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1500 questions
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3 answers
Abstract idealized mental visualization improves motor task performance
I practice martial arts (Aikido), which involves a lot of rotation.
When practicing, I find that holding an abstract image in my head, instead of thinking about the actual technique, improves my performance of the technique.
For example, when…
BenCole
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Attention Theory: is it impossible to avoid distraction?
I remember reading at some point in the literature that humans are unable to avoid distraction from a certain primary task if this task isn't using up close to all available 'resources' - basically meaning that everytime the human brain has…
deemel
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What are the current suggested models for Primacy Effect in memory recall or personality impression?
What are the current suggested normative, mechanistic or phenomenological models for explaining primacy effect as was observed by Solomon Asch (1946) on personality impression, list-of-words memory recall and other forms as was reviewed extensively…
Hanan Shteingart
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9
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Is an avoidance of incest/inbreeding learned or instinctive?
Is the natural avoidance of incest something that is learned or is the human brain programmed by instinct to have a negative response to incest? This of course would have an evolutionary advantage and would hence make perfect sense.
Charlie
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How does fever affect time perception?
Many of my friends and I have noticed that at certain stages of fever, time is often perceived as being longer than usual. I'd like to know if this is caused by the disease itself, an immune reaction, or high body temperature.
Fun fact: a lot of…
user1306322
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Is there a circadian component to mood variations in humans?
I'm looking at this question about an Experience Sampling Method (ESM) app:
Longitudinal mobile mood tracking app with random reminders
The studies linked in the question deal with sampling of user experience throughout the day.
I'm wondering if…
Alex Stone
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9
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1 answer
How to map EEG time-series and visualize meditative states frequencies?
I came across this research article "Case Study of Ecstatic Meditation: fMRI and EEG Evidence of Self-Stimulating a Reward System" about the brainwaves when a Yogi went into a meditative level.
I know that we have 5 types of brainwaves:
Gamma…
LomX
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1 answer
Can time be slowed in a lucid dream?
Lucid dreams allow a person to be conscious while dreaming. It has been reported that it's possible to control various aspects of the dream environment that are not possible during wakefulness, e.g. ability to fly.
Research has shown that the rate…
Justas
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9
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1 answer
'Model-free' learning in humans
In reinforcement learning, there is a stark distinction between model-based and model-free learning algorithms, where model-free methods don't make use any explicit information about the dynamics of the environment.
It seems like this distinction…
zergylord
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3 answers
What is the name of the effect whereby socialising in a group reinforces group beliefs?
Background:
There's this effect when you have some idea, i.e. that eating other people is (probably) cool, you join the group of like minded people, you talk about how tasty people are, everyone agrees with you, which reinforces the idea, and you…
Sejanus
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Are presence questionnaires valid in a between-subjects design?
Usoh et al. (PDF) applied presence questionnaires (which are usually designed to measure one's feeling of presence in a virtual environment) in both a virtual and a real world environment in a between-subjects design and found no difference in…
ThomasH
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9
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1 answer
Is there a correlation between EQ (EI) and IQ?
Is there a correlation, positive or negative, between emotional intelligence and IQ?
Philip Seyfi
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9
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1 answer
Could Fitts Law be used to measure difficulty in platform genre games?
I've been learning about Fitts' law and am wondering if it's applicable to measuring the difficulty of platform type games where the challenge is to hit the platforms?
If so, this could be used to ensure there is a well designed difficulty curve.…
Joey Green
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Death from sleep deprivation, what physical mechanism is failing that makes one not to be alive anymore?
I have been reading on wiki about sleep deprivation it would appear that one can die without sleep... I have heard that it was used as torture method by quite a few agencies, but didn't know that one could die from it....
As far as I know REM is…
Matas Vaitkevicius
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When faced with a choice and trying to make a quick decision, are 2 options better than 3 or more options?
Bastardi & Shafir (1998) show how too much data disabilitates your decision making. There is also the popular Paradox Of Choice argument.
However, I can't find a reference stating that, when faced with a decision, 2 options are better than 3 or many…
opyate
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