RT Journal Article
T1 Psychometric functions for detection and discrimination with and without flankers.
A1 García Pérez, Miguel Ángel
A1 Alcalá Quintana, Rocío
A1 Woods, Russell L
A1 Peli, Eli
AB Recent studies have reported that flanking stimuli broaden the psychometric function and lower detection thresholds. In the present study, we measured psychometric functions for detection and discrimination with and without flankers to investigate whether these effects occur throughout the contrast continuum. Our results confirm that lower detection thresholds with flankers are accompanied by broader psychometric functions. Psychometric functions for discrimination reveal that discrimination thresholds with and without flankers are similar across standard levels, and that the broadening of psychometric functions with flankers disappears as standard contrast increases, to the point that psychometric functions at high standard levels are virtually identical with or without flankers. Threshold-versus-contrast (TvC) curves with flankers only differ from TvC curves without flankers in occasional shallower dippers and lower branches on the left of the dipper, but they run virtually superimposed at high standard levels. We discuss differences between our results and other results in the literature, and how they are likely attributed to the differential vulnerability of alternative psychophysical procedures to the effects of presentation order. We show that different models of flanker facilitation can fit the data equally well, which stresses that succeeding at fitting a model does not validate it in any sense.
PB Springer
SN 1943-393X
YR 2011
FD 2011-04
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/44905
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/44905
LA eng
NO Ministerio Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)
NO Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 15 dic 2025