Measuring object recognition ability: Reliability, validity, and the aggregate z-score approach

Behav Res Methods. 2024 Mar 4. doi: 10.3758/s13428-024-02372-w. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTMeasurement of domain-general object recognition ability (o) requires minimization of domain-specific variance. One approach is to model o as a latent variable explaining performance on a battery of tests which differ in task demands and stimuli; however, time and sample requirements may be prohibitive. Alternatively, an aggregate measure of o can be obtained by averaging z-scores across tests. Using data from Sunday et al., Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 151, 676-694, (2022), we demonstrated that aggregate scores from just two such object recognition tests provide a good approximation (r = .79) of factor scores calculated from a model using a much larger set of tests. Some test combinations produced correlations of up to r = .87 with factor scores. We then revised these tests to reduce testing time, and developed an odd one out task, using a unique object category on nearly every trial, to increase task and stimuli diversity. To validate our measures, 163 participants completed the object recognition tests on two occasions, one month apart. Providing the first evidence that o is stable over time, our short aggregate o measure demonstrated good test-retest reliability (r = .77). The stability of o could not be completely accounted for by intelligence, perceptual speed, and early visual ability. Structural equation modeling suggested that our tests load significantly ont...

Source: Behavior Research Methods - March 4, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Conor J R Smithson Jason K Chow Ting-Yun Chang Isabel Gauthier Source Type: research