Managing Complexity in Psychology Experiment Generation

描述（由申请人提供）：该项目将开发新技术，以提高心理学实验生成工具的效率，功率，精度，安全性和易用性。拟议研究的结果将在为数千个研究实验室使用的创新和产品提供技术基础方面发挥关键作用。这将改善与学习、心理健康、发展和社会互动有关的心理问题的研究，从而使数百万公民受益。该提案开发了一些方法，使心理学、神经科学和临床研究人员能够科普基于计算机的实验和基于互联网的数据收集日益复杂的问题。该项目将解决与基于计算机的行为和生物数据收集有关的五个关键挑战。它将提供研究和技术解决方案，包括：1）实验规范技术，该技术将允许有效创建复杂准确的计算机化行为实验，研究人员的学习时间适中，错误概率低; 2）保持精确计时的方法（0.1毫秒）在标准个人计算机上，即使操作系统定时不稳定，用户对系统性能调整的了解有限; 3）允许分布式实验管理的互联网工具，其可以跨多个站点和跨防火墙以低用户努力保持定时精度和安全性，4）自动化数据管理和分析工具，其可以快速学习并连接到标准分析流;以及5）教程工具、范例库和数据管理的可理解的集成。该项目将开发接口、定时、通信、数据管理和支持技术，并对可用性进行广泛的经验测试。第一阶段SBIR工作达到了雄心勃勃的里程碑，并产生了第一个正式的行为数据发布的可用性在实验生成。工程原型超过了精度要求，并导致了新的方法，这是临时专利申请的基础。这项研究可能会产生市场领先的产品，这些产品可能会在第二阶段工作开始后的五年内被购买并安装在5000多个研究实验室中。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project will develop new technologies to advance the efficiency, power, precision, security, and ease of use of tools for psychology experiment generation. Results from proposed studies will play a pivotal role in providing the technical foundation for innovations and products that will be used in thousands of research laboratories. This will improve the research on psychological problems related to learning, mental health, development, and social interaction which in turn may benefit millions of citizens. This proposal develops methods that will allow psychological, neuroscience and clinical researchers to cope with the growing complexity of computer based-experimentation and Internet-based data collection. This project will address five key challenges related to computer-based behavioral and biological data collection. It will provide research and technical solutions including: 1) an experiment specification technology that will allow efficient creation of complex accurate computerized behavioral experiments with modest learning time for the researcher and low probability of error; 2) methods to maintain precision timing (0.1 ms) on standard personal computers even when the operating system timing is erratic and the user has limited understanding of performance tuning of the system; 3) Internet tools that allow distributed experiment management that can maintain timing precision and security across multiple sites and across firewalls with low user effort, 4) automated data management and analysis tools that can quickly be learned and connected to standard analysis streams; and 5) comprehensible integration of tutorial tools, paradigms libraries and data management. The project will develop interface, timing, communication, data management, and support technologies and extensive empirical testing of usability. The Phase I SBIR effort met the ambitious milestones and produced the first formal behavioral data published regarding usability in experiment generation. The engineering prototypes exceeded the precision requirements and lead to new methods that were the basis of a provisional patent application. The research will likely result in market-leading products that are likely to be purchased and installed in over 5000 research laboratories within five years of the start date of the Phase II effort.