All Questions
6
votes
0answers
91 views
Is multiple personality disorder a medical condition or artifact of psychotherapy?
The popular media has offered such examples as "Eve" (based on Chris Costner-Sizemore) and "Sybil" (based on Shirley Ardell Mason) as sufferers of dissociative identity disorder (at one point known as ...
6
votes
0answers
152 views
Refinements of Rescorla-Wagner model of classical conditioning
The Rescorla-Wagner model is one of the most commonly discussed mathematical models of classical conditioning. It was wildly popular when it came out in 1972, and very successful. The same math, is ...
5
votes
0answers
23 views
Does dream recall interfere with “reverse learning”? (Crick and Mitchison's theory of REM sleep)
I've recently became aware of the idea of "reverse learning" that might happen during REM sleep - the brain's attempt to eliminate pathological attractors that might appear in neural networks. The ...
5
votes
0answers
34 views
Self-fulfilling stereotypes: Have researchers tried inventing new group stereotypes?
Studies on the stereotype threat have typically used stereotypes that that are common in contemporary culture, i.e. the canonical example being the study that showed African American SAT scores ...
5
votes
0answers
60 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 ...
5
votes
0answers
73 views
How to teach parents to apply early childhood interventions to improve cognitive outcomes in children?
I've watched the "My Brilliant Brain: Born Genius" documentary where they refer to the Abecedarian Project, in that investigation, a group of children that were exposed to early childhood education ...
5
votes
0answers
71 views
Can lucid dreaming detract from the recuperative effect of REM sleep?
Imagine you mastered lucid dreaming, so you have a lucid dream every night.
You might want to use this phase to do creative work or problem solving.
Would this have a negative influence on the ...
5
votes
0answers
36 views
Rated model of driving-related processes and objects
The SEEV-Model for predicting the distribution of visual attention contains a parameter called 'value' which represents the importance of a certain area of the field of view concerning a given task ...
5
votes
0answers
94 views
Effects of alcohol on muscle memory
Muscle memory is a form of procedural memory, which is a form of implicit memory.
Studies seem to have shown that alcohol has no significant effect on implicit memory. Unfortunately I can't access ...
5
votes
0answers
113 views
How does fever affect time perception?
Many of my friends and I have noticed that at certain stages of fever, time is often perceived as being longer than usual. I'd like to know if this is caused by the disease itself, an immune reaction, ...
5
votes
0answers
109 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 ...
5
votes
0answers
86 views
Chunking Patterns and Enjoyment of Applying Patterns
I've been reading a book "The Theory of Fun in Game Design" it talks about two concepts of psychology that I wanted to confirm are true. The writer the book isn't a psychologist.
The two concepts ...
5
votes
0answers
59 views
Reproducible meta-analysis in psychology
I am a big proponent of reproducible data analysis. In particular, I like when researchers share documents in formats like Sweave and knitr which weave statistical output (e.g., text, tables, and ...
5
votes
0answers
69 views
How to measure student activity, participation, tendency to ask questions, etc?
We would like to compare students from different education systems on the following variables:
tendency to actively participate on lessons
tendency to ask questions
tendency and experience in ...
5
votes
0answers
122 views
Is “Karmic Punishment” more effective?
When I was young, my parents consistently used "Karmic Punishments", punishments that had a strong relationship to the misbehavior. They believed that this was more effective.
Examples:
...
5
votes
0answers
33 views
What is the state of the art in computerised coding of Thematic Apperception Tests (TATs)?
Thematic Apperception Tests (TATs) involve showing test takers pictures and getting them to write stories based on the pictures. Coding such stories for themes and traits can be complex, ...
5
votes
0answers
68 views
Are topics experienced later in the day more likely to be present in dreams?
Is there any evidence suggesting that thoughts or experiences from late in the day are more likely to be dreamed about the following night compared with similar experiences earlier in the day?
5
votes
0answers
84 views
Can an individual having strong identity associations with groups be used to infer anything about them?
I've been reading a few articles and papers about individuals identifying with groups and their behaviors and attitudes, however I haven't yet found an answer to one of the questions that I was trying ...
5
votes
0answers
79 views
What processes underly confidence ratings in cognitive decision-making?
Many experiments in cognitive psychology and other domains ask for confidence ratings (e.g., on a 0-100 scale, 100 meaning "I'm sure I experienced this stimulus"). What accounts describe how these ...
5
votes
0answers
93 views
Online datasets for the disjunction effect and violations of the sure-thing principle
The disjunction effect (or violation of the sure-thing principle) is as follows:
A disjunction effect occurs when people prefer x over y when they know that event A obtains, and they also ...
4
votes
0answers
34 views
What is the effect of Social Media consumption on self-esteem?
I have been seeing many conflicting studies saying that facebook usage increases or decreases self-esteem.
What is the current consensus regarding the effect of facebook usage on self-esteem?
Has ...
4
votes
0answers
16 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
40 views
EEG correlates of handedness
Can any one suggest a good article about features of EEG of left-handed people? I was surprised when find that there are only few old articles about it. I find only one new article by Propper, Ruth ...
4
votes
0answers
41 views
Quantify degree to which non-diagnostic features bias category-present response
I need a measure of the degree to which each of several features biases participants to respond "yes" in a category present / absent task for each of several categories.
I have stimuli defined along ...
4
votes
0answers
111 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
48 views
How can I test whether Dorsal Raphe Nucleus(DRN) activity at night is related to variations in mood?
I'm reading this paper, which discusses Serotonin activity in the Dorsal Ralphe Nucleus(DRN), and even includes some mathematical models of how serotonin is released and reabsorbed. The paper states ...
4
votes
0answers
49 views
The effect of lifestyle photography on sales conversion rates
I work for a large UK-based clothing retailer. After some initial customer testing with our product details page (on our website) there has been some debate on the following question:
Do customers ...
4
votes
0answers
46 views
Is there any “predictive” component to positive/negative affect in Seasonal Affective Disorder and Bipolar Disorder?
I'm wondering if the human brain "predicts" how certain weeks of the year should feel?
For example, a child who is going to school may have a more positive affect in anticipation of summer holidays, ...
4
votes
0answers
107 views
'Model-free' learning in humans
In reinforcement learning, there is a stark distinction between model-based and model-free learning algorithms, where model-free methods don't make use any explicit information about the dynamics of ...
4
votes
0answers
39 views
Do the motivations and fears behind Enneagram have any scientific reasoning?
Background
The Enneagram personality typing system defines set of motivations and basic fears for its nine personality types among people.
The system seems to be aimed at personal development of a ...
4
votes
0answers
147 views
Obey any command given suddenly, as in the Jumping Frenchmen of Maine
There is behaviour I'm looking for information about, below are two examples of this behaviour, although the 2nd example is from fiction.
The first example is featured on the TV show QI, "Jumping ...
4
votes
0answers
101 views
Plot a schematic outline of the brain
I know that I can read, write and analyse different type of brain scanning data using various Medical Imaging Tools available for R. But I am looking for something very simple - a possibility to just ...
3
votes
0answers
22 views
Predicting the landing site of a saccade while the saccade is still in progress
A brief look through the literature didn't reveal any algorithms that have been directly applied to the online prediction of saccade landing sites while a saccade is in progress.
While there would ...
3
votes
0answers
54 views
Aesthetic preference for even or odd numbers
In my experience most people prefer the appearance of even numbers or numbers divisible by 5.
Is there any research which proves or disproves my theory?
Is it all about symmetry?
I expect that ...
3
votes
0answers
29 views
Are there any free databases of audio-visual emotional stimuli (English)?
I am particularly interested in naturalistic and induced emotional content. I have found the SAVEE, the HUMAINE and the SEMAINE databases. I have read through the Terms for LDC (UPenn) and it seems ...
3
votes
0answers
26 views
When did neurotransmitters derived from monoamines first appear in evolutionary history?
When did neurotransmitters derived from monoamines first appear in evolutionary history?
What are main the points in evolution for monoamines based on the neurotransmitter system ?
Edition
I'm ...
3
votes
0answers
20 views
How many thalamocortical relay cells synapse onto each spiny stellate cell in neocortex?
I am curious about how many different thalamocortical relay cells synapse onto each layer IV spiny stellate cell, on average? The answer is likely to be different per region and species, of course. I ...
3
votes
0answers
30 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 ...
3
votes
0answers
32 views
What is the relative effectiveness of self initiated versus therapy approaches to repairing damaged body schema?
Several studies discuss the damaged body schema of amputees and people suffering from CRPS.
By damaged body schema I mean where the body their mind constructs doesn't match up with the body that is ...
3
votes
0answers
41 views
Why does speaking disrupt rhythm?
I've noticed that while playing rhythm games--games where I must press buttons precisely in step with a musical accompaniment--I can either play or I can talk. If start talking, I'll almost ...
3
votes
0answers
51 views
In what order do people notice another person's attributes (race, age, gender, etc.)
I seem to recall reading some research years ago about what people notice in the first second or so of seeing someone else, and in what order they notice those things. It's something like gender, ...
3
votes
0answers
38 views
Test-retest reliability of Iowa gambling task performance and Expectancy Valence Model parameters
I've just been learning about the Expectancy Valence Model of the Iowa Gambling Task (see Busemeyer & Stout, 2002; Yechiam et al 2005). The model includes three parameters: motivation, ...
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.
3
votes
0answers
55 views
Definition of Affective Cueing
In contrast to Affective Priming, what is Affective Cueing? I'm not sure how to differentiate between the two.
I found a good review on affective priming in Karl Christoph Klauer (1997) in the ...
3
votes
0answers
67 views
Is there any science behind movie/commercial camera angle changes?
Most of the regular waking cognition experiences a continuous visual field. One object of focus flows into another. Objects out of focus are pushed to the periphery. A person may move one's view ...
3
votes
0answers
36 views
Structural descriptions of neuronal networks are important for understanding brain dysfunctions; which dysfunctions, in particular?
In a recent paper, we find this quote:
The brain contains vast numbers of interconnected neurons that constitute anatomical and functional networks. Structural descriptions of neuronal network ...
3
votes
0answers
85 views
Are there any cutting edge techniques that enable to acquire foreign language at relatively fast pace?
I am aware of immersion method as well as mnemonics such as the one Daniel Tammet's Born on a Blue Day. I read that Kim Peek's lack of corpus callosum enabled his brain to absorb information faster ...
3
votes
0answers
61 views
Psychopaths' Response to Expected Losses?
It has been observed that psychopaths will accept positive expected values past some sort of notion of risk aversion by non-psychopaths.
Are there any observations of psychopaths' responses to ...
3
votes
0answers
386 views
What reasoning processes underlie the Logima Strictica 36 and Logicaus Strictimanus 24?
I am conducting research in creating an AI with high IQ.
I am interested in the tests Logima Strictica 36 Test and Logicaus Strictimanus 24. Further links are here
What is the logic of these test ...
3
votes
0answers
27 views
What regulates the strength of motoric signals?
I've seen cognitive/roboter models where the input signals from the sensors are directly used as the signal for outgoing motoric control.
This doesn't make much sense, because obviously we're able ...
