0000000000199467
AUTHOR
Juan Carlos Castro-palacio
Brain reaction times: Linking individual and collective behaviour through Physics modelling
An individual's reaction time data to visual stimuli have usually been represented in Experimental Psychology by means of an ex-Gaussian function (EGF). In most previous works, researchers have mainly aimed at finding a meaning for the parameters of the EGF function in relation to psychological phenomena. We will focus on interpreting the reaction times (RTs) of a group of individuals rather than a single person's RT, which is relevant for the different contexts of social sciences. In doing so, the same model as for the Ideal Gases (IG) (an inanimate system of non-interacting particles) emerges from the experimental RT data. Both systems are characterised by a collective parameter which is …
Monte Carlo Simulation of a Modified Chi Distribution with Unequal Variances in the Generating Gaussians. A Discrete Methodology to Study Collective Response Times
The Chi distribution is a continuous probability distribution of a random variable obtained from the positive square root of the sum of k squared variables, each coming from a standard Normal distribution (mean = 0 and variance = 1). The variable k indicates the degrees of freedom. The usual expression for the Chi distribution can be generalised to include a parameter which is the variance (which can take any value) of the generating Gaussians. For instance, for k = 3, we have the case of the Maxwell-Boltzmann (MB) distribution of the particle velocities in the Ideal Gas model of Physics. In this work, we analyse the case of unequal variances in the generating Gaussians whose distribution w…
Promoting mathematical skills using the instructive program Kriging
Geostatistics was developed in mining for the grade estimation problems of ore deposits, nowadays; it is the most popular method for the interpolation and estimation problems. Methodological consideration about its interpolator, the Kriging, is presented in this paper. For geosciences engineering and other students in general is important to take in advance interpolation methods. This methodology is coming from natural phenomenon, where it is very difficult or even impossible to build deterministic models, only it is possible to describing the behavior from fragmented information of the problem studied. The characterization of the spatial variables using geostatistics has, in general, two m…
Machinery Failure Approach and Spectral Analysis to Study the Reaction Time Dynamics over Consecutive Visual Stimuli: An Entropy-Based Model.
[EN] The reaction times of individuals over consecutive visual stimuli have been studied using an entropy-based model and a failure machinery approach. The used tools include the fast Fourier transform and a spectral entropy analysis. The results indicate that the reaction times produced by the independently responding individuals to visual stimuli appear to be correlated. The spectral analysis and the entropy of the spectrum yield that there are features of similarity in the response times of each participant and among them. Furthermore, the analysis of the mistakes made by the participants during the reaction time experiments concluded that they follow a behavior which is consistent with …
Desarrollo de habilidades de modelación desde las ecuaciones más simples de la Hidrodinámica
[EN] The development of modeling skills is a very important issue in Science teaching nowadays. The present workillustrates how, from the simplest equations of hydrodynamics, it is possible to contribute to this end. Bernoulliand continuity equations are included in Physics syllabi of secondary and university levels, and can be seen as alinking between general and professional education. By means of the proposed project, students are taken throughgeneral stages which are usually present in any engineering project or research work based on modeling and simu-lation. such as the formulation of the problem, the statement of the Physics model, a computational simulationand the comparison between…
A Probabilistic Classification Procedure Based on Response Time Analysis Towards a Quick Pre-Diagnosis of Student's Attention Deficit
[EN] A classification methodology based on an experimental study is proposed towards a fast pre-diagnosis of attention deficit. Our sample consisted of school-aged children between 8 and 12 years from Valencia, Spain. The study was based on the response time (RT) to visual stimuli in computerized tasks. The process of answering consecutive questions usually follows an ex-Gaussian distribution of the RTs. Specifically, we seek to propose a simple automatic classification scheme of children based on the most recent evidence of the relationship between RTs and ADHD. Specifically, the prevalence percentage and reported evidence for RTs in relation to ADHD or to attention deficit symptoms were t…
Percentile Study of chi Distribution. Application to Response Time Data.
As a continuation of our previous work, where a Maxwell&ndash
Human Reaction Times: Linking Individual and Collective Behaviour Through Physics Modeling
An individual’s reaction time data to visual stimuli have usually been represented in Experimental Psychology by means of an ex-Gaussian function. In most previous works, researchers have mainly aimed at finding a meaning for the parameters of the ex-Gaussian function which are known to correlate with cognitive disorders. Based on the recent evidence of correlations between the reaction time series to visual stimuli produced by different individuals within a group, we go beyond and propose a Physics-inspired model to represent the reaction time data of a coetaneous group of individuals. In doing so, a Maxwell–Boltzmann-like distribution appeared, the same distribution as for the velocities …