Alternative performance index to analyze receiver operating characteristic data under the exponential assumption

Francisco J. Sanchez-Marin; Jose A. Padilla-Medina

doi:10.1117/1.2195462

1 April 2006 Alternative performance index to analyze receiver operating characteristic data under the exponential assumption

Francisco J. Sanchez-Marin, Jose A. Padilla-Medina

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Electronic Imaging, Vol. 15, Issue 2, 023009 (April 2006). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.2195462

Abstract

Thirty human observers are tested in a visual detection task under the rating receiver operating characteristic (ROC) paradigm. Since most of the observers were not able to use the rating categories as instructed, their data are excluded from the analysis. From the 30 observers, the four best and most experienced are selected to do long experiments (with 1000 presentations). However, the assumption of Gaussians with equal variance of classical ROC theory is not satisfied by the new data. Nevertheless, assuming Gaussian underlying distributions with unequal variances, the three well-known indices of performance d_m, d_e, and d_x are calculated in terms of the geometry of the linear fits in normal deviated coordinates. The areas under the ROC curves are also calculated. We found that the power-law ROC, which assumes underlying exponential distributions, fit well our data. Under the exponential-exponential assumption, we derive a new performance (detectability) index that is easily calculated from experimental data and that depends on a single parameter. The obtained values of the proposed index are in agreement with the corresponding values of the d_m, d_e, and d_x indices, but with the new index it is much easier to discriminate between observers with similar performance with considerably lower uncertainty.

©(2006) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Citation Download Citation

Francisco J. Sanchez-Marin and Jose A. Padilla-Medina "Alternative performance index to analyze receiver operating characteristic data under the exponential assumption," Journal of Electronic Imaging 15(2), 023009 (1 April 2006). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.2195462

Published: 1 April 2006

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available