ABX paradigm

a psychophysical procedure in which a pair of auditory stimuli (A and B) are presented, followed by another stimulus (X). In one version of the task, participants are asked to judge whether X is identical to A or B; in another version, they have to judge whether X was included in the A–B pair.

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Psychology term of the day

February 15th 2025

predecisional negative shift

that component of the readiness potential that precedes any conscious awareness of a wish to act. Investigations with electroencephalography suggest that it can be detected some 350 ms before the individual reports a decision to make a movement and some 550 ms before the movement occurs. The finding is controversial because it implies that behavior is instigated nonconsciously and hence that free will is illusory; the ecological validity of such experiments has also been questioned. [reported by U.S. physiologist Benjamin Libet (1916–2007)]