The instance theory of automaticity: Why the Weibull?

It is shown that in order to derive the Weibull shape for the response time distribution in the instance theory of automaticity (G. D. Logan, 1988) by an asymptotic argument from the theory of extreme value statistics, it is necessary to determine the domain of attraction of the underlying parent distribution. An alternative, nonasymptotic characterization property equivalent to the power law of practice is presented here that gives a more feasible justification for the choice of the Weibull. This result leads to a different emphasis on the empirical conditions testing the theory. Some problems arising from the use of the asymptotic theory of extreme value statistics for the stochastic modeling of behavioral data are discussed.

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