8
votes
1answer
217 views
What are the current suggested models for Primacy Effect in memory recall or personality impression?
What are the current suggested normative, mechanistic or phenomenological models for explaining primacy effect as was observed by Solomon Asch (1946) on personality impression, list-of-words memory ...
-2
votes
2answers
94 views
Should questions in psychology always be objective questions? [closed]
Is it correct that a subjective question is not a psychological question i.e. for a question to be psychological it must be an objective question e.g. about an objective probability or so instead of ...
1
vote
0answers
23 views
What happens in the brain when conscious awareness is changed during dreaming onset?
I've long been interested in dreaming and there's a peculiar phenomenon of the very start of the dreaming process. Different people experience it differently, but even for the same person there's ...
6
votes
1answer
88 views
Do children follow parents' phobias genetically or by learning?
Children's personalities come from two sources: Parents' genes and the environment.
Is there any research showing adults acquiring phobias as a result of being exposed to parents with the same ...
6
votes
2answers
241 views
Is procrastination greater when skill is low and rewards offer low status boost and does this lead to efficient task allocation in groups?
I am very interested in procrastination, because it is such a clear sign of lack of motivation. I have a hypothesis about why we procrastinate, which I would like to get tested by you.
The assumption ...
4
votes
1answer
54 views
Term for incentives working without conscious awareness
Is there a term that captures the idea that incentives work even when people deny their choices have been swayed by them?
For example, an individual amazon book reviewer may deny that a recent ...
5
votes
3answers
45 views
What is the field that studies community responses to incentives?
Having recently read Freakonomics I was particularly interested by the idea of the responses of a community to incentives - as an example, the tale of a school which tried to introduce a financial ...
8
votes
1answer
146 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:
...
1
vote
1answer
104 views
What is it called when a student tends to speak about what he knows?
Sometimes, a student who has a lack of knowledge, tries to change the topic of a question so that it will be about what he knows and can speak about. Is this a known phenomenon in psychology?
2
votes
2answers
158 views
Memorizing sets of items
It is often useful to memorize a set of items. Many times ordering is not important and we need to memorize a lot of sets. I already know a method for
memorizing lists where we memorize an item for ...
13
votes
1answer
173 views
How can I use gamification to encourage people to complete workplace training?
I am looking for ways to improve the likelihood people will perform mundane but required workplace training. I am looking into gamification techniques.
My organisation requires that employees ...
2
votes
2answers
105 views
At what point do multiple personas for social context cross into multiple personalities disorder?
Recently I took part in a conversation about the difference between the "many hats" of a successful corporate executive, and "multiple personality disorder." Although humorously bantered, the ideas ...
5
votes
1answer
89 views
Why does speaking with rhythm help a subject get into a trance?
Various hypnotism teachers tell you to speak with a relaxed voice with rhythm. You can see Derren Brown on this in The Experiment - The Assassin (from 4:48 to 5:40):
Soft, rhythmical language, ...
6
votes
1answer
127 views
What does the literature suggest about the optimal strategy for quickly memorizing various types of content?
I just finished reading Moonwalking with Einstein, a journalistic piece on the World Memory Championships. The book explicates the various techniques used by participants to memorize different types ...
10
votes
1answer
112 views
Why do humans like being touched?
I wonder why people like to be touched so much, why would it make sense from a evolutionary perspective.
I know people enjoy hugs and company of opposite sex but even people from the same sex hug and ...
6
votes
1answer
98 views
What is the effect of mindfulness practice on cognition?
The following article by ScienceDaily reported on a paper in Psychological Science (Mrazek et al., 2013), claiming that mindfulness training led to improved working memory and GRE scores. These ...
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 ...
3
votes
0answers
135 views
Is human Central Nervous System arousal related to choice of activity?
I'm interested in learning more about the central nervous system (CNS) arousal and the choice of what people do and how they feel about it.
Lets define CNS arousal in the context of this question as ...
9
votes
1answer
57 views
What is the effect of not sub-vocalizing on reading comprehension?
Sometimes when reading, text segments are not so important or relevant, when that happens I tend to read between lines in a visual manner, without sub-vocalizing or pronouncing the words in my mind.
...
12
votes
1answer
208 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:
...
5
votes
1answer
52 views
What is the study which shows that babies can teach young children empathy?
I saw a fascinating segment on the PBS NewsHour which said that studies have shown that young children (ages 5 - 8 years of age) can be taught empathy by having a class where they observe and learn to ...
10
votes
1answer
156 views
Does cognitive training enhance dopamine release?
Joe Hardy reports on a study by Backman et al (2011) in Science, where from the authors report:
Updating of working memory has been associated with striato-frontal
brain regions and phasic ...
2
votes
0answers
27 views
How do the correlations between Big 5 personality change in studies examining “faking bad”?
I have conducted several studies that get participants to complete the IPIP personality test while role play going for a job. A common finding is that the average correlation (i.e., $\bar{r}$ between ...
7
votes
5answers
205 views
Does an exceptional working memory inhibit intelligence?
According to the Fox News article "Chimps Smarter Than Humans in Memory Test" chimps were able to significantly outperform humans in a simple working memory task. I quote one part of the article in ...
9
votes
2answers
661 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
71 views
Is there a learning style that involves learning best by teaching others?
Background: I'm familiar with the more common learning styles of hearing, seeing and doing. For lack of a better word I consider myself a 'vicarious' learner which is something similar to a ...
11
votes
4answers
237 views
Why is training better when following an easy-to-difficult schedule?
As suggested in the answer to this question, experimental results show that training is most effective when it follows an easy-to-difficult schedule.
What theories and specifically computational ...
9
votes
4answers
938 views
Why is recognition easier than recall?
The main ways of memory retrieval are recognition and recall.
Why has it been found that recognition is "easier" to perform, meaning it is usually faster or is more likely to yield an accurate ...
7
votes
1answer
136 views
Analysis of parameter estimates from Ratcliff diffusion model
I would like to analyze a dataset in which subjects' reaction time and error rate have been recorded. In order to account for potential speed-accuracy trade-off I am planning to make use of the ...
6
votes
1answer
52 views
Any research on how we use visual category information in visuomotor tasks?
So I've been reading up on the Two-streams Hypothesis*, and it bothers me that the explanations both sides give only extend to tasks involving one type of visual information. For example, an ...
-1
votes
1answer
49 views
Practical Use For a Neuroimager [closed]
You may be aware that neuro-imagers have become much cheaper and many are available with a SDK. I think this will open up a huge gateway for much more intimate human interfaces. However, I am stumped ...
3
votes
1answer
52 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
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 ...
9
votes
3answers
104 views
Images on personal computers - Which aspect of size to keep constant?
For various reasons we're doing a reaction time study involving images that runs on unstandardized equipment: patients' personal computers (unless they don't meet certain requirements).
It's not about ...
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
1answer
28 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 ...
2
votes
0answers
64 views
How effective are high audio frequencies in commercials in getting audience attention?
Does anyone know of a peer reviewed article that describes how commercials will often contain high audio frequencies in order to attract the viewer's attention?
Referrals to commercials using any ...
0
votes
0answers
59 views
Subtle manipulation in commercials - Kindle Fire HD [closed]
I was watching the new kindle commercial and I noticed a few things that seemed to make me lean towards the NEW Kindle Fire HD (They emphasize "new" a lot)
One of the things that stood out to me the ...
-1
votes
1answer
45 views
How to tell a diagnosis from an actual state?
Since diagnoses merely represent what a doctor is thinking, how can a mental patient know the difference between de facto "reality" and what decisions a doctor is planning?
We know planning is not ...
3
votes
1answer
130 views
Free online survey and diary software for conducting experience sampling studies
Are there any open source online survey software that enable researchers to use experience-sampling methods, e.g. online diaries (where people answer similar survey questions repeatedly and are ...
9
votes
1answer
67 views
Can we draw conclusions about content of thoughts from neural firing patterns?
Can the neural firing patterns of animals be associated with specific kinds of thoughts? (ie Thoughts related to food, mating, or neighborly aggression?)
I am curious about the speculations in ...
9
votes
3answers
3k views
Can sleep become addictive?
Can a person become dependent on sleeping (more than they otherwise physically need) in a way that fits the definition of addiction, in the same way some psychology professionals may describe a person ...
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 ...
11
votes
1answer
76 views
How does displaying existing votes to a poll influence subsequent voting behaviour?
Some polls involve a question where the existing votes received for each response option are displayed. I have heard that on such polls the existing votes influence the answers provided by subsequent ...
4
votes
1answer
55 views
What was the experiment where a person is given something and then has to share it with another person
Bob is given a bar of chocolate by the experimenter. Then he is to propose how he will share the chocolate with Emilly. If Emilly agrees with Bob's proposal, the kids will each get their share. If ...
-2
votes
1answer
68 views
Is there a name for the tendency to use proper nouns often in conversation? [closed]
I think it may happen with people who have lack of confidence, for example shy people. So in conversation they often add proper nouns (eg. names of persons or countries) to give "evidence" and weight ...
1
vote
0answers
24 views
Are “diagnostic” senses/feelings for brain study possible?
Modern science has quite an array of methods trying to localize and analyze brain activity, trying to get down to individual neurons firing: EEG, fMRI, CT, etc. This requires very expensive machines ...
5
votes
2answers
93 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 ...
7
votes
1answer
116 views
Any attempts at testing or modeling the 'cognitive conception' of language?
For those unfamiliar, the 'cognitive conception of language' refers to a claim made by some theorists that, in the words of Carruthers:
"besides its obvious communicative functions, language also ...
2
votes
1answer
52 views
Which branch of psychology deals with decision making under stress?
Our decisions are usually based on a system of perspectives, which in turn are based on one's own set of values. However there are traumatizing situations where this system of perspectives is turned ...
