Search PubMed⌕ Search

PubMed · 10495840

Java experiments for introductory cognitive psychology courses.

Abstract

Interactive on-line experiments provide a unique and useful method for communicating material to students that is otherwise cumbersome and often confusing. The Java programming language is particularly suited for Internet-based programming applications of this sort because it bypasses many technical issues, including resource availability, security, and cross-platform compatibility. In most cases, topics appropriate to this medium of presentation should (1) not be easily demonstrated by other means, (2) represent an important finding in the field, and (3) be robust with respect to variations in both participants and equipment. The present paper outlines the integration of interactive experiments into an introductory cognitive psychology classroom, describing several experiments currently available on the World-Wide Web (WWW). Evaluation of the technical aspects of the technology as well as expansion of the format to other courses is discussed.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

A K Stevenson, G Francis, H Kim. 1999. Java experiments for introductory cognitive psychology courses.. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03207699

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

Cognitive neuroscience and the law.

Advances in cognitive neuroscience now allow us to use physiological techniques to measure and assess mental states under a growing set of circumstances. The implication of this growing ability has not been lost on the western legal community. If biologists can accurately measure mental state, then legal conflicts that turn on the true mental states of individuals might well be resolvable with techniques ranging from electroencephalography to functional magnetic resonance imaging. Therefore, legal practitioners have increasingly sought to employ cognitive neuroscientific methods and data as evidence to influence legal proceedings. This poses a risk, because these scientific methodologies have largely been designed and validated for experimental use only. Their subsequent use in legal proceedings is an application for which they were not intended, and for which those methods are inadequately tested. We propose that neurobiologists, who might inadvertently contribute to this situation, should be aware of how their papers will be read by the legal community and should play a more active role in educating and engaging with that community.

Cognitive Science↗

Cultural variability in the effects of question design features on respondent comprehension of health surveys.

PURPOSE: The aim is to identify the characteristics of common health survey questions that may be associated with cross-cultural variability in question comprehension. METHODS: Interviews with respondents representing four cultural subgroups in the United States were analyzed through behavior coding to identify survey question characteristics that may be associated with cross-cultural variability in comprehension. Using survey responses as the unit of analysis, nested within survey respondents and survey questions, hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the effects of four questionnaire design features on cultural variations in comprehension difficulties. RESULTS: Respondent culture was found to moderate the effects of response format, question length, and reading levels. CONCLUSIONS: Several question design strategies that reduce overall comprehension difficulty appear to also increase cross-cultural disparities.

Cognitive Science↗