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Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Parameters of Signal Detection Theory–A Direct Solution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Donald D. Dorfman
Affiliation:
San Diego State College and U. S. Naval Personnel Research Activity
Edward Alf Jr.
Affiliation:
San Diego State College and U. S. Naval Personnel Research Activity

Abstract

Ogilvie and Creelman have recently attempted to develop maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters of signal-detection theory from the data of yes-no ROC curves. Their method involved the assumption of a logistic distribution rather than the normal distribution in order to make the mathematics more tractable. The present paper presents a method of obtaining maximum likelihood estimates of these parameters using the assumption of underlying normal distributions.

Type
Original Paper
Copyright
Copyright © 1968 The Psychometric Society

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Footnotes

*

This research was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health, MH-10449-02, and from the National Science Foundation, NSF GS-1466.

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