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1500 questions
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How is it possible for psychometricians to develop IQ tests for people smarter than them?
After all, while psychometricians definitely have above-average IQs, they probably don't have IQs over, say, 160.
If psychometricians already know what the right answers are (and how to obtain the right answer), then wouldn't they score very high on…
InquilineKea
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2 answers
What are different ways to determine centroids of fMRI activation, their drawbacks and perks?
I'm reading an older article on bilingualism (Kim, Relkin, Lee, & Hirsch, 1997) for a seminar. They were interested in the spatial separation of two languages in early and late bilinguals. They determined activated regions and their overlap in two…
Ruben
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12
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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.
Could that way of reading affect text…
rraallvv
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12
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2 answers
To what extent do individuals vary in their ability to mentally visualise?
Background:
Yesterday I was shocked when a friend of mine told me that he can see only "completely black darkness" when he closes he eyes.
When I close my eyes, I can see some images or "movies" of what I'm thinking of just now. I don't see the real…
Kolyunya
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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 respondents.
Is it true that the displayed…
Vloxxity
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12
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1 answer
By which neuronal mechanisms does music make us happy or sad?
There are brain regions (X) that show stronger activation for joyful music, regions (Y) that show stronger activation for sad music, and regions (Z) that show similar activation for both.
Assuming that joyful or sad music activates similar brain…
Hans-Peter Stricker
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12
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1 answer
Why a person may have a temptation to do something unrelated when doing especially important thing?
I would like to know, why a person may have a temptation to do something unrelated (or slightly related to his current task) when doing particularly important job?
Like, when preparing for an important math test under a time pressure, to spend time…
dhblah
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12
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2 answers
Are there any modern mechanistic theories of motivation?
I remember hearing about the old 'drive' theory of motivation in Psych 101, and despite continuing my cognitive science education for another 4 years, that's the last theory of motivation I've heard about.
Are there any modern theories of…
zergylord
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votes
3 answers
Is "gaslighting" a mainstream concept in the cognitive sciences?
The term "gaslighting" (referring to abusive manipulation of the facts to confuse victims) is common in pop-psychology sources, and I have friends who report that their psychologists or psychiatrists use the term as some form of shorthand.
However,…
Oddthinking
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12
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Correlation between "mechanical aptitude" and IQ
I am an economist working in labour market issues. It is common in my field to divide jobs between those who are intensive in "manual" tasks and those who are intensive in "cognitive" tasks (e.g. here). I want to find evidence about the correlation…
luchonacho
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12
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Which neurotransmitters can be measured in a living human brain?
I'm interested in learning more about the modern techniques that are used for scientific studies of neurotransmitters in the living human brain. As far as I know, there are 4 neuromodulator systems within the human brain.
They are:
Noradrenaline…
Alex Stone
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12
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1 answer
How can a narcissist be given negative feedback without triggering aggressive behavior?
I've interacted with several individuals over the years that had narcissistic personality disorder. In particular, I find I have difficulty navigating their nebulous relationship with truth and find myself talking in circles when trying to provide…
Regional Director
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12
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Has an upper-limit on the physical spacing represented by grid cells in Entorhinal cortex been probed?
There is considerable research reporting activity of unit recordings from grid cells in the Entorhinal cortex (e.g. [1]) - typically of rats running around in enclosed spaces.
Is there any information on the upper-limits of the physical distance…
DavidJ
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12
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Is religiousness a genetically heritable feature?
I know that parent beliefs have very strong influence on child, but is it possible that genetic factor also play a role? I doubt that the content of any religion could be heritable through genes nor anyone could be genetically predestined to be…
Marta Cz-C
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Cognitive models for transfer of skills
Recently a question was asked about the benefit of playing chess on cognitive abilities. More specifically, how chess would improve understanding technical texts. Many other questions are also focused on learning and skim the topic of transfer of…
Robin Kramer-ten Have
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