Joint modelling group differences from military personnel

With recent advances in computational modelling techniques, joint modelling of behavioural tasks has become more accessible. In the current experiment, results from a dual task cognitive workload paradigm were compared across two groups. The two groups were student participants and a highly skilled military group who were in a selection program. Both groups completed a multiple object tracking task (MOT) and a simultaneous detection response task (DRT). We then jointly estimated parameters for models corresponding to the decisions in the MOT and responses to the DRT using a Particle Metropolis within Gibbs sampling method, separately for each group. We use the Linear Ballistic Accumulator to model decisions in the MOT and the shifted-Wald to fit responses in the DRT. MOT results showed a large difference between the groups on accuracy, with an interaction effect observed between groups and level of difficulty in response times, where military group response times slowed at a greater rate than the student group. In the DRT, the military group responded faster and with greater accuracy than the student group. Model results indicated the military group were more cautious than students, and tended to have faster processing speeds. Our findings show the strength of new sampling methodologies in not only explaining decision making strategies, but also in evaluating correlations between model parameters, within and across tasks.