Diffusion Process Models of Decision Making: Volume 1: Fundamental Processes

Diffusion decision models are widely used to characterize the cognitive and neural processes involved in making rapid decisions about objects and events in the environment. These decisions, which are made hundreds of times a day without prolonged deliberation, include recognition of people and things as well as real-time decisions made while walking or driving. Diffusion models assume that the processes involved in making such decisions are noisy and variable and that noisy evidence is accumulated until there is enough for a decision. This volume provides the first comprehensive treatment of the theory, mathematical foundations, numerical methods, and empirical applications of diffusion process models in psychology and neuroscience. In addition to the standard Wiener diffusion model, readers will find a detailed, unified treatment of the cognitive theory and the neural foundations of a variety of dynamic diffusion process models of two-choice, multiple choice, and continuous outcome decisions.

Philip L. Smith has published numerous articles on mathematical models of decision processes and is the developer of the circular diffusion model of continuous-outcome decisions. He has served as a former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Mathematical Psychology and was awarded the Society for Mathematical Psychology's 2002 Outstanding Paper Award for his research on diffusion process models.

Roger Ratcliff is Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and winner of the Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences. He is developer of the diffusion decision model with clinical and aging applications and has published extensively on memory, decision making, and cognitive neuroscience across many top theoretical journals in psychology.