PSYCHOMETRIC AND INFORMATION-PROCESSING PROPERTIES OF SELECTED RESPONSE-TIME MODELS

This paper discusses the compatibility of some response time (RT) mode ls with psychometric and with information processing approaches to res ponse times. First, three psychometrically desirable properties of pro babilistic models for binary data, related to the principle of specifi c objectivity, are adapted to the domain of RT models. One of these is the separability of item and subject parameters, and another is doubl e monotonicity. Next, the compatibility of these psychometric properti es with one very popular information processing approach, the serial-a dditive model, is discussed. Finally, five RT models are analyzed with respect to their compatibility with the psychometric properties, with serial-additive processing and with some alternative types of process ing. It is concluded that (a) current psychometric models each satisfy one or more of the psychometric properties, but are not (easily) comp atible with serial-additive processing, (b) at least one serial-additi ve processing model satisfies separability of item and subject paramet ers, and (c) RT models will more easily satisfy double monotonicity th an the other two psychometric properties.