Re: random/representative

[Michael Sylvester]

 I have been studying the response to my post.Whereas the assignment of
subjects to groups should be done randomly,I was really trying to
ascertain whether the smaller the variance within a group the greater the 
confidence level to generalize than from another group where the within
group variance is very large.
In other words,is it possible when you have seen one,you have seen them
all?

Michael Sylvester
Daytona Beach,Florida 

Design of Experiment

[Paul Habib Artes]

Dear TIPS folk,

I'm thinking on how to best implement an experiment - any thoughts?  
I would very much appreciate any input...

I'd like to find out the best stimulus rate (or the inter-stimulus 
interval) for a simple visual suprathreshold detection task with a 
very high stimulus probability (0.75). About 100 stimuli are 
presented for each eye of an observer. (Don't laugh:  these tasks 
are very common in clinical work).  The ISI presently used is between 
1000 and 1500 ms

I feel that this is much too slow for some fast observers, who then 
get bored and loose motivation / concentration.  

Ideally, I would like to express the stimulus rate in terms of 
multiples of reaction time (or better: response time). 

My current setup starts at an ISI of 1000 ms.  The observer is then 
asked whether they'd prefer the task to run faster or slower. 
Depending on this subjective response, the ISI is made shorter or  by 
100 ms, and a new run (100 stim) is started.  This goes on until 3 
reversals (faster-->slower, slower-->faster ) have been obtained. 
 
Problems with this:
1.)  Trials go on for very long, and there are pronounced practice 
and fatigue effects

2.)  The reversal points depend entirely on the subjective judgment 
of the subject.  

Any ideas how I the design could be improved??

Paul
Research Assistant
Royal Eye Hospital, Manchester, UK
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Forwarded message - please respond to original sender

[Bill Southerly]

From: Laura Freberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

Laura Freberg, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
http://www.calpoly.edu/~lfreberg


Greetings, Tipsters!
I currently serve as the Courselinks Editor for Introductory Psychology for 
Coursewise.com, and given the interests and enthusiasm of people on this 
list, I wanted to let you know about the following opportunity:
The psychology publisher at Coursewise.com is looking for a Courselinks 
Editor in the area of Life Span Development.  A Courselinks Editor (CLE) is 
the content expert of the online resources called Courselinks. The CLE 
works with an Editorial Board and the Academic Editor of a print reader to 
manage the web-related resources in a subject area.  The CLE is a paid 
position. For company information visit: http://www.coursewise.com/.  For 
information on Courselinks go to: http://www.courselinks.com/.  If you're 
interested in the position please contact Sue Pulvermacher-Alt, publisher, 
at: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Best regards,
Laura
Laura Freberg, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
http://www.calpoly.edu/~lfreberg

RE: introductory psychology text recommendations

[Charles M. Huffman]

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
Behalf Of Eric Dahlen
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2000 1:48 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: introductory psychology text recommendations


I am in the process of selecting a new introductory psychology textbook to
replace our department's current text (Plotnik). I am looking for something
more advanced that Plotnik but not as difficult as Gleitman. I realize that
this covers a very wide range. What introductory texts would you recommend
(or suggest I avoid)?


Eric R. Dahlen, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University of Southern Mississippi
Southern Station Box 5025
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5025
Phone: (601) 266-4608
Fax: (413) 643-5521
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Eric,

The Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology has an excellent resource for
selecting Introductory Texts at:

http://www.lemoyne.edu/OTRP/introtexts.html

Best of luck (Go Eagles! From a USM Alum)

Chuck

*
Charles M. Huffman, Ph.D.
Chair, Psychology Dept.
Cumberland College, Box 7990
Williamsburg, KY  40769
(606) 539-4422
*

interview question

[Tasha Howe]

I think it's always important to ask in what direction they see the
department heading. Do they plan to expand new lines, delete old lines,
hire more people, change the focus of the department, revamp the major,
etc. It's always nice to show you're interested in helping shape the
department, hearing their thoughts on where you fit into the process, as
well as being cautious about the kind of department you might be
entering.

--
Tasha R. Howe, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Transylvania University
300 N. Broadway
Lexington, KY  40508
(606) 233-8144
FAX (606) 233-8797

sports Psychology

[Dr. Joyce Johnson]

I have a student, a junior, who wants to do a summer internship in sports
psych. Slim pickin's here in Shreveport. We could only locate one, and he
doesn't take interns. Can you give me a lead? tell me how I can get into a
sports psych list-serv or something? I would like to help her find a place
to work this summer so that she can make an informed choice for graduate
school. She is a tennis player, btw. 
Dr. Joyce Johnson
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Developmental/ Experimental
Centenary College of Louisiana
PO Box 41188
2911 Centenary Blvd.
Shreveport, LA 71134-1188

office 318 869 5253
FAX 318 869 5004 Attn: Dr Johnson, Psychology

Re: Touching research

[John W. Kulig]

Salvatore Cullari wrote:

> Hi Everyone. One of my students asked me the following question. Why
> do some people want to touch a product before buying it?   Aside from
> the obvious, is there any consumer research on this topic?  I have
> never personally seen any research about this, but this is outside of
> my area of expertise.  If anyone can point me in the right direction,
> I would really appreciate it.  Thanks.

Some interesting research could come of this. We may touch something to
expose all sides of it and see it better. I'd like to see it demonstrated
that we have need to touch even if it doesn't tell us anything new. IF that
is demonstrated, one possible explanation may arise from Paul Rozin's
research on contagion and magic. The idea is that buried deep in our
collective psych (my words, not Rozin's) we understand that the "essence"
of something can be transmitted by contagion (touch) - e.g. we touch the
garment of a holy person, keep the lock of hair of a loved one to fondle,
maintain articles that famous people have touched, etc (anyone remember how
much $ John Wilkes Booth's target pistol brought at an auction last
month?). The "stuff" transmitted by touch can be good or bad. Some of
Rozin's research concerns our tendency _not_ to touch things like dinner
plates that have come in contact with "bad" things like a cockroach. This
has obvious survival value - but his research indicates we avoid touching
the plate even when there was no possibility the cockroach could have
trassmitted a disease (if memory serves, the cockroach was in a sealed bag
or something like that). So, maybe before we purchase we want to
familiarize ourselves with as much of it's "essence" as possible by magical
touching.  But, please don't quote me on this hypothesis!

See Rozin, P. & Fallon, A.E. (1987) A perspective on disgust. I think it's
in _Psychological Review_?  Can't locate volume or page # however.

--
---
John W. Kulig[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Psychology http://oz.plymouth.edu
Plymouth State College   tel: (603) 535-2468
Plymouth NH USA 03264fax: (603) 535-2412
---
"The only rational way of educating is to be an example - if
one can't help it, a warning example." A. Einstein, 1934.

more trepanning news

[Dani' Raap]

For those of you interested in the trepanning thread, here's another
case.

Dani'
-
Dani' K. Raap, Ph.D.
http://www.uaf.edu/psych/
Department of Psychology
University of Alaska Fairbanks
P.O. Box 756480
Fairbanks, AK  99775-6480
(907)474-6514
fax (907)474-5781
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

-
Briton

 LONDON (Reuters) - A British woman says she has cured her chronic
fatigue
by resorting to do-it-yourself brain surgery and drilling a hole in her
own
head.

 Heather Perry, 29, performed the ancient technique of trepanning --
cutting
away a section of the scalp and drilling into the
 skull -- in her bid to overcome myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME, which
leaves sufferers feeling permanently exhausted.

 Perry's bid to rid herself of the inflammation of her brain and spinal
chord, by drilling a two-centimeter hole to allow blood to
 flow more easily around the brain, almost went wrong when she drilled
too
far and penetrated a membrane protecting her
 brain tissue.

 British doctors had refused to help Perry with the ancient procedure,
so
she flew to the United States where she was given
 medical advice and then did it herself. She said the 20-minute
operation
had improved her quality of life.

 ``I have no regrets. I was prone to occasional bouts of depression and
felt
something radical needed to be done,'' said Perry,
 who performed the operation under local anaesthetic in front of a
mirror
and a camera crew.

 ``I felt the effects immediately, I can't say they have been
particularly
dramatic but they are there. I generally feel better and
 there's definitely more mental clarity. I feel wonderful,'' she told
reporters at her home in Gloucester, western England.

 Trepanning was widely used in the Middle Ages to treat severe headaches
and
madness in the belief it would release evil
 spirits from the possessed.

Re: re; representative vs random

[Paul Brandon]

At 11:17 AM -0600 2/23/00, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Remember that random sampling does not guarantee that you will have
>a representative sample.

In the real world, what does?

>What it does is guarantee that any
>differences are not systematic.  If the sample were always
>representative we would not need to replicate our studies.

That's assuming that researchers were not human, with all the human
imperfections and frailities.
There's also such a thing as _systematic_ replication:  making a small
change in one experimental variable to establish generality.

>Joyce Morris
>Public Health Sciences
>Wichita State University


* PAUL K. BRANDON   [EMAIL PROTECTED]  *
* Psychology Dept   Minnesota State University, Mankato *
* 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001  ph 507-389-6217 *
*http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html*

introductory psychology text recommendations

[Eric Dahlen]

I am in the process of selecting a new introductory psychology textbook to
replace our department's current text (Plotnik). I am looking for something
more advanced that Plotnik but not as difficult as Gleitman. I realize that
this covers a very wide range. What introductory texts would you recommend
(or suggest I avoid)?


Eric R. Dahlen, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University of Southern Mississippi
Southern Station Box 5025
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5025
Phone: (601) 266-4608
Fax: (413) 643-5521
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

re; representative vs random

[MORRIS]

Remember that random sampling does not guarantee that you will have
a representative sample.  What it does is guarantee that any
differences are not systematic.  If the sample were always
representative we would not need to replicate our studies.

Joyce Morris
Public Health Sciences
Wichita State University

Re: Touching research

[John W. Kulig]

Salvatore:
I have _no_ idea - but I do have a hypothesis based on prior research.
I will offer it up in a day or two if a more legitimate answer does not
emerge. JK

Salvatore Cullari wrote:

> Hi Everyone. One of my students asked me the following question. Why
> do some people want to touch a product before buying it?   Aside from
> the obvious, is there any consumer research on this topic?  I have
> never personally seen any research about this, but this is outside of
> my area of expertise.  If anyone can point me in the right direction,
> I would really appreciate it.  Thanks.

--
---
John W. Kulig[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Psychology http://oz.plymouth.edu
Plymouth State College   tel: (603) 535-2468
Plymouth NH USA 03264fax: (603) 535-2412
---
"The only rational way of educating is to be an example - if
one can't help it, a warning example." A. Einstein, 1934.