The sequential categorization-identification paradigm (SCIP): A paradigm for the concurrent testing of strong hypotheses regarding psychological representation and processing.

Abstract

We present a new experimental paradigm intended to allow for the acquisition of the data needed for testing strong hypotheses regarding the nature of encoded representations and the real-time processing of those representations using the same set of trials. The design is motivated by two formal theories: general recognition theory (Ashby & Townsend. Psychological Review, 93, 154-179, 1986), which addresses internal representation, and systems factorial theory (Townsend & Nozawa. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 39, 321-359. 1995), which addresses the foundational characteristics of real-time processing. We show in the results of two experiments, one with very simple and a second with more complex stimuli, that this paradigm is capable of producing data that can allow for inferences regarding both representation and processing from the same set of trials and that those two sets of inferences can be found to be coherent with one another, allowing for the potential for the results of behavioral experimentation to seriously constrain formal and computational modeling. In this sense, the work is coherent with an overarching theme in Mary Peterson's work, specifically as an application of two theory-driven approaches to questions in cognitive representation and processing.