For questions about techniques for measuring psychological and neural properties. Includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits, as well as neural structure, organization, activity, and complexity.
4
votes
1answer
28 views
Relationship between cognitive load and self-indulgent behavior in simple task completion
Background
A subject in an office-building setting is asked to memorize a list of numbers and to write them down on a whiteboard in another room on the opposite side of the building.
The subject ...
1
vote
3answers
137 views
Getting started with EEG data
I want to get started with getting signals from EEG and learning on how I can read data. I have some programming skills, so designing a database and manipulating data with ruby (python seems also ...
2
votes
1answer
54 views
Do we need a pre-test to compare the effectiveness of two treatments?
Assume, I want to evaluate how effective two teachers are in teaching English to German children. Both teachers have been teaching at the same high school for twenty years, and both use a distinctly ...
3
votes
1answer
57 views
What is the null hypothesis, when there is no research hypothesis?
(a) Apples grow to different sizes, from small to average and large. Farmers want large apples.
(b) There is this rare bug, the apple bark bug, which lives in the bark of apple trees. Due to its ...
2
votes
0answers
27 views
Are there useful applications for three channel consumer EEG?
I stumbled upon the consumer EEG Melon (at Kickstarter). It has three electrodes and is advertised as measuring how "focused" you are. In the FAQ it says:
The Melon headband has three electrodes. ...
0
votes
1answer
51 views
Psychometric scale with items in sets where responses imply a rank order of items
My question is related to psychometry. One survey is measured in this way:
...
4
votes
1answer
47 views
Why different responses to target and distractor in three-stimulus oddball procedure?
In the three-stimulus oddball procedure, there is an infrequent target in a background of frequently occurring standard stimuli and infrequently occurring distracter stimuli. My question is, since the ...
10
votes
1answer
120 views
How to measure dominance and submissiveness?
Introduction
Interpersonal dimensions of personality (Sullivan, 1953) have been described in a circular model, the interpersonal circumplex, since Leary (1957). The two dimensions that define this ...
11
votes
3answers
243 views
Is there a better way to describe brain activity than EEG “brain waves”
I've been reading about EEG brain waves, which are specific waveforms that are observed on the EEG output, and are usually scored by humans. This concept has been around for quite some time.
Is there ...
10
votes
0answers
178 views
Longitudinal mobile mood tracking app with random reminders
The goal is to take simple measurements of mood using Likert scale over an extended period of time (e.g. two months).
I know there is a large number of mobile apps for tracking mood on every ...
13
votes
2answers
332 views
What is the threshold where actions are perceived as “instant”?
In Human Computer Interaction and User Experience there's some oft repeated rules of performance:
0.1 second is about the limit for having the user feel that the system is reacting ...
5
votes
1answer
103 views
What computerized EEG analysis algorithms are there?
I got a commercial-grade EEG headband and am trying to look at the data it outputs. The headband quantifies raw EEG signal from a single forehead dry sensor into a range of EEG bands (alpha, beta, ...
1
vote
0answers
13 views
Psychometric information on IPIP representation of NEO facets
The IPIP (International Personality Item Pool) website provides a copy of the IPIP representation of the NEO 30 facet form.
It also provides some information comparing IPIP NEO with official NEO.
...
9
votes
2answers
702 views
Public domain scientific intelligence test available for use in research
The IPIP is an example of a public domain scientific personality inventory that can be used for research.
Are there any good public domain scientific measures of intelligence?
Requirements
Do ...
3
votes
1answer
67 views
What free scientific measures of Big 5 personality are available?
I'm aware of a few freely available scientific measures of Big 5 personality.
IPIP:
Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI)
Questions:
What other free scientific Big 5 personality tests are ...
3
votes
1answer
31 views
Are cortisol measures more reliable than self-reported fear measures for looking at difference scores?
I was sent an email by a researcher with the following question:
You wrote that difference scores are okay to use if measurement error
is
minimised.
Does that imply that biological ...
5
votes
2answers
111 views
What is the standard error of measurement for teacher made multiple choice tests?
Assume a teacher constructs a four-choice multiple choice test. Each item has only one correct response. The test is scored from 0 to 100 representing the percentage of items answered correctly.
I ...
6
votes
1answer
70 views
Is there a metric of the overall excitation of the brain or nervous system?
I'm thinking of a way to describe what's happening to a single channel EEG/MEG sensor output. I've noticed that there is significant difference in the readings from a quiet observations, versus a ...
3
votes
1answer
81 views
Should fantasy distractors be avoided in multiple choice questions
Is there any reason not to include fantasy distractors (made-up wrong answers) in multiple choice tests.
Examples:
What is the name of the compound HCl?
a) Hydrochloric acid
b) Chlorohydride acid
...
5
votes
2answers
108 views
Do humans mentally discretize numbers?
It seems reasonable to me that humans discretize numbers: this number is bigger than than number, or when faced with a series of numbers that range from 0 - 100, 50 is "middling", 10 is "low" and 90 ...
13
votes
2answers
688 views
How to reliably measure working memory capacity?
The capacity of human working memory is subject to individual differences. The number of items or chunks a person can retain in their memory may, have profound effects on a variety of other cognitive ...
7
votes
2answers
181 views
Best practice to handle double negatives when using the expectancy-value model?
My question is regarding the multiplicative combination rule in the Expectancy-value model developed by Fishbein and Ajzen, and the issues regarding the expectancy value-muddle, or the case of "double ...
3
votes
1answer
95 views
Dyslexia and IQ
Background Information of my questions:
At the age of eight I was "diagnosed" with Dyslexia, I am now 47. I went from not being able to read and barely able to write to a college reading level in 9 ...
3
votes
0answers
27 views
Is there any study that models the interaction among assertive, passive, aggressive and passive-aggressive people?
Reading up on assertiveness recently, I wondered whether there's any study that attempts to model how passive, aggressive, assertive and passive-aggressive people interact with one another.
15
votes
1answer
223 views
Do personality survey responses correlate to the success or failure of minimum wage employees?
I recently watched a friend fill out a personality survey for a minimum wage job. These surveys generally have a few dozen to as many as a couple hundred statements with which the applicant must ...
8
votes
1answer
101 views
What is the support for a global personality factor?
The Big 5 is a popular framework for describing major factors of individual differences in personality. More recently, I've been hearing people talking about the utility of conceptualising personality ...
12
votes
2answers
3k views
Free online intelligence test with norm table, high reliability, and must be printable?
I am looking for a general intelligence test which meets the following requirements:
available online for free
there is a table which translates "points" to IQ (I don't want a hidden online ...
5
votes
1answer
69 views
Are there any standard psychometric scales that are only applicable to within-subject designs?
A while ago, I asked the question whether Presence questionnaires are valid in between-subject designs (see the question for the background to this assumption).
While the question garnered some ...
0
votes
1answer
88 views
Do internet memes say something about how the brain works? [closed]
I've been thinking about what the current internet memes, most notably the "advice animals" can say about the human brain/mind. I know that in the "old days", there were folk sayings and folk wisdom, ...
8
votes
1answer
143 views
Is there a database of emotional stimuli available?
For my research I need to use emotional stimuli to use for habituation to certain emotion.
Are there any databases available (preferably free or not expensive) of non-linguistic stimuli I could use? ...
4
votes
2answers
213 views
Cheapest way to measure arousal levels
I'm interested in performing a psychological experiment from my own home (the research is controversial; not that it's unethical, but rather I won't be able to aquire funding for it) and in it I would ...
1
vote
1answer
55 views
Is a safe driving record correlated with any psychometric test scores?
A few years ago I was interviewing for a position with a subdivision of a large company in New York City. One of the things that hit me as odd about this interview was that the recruiter was ...
5
votes
1answer
396 views
Which neurotransmitters can be measured in a living human brain?
I'm interested in learning more about the modern techniques that are used for scientific studies of neurotransmitters in the living human brain. As far as I know, there are 4 neuromodulator systems ...
8
votes
1answer
172 views
How to measure group differences incorporating reaction time / accuracy trade-off?
In a psychological experiment I am measuring subjects' reaction time as well as their error rate. Now I would like to compare two groups (males & females). There might be a bias in the sense that ...
1
vote
0answers
25 views
What are the reliable and valid test to measure working memory? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to reliably measure working memory capacity?
I am currently doing my thesis on how different types of music affect the cognitive performance more specifically ...
5
votes
0answers
115 views
Are presence questionnaires valid in a between-subjects design?
Usoh et al. (PDF) applied presence questionnaires (which are usually designed to measure one's feeling of presence in a virtual environment) in both a virtual and a real world environment in a ...
12
votes
1answer
164 views
Is there a reasonably valid and reliable self-measure of computer literacy?
Measuring computer literacy or skill is important when grouping respondents for usability studies and other Human Computer Interaction studies. But for the life of me I can't find a good, simple but ...
9
votes
2answers
223 views
Is it possible to quantify cognitive bias?
We know that bias exists, and that it affects our judgment and perception. This effect has to do with user's experience in life. That experience is taken care of by the brain, and if you counter a ...
14
votes
1answer
387 views
What is an effective metric of complexity for an Artificial Neural Network?
After asking the question What is the most complex neural network... I realized I don't really have a good metric of "complexity" in a general sense. The simplest measure would likely be count of ...
7
votes
1answer
88 views
Can processing effort for sub-tasks in neural networks be measured?
I often heard statements like:
80% of your brain processing is computing the effect of gravity
or, similarily:
You only use 20% of your brain power
My question isn't about the truth of ...
7
votes
1answer
452 views
Do the Jungian Cognitive Functions/ Processes really exist?
Background
Many of us must have come across personality theories like MBTI which use part of Carl Jung's concepts to make a theoretical system used to divide people into types. For example, MBTI ...
15
votes
3answers
682 views
Is the Myer Briggs Type indicator (MBTI) a reasonable scientific theory?
Background:
MBTI stands for Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It's a theory that suggests that people can be divided into 16 types, based on the way they percieve and analyse information (whether they make ...
2
votes
0answers
163 views
What is the relationship between computer game performance and measures of ability? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Any work being done on Perception, Action, and/or Cognition in Video games?
What is the relationship between computer game performance and measures of ability?
5
votes
1answer
106 views
Measuring meta-intelligence
Does anyone know of any research in measuring metacognitive abilities (i.e. metacomprehension, metamemory, meta-emotions(?), etc) in people? In other words, I'm wondering if the same way we have IQ ...
9
votes
1answer
174 views
Is there any Personality theory that uses scientific methodology instead of subjective interpretations?
Background
I have come across a number of Personality theories. There are even disciplines of personality theories, dividing these theories according to the assumptions they are based upon. The most ...
4
votes
1answer
202 views
Reducing adverse impact, discrimination and unfairness when using psychological assessments for selection purposes
How can we reduce adverse impacts such as bias, discrimination, and unfairness when using cognitive ability tests and personality tests for selection purposes in an international context?
8
votes
1answer
97 views
How to measure well-being without using an extensive questionnaire?
I'm trying to create an iPhone app for music therapy (or other kinds of experimental therapy). Such app would help a music therapist keep track of sessions and evaluate progress. One of the issues ...
6
votes
0answers
41 views
How to efficiently get a sense of the meaning of a score on a non-aptitude test that you encounter in a journal article?
Context: When reading research articles in psychology, you often encounter new non-aptitude self-report psychological tests (e.g., measures of personality, well-being, psychopathology, learning style, ...
5
votes
1answer
126 views
Can the Go/No-Go Association Task be faked?
Go/No-Go Association task:
The GNAT (pronounced like the bug) is a flexible technique designed to
measure implicit social cognition. Conceptually similar to other
implicit measures like the ...
8
votes
1answer
199 views
What is the test-retest improvement in Block Design test?
Background:
My lab is conducting a research on perceptual training. We train participants on different tasks, and assess them pre- and post- training on a large battery of tests. Obviously, people ...
