Information processing architectures within stimulus perception and across the visual fields: An extension of the Systems Factorial Technology to nested architectures

Publication date: Available online 14 May 2019Source: Journal of Mathematical PsychologyAuthor(s): Robin D. Thomas, Gaojie Fan, Heather GambleAbstractSystems Factorial Technology (SFT) is a framework that was developed in order to study how people combine and utilize information from different sources during cognitive processing. By using a series of non-parametric analyses including the mean interaction contrast (MIC) and survivor interaction contrast (SIC), SFT can distinguish between types of information processing architectures (mainly parallel and serial) as well as stopping rules (mainly exhaustive and self-terminating). We extend the theory to a type of trial structure that has been used in research on hemispheric specialization and integration: bilateral visual field presentation. We derive predictions for nested architectures in which processing may be serial or parallel within stimuli presented in both visual fields (left and right) and serial or parallel across fields. To ground the theoretical work, we employ language from an example detection task using global/local patterns presented in the left, right, and both visual fields in which an arrow may be presented at either local or global level. Theorems and model simulations provide predictions for survivor function and mean interaction contrasts for these nested architectures.

Source: Journal of Mathematical Psychology - May 16, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research