Showing papers by "Gail McKoon published in 2000"
TL;DR: This article examines current models of the effects of aging on mean response time and shows how they might be reinterpreted, and endorsing a research approach that applies explicit models to response time data in aging in order to use the parameters of the model to interpret the effects.
Abstract: Research into the effects of aging on response time has focused on Brinley plots. Brinley plots are constructed by plotting mean response times for older subjects against those for young subjects for a set of experimental conditions. The typical result is a straight line with a slope greater than 1 and a negative intercept. This linear function has been interpreted as showing that aging leads to a general slowing of cognitive processes. In this article, we show that the slope of the Brinley plot is actually a measure of the relative standard deviations of older versus young subjects’ response times; it is not a measure of general slowing. We examine current models of the effects of aging on mean response time and show how they might be reinterpreted. We also show how a more comprehensive model, Ratcliff’s diffusion model (1978), can account for Brinley plot regularities and, at the same time, provide an account of accuracy rates, the shapes of response time distributions, and the relative speeds of error and correct response times, aspects of the data about which models designed to account for Brinley plots are mute. We conclude by endorsing a research approach that applies explicit models to response time data in aging in order to use the parameters of the model to interpret the effects of aging.
145 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the lexical semantic structures of change-of-state verbs via linguistic theory, corpus analysis, and psycholinguistic experimentation and found that sentences with external causation verbs take longer to comprehend than sentences with internal causation verbs.
Abstract: The lexical semantic structures of change-of-state verbs are explored via linguistic theory, corpus analysis, and psycholinguistic experimentation. The data support the idea that these verbs can be divided into two classes, those for which the change of state is internally caused and those for which it is externally caused (Levin & Rappaport Hovav 1995, cf. Smith 1970). External causation change-of-state verbs have been hypothesized to denote two subevents, internal causation change-of-state verbs only one event. Consistent with this difference, the psycholinguistic data indicate that, in both transitive AND intransitive constructions, sentences with external causation verbs take longer to comprehend than sentences with internal causation verbs.
113 citations
TL;DR: Assumptions about psychological decision-making processes and bias were added to a neural network model for object identification and the model accounted for performance both qualitatively and quantitatively in four object identification experiments.
Abstract: People name well-known objects shown in pictures more quickly if they have studied them previously. The most common in- terpretation of this priming effect is that processing is facilitated by an implicit memory trace in a perceptual representation system. We show that object priming can be explained instead as a bias in information processing, without recourse to an implicit memory system. Assump- tions about psychological decision-making processes and bias were added to a neural network model for object identification, and the model accounted for performance both qualitatively and quantita- tively in four object identification experiments.
31 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that the counter model for word identification can accommodate this learning effect, and that it can do so without jeopardizing its explanations of the effects on word identification of a large number of other variables.
Abstract: The counter model for word identification (Ratcliff & McKoon, 1997) has been challenged by recent empirical findings that performance on low-frequency words improves as the result of repetition of the words. We show that the model can accommodate this learning effect, and that it can do so without jeopardizing its explanations of the effects on word identification of a large number of other variables.
16 citations