Definitions
What field aims to provide an objective measure of subjective/perceptual experience by linking perception to physical stimuli?
Psychophysics
Who said "we can quantify perceptions evoked by properties and variations of physical stimuli, then we can establish a connection between mind and matter#?
What is Gustav Theodor Fechner
What field tries to solve a problem by closely linking perceptual experience to physical stimuli?
What is Psychophysics.
"Why is the sequential estimation approach, which adapts stimulus selection during the experiment, often preferred over pre-testing in psychophysics?"
"What is the advantage of using sequential estimation over pre-testing in psychophysics, given that a stimulus set optimized during a short pre-testing period may not remain optimal for the entire experiment due to fluctuations in the observer's sensitivity?"
"What is the psychophysical approach that focuses on sensory decision processes, and what theory does it draw from?"
"The psychophysical approach that concentrates on sensory decision processes is known as the Signal Detection Approach, and it is based on Signal Detection Theory (SDT)."
"What method measures observer sensitivity and response bias in psychophysical experiments?"
"The method that measures observer sensitivity and response bias is called Signal Detection Procedures."
In research, what term is used to describe the truth value assigned to the conclusion that a cause-effect relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable has been established within the specific research context, focusing on whether changes in the dependent measure were produced by variations in the independent variable?
What is internal validity?
In the context of causality and research design, what is the concept that asserts that a cause must occur before its effect in order to establish a causal relationship between two variables?
Answer: What is temporal precedence?
What is temporal precedence?
According to Campbell's original terminology, what concept in research evaluation refers to the generalizability of a causal finding, specifically whether it can be concluded that the same cause-effect relationship would apply across various participants, settings, and methods?
What is external validity?
What is controlling variables and minimizing potential problems like self-selection?
In good experimental design, what does random assignment of participants help achieve in the context of addressing potential third-variable threats to causal inference?
"What corresponds to perceptual boundaries? For example, detection and differences are types of these."
"What are thresholds?" Perceptual boundaries are often associated with thresholds, which represent the points at which a perceptual or sensory system detects or distinguishes certain stimuli or differences. In the context of Signal Detection Theory, these thresholds can be crucial in making decisions about whether a stimulus is a signal or noise and in detecting differences between stimuli.
Who said "the smallest detectable. difference between two stimuli that yields a perceptual difference.
What is Fechner.
What is the most basic function of any sensory system?
What is to detect energy or changes of energy in the environment?
"How does the Best PEST procedure differ from conventional staircase methods in psychophysics, and what does it aim to achieve?
"How does Best PEST adjust stimulus changes based on the observer's performance, and what is its primary goal in collecting threshold information in a more precise manner?"
"According to Signal Detection Theory (SDT), how is sensory evidence for detecting a signal represented, and what is the role of the response 'criterion' set by the observer?"
"SDT posits that sensory evidence indicating the presence of a signal is represented as a range of values on a continuum. Additionally, the observer sets a response 'criterion,' which is the threshold used to decide whether they detected a signal or not, and this criterion is assumed to be the same for both signal-plus-noise and noise-only trials."
"How is observer sensitivity typically quantified in Signal Detection Procedures?"
"Observer sensitivity in Signal Detection Procedures is typically quantified using the measure 'd', which represents the distance between signal-plus-noise and noise distributions."
In research, what term refers to the generalizability of a causal finding, indicating whether the same cause-effect relationship can be expected to hold true across different participants, settings, and methods?
What is external validity?
What is external validity?
What is the primary focus of internal validity in research, emphasizing the need to establish that changes in the dependent variable are a result of variations in the independent variable and not due to other causal forces?
What is establishing that variation in the dependent variable is produced by changes in the level or intensity of the independent variable and not by other causal forces?
In the context of Campbell's terms, what does internal validity refer to when evaluating a research study, particularly in terms of assessing the truth value of a cause-effect relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable within the specific research setting?
What is the assessment of whether changes in the dependent measure were produced by variations in the independent variable (or manipulation), indicating that the change would not have occurred without that variation?
"What does 'C' represent in the Threshold Law of Signal Detection Theory, and how does it influence an observer's decision in distinguishing between signal and noise?"
"What is the criterion or decision threshold? 'C' in the Threshold Law of Signal Detection Theory is the point on an axis where an observer sets a cutoff value to determine whether a stimulus should be classified as a signal or noise. Adjusting 'C' affects the balance between correctly identifying signals (hits) and incorrectly classifying noise as signals (false alarms) in decision-making."
What was formed by Fechner, but named in honour of Weber?
What is Weber's constant/law?
"What is the term for the minimum or liminal amount of energy required for threshold measurement in psychophysics?
"What is the absolute threshold?"
"What is the name of the adaptive testing method that uses maximum-likelihood estimation and is faster and more accurate than traditional staircase procedures in psychophysics?"
"What is Parameter Estimation by Sequential Testing (PEST), particularly the Best PEST variant?"
How does Signal Detection Theory (SDT) represent sensory evidence for detecting a signal?"
"SDT represents sensory evidence as a range of values on a continuum, where the strength of the signal varies from trial to trial."
"What does a 'liberal' criterion mean in Signal Detection Procedures?"
"In Signal Detection Procedures, a 'liberal' criterion means that the observer is more likely to respond 'Yes' even when they are uncertain, resulting in more hits but also more false alarms."
What term is used to describe research in which the state of the independent variable is manipulated by interventions under the control of the researcher, and it is often defined as either experimental or quasi-experimental?
Answer: What is experimental research or quasi-experimental research?
What is experimental research or quasi-experimental research?
In studies where temporal precedence is established but considered insufficient for inferring causation, what term is often more appropriately used to describe the independent variable(s)?
What are predictor variables?
What well-known dictum highlights the challenge of assuming causation solely based on correlation, and what term describes a situation where two variables are correlated because they are both related to a third factor, even when there is no direct causal relationship between the first two variables?
What is the dictum that "correlation does not prove causation," and what is a situation known as a spurious correlation, where two variables are correlated due to their connection to a third factor, even when there is no direct causal relationship between the first two variables?
"What is the primary objective or main goal of contemporary neuroscience research?"
What is the established correlations between neuronal and perceptual events? Or, "What is to understand the brain's structure and function, as well as its role in cognition, behavior, and various neurological disorders?"
"What adaptive procedure, initially introduced by von Békésy in 1947 for audiometry, is used to efficiently determine perceptual thresholds?"
"What is the staircase method?"
"What psychophysical threshold is defined as the minimum intensity difference required between a variable comparison stimulus and a constant standard stimulus for a noticeable perceptual difference?"
"What is the difference threshold?"
"What method is commonly used in psychophysics to determine thresholds, involving repeated stimulus presentations followed by observer responses, with data then plotted on a graph showing stimulus intensity versus the percentage of detected or perceived stimuli?"
"What is the method of obtaining psychophysical thresholds by presenting stimuli multiple times, recording observer responses, and plotting the data on a graph to create a psychometric function?"
"What is the concept of a response 'criterion' in Signal Detection Theory (SDT)?"
"In SDT, the response 'criterion' is a threshold set by the observer. If the sensory evidence on a trial exceeds this criterion, the observer responds 'Yes, a signal was present.' If not, the response is 'No, a signal was not present.'"
"What can be used to create Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves in Signal Detection Procedures?"
"ROC curves can be created in Signal Detection Procedures by plotting the hit rate against the false alarm rate to assess observer sensitivity and bias."
In what type of research, such as correlational field studies, is the so-called independent variable not manipulated or controlled, but rather variations are observed as they naturally occur?
What are correlational field studies or studies with naturally occurring variations in the independent variable?
What are the two main types of research in terms of how variation in the purported causal variable is produced, where one involves manipulating the independent variable through researcher interventions, and the other involves studying variations as they occur naturally?
What is experimental or quasi-experimental research (manipulating the independent variable) and correlational field studies (studying variations as they occur naturally)?
What term is used to describe a pattern in research where variations in the dependent variable (Y) are mistakenly attributed to the independent variable (X) when they were actually caused by another factor (C), as indicated by a single-headed arrow?
What is a spurious correlation between X and Y?
"In Signal Detection Theory, what term describes an observer's decision threshold for distinguishing between signal and noise?"
What is a criterion?" In Signal Detection Theory, a criterion is a decision threshold or standard used by an observer to categorize a stimulus as a signal or noise.
"Who is credited with devising the forced-choice method in psychophysics?"
"Who is Bergmann?"
Research approach that concerns itself with subjective and objective correlates of sensory and neural processes
What is correlational research?
"How is the difference threshold determined in psychophysics, involving the intensity difference between stimuli in the first trial where the response differs from the previous one?"
"What is the method of calculating the difference threshold, which entails alternating between ascending and descending series and averaging the results to obtain the threshold estimate?"
"Why is it assumed that the response 'criterion' is the same for both signal-plus-noise and noise-only trials in SDT?"
"In SDT, the response 'criterion' is assumed to be the same for both types of trials because the observer does not know whether a signal was presented or not on a given trial, making the criterion uniform across all trials."
This psychophysical method requires observers to make a positive response on every trial, regardless of whether they perceived the stimulus, and is used to reduce response bias.
What is the forced-choice method?
In research where variations in the independent variable are studied as they occur naturally, what is the typical basis for making causal inferences regarding the relationship between the independent variable and the outcome variable of interest?
What is establishing temporal precedence, showing that variations in the purported cause precede variations in the purported effect?
In the later elaboration of validity theory by Cook and Campbell (1979), what term did they introduce to refer to the extent to which a causal relationship can be generalized from the specific methods and operations of a study to the theoretical constructs and processes they represent?
What is construct validity?
What are demonstration, causation, and explanation?
Answer: What are the three broad categories into which the goals of empirical research in social psychology can be differentiated?
"What two parameters in Signal Detection Theory determine an observer's ability to distinguish between signal and noise?"
"What are sensitivity (d') and criterion (c)?" In Signal Detection Theory, sensitivity (d') reflects an observer's ability to discriminate between signal and noise, while criterion (c) represents their decision threshold for categorizing a stimulus as a signal or noise.
Question: Which theory, developed by Ernst Heinrich Weber and later expanded upon by Gustav Fechner, relates the magnitude of a physical stimulus to the perceived intensity of the sensation it evokes?
What is Weber's Law is the theory that relates the magnitude of a physical stimulus to the perceived intensity of the sensation it evokes.
"What type of distribution combines a signal and noise to represent the overall distribution of observed data in Signal Detection Theory?"
"What is a Signal plus Noise distribution?" In Signal Detection Theory, a Signal plus Noise distribution is used to represent the overall distribution of observed data, which combines both the signal and the noise components.
"Why do psychometric functions in psychophysics typically exhibit an S-shaped curve instead of an abrupt transition, and what are the major factors contributing to this shape?"
"What is the reason for psychometric functions showing an S-shaped curve, which results from the occasional detection of lower stimulus intensities and more frequent detection of higher intensities, mainly due to fluctuations in sensitivity within the biological sensory system, necessitating the detection of external stimuli against a background of internal noise?
"What is the measure used to assess observer sensitivity in a signal detection task, and how is it calculated?"
"The measure used is called 'd-prime' (d'). It is calculated as the difference between the z-score of the hit rate and the z-score of the false alarm rate."
These curves, often used in signal detection approaches, analyze observer sensitivity and response bias.
What are Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves?
In studies where temporal precedence is established but is considered insufficient for inferring causation, what term is often more appropriately used to describe the independent variable(s)?
What are predictor variables?
In research, what type of causation is considered sufficient for most applied and action research purposes, where the focus is on knowing that a reliable cause-effect relationship exists between two variables, regardless of the explanation for why it works?
What is utilitarian causation?
What is demonstration research?
What term describes research conducted to establish the existence of a phenomenon or relationship and is often descriptive of the state of the world?
"What fields have been positively impacted by Psychophysics and Signal Detection Theory, improving our understanding of attention, perception, memory, and decision-making, while also finding applications in medicine, law, and weather forecasting?"
"What are psychology and neuroscience, along with fields like diagnostic medicine, criminal law, and weather forecasting?"
Who is the founder of psychophysics and known for Weber's Law?
Who is Gustav Fechner?
"What does a high d' value indicate in Signal Detection Theory, and how does it relate to the overlap between signal and noise distributions? Additionally, what d' value represents optimal sensitivity in terms of hit rate and false alarm rate?"
"What is a high d' value? It means you're good at distinguishing signals from noise, while a low d' value indicates difficulty due to overlap. The ideal sensitivity is d' = 4.65, with a 0.99 hit rate for signals and only a 0.01 false alarm rate."
How is the absolute threshold defined statistically in psychophysics when using the method of constant stimuli, and what convention is followed to establish this threshold?"
"What is the statistical definition of the absolute threshold, where it's conventionally set as the intensity value that elicits 'perceived' responses on 50% of the trials in the method of constant stimuli? This determination is made when no stimulus level is exactly detected 50% of the time, but the threshold value lies between the points where, for example, one level is detected 40% of the time and another is detected 74% of the time."
"What type of stimuli are typically used in Suprathreshold Methods?"
"Suprathreshold Methods typically use stimuli that are easily perceived."
This theory, commonly used in signal detection approaches, assumes that sensory evidence is distributed on a continuum and measures observer sensitivity by the distance between signal and noise distributions.
What is Signal Detection Theory (SDT)?
What are the three broad categories into which the objectives of empirical research in social psychology can be differentiated?
What are demonstration, causation, and explanation?
In research, what term is typically used to describe studies where the state of the independent variable is manipulated by interventions controlled by the researcher, and what is the basis for making causal inferences in such studies?
What is experimental or quasi-experimental research (manipulation of the independent variable), and what is the basis for making causal inferences (temporal precedence, where variations in the cause precede variations in the effect)?
What is the identification of agents that can be controlled or manipulated to bring about changes in the outcome?
What is the main goal in research focused on causation for utilitarian purposes, regardless of why it works?
"How has Signal Detection Theory been useful in areas like medicine, law, and weather forecasting, by assessing the accuracy of medical scans, fairness of jury decisions, and reliability of eyewitness identifications?"
"How has Signal Detection Theory contributed to improving the accuracy of medical scans, assessing the fairness of jury decisions, and enhancing the reliability of eyewitness identifications?"
This theory relates the magnitude of a physical stimulus to the perceived intensity of the sensation it evokes.
What is Weber's Law?
"What does the value of the criterion (C) indicate in Signal Detection Theory, and how does it relate to an observer's tendency to respond 'YES' or 'NO'? Describe the observer's behavior when C is less than 0, equal to 0, and greater than 1."
"What does the value of the criterion (C) represent in Signal Detection Theory? Explain the observer's tendencies when C is less than 0, equal to 0, and greater than 1 in terms of responding 'YES' or 'NO'."
"What is the Staircase Method in psychophysics, and how does it work to determine perceptual thresholds?"
"The Staircase Method is a technique used to find perceptual thresholds. It starts with a descending set of stimuli. When the observer detects the stimulus ('yes'), its intensity decreases, and if not ('no'), it increases. This back-and-forth process continues, with the threshold calculated as the average of stimulus intensities at response changes, typically after six to nine reversals."
"Why are Suprathreshold Methods used in situations where all stimuli are easily perceived?"
"Suprathreshold Methods are used in such situations because they focus on comparing the detectability and conspicuity of stimuli that are above threshold, even though some stimuli may be more conspicuous or 'pop out' than others."
When researchers aim to establish a cause-effect linkage between specific variables and test linkages of the form "if X then Y," what type of research are they conducting?
What is research on causation or causality?
What type of research aims to establish the existence of a phenomenon or relationship, often being descriptive of the state of the world and assessing the frequency of specified events or the degree of relationship between specified conditions?
What is demonstration research?
In research, what is considered sufficient as a goal for most applied and action research purposes, emphasizing the importance of knowing that a reliable cause-effect relationship exists between two variables, regardless of the explanation for why it works?
What is utilitarian causation, where what works is what counts for practical purposes?
What is experimental research?
What term is used to describe research in which the state of the independent variable is manipulated by interventions controlled by the researcher?
What approach to sensory physiology has come to be referred to as subjective sensory physiology
What is psychophysical?
In this psychophysical method, stimuli are presented multiple times in a quasi-random order to determine thresholds for detection or discrimination.
What is the Method of Constant Stimuli?
"What do ROC curves in Signal Detection Theory depict, and how do points along the same ROC curve relate to sensitivity? Include the terms 'HITs' and 'FALSE ALARMs' in your response."
"What do ROC curves in Signal Detection Theory depict, and how does sensitivity relate to points along the same ROC curve? Include the terms 'HITs' and 'FALSE ALARMs' in your response."
"How is the problem of observer anticipation addressed in the Staircase Method, and what's the benefit of using multiple interleaved staircases?"
"To prevent observers from anticipating the threshold in the Staircase Method, you can use multiple interleaved staircases. These staircases start at different stimulus intensities and alternate trials, making it harder for the observer to predict the stimulus level. This helps both staircases converge to the threshold, and interleaving can be done in a regular or random sequence to prevent anticipation."
"What does a d' value of 0 indicate in a signal detection task?"
"A d' value of 0 indicates chance-level discrimination, meaning there is a complete overlap between the signal-plus-noise and noise distributions with no discrimination."
From a utilitarian perspective in research, what is the ultimate goal when identifying cause-effect relationships between variables, especially when it comes to interventions?
What is the purpose of establishing a causal connection or relationship between to variables?
In social psychological research, what is the primary purpose when scientists are interested in whether the covariation between two events reflects a causal relationship between them?
What is to establish a cause-effect linkage between specific variables?
In research with more basic, theory-testing purposes, what is the primary goal beyond establishing a cause-effect relationship, emphasizing the need to understand how, why, and under what conditions variations in X lead to variations in Y?
What is the goal of explanation, which aims to determine the processes underlying the linkage between variations in X and Y, reflecting the "essentialist" conceptualization of causation?
What are variations in the independent variable studied as they occur naturally?
What typically occurs in correlational field studies for the purpose of establishing relationships?
This type of research, often descriptive in nature, aims to empirically establish the existence of a phenomenon or relationship. What is it called?
What is demonstration research?
He introduced the staircase method, a modification of the Method of Limits, for measuring thresholds in psychophysical experiments.
Who is Georg von Békésy?
"What method is used to estimate the absolute threshold in psychophysics by averaging the intensity of the last 'seen' stimulus and the first 'not seen' stimulus, either in ascending or descending trials?"
"What is the method of averaging the last 'seen' and first 'not seen' stimuli in ascending or descending trials to estimate the absolute threshold?"
"How is the threshold intensity calculated using linear interpolation in psychophysics when determining the absolute threshold, and what are the variables involved in this calculation?"
"How do you calculate the threshold intensity by linear interpolation, where 'T' represents the threshold, 'a' and 'b' are the stimulus intensity levels that bracket 50% detection (with 'a' being the lower intensity), and 'pa' and 'pb' are the respective percentages of detection? While the method of constant stimuli is considered reliable for threshold estimates, what major drawback does it have in terms of time and the observer's attention?"
"What is the role of the response 'criterion' in signal detection, and how is it measured?"
"The response 'criterion' is the threshold set by the observer to decide whether a signal was present or not. It can be measured as -0.5 times the sum of the z-scores of the hit rate and the false alarm rate."
In research with a utilitarian purpose to establish causal relationships, what is the term used to describe the factor that is manipulated by interventions under the researcher's control?
What is the independent variable?
According to the utilitarian perspective in research, what is the main purpose of searching for cause-effect relationships, such as interventions that can be controlled or manipulated, with the aim of bringing about changes in the outcome of interest?
What is to identify agents that can be controlled or manipulated to produce subsequent changes in the outcome of interest?
What is spurious correlation?
What is the pattern in research where variations in the dependent variable are mistakenly attributed to the independent variable when they are actually caused by another factor?
What is construct validity?
What term introduced by Cook and Campbell (1979) refers to the extent to which a causal relationship can be generalized from the methods and operations of a specific study to theoretical constructs and processes?
In demonstration research, one common aspect is assessing the degree of relationship between specified states or conditions. For example, what is a well-known relationship studied in this context involving cigarette smoking?
What is the correlation between cigarette smoking and lung cancer?
What is the name of the method that efficiently estimates thresholds by updating the threshold's Gaussian probability density function after each response, often using Bayesian techniques?
What is the Best PEST (Parameter Estimation by Sequential Testing) procedure?
"What method in psychophysics offers a more objective approach by requiring the observer to make a positive response on every trial, regardless of whether they perceived the stimulus, and who first devised the forced-choice method?"
"What is the forced-choice method in psychophysics, which forces observers to make responses on every trial, providing a more objective approach to measurement? The forced-choice method was originally devised by whom?"
"What is the forced-choice method in psychophysics, which forces observers to make responses on every trial, providing a more objective approach to measurement? The forced-choice method was originally devised by whom?"
"What approach in psychophysics combines Bayesian adaptive methods with the observer's response history and experimenter knowledge to efficiently select stimulus strengths for threshold determination?"
"What is the strategy that uses Bayesian adaptive methods, updates the threshold's Gaussian probability distribution after each response, and places trials at the current maximum-likelihood estimate of threshold, ultimately yielding the mode as the final threshold estimate (Farell and Pelli 1999)?"
"How can you assess changes in observer performance in a signal detection task, such as the effects of alcohol?"
"To assess changes in observer performance, you can compute d' values for different conditions and compare them. Additionally, you can measure bias (c) to determine if the observer's responses become more liberal or conservative."
n correlational field studies where variations occur naturally, what is the term used for the variable that is not manipulated or controlled but is studied to establish a relationship with subsequent variations in the outcome variable?
What is the dependent variable?
In research with the goal of establishing causal connections, what is the primary objective, and what is not the main focus of this research, according to Cook and Shadish (1994)?
What is the primary objective is to establish causal connections, and what is not the main focus is explaining how or why these causal connections occur?
What is "correlation does not prove causation"?What is the well-known dictum that highlights the challenge of assuming causation solely based on correlation?
What is the well-known dictum that highlights the challenge of assuming causation solely based on correlation?
What is to establish that variation in the dependent variable has been produced by changes in the independent variable and not by some other causal force?
What is the primary focus of internal validity in research?