Signal detection theory and the psychophysics of pain: an introduction and review.

A brief explanation of signal detection theory is presented, followed by a review of the literature in which differences in pain report were analyzed to determine if changes were in sensitivity (physiological processes) or in response bias (a subject's willingness to report that a signal occurred). Three kinds of studies are reviewed: modification, procedural, and comparative and normative. The advantages of using a signal detection approach in pain research are emphasized. It is concluded that experimenters applying signal detection analysis to pain research should give greater consideration to methodological procedures and be cognizant of all possibilities for shifts in sensitivity (d)'.