All Questions
8,062
questions
9
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Can one become addicted to learning?
Is it possibly to become addicted to learning?
What drives this addiction and how can it be controlled?
Note:
I'm not sure this is the right exchange for this question... Its the best fit as far as ...
5
votes
1
answer
126
views
Does 3rd person reference to self change perception of self?
If you refer to yourself in the third person for a day how does your understanding of self change? For example are you more inclined to consider your actions and motivations from and external ...
11
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Do ADHD drugs harm the brain?
Particularly, the amphetamine "vyvanse". If one was to take a 30mg dose once a day for 50+ years, would it damage brain function at all? Would the brain simply get used to the drug and become 100% ...
2
votes
2
answers
228
views
How many hours of speech do kids hear before learning a language?
I'd like some estimates of how many hours of English speech kids typically are exposed to before reaching various levels of mastery.
I realize this is a very fuzzy question, but I'm sure ballpark ...
12
votes
2
answers
814
views
Why do men have greater variance than women in mental test scores?
Hedges and Nowell (1995) write that
Sex differences in central tendency, variability, and numbers of high
scores on mental tests have been extensively studied. Research has not
always seemed ...
4
votes
0
answers
229
views
Long term effects of using modafinil on cognition [closed]
What are the Long term effects of using stimulant like modafinil on cognition abilty?
4
votes
1
answer
47
views
Is there a downside to using more than the typical 20/40 trials in an IAT?
Most resources mention using 20 'practice' trials categorizing both targets and attributes, followed by 40 'real' trials categorizing both targets and attributes. Note that this is after practicing ...
4
votes
3
answers
509
views
Is there a database of disgusting images for stimuli for experimental study of disgust?
I'm looking for a set of images that evoke a disgust reaction. In particular, I'm looking for disgusting objects (e.g. feces, maggots). Is there a database of images like this? It would be especially ...
1
vote
1
answer
95
views
The belief becoming the self [closed]
Is there a terminology or specific topic that explains the behaviour or phenomenon expressed in the following quote?
The greatest anomaly of belief is that it is so powerful it takes over
the ...
2
votes
3
answers
244
views
Why clothes' color is different than it appeared in stores?
This is my first time askin on Cog Sci board, not sure this is a right place to ask but I think it's something relates to Psychology and Cognitive Science.
So yesterday I bought a shirt that looked ...
6
votes
1
answer
230
views
Are there any studies (fMRI scans, etc) showing why some people (supposedly) are more open to hypnotism?
In this article published in Harper's magazine back in 1996, journalist David Foster Wallace described his experience with hypnotist Nigel Ellery (see the last section of the article, titled "THE ...
4
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Have different mental strengths evolved in men and women?
I think that men and women are different mentally (but nonetheless equals), however this way of thinking is very hard for me to explain philosophically, so I'd like to learn about what roots this ...
7
votes
1
answer
171
views
What are the most used statistical methods in WM research besides (generalized) linear modeling?
I mean, by cognitive psychologists. I skimmed over a few articles from Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience and Trends in Cognitive Science and concluded that ANOVAs and t-tests are mostly used (without ...
3
votes
2
answers
454
views
How can I structure this question to check for availability bias?
I'm preparing a survey right now and one of the questions I'm looking to answer is: How much does availability bias effect the decision making process for [given behaviour]?
My question is: What's ...
4
votes
1
answer
65
views
How to engage in the conceptualization process to measure a psychological construct such as femininity?
I am in class for Research Methods and I am having troubles with a conceptualizations process. The question is to describe the conceptualization process you would employ to measure femininity. How ...
3
votes
2
answers
137
views
How can you forgive (and not only forget) evildoers without any remorse?
Given the mental and physical health benefits of forgiveness, how is it usually approached in psychological treatment? Despite hours of reading, I still don't understand, and can't even pinpoint why ...
3
votes
3
answers
113
views
How to quickly estimate the person's level of stress with a mobile based relaxation app?
I'm writing a simple iPhone relaxation app and am thinking of a very quick test I can do to learn something about the user's level of stress, anxiety, etc. The objective is to measure how effective ...
-1
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Cause and cure of silly behavior in children [closed]
What can be some of the causes/reasons that a child (in the 7-year-old range) to speak in a silly voice and in a silly way, more than an average child? I don't know how to be more specific by silly ...
6
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Freud's theory regarding child to parent attraction
This may be a thought from false information but even from some teachers I've heard quotes of how Sigmund Freud had a theory about how children are attracted to ...
4
votes
3
answers
457
views
Are there "awareness" related mirror neurons or processes in the brain that get activated by awareness?
I'm reading the "The Power of Now" book by Ekhart Tolle, in which he describes a spiritual practice by which attention/awareness is focused on the currently experienced mental state. For example, ...
4
votes
0
answers
96
views
Why can good music raise goosebumps?
Listening to really good music right now, I was wondering why it raises goosebumps.
Is there any physiological reason for this reaction to specific wavelengths or something?
Due sometimes strong ...
4
votes
1
answer
103
views
What are there neuroanatomical mappings of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task?
I know that the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task is used to diagnose various mental disfunctions such as schizophrenia and drug addiction. However, has it been specified what brain regions or structures ...
1
vote
1
answer
53
views
Measures to study working memory level related to physical activity
I want to do a study on the effect of physical exercise on working memory. Can you suggest measures for working memory assessment that differentiate levels of memory functioning amongst "normal" ...
4
votes
1
answer
102
views
If sleeping is related to 'saving information' you've experience, is forgetting related to more energy?
So I was watching this youtube video (Only check 1:05 - 1:25) where it suggested we sleep because the brain needs rest to save/process all information we perceived throughout the day. I directly made ...
1
vote
1
answer
59
views
What is the set of cards used in the Wisconsin/Berg Card Sorting task?
I'm a little confused about what cards are included in the Wisconsin card sorting task. According to PEBL there are two sets of cards available for the task, one set of 64 cards and one set of 128 ...
8
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Have there been any recent replications of the Hofling hospital experiment?
In the original Hofling hospital experiment (1966):
A person would telephone a nurse, saying that he was a doctor and
giving a fictitious name, asking the nurse to administer 20 mg of a
...
3
votes
2
answers
106
views
Are psychiatric disorders merely statistical deviations?
When we suppose that a segment X of the population is at high-risk for disorder Y, don't we assume that anyone carries the same psychophenotype, yet not in a statistically-significant degree?
4
votes
2
answers
239
views
Colorado Boulder study about brain morphometric measures of Cannabis users methodologically weak?
I'm relating to this study: http://www.jneurosci.org/content/35/4/1505.short
The researchers found no differences in subcortical brain structures for daily Cannabis users vs. controls. However the ...
8
votes
2
answers
238
views
What rules are tested during the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task?
I was reading about the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and although I understand the concept, I'm not clear on what rules are usually tested. Does it always vary between associations between shape, ...
2
votes
1
answer
106
views
Can someone not feel i.e. neglect pain sensation?
Ronda Rousey (UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion) once said on a talk show (Conan) that she can take a punch and not feel pain, she added that she knows what pain is and she can just simply neglect ...
3
votes
2
answers
338
views
What are the side effects of Anger?
Are there any side effects i.e. any hormonal changes , dopamine release when we get anger or while we shout or outburst in anger?
Because we feel satisfied getting anger in a situation than keeping ...
16
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Has anyone formally tested Josh Pellicer's theory on human sexual behavior?
I read Josh Pellicer's book titled "Tao of Badass." He discusses the sexual behavior of men and women and how they interact during the dating process. However, I have been unable to find any ...
11
votes
1
answer
226k
views
Does masturbation affect brain in long term?
I am interested in knowing.
Does masturbation (once daily) affect the brain negatively in terms of: Memory and concentration skills during the long term ?
Does it affect it in the short term?
After ...
6
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Why do con artists like Frank Abagnale Jr. not feel guilt?
I just finished watching a video of Frank Abagnale Jr discuss his life history. Who knows if its true, but it is an amazing story. For those who don't know, Frank Abagnale is one of the most infamous ...
10
votes
2
answers
331
views
How does this illusion - that I just inadvertently created - work?
As I was working on a basic chess application for Android, I loaded some chess clip art into my imageviews. Then this happened. Look closely at the top two rows.
At first I was startled. My ...
4
votes
1
answer
177
views
Why are dreams about failing exams so common?
Why so many people have a dream in which they are just about to take a mandatory school exam and they're totally unprepared, or they've missed it because show up in the wrong day, or the exam is on ...
10
votes
3
answers
14k
views
Calculating d-prime
I'm currently working on a research that has to use and calculate D Prime values for a task where subjects are presented an image at different speeds and they have to report if they saw the image or ...
3
votes
1
answer
64
views
Conditioning/training value of objects in experiment
In visual attention and decision making, how do experiments teach participants the value of specific objects (high vs low vs none)?
Does anyone know of studies that done this which go into ...
3
votes
1
answer
138
views
What is the simplest entity that would be considered "conscious"? [closed]
Generally, we think of humans as having a (relatively) advanced level of consciousness, but we don't think of simple molecules as having any sort of mental capacity at all. So where in between does ...
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
What's the difference between inductive and deductive research in cog sci?
I'm not really clear on what the implications are for inductive vs deductive research methodology and analysis. Any examples or input would be great!
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
How to find the upper and lower quartiles of the Ryff scale?
I received this question via email and thought the answer might be sufficiently general to be worth posting here.
I have used the Ryff
scale in my research
. Actually I am confused about the ...
5
votes
0
answers
106
views
Learning Reading without Speech?
I have this question from wandering how a person, who does not have speech capability or is isolated from people who speaks, could learn how to read? Will a language (A) like English or (B) like ...
3
votes
2
answers
211
views
Does the retina encode visual information like a Bitmap or an SVG?
I heard recently that a scientist has developed a retina prosthesis. So I think this is a question that has an answer.
Does the retina encode information like a Bitmap image or an SVG image?
(A ...
5
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Are there mental reflexes?
Similar to knee-jerk or withdrawal, are there any innate reflexes in cognition? Are they based on personality, or are there any that are universal?
1
vote
0
answers
70
views
Is it necessary to read signals and systems before statistical signal processing/ detection theory [closed]
For one who is interested in computational neuroscience and brain computer interface, in university curriculum (e.g. BCCN Berlin), it requires a course in statistical signal processing / signal ...
8
votes
2
answers
578
views
Is there a difference between hearing and decoding the sound?
I presume that deafness is the inability of hearing any sounds. And I presume that it may also be possible to be less able to decode sounds. In other words, an inability to translate or understand the ...
16
votes
3
answers
4k
views
PTSD based on false memories
Memory is not just static snapshots or video on a harddrive, but an active process. As such, it is possible to construct false memories (Brainerd & Reyna, 2005). Some of these false memories can ...
4
votes
1
answer
207
views
What are the neurobiological factors related to depression?
While it is agreed that neurotransmitters aren't the primary "cause" of depression, what other factors are a part of this mental illness that focus on the neurobiological aspects of it?
2
votes
1
answer
202
views
Which parts of the brain are used when identifying and sorting email messages?
When most people view their email inboxes, they'll see several different types of messages; for example, emails which have been auto-generated by services we use, communications with real humans which ...
1
vote
0
answers
46
views
Accuracy of methods for detection of dementia in EEG [closed]
I found these methods mentioned in bioengineering and other papers:
Fractal Dimension Measure, Probability Density Function of the Zero-crossing Intervals, Approximate Entropy
But I think every of ...