Questions tagged [methodology]
For questions about experimental and theoretical methods, procedures, and tools used while conducting research in the cognitive sciences.
2
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16 views
Does anyone have R code for analyzing skin conductance data?
Similar question here Open-source software for analyzing Electrodermal activity
But with no R code answers provided, and the online EDA explorer appears to be unavailable now.
I am looking for code ...
1
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1answer
13 views
What speaker is commonly used for low-latency audio stimulation
We need to purchase a new speaker for audio ERP study, so the sound should be played in lowest possible latency with lowest possible jitter. I have seen quite a few suggestion on the OS/driver/sound ...
1
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0answers
24 views
Is there a specified way to shorten the number of questions in an instrument/questionnaire?
If you have found a fitting instrument that measures your interest and has been validated but is a bit too long, what can you do to shorten it?
Edit:
How do you reduce the number of questions ...
2
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1answer
24 views
How to control subject's response bias in 2-interval force choice task
I am using a two-interval force choice (2IFC) task to estimate detection threshold and choose an appropriate signal level for my following experiment, by estimating sensitivity ($d'$) for each signal ...
3
votes
1answer
20 views
Fit a psychometric function when the maximum is not 100% (not because of lapse)
I found that currently the form of psychometric function assumes that the proportion correct lies between 0.5-1 given the range of stimulus level, but how to fit a psychometric function when the ...
5
votes
1answer
52 views
Getting useful readings out of GSR sensors while moving?
I'm currently thinking about a project that would involve using a GSR sensor and an Arduino (Probably the Grove GSR Sensor) to measure Stress levels in a person.
It will not be a research project, ...
3
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2answers
54 views
How to answer questions that don't seem to be possible to be answered on a Strongly disagree - Strongly agree scale and what's their point?
I'm continuously being perplexed by psychological tests that display a lot of questions that don't seem to be able to be answered in a simplistic ways, but nevertheless simplistic answers are demanded....
2
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0answers
20 views
How to crowdsource behaviour across > 100.000 humans while each human only solves a very short task (< 10 sec)
I'd like to carry out a behavioural experiment that involves humans classifying a very simple image into one of two classes and there is no right or wrong answer. For the question of the study it is ...
1
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2answers
44 views
Confidence rating in cognitive experiments
Does a confidence rating included in a post task measure the likelihood of correctness to the answer or likelihood of occurrence of an event.
To give an example: participants are given a picture of ...
3
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1answer
40 views
Recommended resources (journals, blogs, etc) for nurturing a background of statistical/methodological rigour in behavioural science research?
Background :
There seems to considerable debate regarding the output of psychological research lacking
a) appropriate, rigourous statistical treatment of data
b) replicability
As a second year ...
1
vote
1answer
31 views
What's the best way to calculate an index score based on reaction time, variance and accuracy?
Say I have a go/no-go task and my output data includes 3 parameters:
average reaction time, variance of reaction time, and number of errors.
I want to composite all of the parameters into a single ...
1
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0answers
13 views
Is it okay to use “fixed number of factors” in EFA after contradicting results from MAP test and eigenvalues?
I need help with my data analysis.
I am using a non-validated translated questionnaire in my survey. The purpose of it is not to validate the measure in a different language and its construct validity,...
1
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0answers
24 views
What is the difference between mathematical psychology and quantitative psychology? [closed]
Upon researching this question I realized that there are many graduate programs in quantitative psychology, but not too many for mathematical psychology. If you know of any universities that offer ...
5
votes
1answer
99 views
How to report a quasi-experiment in APA?
As one reads the psychology literature (e.g. social psychology), it seems to me, and I hope I'm not wrong, that such a discipline is highly dependent on quasi experiments (correct me if I'm wrong ...
2
votes
1answer
80 views
How to design psychology tests for concept formation?
I've read many papers on concepts, but their tests are sparsely described or abstractly mentioned. I want to test for classic, prototype and exemplar theories. How do you approach the problem?
Some ...
4
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0answers
25 views
Timing accuracy in presentation of videos with different frame rates (with COGENT)
For our fMRI study we want to present videos of 3 seconds duration. The videos have different frame rates:
48 videos were recorded with 50 fps
16 videos were recorded with 25fps
64 videos were ...
1
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0answers
23 views
Somatosensory evoked potentials
I am wondering what the best EEG recording montage is to use for recording of electrically evoked somatosensory evoked potentials after median nerve stimulation?
4
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2answers
72 views
Reason for Inter-stimulus-Interval in psychology studies
In many of the studies that I have read or participated in, I have seen that they show a blank screen between two stimuli. For example, in a study by Cohen et al. (2017), a training paradigm was used ...
3
votes
1answer
120 views
In general, how does one resolve two competing theories in Psychology?
In looking at a post on twitter from a somewhat well-known psychologist Tal Yarkoni, he references a paper which lists multiple sets of competing theories in Psychology that have not been resolved.
...
2
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1answer
75 views
Raven Progressive Matrix: why's my chosen square wrong?
Source: Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count (2009). pp. 7-8.
The example that the problem-solver must follow is set up by the two figures in the top row of the ...
3
votes
1answer
162 views
What does fMRI data look like after pre-processing?
I wish to know what fMRI data looks like after preprocessing.
My Understanding
My understanding is that fMRI is MRI in time dimension that is we have repeated scans of brain volume. A voxel is a ...
3
votes
1answer
141 views
How do you randomize within a Qualtrics form without breaking timing?
My current survey has a number of blocks. Each of those blocks contains a bunch of questions, each on their own page with a page break, and each with an associated timing question to limit time spent ...
6
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2answers
156 views
How do Terence Tao's “three stages of rigorousness” relate to cognitive science?
This is an excerpt from There’s more to mathematics than rigour and proofs of Terrence Tao:
The “pre-rigorous” stage, in which mathematics is taught in an informal, intuitive manner, based on ...
2
votes
1answer
35 views
Is it recommendable to put participants in different conditions across trials?
In a pilot study we want to give participants 3 different problems. Those come in two versions, one (supposedly) easier than the other. Participants will randomly be assigned one version of the ...
5
votes
3answers
92 views
Should I look at the data of an experiment before the dataset is complete?
For a research internship I am running psychological experiments online. As it takes a while until the experiment is done (meaning that enough people participated, so that a sufficient sample size is ...
0
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1answer
33 views
How can I take the Token Test?
I want to take the Token Test
Is there some website where I can take the test for free?
Alternatively, is there some simple guide to how the test works so I can re-create it?
2
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0answers
48 views
Is synchronization between the MRI scanner and the stimulus presentation necessary for every trial?
I'm planning an event-related fMRI-experiment to investigate the difference in processing natural and computer-generated facial emotion expressions.
I've seen a lot of studies that synchronize the ...
3
votes
0answers
90 views
PSE with Palamedes or Psignifit
I have used a Cumulative Gaussian function to fit the data I got from a 2AFC experiment. How can I calculate the point of subjective equality using the Palamedes toolbox for matlab or the psignifit ...
3
votes
0answers
48 views
How do different emotional intensity ratings within a condition influence the comparison across different conditions in an event-related fMRI task?
I'm planning an event-related fMRI-experiment to investigate the difference in processing natural and computer-generated expressions. For this, we recorded videos of 4 different actors posing fearful ...
3
votes
1answer
73 views
What is the best unobtrusive and objective method to measure mental workload?
What is the current research/industry standard on measuring mental workload using objective measurements (e.g. EEG, eye-tracking)?
Do you have any suggestions for specific tools and techniques?
Are ...
4
votes
1answer
171 views
How exactly does transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) work?
The method of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) involves the flow of electric charge from a positive electrode to a negative one.
This method is not exactly a stimulation method because ...
1
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2answers
226 views
Platforms to make online experiments with counterbalancing
There are a number of different interfaces to make an place experiments online, e.g. in questions Software for online psychological experiments that don't require users to download anything or ...
4
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1answer
221 views
Can a bipolar EEG signal be converted to a monopolar (unipolar) one?
I have bipolar EEG signal of Fpz-Cz of EEG sleep data which I have downloaded from physionet. I would like to have Fpz signal for my sleep study.
Is there any way I could convert a bipolar EEG signal ...
4
votes
1answer
68 views
What is the most robust method for peer grading?
I intend to provide a group task for 30 people, split into 5 or 6 groups.
Ultimately, I want them to assess which group delivered the best result (after presenting results in front of other groups) ...
2
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0answers
79 views
(Ekmans' Atlas of Emotions) What meaning (if any) can be deduced from the geometry of the “mountain” depicting a given emotion?
I have recently discovered that the Atlas of Emotions may be a useful tool in a research project I am working on. While lovely to look at, the Atlas seems to lack any description of the data encoded ...
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0answers
46 views
Assessments of depression: Does the rate of false positives vary between the qualification of those testing?
A friend recently asked me an interesting question to which I couldn't find the answer. Does the accuracy of depression assessments vary by the profession i.e. Nurse, GP Vs Clinical Psychologist, ...
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0answers
31 views
Gamifying surveys by measuring the ability to discern popular taste
I am working on a crowdsourcing platform where participants are given a set of choices between two items (for instance, books or movies). Out of each pair, they are to select an item which they think ...
4
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2answers
2k views
What happens at sampling rates lower or higher that the Nyquist rate?
I do understand that for a signal to be properly sampled, it has to be done on the Nyquist sampling rate. What I do not understand is, what happens at sampling rates lower rate than the Nyquist rate, ...
5
votes
1answer
53 views
Is there a validated questionnaire on consumer well-being?
I am conducting a study comparing different cigarettes in terms of their relative toxicity. As a side analysis, I wish to see if a novel cigarette, purportedly less toxic, is similarly pleasurable.
...
7
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2answers
127 views
Accuracy of psychopy keystroke duration measurement
I am using Psychopy and this code for measuring keystroke duration as suggested in this answer for my previous question:
...
5
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1answer
110 views
Calculate threshold from 'binary' yes/no data
For various reasons, I have a crappy experimental design that I am forced to deal with. I present subjects with 20 yes/no trials, out of which 5 are no-signal catch trials and 15 are signal trials. ...
2
votes
2answers
82 views
Examples of interventions that yield large long term effect sizes in psychology
I was listening to a podcast entitled Very Bad Wizards, hosted by two university academics. One of the hosts, namely David Pizarro who is a psychologist at Cornell made the claim that most ...
5
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2answers
74 views
Episodic Memory Decoding
I'm planning a study on memorability of episodic events.
Therefore, participants record a couple of hours of their daily life using an egocentric camera (encoding).
After a certain time, they are ...
8
votes
3answers
268 views
Freeware for measuring keystroke duration
I am searching for freeware to measure the duration of a keystroke or mouse-click, both would work. Does anyone have an idea?
Matlab toolboxes are, unfortunately, of no use to me.
1
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0answers
54 views
Is psychology equivalent to physics of the 1900s? [closed]
I read that psychological inquiry can be analogized to the work done by physicists long ago before modern sophisticated theories, such as electromagnetism. According to the argument, psychologists ...
6
votes
1answer
79 views
Is there anything comparable to the IPIP for IO psychology, work psychology and the like?
The International Personality Item Pool is a public domain collection of over 3000 items and 250 scales.
Is there anything comparable for work psychology and the like?
4
votes
2answers
131 views
How to track eye movements with electrodes?
I'm an Information Technology student (bachelor's degree) and as a summer project, I'd like to develop a small "alarm" system for ALS patients in case of emergency situations.
I thought about ...
5
votes
1answer
83 views
Latency between actual neurons firing and muscles response in open and close fist experiment
I'm trying to analyze the electrocorticograms (ECoG) of opening and closing the fist. I have the data of a glove to capture when the hand moves. I'm struggling with finding the best epoch or segment ...
4
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1answer
1k views
Where should I place a reference electrode?
This site gives basics of how to place electrodes for action potential recording. What I understand is that in order to get better signal, the reference electrode must be placed where there is minimum ...
3
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1answer
156 views
Cultural psychology: Japanese culture and meaning systems [closed]
I'm writing a paper for my cultural psychology course. The paper is about Japanese child care, focused on the moral and cognitive development of Japanese children from their own traditional/cultural ...
