-
Improving Oral Health Behavior and Message Memory
Cameron Brick presents his research on “Improving Oral Health Behavior and Message Memory: Matching Cultural Exposure and Message Frame” at the APS 25th Annual Convention in Washington, DC. Brick received one of the 2013 NIDCR “Building Bridges” APS Convention Travel Awards. Dental caries, gingivitis, and periodontitis are widespread health problems that increase the risk of tooth loss, stroke, and cardiovascular disease, but many Americans reject preventive behaviors such as brushing and flossing. These studies examine the benefits of congruency between an individual’s motivational orientation and the framing of persuasive health messages.
-
Understanding Replication: Confidence Intervals Much Better Than p Values
Geoff Cumming, La Trobe University, Australia, presents his research on "Understanding Replication: Confidence Intervals Much Better Than p Values," at the 25th APS Annual Convention. Replication is at the heart of science. A current hot topic across medicine, psychological science, and other disciplines is that a number of widely-accepted published results cannot be replicated. A major cause of the problem is reliance on null hypothesis significance testing (NHST). The imperative to achieve statistical significance, or getting a p value that is greater than .05, leads researchers to select data, variables, and analysis techniques, until they reach that goal.
-
Memelab: Simulation of a Campus Population
Ian D. Miller, University of Toronto, presents his research "Memelab: Simulation of a Campus Population," at the 25th APS Annual Convention in Washington, DC. How do you predict when a picture or video is going to become an online viral phenomenon? In this experiment, participants created memes using our online laboratory (“Memelab”) and shared them with friends. Over a 2-month period, our web server counted how many times each picture was viewed by Internet users. On that basis, we determined which pictures were “more viral.” Although it mattered whether the picture was funny and relevant, the creator of the picture had a greater impact in predicting meme popularity.
-
Integrated Data Management Processes Expedite Common Data Management Tasks in Autism Research
Frank Farach from Prometheus Research, LLCpresents his poster “Integrated Data Management Processes Expedite Common Data Management Tasks in Autism Research,” at the 25th APS Annual Convention in Washington, DC. Many researchers engage in disposable data management (DDM) practices: They clean and organize data after a study has been finished, repeating the process for each new analysis. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these DDM approaches are inefficient because they waste money, human resources, and valuable time. In contrast, integrated data management (IDM), is a systematic process for managing data as a reusable resource.
-
The Benefits of Traditional vs. Wikipedia Assignments
Watch Megan John from Concordia College present her poster "The Benefits of Traditional vs. Wikipedia Research Assignments for Introductory Psychology Students" at the APS 25th Annual Convention in Washington DC. This presentation describes how a Wikipedia assignment was integrated into a psychology course to replace the traditional major paper typically assigned in such courses. Thirty-three students worked on significantly expanding and improving eight different Wikipedia articles over a period of 15 weeks. A 30-item survey was administered at the end of the academic semester in order to capture and quantify students’ perceptions of the experience.
