Instrumentation for a Computerized LAN Behavioral Social Science Experimental Lab

在国家科学基金会的支持下，里克·威尔逊博士和他的合作者将在莱斯大学领导一个社会科学家联盟，并建造一个30个站的计算机化实验实验室。该实验室围绕Dell PowerEdge 6350服务器构建，将包括30个配备17英寸超声波显示器的Dell OptiPlex GX1工作站。拟建的实验室将满足政治学、经济学、心理学和商学院教职员工的需求。此外，该实验室将提供硬件，使赖斯的社会和行为科学能够围绕共同的方法论方法统一起来。到目前为止，这些学科一直被控制着基本上互不相容的临时实验室的个别研究人员分开。这对研究和学生培训都将是巨大的好处。将要调查的主题包括：实验数据何时足够？概率信念是如何形成的，以及这些信念是如何影响决策的？社会信号如何影响游戏策略？有效领导者的特质是什么？：新手和专家使用评估概率的方法有多有用？任务反馈如何影响群体和个人的表现？个人如何在决策过程中搜索信息？公民如何感知联邦福利并为他们分配积分？实验室将由一个教师委员会监督，该委员会将分配时间。它还将作为一种教学工具，在研究生教育中发挥不可或缺的作用。

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.