Abstract
The effects of aging on decision time were examined in a brightness discrimination experiment with young and older subjects (ages, 60–75 years). Results showed that older subjects were slightly slower than young subjects but just as accurate. Ratcliff’s (1978) diffusion model was fit to the data, and it provided a good account of response times, their distributions, and response accuracy. There was a 50-msec slowing of the nondecision components of response time for older subjects relative to young subjects, but response criteria settings and rates of accumulation of evidence from stimuli were roughly equal for the two groups. These results are contrasted with those obtained from letter discrimination and signal-detection-like tasks.
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Preparation of this article was supported by NIA Grant R01 AG17083, NIMH Grants HD R37 MH44640 and HD K05-MH01891, and NIDCD Grant R01-DC01240.
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Ratcliff, R., Thapar, A. & Mckoon, G. A diffusion model analysis of the effects of aging on brightness discrimination. Perception & Psychophysics 65, 523–535 (2003). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194580
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194580