, and (c) drug-related alterations in response criteria occur following the administration of moderate doses of amphetamine.

Animals

Alcohol effects on signal detection performance.

The acute effects of alcohol (0.7 g/kg) on visual signal detection performance and critical flicker fusion frequency (CFF) of normal volunteers were investigated using a signal detection theory analysis. When signal probability was low, alcohol affected the stimulus sensitivity and the reaction times of hits. Under a high signal probability these indices were not affected, whereas the response bias did not change after the administration of alcohol under both signal probabilities. CFF values were not altered by alcohol. A correlation was found between the magnitude of the alcohol effect and the performance level under placebo. Changing the signal probability caused significant differences between the sensitivity measures, the response bias measures and the reaction times of hits. It is concluded that alcohol affects signal detection performance under conditions of low signal probability. Individuals with a relatively low performance level are more susceptible to the effects of alcohol.

Adult

Salt taste detection: an R-index approach to signal-detection measurements.

The R-index approach to the signal-detection P(A) index of sensitivity was used to measure taste sensitivity to NaCl solutions. The R-index is the predicted probability of the correct choice of a signal, for a given signal-noise pair. For flow-wise and sipwise presentation, R-indices did not fluctuate significantly, provided subjects could not see the stimuli yet to be presented, indicating a lack of systematic sensitivity drift. The simultaneous measurement of more than one signal strength with reference to a common noise stimulus was seen to be a viable and sensitive procedure. Comparison of flow-wise and sipwise presentation of stimuli using R-indices, indicated that the former elicited greater subject sensitivity to NaCl taste.

Adolescent

Diazepam-induced changes in signal detection performance. A comparison with the effects on the Critical Flicker-Fusion Frequency and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test.

The effects of 10 mg diazepam on signal detection theory measures (stimulus sensitivity, response bias) and reaction times were studied in a 1-hour visual signal detection task with high and low signal probability, and on performance in two short-duration tasks: Critical Flicker-Fusion Frequency (CFF) and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). 12 healthy volunteers participated in this placebo-controlled, double-blind cross-over study. Diazepam affected the stimulus sensitivity and the reaction times of hits in the signal detection task. DSST performance was also impaired while CFF did not change after diazepam treatment. No relationship between serum diazepam concentration and change in task performance was found. It is concluded that diazepam affects signal detection performance, independent of signal probability. A short-duration task like the DSST is as sensitive to the effects of diazepam as the (long-duration) signal detection task.

Adolescent

Critical-band effects in two-channel auditory signal detection.

Two-channel auditory signal detection was investigated with 50-msec sinusoidal signals masked by binaurally uncorrelated noise. In the two-channel tasks, the signals in each earphone channel were presented with an independent probability during the single observation interval and the observers were required to detect the inputs in a single earphone (selective-attention condition) or in both earphones (divided-attention condition). When the signals in each earphone were within the same critical band (the assumed singled processing unit in frequency domain), there was a decrement in detection performance in both the selective- and divided-attention (i.e. dichotic) conditions compared with the monaural condition. However, when signals were separated in frequency by several critical bands, a decrement in dichotic performance, as compared with monaural performance, occurred only in the divided-attention condition. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications regarding models of multichannel signal processing and the definition of input channels in terms of earphones.

Attention

Visual attention modulates signal detectability.

The mechanism by which visual-spatial attention affects the detection of faint signals has been the subject of considerable debate. It is well known that spatial cuing speeds signal detection. This may imply that attentional cuing modulates the processing of sensory information during detection or, alternatively, that cuing acts to create decision bias favoring input at the cued location. These possibilities were evaluated in 3 spatial cuing experiments. Peripheral cues were used in Experiment 1 and central cues were used in Experiments 2 and 3. Cuing similarly enhanced measured sensitivity, P(A) and d', for simple luminance detection in all 3 experiments. Under some conditions it also induced shifts in decision criteria (beta). These findings indicate that visual-spatial attention facilitates the processing of sensory input during detection either by increasing sensory gain for inputs at cued locations or by prioritizing the processing of cued inputs.

Adult

Investigation of basic imaging properties in digital radiography. 9. Effect of displayed grey levels on signal detection.

Results of an 18-alternative forced-choice experiment have shown that observers were capable of detecting a signal with a contrast of 1 in terms of 10-bit data which were displayed on a CRT monitor with an 8-bit video generator and a window width setting of 1024. We investigated the conditions under which 10-bit signal data can be detected when displayed using an 8-bit video generator. Results show that the 10-bit digital quantum noise, which was approximately Gaussian distributed, can act as a carrier of the signal data, thus allowing a signal having a contrast of a fraction of a displayed grey level to be detected. We demonstrate the relationship between the rms value of the digital noise (obtainable with a clinical digital subtraction angiography system under various exposure levels), the number of bits available in the display video generator, and the "transmitted" signal contrast displayed on the CRT monitor.

Biometry

Evoked potential correlates of auditory signal detection.

A long-latency comnponent of the averaged evoked potential recorded from the human scalp varied in close relationship with subjects' perceptual reports in an auditory signal detection task. Detected signals evoked potentials several times larger than did undetected signals, falsely reported signals, or correctly reported nonsignals. The threshold signal intensity at which detection perfornmance exceeded chance levels was identical with concurrently obtained electro-physiological measures of threshold.

Auditory Perception

Signal detection analyses of delays in neonates' vocalizations.

Signal detection analyses were applied to momentary delays in the regular peeping of newborn chicks that occur in response to acoustic stimuli. Pulsing 1000-Hz tones at various intensities were repeatedly presented to chicks at 0 and 4 days posthatch. Durations of delays on both stimulus and control (mock) trials were collected in histograms. These histograms were then used to draw receiver operating characteristics (ROC curves) given variable definitions of what constitutes a "yes" response. Areas under these ROC curves were used to evaluate various ways of measuring the delay, as well as the effects of habituation, intensity, and age. Time to the second poststimulus peep was identified as a sensitive indicator of responsiveness. Habituation decreased responsiveness by about 5% per trial over the first three trials. Each dB of intensity increased responsiveness by about 1%. Maturation increased responsiveness by about 21 dB over 4 days. These ROC curves show that momentary delays in the vocalizations of newborn chickens are appropriate measures of auditory signal detection. Similar analyses could be useful in other psychophysical studies that depend on the changing rate of repetitive responses.

Acoustic Stimulation

Differential reinforcement and signal detection.

Reinforcement was introduced for responses normally treated as errors in signal-detection procedures. The first experiment used a standard two-response discrete-trial procedure with no reinforcement for errors. Results showed that rats altered their response biases but maintained constant sensitivity to visual signals when reinforcement probabilities varied, and that their sensitivity depended on the physical difference between signals, in accordance with the predictions of signal-detection theory. Experiment II, with rats, and Experiment III, with pigeons, demonstrated that sensitivity decreased in this procedure when reinforcement was scheduled for errors with the signals held constant, despite independence of overall number of reinforcers and sensitivity. Experiment IV, with rats, replicated the decrease in sensitivity in a continuous procedure employing only one response. The decrements in sensitivity were similar across Experiments II, III, and IV, and accorded well with earlier research. Thus, contrary to a fundamental assumption of signal-detection theory, estimates of sensitivity are not always invariant with respect to the outcomes of responding, but depend on relative reinforcement of correct responses.

Animals

The effect of signal probability, food intake, sex, and smoking on gustation, as measured by the theory of signal detection.

The possibility of applying Signal Detection Theory (SDT) to gustation was investigated by testing the effect of three variables--smoking, signal probability, and food intake (confounded with time of day)--on the taste sensitivity to sucrose of 24 male and 24 female Ss. No main effects or interactions were significant. The study indicated a "warm-up" effect, while adaptation was questionable. An analysis of false alarm (FA) reports was undertaken and discussed. Correlations were obtained between numerous variables and sensitivity. None of the correlations was statistically significant. It was concluded that although SDT is theoretically applicable to the gustatory modality, it is not practical for large-scale research.

Differential Threshold

Visual signal detection. IV. Observer inconsistency.

Historically, human signal-detection responses have been assumed to be governed by external determinants (nature of the signal, the noise, and the task) and internal determinants. Variability in the internal determinants is commonly attributed to internal noise (often vaguely defined). We present a variety of experimental results that demonstrate observer inconsistency in performing noise-limited visual detection and discrimination tasks with repeated presentation of images. Our results can be interpreted by using a model that includes an internal-noise component that is directly proportional to image noise. This so-called induced internal-noise component dominates when external noise is easily visible. We demonstrate that decision-variable fluctuations lead to this type of internal noise. Given this induced internal-noise proportionality (sigma i/sigma 0 = 0.75 +/- 0.1), the upper limit to human visual signal-detection efficiency is 64% +/- 6%. This limit is consistent with a variety of results presented in earlier papers in this series.

Acoustic Stimulation