Instrumentation for a Computerized LAN Behavioral Social Science Experimental Lab

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With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Rick Wilson and his collaborators will head a consortium of social scientists at Rice University and construct a 30 station computerized experimental laboratory. Built around a Dell PowerEdge 6350 server, the laboratory will include 30 Dell OptiPlex GX1work stations with 17" Ultrascan Monitors. The proposed laboratory will serve the needs of faculty in the Political Science, Economics, Psychology Departments as well as the Business school. In addition the laboratory will provide the hardware to enable the social and behavioral sciences at Rice to coalesce around a common methodological approach. To date these disciplines have been separated by individual researchers controlling makeshift laboratories that are largely incompatible. The benefits to both research and student training will be significant. The topics to be investigated include: when is experimental data sufficient?; how do probabilistic beliefs form and how do these affect decision making?; how does social signaling affect game playing strategy?; what qualities characterize an effective leader?: how useful are methods employed by novices and experts to assess probability?; how does task feedback influence group and individual performance?; how do individuals search for information in the decision making process?; how do citizens perceive federal benefits and apportion credit for them? The laboratory will be supervised by a faculty committee which will allocate time. It will also function as a teaching tool and play in integral role in graduate education.