Citation

Katzner S, Miller J. Q. J. Exp. Psychol. (2006) 2011; 65(5): 865-886.

Affiliation

a CIN-Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen , Tübingen , Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, SAGE Publications)

DOI

10.1080/17470218.2011.629731

PMID

22150565

Abstract

Many reaction time (RT) experiments have tested for response-level probability effects. Their results have been mixed, which is surprising because psychophysiological studies provide clear evidence of motor-level changes associated with an anticipated response. A survey of the designs used in the RT studies reveals many potential problems that could conceal the effects of response probability. We report five new RT experiments testing for response-level probability effects with the most promising of the previous designs-that of Blackman ( 1972 )-and with new designs. Some of these experiments yield evidence of response-level probability effects, but others do not. It appears that response-level probability effects are present primarily in simple tasks with a strong emphasis on response preparation, possibly because participants only expend effort on response preparation in these tasks.

Language: en