6533b850fe1ef96bd12a8501
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Small-sample characterization of stochastic approximation staircases in forced-choice adaptive threshold estimation
Leonardo RicciFrancesco PavaniLuca FaesRenzo AntoliniFlavia RavelliMassimo VescoviMassimo TurattoGiandomenico Nollosubject
Psychology (all)Computer scienceCoercionSensationDifferential ThresholdExperimental and Cognitive PsychologyStochastic approximationMidpointChoice BehaviorPsychometric functionSensory thresholdPsychophysicsHumansPsychologyDecision making Psychophysical procedures Psychometric functionGeneral PsychologyStochastic ProcessesPsychophysical proceduresStochastic processTwo-alternative forced choicebusiness.industryUsabilitySensory SystemsSettore ING-INF/06 - Bioingegneria Elettronica E InformaticaPsychometric functionSensory SystembusinessAlgorithmDecision makingdescription
Despite the widespread use of up—down staircases in adaptive threshold estimation, their efficiency and usability in forced-choice experiments has been recently debated. In this study, simulation techniques were used to determine the small-sample convergence properties of stochastic approximation (SA) staircases as a function of several experimental parameters. We found that satisfying some general requirements (use of the accelerated SA algorithm, clear suprathreshold initial stimulus intensity, large initial step size) the convergence was accurate independently of the spread of the underlying psychometric function. SA staircases were also reliable for targeting percent-correct levels far from the midpoint of the psychometric function and performed better than classical up—down staircases with fixed step size. These results prompt the utilization of SA staircases in practical forced-choice estimation of sensory thresholds.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-01-01 |