Work

The optimal level of fuzz: case studies in a methodology for psychological research

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: Cognitive Science research is hard to conduct, because researchers must take phenomena from the world and turn them into laboratory tasks for which a reasonable level of experimental control can be achieved. Consequently, research necessarily makes tradeoffs between internal validity (experimental control) and external validity (the degree to which a task represents behavior outside of the lab). Researchers are thus seeking the best possible tradeoff between these constraints, which we refer to as the optimal level of fuzz. We present two principles for finding the optimal level of fuzz, in research, and then illustrate these principles using research from motivation, individual differences, and cognitive neuroscience.

Source: Journal of Experimental & Theoretical Artificial Intelligence

DOI: 10.1080/09528130903065380

Authors: Arthur B. Markman, Jennifer S. Beer, Lisa R. Grimm, Jonathan R. Rein, W. Todd Maddox

Institution: The University of Texas at Austin

Language: English

Topic: Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology

Subfield: General Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute of Mental Health, Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Award: Tests of neurobiologically-inspired Model of the Motivation-Learning Interface