Managing Complexity in Psychology Experiment Generation

描述(由申请者提供)：这个项目将开发新的技术，以提高心理学实验生成工具的效率、精确度、功率和易用性。这项提议开发的方法将使心理学家能够应对日益复杂的基于计算机的实验和基于互联网的数据收集。这项研究针对五个具体目标，旨在开发一种综合方法来管理被称为驯服实验复杂性套件(TECS)的技术家族中的复杂性。第一个目标是开发一个可扩展的电子表格界面，用于建立实验，通过提供一个新的界面来最大限度地从以前的计算机应用程序中转移知识并管理向研究人员展示的复杂性，同时提供灵活、精确、易于使用的界面，从而极大地减少学习和开发时间。这项研究将包括录像行为测试、任务分析、课堂测试和实验覆盖率评估。第二个目标是使用“智能”的Excel电子表格、PowerPoint创建程序和网页创建创建一种自动化的数据处理方法。三是开发一种精确的USB微处理器设备，该设备能够保持独立的0.1ms计时，并与ERP/fMRI/生理监测数据采集同步。第四，开发了一种基于Internet的数据采集体系结构，可以通过远程多站点数据采集来保持授时精度。五是提供教程工具、范例库和套件架构的集成，以实现全面的实验监督、数据管理和归档。由此产生的产品将使研究人员能够在行为、认知、知觉、生理和脑成像研究中构建尖端实验，覆盖目前90%以上的计算机化实验文献。该团队将利用其获得的专业知识，开发目前在数千个实验室中使用的领先的实验生成和成像工具，并成功地将过去的SBIR努力商业化。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project will develop new technologies to advance the efficiency, precision, power, and ease of use of tools for psychology experiment generation. This proposal develops methods that will allow psychologists to cope with the growing complexity of computer based experimentation and Internet based data collection. The research addresses five specific objectives to develop an integrated approach to managing complexity in a technology family referred to as the Taming Experiment Complexity Suite (TECS). The first objective is to develop an extendable spreadsheet interface for building experiments that will dramatically reduce the learning and development time by providing a novel interface that maximizes transfer from previous computer applications knowledge and manages the complexity shown to the researcher while providing a flexible, precise, easy to use interface. The research will involve videotaped behavioral tests, task analyses, classroom tests, and experiment coverage assessment. The second objective is to create an automated data processing method using "smart" Excel Spreadsheets, PowerPoint creation programs, and web page creation. The third is to develop a precision USB microprocessor device that maintains independent 0.1 ms timing with synchronization to ERP/fMRI/physiological monitoring data collection. The fourth is develop an Internet based data collection architecture that can maintain timing precision with remote multi-site data collection. The fifth is to provide an integration of tutorial tools, paradigm library, and suite architecture to enable comprehensive experiment supervision, data management and archiving. The resulting product will enable researchers to construct cutting edge experiments in behavioral, cognitive, perceptual, physiological, and brain imaging research covering over 90% of the current computerized experimental literature. The team will draw on the expertise it has acquired developing the leading experiment generation and imaging tools that are currently used in thousands of laboratories and successfully commercializing past SBIR efforts.