Abstract
<p>As a well-established cognitive model of human decision-making, the drift diffusion model (DDM) offers a psychologically intuitive account of the decision-making process by virtue of its four basic parameters. However, the reliance of the DDM on endpoint measures (response times and accuracy) creates a conceptual gap to this process-oriented account, which needs to be bridged with the help of independent process-tracing methods. In this study, we deployed mouse cursor tracking with the aim of validating the psychological interpretation of the basic DDM parameters drift rate, threshold separation, and non-decision time. In a preregistered replication, 95 participants completed 90 trials of a random dot kinematogram (RDK). Partial least square regression was applied in order to predict the three DDM parameters with the help of 18 cursor measures, which were extracted from the literature. We found support for the psychological interpretation of threshold separation and non-decision time, replicating the results of our previous study, while the analyses of drift rate remained inconclusive. Our results further strengthen our psychological understanding of the DDM, point towards conceptual ambiguities, and encourage further joint application of cognitive models and process-tracing methodology.</p>