All Questions
1
vote
1answer
194 views
Is StackExchange.com Addiction Dangerous?
I recently looked at the meta.math.stackexchange.com and found the second anniversary was celebrated. As in the last year's Happy-Birthday post (linked therein) , some people declared the addiction to ...
3
votes
3answers
202 views
What factors influence a person's perceived expertise?
For example, some people believe they are excellent human lie detectors. But, research shows that the average person is only able to detect deception about 54% of the time. What techniques could be ...
5
votes
2answers
364 views
Is variation in human brain size related to mental functioning?
It seems that the head size of human beings has evolved to be relatively similar, yet there is still some amount of variation. While I'm sure the correlation is not absolute, I read that larger heads ...
-4
votes
1answer
129 views
Why we can't read in dreams? [closed]
Why we can't read texts in dreams? I mean, we can do everything in dreams, but read it's impossible. I'm a layman in this area, actually I study computer science and probably because of this, my ...
6
votes
1answer
68 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
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, ...
6
votes
3answers
238 views
How can one find out if he/she is brainwashed?
By brainwashed I mean indoctrinated with some political, religious or other type of propaganda.
I assume that you can't be aware of this, because the lack of that awareness is the point of propaganda ...
0
votes
0answers
29 views
Autism: Social Skills: Body Language and Facial Expressions [closed]
What is the most effective (research proven) way to teach body language and facial expressions to autistic children?
1
vote
3answers
102 views
Is fear rational? [closed]
Let's suppose a big ugly monster thingy wants to eat you. While you're running away from it, you're feeling fear. Can this situation be considered one where fear would be rational?
3
votes
1answer
76 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
...
4
votes
1answer
71 views
Why do people feel the need to make changes to a solution presented by another person?
There is an interesting phenomenon I have come across several times when working with groups, and that is the need some people have to make changes to a solution that someone else created.
The ...
2
votes
0answers
33 views
How much information does the somatosensory system produce?
Are there any approximations of how many bits of information human somatosensory system produces? Especially mechano-receptors as measured in average number of bits per area of skin per second?
I've ...
9
votes
1answer
104 views
In C. elegans, which neuron has the largest span, and why is it this large?
The model organism C. elegans is about 1 mm in length. This is quite small. In fact, some C. elegans neurons span >25% of the length of its body (ref.).
This observation leads me to the following ...
3
votes
1answer
55 views
What is a test called that involves indicating whether a line has the same slope as a previous image?
I would like to know the name of the following test:
Participants were asked to memorize the slope of a line of a target image.
Then different images (lines with varying slopes) were presented ...
10
votes
1answer
81 views
Learning of new concepts being impeded by an error in previous work
Note: I'm framing this question in terms of tutoring math since that's what I tutor most, though it applies to a wide range of subject matters.
I do a decent amount of tutoring, and this is one ...
8
votes
0answers
70 views
What is the bias/thought process that results in distrust of “formal” knowledge in favor of “folk” knowledge?
An interesting effect I've noticed is that certain groups of people seem to accept "folk knowledge" and value it over significantly better founded "formal" or scientific knowledge. In particular this ...
1
vote
0answers
46 views
What are the effects of social rejection on the brain?
What are the effects of social rejection on the brain?
If the external circumstance can not change, how can the impact on the brain be reduced?
What is the average sensitivity to social rejection ...
1
vote
2answers
86 views
How does knowledge about a subject aid in its recall?
I've experienced it many times with my students and also with myself. Let me illustrate with example:
When I'm teaching, I say something like this:
Gastrointenstinal Track has following sections
...
8
votes
1answer
205 views
Why are most people right handed?
How did right handedness win over left handedness in numbers?
Is it only a coincidence that there are more right handed people than left handed ones? Or, has some effect in nature explicitly made ...
3
votes
3answers
142 views
How much information is lost when conveying an experience or emotion to another person?
Certain languages have words that do not literally translate into any another language. There is already a small loss of information in this sense.
Emotions are a personal experience and the ...
3
votes
2answers
215 views
What is the fastest language to think in?
If you think in any language you're never misstaken on what word you mean even if there are many words that are spelled/pronounced the same. This causes a language with only one word meaning every ...
8
votes
0answers
31 views
What is the influence of “effort put into pursuing wealth” on happiness?
As presented in the TED talk by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (3:30) repeated research has been unable to show a correlation between happiness and level of material wealth (above a certain minimum ...
2
votes
0answers
52 views
What is the upper bound on rate of learning in young adults?
I was wondering how a normal adult in their 20s could best structure their life to make best use of their capacity to learn. (I am no expert in cognitive science, so I assume just a really common ...
0
votes
1answer
84 views
What causes someone to feel anxious and lacking in confidence when outside the home? [closed]
Background Context:
When at home, I feel like being myself - calm, free, productive, clearly thinking and wise person making logical decisions. But should any contact be made with outside world, ...
12
votes
2answers
230 views
Is there an R implementation of the linear ballistic accumulator model or Ratcliff's diffusion model for measuring response time and accuracy?
I am looking for an implementation of the linear ballistic accumulator model or Ratcliff's diffusion model (e.g. in R, MATLAB, or Python).
3
votes
0answers
35 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
1answer
241 views
What part of the brain locks up when a man is in the presence of an extremely attractive female?
This question is specifically about the male brain and its lack of cognition in the presence of a highly attractive female.
This is in contrast to regaining cognitive ability in the presence of an ...
8
votes
0answers
79 views
Can the Philosophy thought game “The experience machine” be answered by Positive Psychology?
In Philosophy, a thought game exists called "The experience machine" {1}. In summary, it's a machine you plug into that enables you to always experience positive events, and never negative ones.
One ...
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 ...
6
votes
1answer
138 views
Bayesian models of faking in selection and recruitment settings
I'm doing some research looking at applying Bayesian models to faking personality tests in selection and recruitment.
I'm interested to know:
What existing work has applied Bayesian models to ...
2
votes
2answers
75 views
How to adjust SSE or RMSE for the number of free parameters in the model?
How do I adjust SSE (sum of squared errors) or RMSE (root-mean-square errors) for the number of free parameters in the model?
Is there an "adjusted" RMSD metric similar to the adjusted r-squared ...
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 ...
9
votes
1answer
127 views
Predicting how long a task will take
As a software engineer I have always struggled with predicting how long a project would take by underestimating and I have noticed that all of my colleagues have the same problem.
In this video at ...
3
votes
2answers
230 views
Teaching Problem Solving : Mastering bit by bit Vs Try it all by yourself?
Background:
I'm a teacher who trains hundreds of high school students in Math, Physics & Chemistry to crack probably toughest competitive exam in India.
I deal with the students who are ...
4
votes
1answer
82 views
Does empathy extend to animals?
I've read that humans are able to empathize with other humans, to feel as another person does, through mirror neurons. I'm guessing that they're able to empathize with primates too, as they share ...
2
votes
0answers
31 views
Is the eye direction language dependent on the direction of writing?
I've read from various sources about the eye direction language. What is of my special interest now, is:
looking right means thinking (about future, new ideas etc.)
looking left means remembering ...
2
votes
1answer
124 views
What positive writing exercises improve happiness?
Writing seems like a perfect medium for expressing ones problems but can it also be used to improve happiness somehow? Maybe through some sort of creative writing exercises that focus on positive ...
5
votes
2answers
96 views
What is the longer term prognosis for women in their early 20's with Schizoaffective disorder?
I am asking as I have this condition and I am hoping to gather more data about my particular demographic, in order to give me a better idea as to what they are doing, as well to lead me to how those ...
2
votes
3answers
125 views
What is the mechanism behind “gut feelings”?
I'm thinking of a phenomenon that I've first observed in myself when taking an IQ test. Upon looking at the question, I selected an answer, but got this "gut feeling" or a hint that something was ...
1
vote
1answer
58 views
Is acrophobia connected to falling in dreams?
I'm interested in the link between phobias and related nightmares.
Specifically, is acrophobia (i.e., irrational fear of heights) connected to falling in dreams?
3
votes
1answer
111 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
2answers
149 views
What does hemispatial neglect vision look like?
I need to know more about hemispatial neglect, in order to compose a picture of what it would look like to someone who has this issue.
Is there any resources for finding more about their actual ...
5
votes
1answer
64 views
Validity of regression therapy and degree of acceptance of the subject within the psychology community
I had a debate with my friend on regression therapy as he feels it is an accepted method to discover a person's past life & his memories. I find it completely unacceptable to my sense.
What ...
5
votes
3answers
454 views
How do songs trigger memories associated with previous experiences of listening to the song?
Background:
If I like a particular song, I listen to it while doing other things until I get sick of that song. This creates an extremely strong bond between the two things: the song and the activity. ...
4
votes
1answer
139 views
What happens in your brain when a concept “clicks”?
What happens in your mind when the "lightbulb goes off", or a concept "clicks" for you? Why is there such a threshold for human understanding?
Existing searches:
I've searched a good amount for it. ...
2
votes
0answers
45 views
What are the most well-understood vocal animal languages?
There are many examples of animal language that involve vocal pattens or "grammar".
For example, there is the the Bee dance, bird songs, whale songs, dogs.
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls ...
5
votes
2answers
118 views
What causes dreamers to accept dreams as reality?
I have long had interest in dreaming, and one of the defining features of ordinary dreams is that the dreamer either accepts the dream as "real life", or does not question the surroundings.
Compare ...
7
votes
1answer
180 views
What is the effect of imagining doing an exercise on muscle growth?
I recently read a study by Yue, G et al. (1992) which I found incredibly interesting. I have no background in physiology and I was hoping that someone who does can clear things up.
If I understood it ...
6
votes
1answer
72 views
Psychology of timbre processing
Are there any studies concerning the psychological aspects of timbre processing in the brain, e.g. while listening to music? In particular, can any lower-level correlates be discerned when trying to ...
2
votes
1answer
56 views
Is there sub-conscious error correction in interpreting heard language?
My personal experience suggests there is a background process taking place when interpreting a partially heard utterance. The sound is taken in, the conscious part of my mind begins the process of ...
