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A two-state model of simple reaction time

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- 33 -<br />

on RT is the attempt by Baumeister and Joubert(1969). They varied<br />

the relative frequency <strong>of</strong> the various FPs to manipulate the<br />

expectancy. But, the FPs used by them were 2,4,8,16 sec. These<br />

FPs are highly discriminable so that we suspect that the subject<br />

might be unduly forced to develop the expectancy during the<br />

experiment.<br />

2) In some experiments reviewed by Niemi and Naatanen(1981),<br />

FPs were very short, i.e., shorter than 1 sec, and in others,<br />

they were very long, i.e., longer than 10 sec. For too short FPs,<br />

the subject may not be able to prepare his motor system before the<br />

presentation <strong>of</strong> the stimulus when no warning signal is used.<br />

When too long FPs are used, we suspect that multiple preparation<br />

may be invoked, i.e., the process <strong>of</strong> <strong>simple</strong> <strong>reaction</strong> for longer<br />

FPs may not be the same as that for other FPs.<br />

3) Analyzing the data from trained and unexperienced subjects<br />

separately, Naatanen and Merisalo(1977) found differences between<br />

the <strong>two</strong> kinds <strong>of</strong> subjects in the sensitivity <strong>of</strong> the RT to<br />

manipulations <strong>of</strong> experimental conditions. In general, as to<br />

the kind <strong>of</strong> the subjects, experimenters used trained subjects or

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