Adaptation to virtual reality and 3D environment
 

This paper is an attempt to systematize important factors in achieving immersion and psychological presence in virtual reality. The author is trying to build a theoretical model of adaptation to VR. From the psychological point of view introduces adaptation concept and other ideas like: temporal markers, the importance of randomness in VR environment, or “emotional triggers”.
 

Do we speak in the same language? Analysis of delusional language

The aim of this article is a problem of delusional language. The author cites some statements made by patients, both with monothematic and polithematic delusions. She also indicates main difficulties in understanding and interpreting such statements and hypotheses explaining differences between delusional and non-delusional language. She also proposes further ways of exploring delusional language.
 

Statistical significance I

In the present essay, the first in a short cycle, the author reviews and comments on the problems students and researchers have with proper understanding of the basics of statistical inference. Those difficulties seem to be in part due to mixing of the opposing theoretical stances of Fisher and Neyman, reviewed shortly. The author believes that the inconsistent standards of statistical inference afflict the teaching of methodology particularly.
 

Can cognitive training be effective?

Following the initial wave of interest in the possibilities of improving human mind efficiency through computerized cognitive training, we are currently experiencing a wave of criticism and disappointment in their effectiveness. This text includes an analysis of the most important studies on the effectiveness of cognitive training (mainly attention and working memory training). The authors attempted to determine the effectiveness of this type of conditioning, inquiring what kind of interventions (and among what types of subjects) can produce satisfactory results. They discuss factors such as target group, training’s duration and intensity, type and difficulty level of used tasks, motivation and individual differences of the subjects. The effect of improving both trained functions (near-transfer effect) and other, non-trained capacities (far-transfer effect) was analyzed.
 

The essence of empathy: a review of the neuroscience research and its applications

Empathy, subjected to personal differences, is a key to a functional social life. In recent years neuroscience has contributed to the precise terminology and methodological approach in the research of empathy, mainly due to development of non-invasive brain imaging techniques. The article presents a literature review and aims to determine the areas of neuroscience which help to understand empathy. Attention is drawn to role of the research in determining parts of brain responsible for different types of empathy (cognitive and emotional). The research also shows that there are modulators of emphatic response and hence practical applications of knowledge may be possible in the therapy of maladaptive forms of empathy (e.g. personal distress).
 

Statistical significance II. Interpretive pitfalls

The second of the series of essays on the problems of significance testing in psychological research focuses on inconsistencies of the logic of these tests and resulting problems with interpretation. The limits of their practical usability have been discussed, and reasons of their failure with a priori unlikely null-hypotheses explained. Misleading connotations of the term “statistical significance” have been stressed, that obscure the true meaning of statistical significance and promote bad practices, including overestimation of significance, and neglecting the problem of effect size.
 

Statistical significance III. From ritual to statistical thinking

One of the more prominent problems of significance testing is ritualisation of their practical use and interpretation. In the present, third part of the series, reasons and manifestations of that rigidity have been discussed, and an alternative, sometimes labeled “statistical thinking”, presented. Matching a statistical significance testing scenario to the needs of the specific research program constitutes a part of statistical thinking. Some typical scenarios have been described, with the intent of showing how the same statistical tool, depending on it’s assumptions, can have differing use in research.