Questions relating to the enactment of tasks within society and how this reflects on our internal characteristics. Tests and other assessments can act as measures of performance.
26
votes
1answer
4k views
Is leg jiggling a focus aid?
This is slightly left-field, but I am interested in the Cognitive Science implications of this question: Many people, myself included, are "leg jigglers", meaning we often sit jiggling or bouncing a ...
17
votes
5answers
694 views
Why do higher incentives lead to lower performance for non-rudimentary tasks?
I have watched a number of times this excellent video where Dan Pink discusses the science of motivation. The video states that the higher incentives, the lower performance for non-rudimentary (not ...
17
votes
2answers
471 views
Are autonomy, mastery, and purpose the most important motivators?
I've watched the amazing TED talk where Daniel Pink lays out the contrarian notion that greater extrinsic motivators are unimportant (and sometimes detrimental) in comparison to three intrinsic ...
17
votes
2answers
690 views
Is there evidence that listening to music can aid/hinder concentration or performance?
I, like many computer programmers, love to listen to music while I work. I have always believed that music helps me stay focused and motivated, and improves my performance on many types of tasks, ...
15
votes
5answers
426 views
Does learning one discipline improve performance in another discipline?
I have come across a lot of articles that suggest learning across disciplines would improve cognitive abilities. This is more often referred to as Integrative Learning. Also, nowadayas a lot of ...
15
votes
1answer
254 views
Medium-term effects of polyphasic sleep on performance
Typical sleep patterns of one big block of 6 to 9 hours with no naps is usually referred to as monophasic sleep. A second natural sleep pattern is biphasic sleep which breaks up your sleep into two ...
12
votes
1answer
220 views
How long can a person stay happy, excited and motivated about something new?
I'm interested in learning more about studies or experiments that determine how long a typical person can stay excited about something new:
...
9
votes
1answer
102 views
What are the considerations for using wide-reaching messages and training over individual-focused efforts for changing behavior?
In most places that I've worked, when some sort of problem arose or corrective action needs to be taken, one of the first responses is to send mass emails at an organization or team level and set up ...
9
votes
1answer
150 views
Are intelligence scores correlated with detection of second stimulus in an Attentional Blink test?
Definitions
Attentional Blink: An attentional blink is a phenomenon where when presented with rapid visual stimuli if you are asked to track two particular stimuli you will fail to notice the second ...
8
votes
2answers
135 views
Does self-rated performance predict objective performance over and above other-rated performance?
Context:
I was at a talk today where data was presented where a group of sports people ranked their own performance and everyone else in the group. This enabled self-rated performance to be ...
8
votes
2answers
242 views
Does Facebook activity predict job performance?
I've seen a little bit of discussion in the media about Facebook being used in selection and recruitment settings.
Assuming an employer can gain access to a person's Facebook profile, have any ...
8
votes
1answer
148 views
Do ability tests predict maximal more than typical job performance?
I have often read that ability tests are indicative of what people "can do", but that job performance also depends on what people "will do".
For example, Ackerman and Beier (2012) wrote that:
...
7
votes
1answer
108 views
What is the effect of merely expecting an interruption on performance?
There's a lot of research about how interruptions affect cognitive performance.
Are there any studies that have looked at the effect of merely expecting to be interrupted (withou being actually ...
7
votes
0answers
81 views
Do the students that report “friendly” teachers perform better on standardized tests?
I'll preface this by saying that I've been considering this question in light of the "Summer of Love" initiative and subsequent blog posts, which are looking at the extent to which comments are ...
7
votes
0answers
219 views
How much sleep is required to restore maximum cognitive functioning?
Background: Recently I have really messed up my sleep schedule due to my procrastination. The internet points to some very basic conclusions but I would like to see actual experiments on effects of ...
7
votes
0answers
276 views
Do expert computer gamers have unusual physiological or mental characteristics? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Any work being done on Perception, Action, and/or Cognition in Video games?
Are there any research studies that show this?
See a thread on Quora for some initial ...
6
votes
2answers
116 views
Studies modelling learning curves of an overall task and subtasks
Background
Lee and Anderson (2001) published an article in which they argued that learning a complex skill can be understood in terms of learning various component skills. They did this by ...
6
votes
2answers
136 views
What is the relationship between self-perceptions and actual driving ability?
I've often heard it said that almost everyone thinks that they are a better than average driver.
If this is true, it could be explained by a number of theories.
Some of these are outlined in this ...
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 ...
6
votes
1answer
461 views
Does individual work performance follow a Paretian distribution?
O'Boyle and Aguinis (2012) wrote a paper arguing that individual job performance follows a Paretian distribution rather than a normal distribution (put simply, a very long tail to the right, rather ...
6
votes
0answers
92 views
How long should I work before taking a break?
I'd like to work as effectively as possible for 8-9 hours a day, whether at work or studying.
At some point in completing my major in psych I remember hearing about the importance of taking breaks ...
6
votes
0answers
112 views
What is the distribution of performance in academic programming subjects?
On Programmers SE there is a popular question about scientific evidence for whether some people either are or are not able to program.
One person cites an unpublished manuscript by Dehnadi and ...
5
votes
1answer
181 views
What is the cognitive cost of switching contexts?
A common reason to use Conventions and standards in Human Computer Interaction is to limit the cost of Context Switching.
I searched to find general evidence of the cognitive costs of context ...
5
votes
1answer
152 views
What is the reliability of GPA?
I'm in the process of performing a meta-analysis that includes Grade Point Average (GPA) as one of the variables. For some purposes, it might be useful to have an estimate of the reliability of ...
4
votes
1answer
321 views
Does masturbation in men negatively affect cognitive processes?
Gary Wilson has mentioned that porn and masturbation is an addiction that negatively affect mental performance. Moreover, there is some "pseudo-science" claiming that abstaining from masturbation ...
4
votes
0answers
17 views
What is the relationship between practice and performance of telephone call centre workers?
I am interested in modelling the relationship between practice and performance both in laboratory tasks and field settings. I was interested in what existing research has examined how the performance ...
4
votes
0answers
112 views
What happens neurobiologically when people “think fast”?
This question is related to this one: How long can a person stay happy, excited and motivated about something new?
I found a couple of references to research that links "thinking fast" to mood lift:
...
4
votes
0answers
81 views
When one activity makes you less distracted doing another activity? [closed]
Background: When I'm coding, I sometimes make tea, and as long as I'm drinking the tea, I find myself more focused. Drinking tea seems to make me focus more. Thus, it seems that while doing something ...
3
votes
1answer
450 views
Can intense multitasking improve fluid intelligence/working memory?
The Dual N-Back task is the only task I'm aware of that has empirical support showing that it improves working memory. It appears to improve working memory through multitasking, although this ...
3
votes
1answer
212 views
What is the effect of ADD/ADHD on performance variability on cognitive tests over time?
I've read research reporting that lower IQ is correlated with higher variability in reaction time. But such research does not seem to disentangle the possible effect of ADD, in which case you might ...
3
votes
2answers
67 views
What correlation is there between breath control and personal self confidence?
In yoga, the instructor mentioned that controlled deep breathing can increase self-confidence. (Next time, I will ask him why he believes that but I doubt he has any references...)
Furthermore, ...
3
votes
1answer
125 views
Are there cognitive benefits to two hand typing versus one finger?
I've been reading an old popular psychology book by russian psychiatrist Vladimir Levi. One of the things that he has his depressed patients try is learn to juggle. He insists that such activity ...
3
votes
0answers
25 views
What kinds of long - term cognition/motivation tracking tools are there?
I'm aware that there are dozens of personal "activity trackers"/ pedometers like fitbit that are aimed for mass consumer and can log activity over extended periods of time. Are there equivalent ...
3
votes
0answers
33 views
What are the common nutritional deficiencies in western countries related to reduced mental performance?
What are the common nutritional deficiencies in western countries related to reduced mental performance ? I've heard about omega 3, folid acid, and vitamin D deficiencies, the last two are now reduced ...
2
votes
0answers
16 views
Problem solving capability as a “function” of room temperature
I'm wondering, whether there is a correlation between environmental factors like temperature and the ability to solve problems (say math exercises). Although I am sure this has been studied, maybe ...
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 ...
-2
votes
2answers
70 views
Does not practicing the brain erode its power? [closed]
Does not practicing the brain erode its power? If so, are perpetual brain exercises recommended to prevent (or increase) its power (chess, puzzles, etc)?
