5 research outputs found
Rapid online assessment of reading ability
Published18 March 2021An accurate model of the factors that contribute to individual differences in reading ability depends
on data collection in large, diverse and representative samples of research participants. However, that
is rarely feasible due to the constraints imposed by standardized measures of reading ability which
require test administration by trained clinicians or researchers. Here we explore whether a simple,
two-alternative forced choice, time limited lexical decision task (LDT), self-delivered through the webbrowser,
can serve as an accurate and reliable measure of reading ability. We found that performance
on the LDT is highly correlated with scores on standardized measures of reading ability such as the
Woodcock-Johnson Letter Word Identification test (r = 0.91, disattenuated r = 0.94). Importantly,
the LDT reading ability measure is highly reliable (r = 0.97). After optimizing the list of words and
pseudowords based on item response theory, we found that a short experiment with 76 trials
(2–3 min) provides a reliable (r = 0.95) measure of reading ability. Thus, the self-administered, Rapid
Online Assessment of Reading ability (ROAR) developed here overcomes the constraints of resourceintensive,
in-person reading assessment, and provides an efficient and automated tool for effective
online research into the mechanisms of reading (dis)ability.We would like to thank the Pavlovia and PsychoPy team for their support on the browser-based experiments.
This work was funded by NIH NICHD R01HD09586101, research grants from Microsoft and Jacobs Foundation
Research Fellowship to J.D.Y
Speed accuracy tradeoff? Not so fast: Marginal changes in speed have inconsistent relationships with accuracy in real-world settings
The speed-accuracy tradeoff suggests that responses generated under time constraints will be less accurate. While it has undergone extensive experimental verification, it is less clear whether it applies in settings where time pressures are not being experimentally manipulated (but where respondents still vary in their utilization of time). Using a large corpus of 29 response time datasets containing data from cognitive tasks without experimental manipulation of time pressure, we probe whether the speed-accuracy tradeoff holds across a variety of tasks using idiosyncratic within-person variation in speed. We find inconsistent relationships between marginal increases in time spent responding and accuracy; in many cases, marginal increases in time do not predict increases in accuracy. However, we do observe time pressures (in the form of time limits) to consistently reduce accuracy and for rapid responses to typically show the anticipated relationship (i.e., they are more accurate if they are slower). We also consider analysis of items and individuals. We find substantial variation in the item-level associations between speed and accuracy. On the person side, respondents who exhibit more within-person variation in response speed are typically of lower ability. Finally, we consider the predictive power of a person's response time in predicting out-of-sample responses; it is generally a weak predictor. Collectively, our findings suggest the speed-accuracy tradeoff may be limited as a conceptual model in its application in non-experimental settings and, more generally, offer empirical results and an analytic approach that will be useful as more response time data is collected
Accompanying Software Library for 'InterModel Vigorish (IMV): A novel approach for quantifying predictive accuracy with binary outcomes'
<p>Release v 0.9 prior to publication.</p>
Speed–Accuracy Trade-Off? Not So Fast: Marginal Changes in Speed Have Inconsistent Relationships With Accuracy in Real-World Settings
The speed–accuracy trade-off (SAT) suggests that time constraints reduce response accuracy. Its relevance in observational settings—where response time (RT) may not be constrained but respondent speed may still vary—is unclear. Using 29 data sets containing data from cognitive tasks, we use a flexible method for identification of the SAT (which we test in extensive simulation studies) to probe whether the SAT holds. We find inconsistent relationships between time and accuracy; marginal increases in time use for an individual do not necessarily predict increases in accuracy. Additionally, the speed–accuracy relationship may depend on the underlying difficulty of the interaction. We also consider the analysis of items and individuals; of particular interest is the observation that respondents who exhibit more within-person variation in response speed are typically of lower ability. We further find that RT is typically a weak predictor of response accuracy. Our findings document a range of empirical phenomena that should inform future modeling of RTs collected in observational settings
Speed–Accuracy Trade-Off? Not So Fast: Marginal Changes in Speed Have Inconsistent Relationships With Accuracy in Real-World Settings
The speed–accuracy trade-off (SAT) suggests that time constraints reduce response accuracy. Its relevance in observational settings—where response time (RT) may not be constrained but respondent speed may still vary—is unclear. Using 29 data sets containing data from cognitive tasks, we use a flexible method for identification of the SAT (which we test in extensive simulation studies) to probe whether the SAT holds. We find inconsistent relationships between time and accuracy; marginal increases in time use for an individual do not necessarily predict increases in accuracy. Additionally, the speed–accuracy relationship may depend on the underlying difficulty of the interaction. We also consider the analysis of items and individuals; of particular interest is the observation that respondents who exhibit more within-person variation in response speed are typically of lower ability. We further find that RT is typically a weak predictor of response accuracy. Our findings document a range of empirical phenomena that should inform future modeling of RTs collected in observational settings