<p>Yes, there are several alternatives to d'.</p>

<p>First of all, <strong>why do we need alternatives to d'?</strong></p>

<ol>
<li><p>d' assumes the distribution of internal representation of signal and noise are Gaussian. This assumption is common, but may not be true, and a measure that does not make this assumption is more robust.</p></li>
<li><p>There are technical problems computing d' when the <em>Hit Rate</em> or the <em>False Alarm Rate</em> are 0 or 1 (d' becomes inf or -inf). </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Proposed alternatives to d' include:</p>

<ol>
<li>Area under the ROC (Green &amp; Swets, 1966)</li>
<li><strong>A'</strong> (Pollak &amp; Norman, 1964), <strong>A''</strong> (Smith, 1995) which is a correction of A', and <strong>A</strong> (Zhang &amp; Mueller, 2005) which is a correction of A''.</li>
<li><strong>S'</strong> (Balakrishnan, 1998)</li>
</ol>

<hr>

<p>Balakrishnan, J. D. (1998). Some more sensitive measures of sensitivity and response bias. Psychological Methods, 3(1), 68.</p>

<p>Zhang, J., &amp; Mueller, S. T. (2005). A note on ROC analysis and non-parametric estimate of sensitivity. Psychometrika, 70(1), 203-212.</p>

<p>Smith, W. D. (1995). Clarification of sensitivity measure A'. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 39(1), 82-89.</p>

<p>Pollack, I., &amp; Norman, D. A. (1964). A non-parametric analysis of recognition experiments. Psychonomic Science.</p>

<p>Green, D. M., &amp; Swets, J. A. (1966). Signal detection theory and psychophysics (Vol. 1). New York: Wiley.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-10-25T00:10:03.760Z
2013-10-25T00:10:03.760Z
Ofri Raviv
<p>The reason I ask is that I often hear of alternate measures of response bias besides β, but have never heard of an alternate measure of detection sensitivity to d'.</p>

<p>If there is no other measure of detection sensitivity, is that a matter of mathematical necessity?</p>

<measurement><signal-detection>
In SDT, are there other measures of detection sensitivity besides d'?
user1205901 - Слава Україні
# In SDT, are there other measures of detection sensitivity besides d'?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-10-20)

The reason I ask is that I often hear of alternate measures of response bias besides β, but have never heard of an alternate measure of detection sensitivity to d'.

If there is no other measure of detection sensitivity, is that a matter of mathematical necessity?

**Tags:** measurement, signal-detection


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-10-25. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

Yes, there are several alternatives to d'.

First of all, **why do we need alternatives to d'?**

1. d' assumes the distribution of internal representation of signal and noise are Gaussian. This assumption is common, but may not be true, and a measure that does not make this assumption is more robust.
2. There are technical problems computing d' when the *Hit Rate* or the *False Alarm Rate* are 0 or 1 (d' becomes inf or -inf).

Proposed alternatives to d' include:

1. Area under the ROC (Green & Swets, 1966)
2. **A'** (Pollak & Norman, 1964), **A''** (Smith, 1995) which is a correction of A', and **A** (Zhang & Mueller, 2005) which is a correction of A''.
3. **S'** (Balakrishnan, 1998)

---

Balakrishnan, J. D. (1998). Some more sensitive measures of sensitivity and response bias. Psychological Methods, 3(1), 68.

Zhang, J., & Mueller, S. T. (2005). A note on ROC analysis and non-parametric estimate of sensitivity. Psychometrika, 70(1), 203-212.

Smith, W. D. (1995). Clarification of sensitivity measure A'. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 39(1), 82-89.

Pollack, I., & Norman, D. A. (1964). A non-parametric analysis of recognition experiments. Psychonomic Science.

Green, D. M., & Swets, J. A. (1966). Signal detection theory and psychophysics (Vol. 1). New York: Wiley.


---

