The mapping between transformed reaction time costs and models of processing in aging and cognition

Hedge, Craig ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6145-3319, Powell, Georgina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6793-0446 and Sumner, Petroc ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0536-0510 2018. The mapping between transformed reaction time costs and models of processing in aging and cognition. Psychology and Aging 33 (7) , pp. 1093-1104. 10.1037/pag0000298

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Abstract

Older adults tend to have slower response times (RTs) than younger adults on cognitive tasks. This makes the examination of domain-specific deficits in aging difficult, as differences between conditions in raw RTs (RT costs) typically increase with slower average RTs. Here, we examine the mapping between two established approaches to dealing with this confound in the literature. The first is to use transformed RT costs, with the z-score and proportional transforms both being commonly used. The second is to use mathematical models of choice RT behavior, such as the drift-diffusion model (Ratcliff, 1978). We simulated data for younger and older adults from the drift-diffusion model under four scenarios: A) a domain specific deficit, B) general slowing, C) strategic slowing, and D) a slowing of non-decision processes. In each scenario we varied the size of the difference between younger and older adults in the model parameters, and examined corresponding effect sizes and type 1 error rates in the raw and transformed RT costs. The z-score transformation provided better control of type 1 error rates than the raw or proportional costs, though did not fully control for differences in the general slowing and strategic slowing scenarios. We recommend that RT analyses are ideally supplemented by analyses of error rates where possible, as these may help to identify the presence of confounds. To facilitate this, it would be beneficial to include conditions that elicit below ceiling accuracy in tasks.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) Psychology
Publisher:	American Psychological Association
ISSN:	0882-7974
Funders:	Wellcome Trust
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	13 August 2018
Date of Acceptance:	7 August 2018
Last Modified:	17 Nov 2024 18:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/114139

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