After not coming up with anything really satisfying to me for tracking mental performance variations (so that I could test interventions), I met a guy, Yoni Donner, at Google, who is working on such a performance testing suite in his 20% time. I’m helping with it now, too:
Okay, cool. The tests online are just a development artifact, actually–they’re not intended for consumption yet. We need to do a lot more development before it’s ready for any testing.
This is really interesting to me. One of the things I’m curious about is the durability of cognitive improvements. How big a price do I pay for some of the tricks that seem to improve performance immediately, such as caffeine?
I’m working on an android app to measure cognitive performance. Unfortunately it isn’t yet ready for real public consumption. In case anyone wants to beta test the application, please send me a message.
Nick, I have been yearning for a comprehensive and practical way to track cognition for a long time now, and I am really excited about this project. I would love to be a tester.
Interesting, … I actually was looking for a reason to use tipfy as well. Nice project! I’m very interested in baselines for mental function for a variety of reasons.
It’s great that you and Yoni are working on a cognitive testing suite, which, given the Google affiliation, I assume will be either free or very affordable. CANTAB, the most well known and widely used cognitive testing suite, is excellent but prohibitively expensive. Your project is not only great for the QS community but for the Open Science movement in general.
For working memory tests, I suggest taking a look at the N-back Suite iPhone app; they do a good job of implementing single and dual n-back tasks. The app also allows users to export (CSV) some fairly comprehensive summary data, including time-stamps : )
Hi, I did create a software to measure brain response times in a simple arithmetic test, like Seth Roberts, but in Python and with a desktop interface. The test results are saved in a SQLite database file, that can be accessed and analysed.
Would love to be involved with this. Currently, I use spb Brain Evolution on my iPod Touch, since it gives me a score I can record. And it’s a good app with a variety of puzzles that test different types of cognition. However, I would like an app that breaks down cognitive functions better.
As I’m particularly interested in finding cognitive metrics that the strongest association with fluid intelligence, I’d like to see some of these ideas tested and incorporated into a practicable testing platform.
Ezer, I’m interested in checking out your arithmetic speed test and giving feedback. I’m on Mac, though. Are you planning to make a non-Windows version?
Interesting links, Bossman–thanks! Will definitely test cognitive metrics in line with those articles’ recommendations.
I just got the okay from lumosity to run group self-experiment study using their platform to study the influence of diet and fluid consumption on cognitive function and would love to have some of you take part. It’s going to be pretty simple but could yield exciting results. During phase I, I’m looking for 5 to 10 participants who can agree to take photos of everything eaten and drunk for 21 days. In addition, you would need to do 10 minutes of daily brain training (5 games that will test processing speed, problem solving, flexibility, memory and attention) and fill out a brief 1 minute, three question survey. All in all, your total time spent on the project, minus an initial setup time, should be fewer than 15 minutes per day for a duration of 21 days. Email me at jmanley4@gmail.com if you’re interested or for more details.
5 reasons to participate:
You’ll have FREE 6 month access to lumosities training platform (a $90 value).
You’ll have access to your own learning data and will be in contact with the study designer (Me!)
You’ll be contributing to a kick-ass research study that I completely designed and am running on my own and without funding… yet (I’d love to hear from potential funders or about funding opportunities)
You’ll learn something important about your brain function
You’re feedback and experience will be used to design a bigger, better and one-of-a-kind phase II study!
I’m interested in your experiment. My only reservation: do I really have to take a picture of everything I drink? I normally sip water throughout the day, so I’d have to change to drinking photographable quantities of water… It would be easier for me to write down how many liters I drank by the end of of the day, if that’s what you’re interested in.
Nick - writing it down works and would actually make it easier for me to analyze. So yes, you can. I’m aiming for a start date of October 1, so I’ll send you all necessary information to set up your account a few days before the start date. Do you mind sending me an email so I can add you to the study email list? Jmanley4@gmail.com
After not coming up with anything really satisfying to me for tracking mental performance variations (so that I could test interventions), I met a guy, Yoni Donner, at Google, who is working on such a performance testing suite in his 20% time. I’m helping with it now, too:
Yeah, I’ve been using it for a month now, and it’s just about ready for y’all to dig your claws into. We’ll post another announcement soon–I’m really excited about this one!
