Against coefficient of variation for estimation of intraindividual variability with accuracy measures

Previous studies have shown that intraindividual variability (iV) in performance is an important indicator of individuals cognitive functioning and neurological integrity. While most experiments have examined iV of performance using Reaction Time data (RTs), few studies have considered it with accur...

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Main Authors: Philippe Golay, Delphine Fagot, Thierry Lecerf
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Université d'Ottawa 2013-02-01
Series:Tutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.tqmp.org/Content/vol09-1/p006/p006.pdf
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author Philippe Golay
Delphine Fagot
Thierry Lecerf
author_facet Philippe Golay
Delphine Fagot
Thierry Lecerf
author_sort Philippe Golay
collection DOAJ
description Previous studies have shown that intraindividual variability (iV) in performance is an important indicator of individuals cognitive functioning and neurological integrity. While most experiments have examined iV of performance using Reaction Time data (RTs), few studies have considered it with accuracy measures (e.g. number or percentage of correct responses). For these two types of measures, intraindividual standard deviation (iSD) or intraindividual coefficient of variation (iCV; intraindividual standard deviation divided by the individual mean) were used as indicators of iV in performance. However, because accuracy data have a lower and an upper bound (in contrast to RTs), we illustrate both formally and with simulated data, that the iCV cannot be used with accuracy measures. We also show that the coefficient iCV is influenced by the number of items which is an issue when dealing with missing data. We further provide formulas that may help researchers to visualize and correctly interpret their data using any spreadsheet software. The current article finally proposes an alternative coefficient (zeta) to examine iV in performance with accuracy measures that shows similar behaviour as does iCV with RTs data.
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spelling doaj.art-9bef29617fec4783b95b94e28d76b3662022-12-22T00:55:58ZengUniversité d'OttawaTutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology1913-41262013-02-01091614Against coefficient of variation for estimation of intraindividual variability with accuracy measuresPhilippe GolayDelphine FagotThierry LecerfPrevious studies have shown that intraindividual variability (iV) in performance is an important indicator of individuals cognitive functioning and neurological integrity. While most experiments have examined iV of performance using Reaction Time data (RTs), few studies have considered it with accuracy measures (e.g. number or percentage of correct responses). For these two types of measures, intraindividual standard deviation (iSD) or intraindividual coefficient of variation (iCV; intraindividual standard deviation divided by the individual mean) were used as indicators of iV in performance. However, because accuracy data have a lower and an upper bound (in contrast to RTs), we illustrate both formally and with simulated data, that the iCV cannot be used with accuracy measures. We also show that the coefficient iCV is influenced by the number of items which is an issue when dealing with missing data. We further provide formulas that may help researchers to visualize and correctly interpret their data using any spreadsheet software. The current article finally proposes an alternative coefficient (zeta) to examine iV in performance with accuracy measures that shows similar behaviour as does iCV with RTs data.http://www.tqmp.org/Content/vol09-1/p006/p006.pdfdescriptive statisticscoefficient of variationaccuracy measure
spellingShingle Philippe Golay
Delphine Fagot
Thierry Lecerf
Against coefficient of variation for estimation of intraindividual variability with accuracy measures
Tutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology
descriptive statistics
coefficient of variation
accuracy measure
title Against coefficient of variation for estimation of intraindividual variability with accuracy measures
title_full Against coefficient of variation for estimation of intraindividual variability with accuracy measures
title_fullStr Against coefficient of variation for estimation of intraindividual variability with accuracy measures
title_full_unstemmed Against coefficient of variation for estimation of intraindividual variability with accuracy measures
title_short Against coefficient of variation for estimation of intraindividual variability with accuracy measures
title_sort against coefficient of variation for estimation of intraindividual variability with accuracy measures
topic descriptive statistics
coefficient of variation
accuracy measure
url http://www.tqmp.org/Content/vol09-1/p006/p006.pdf
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