Multi-Investigator Multi-Site Experiments and Infrastructure Development

认知科学认为人类是“认知有限的信息处理器”，这种观点已经传播到许多行为科学的姐妹学科，包括政治科学。 然而，很少有政治学家完全接受这种方法，以至于采用了它的方法论或批判性地研究了它对学科的影响。 更少的政治学家正在进行的研究类型，将促进我们对人们如何思考，感觉和处理社会信息的基本理解。 政治科学家追求信息处理视角的困难之一是缺乏严肃的研究方法，这些方法非常适合在政治科学家喜欢研究的复杂社会环境中收集详细的信息处理数据。 此外，很少有政治科学家接受过基础认知研究中使用的实验方法的训练。 本项目旨在纠正这种情况，在国家科学基金会的事先支持下，主要研究人员开发了一种这样的方法，他们称之为动态过程跟踪，以及实施该方法的软件，动态过程培训环境计划。 这项任务花费的时间比最初预期的要长。 该软件“1.0版”的预测试和错误检查已经开始，一个新的传播方案也已开始。 该项目将完成软件的制作、最后测试和分发，一旦软件完成并经过全面测试，将予以公布，使科学界的其他人可以免费获得该软件和相关的编程手册。 主要研究人员还将在专业会议上提供培训课程，以鼓励其他研究人员使用该程序。

The cognitive science view of humans as "cognitively limited information processors" has spread to many of the sister behavioral sciences, including political science. Few political scientists have thoroughly embraced this approach, however, to the extent of adopting its methodologies or critically examining its implications for the discipline. Even fewer political scientists are conducting the type of research that will advance our basic understanding of how people think about, feel, and process social information. One of the difficulties for political scientists pursuing an information processing perspective is the dearth of serious research methodologies that are well-suited to gathering detailed information processing data in the types of complex social environments that political scientists like to study. Moreover, few political scientists are trained in the type of experimental methods that are utilized in basic cognitive research. This project seeks to rectify this situation.With prior support from the National Science Foundation, the principal investigators developed one such methodology, which they call dynamic process tracing, and software to implement the methodology, Dynamic Process Training Environment Program. This task has taken longer than was originally anticipated. Pretesting and error checking of "Version 1.0" of the software has already begun, as has a nascent dissemination program. This project will result in the completion of the software, its final testing, and its distribution.Once the software has been completed and thoroughly tested, it will be publicized, making it and an associated programming manual freely available to others in the scientific community. The principal investigators will also provide training sessions at professional meetings to encourage other researchers to use the program.