Comments on Batchelder and Riefer's multinomial model for source monitoring

Abstract

Kinchla criticizes Batchelder and Riefer's multinomial model for source monitoring, primarily its high-threshold assumptions, and he advocates an approach based on statistical decision theory (SDT). In this reply, the authors lay out some of the considerations that led to their model and then raise some specific concerns with Kinchla's critique. The authors point out that most of his criticisms are drawn from contrasting the high threshold and the Gaussian, equal-variance SDT models on receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves for yes-no recognition memory. They indicate how source monitoring is more complicated than yes-no recognition and question the validity of standard ROC analyses in source monitoring. The authors argue that their model is a good approximation for measuring differences between sources on old-new detection and that it has the ability to measure source discrimination as well as detection. The authors also explore a low-threshold multinomial model and discuss the application of SDT models to source monitoring.