Joshua de Leeuw

jsPsych: A JavaScript library for creating behavioral experiments in a Web browser

Online experiments are growing in popularity, and the increasing sophistication of Web technology has made it possible to run complex behavioral experiments online using only a Web browser. Unlike with offline laboratory experiments, however, few tools exist to aid in the development of browser-based experiments. This makes the process of creating an experiment slow and challenging, particularly for researchers who lack a Web development background. This article introduces jsPsych, a JavaScript library for the development of Web-based experiments. jsPsych formalizes a way of describing experiments that is much simpler than writing the entire experiment from scratch. jsPsych then executes these descriptions automatically, handling the flow from one task to another. The jsPsych library is open-source and designed to be expanded by the research community. The project is available online at www.jspsych.org .

An In Vivo Study of Self-Regulated Study Sequencing in Introductory Psychology Courses

Study sequence can have a profound influence on learning. In this study we investigated how students decide to sequence their study in a naturalistic context and whether their choices result in improved learning. In the study reported here, 2061 undergraduate students enrolled in an Introductory Psychology course completed an online homework tutorial on measures of central tendency, a topic relevant to an exam that counted towards their grades. One group of students was enabled to choose their own study sequence during the tutorial (Self-Regulated group), while the other group of students studied the same materials in sequences chosen by other students (Yoked group). Students who chose their sequence of study showed a clear tendency to block their study by concept, and this tendency was positively associated with subsequent exam performance. In the Yoked group, study sequence had no effect on exam performance. These results suggest that despite findings that blocked study is maladaptive when assigned by an experimenter, it may actually be adaptive when chosen by the learner in a naturalistic context.

A dissociation between engagement and learning: Enthusiastic instructions fail to reliably improve performance on a memory task.

Despite widespread assertions that enthusiasm is an important quality of effective teaching, empirical research on the effect of enthusiasm on learning and memory is mixed and largely inconclusive. To help resolve these inconsistencies, we conducted a carefully-controlled laboratory experiment, investigating whether enthusiastic instructions for a memory task would improve recall accuracy. Scripted videos, either enthusiastic or neutral, were used to manipulate the delivery of task instructions. We also manipulated the sequence of learning items, replicating the spacing effect, a known cognitive technique for memory improvement. Although spaced study reliably improved test performance, we found no reliable effect of enthusiasm on memory performance across two experiments. We did, however, find that enthusiastic instructions caused participants to respond to more item prompts, leaving fewer test questions blank, an outcome typically associated with increased task motivation. We find no support for the popular claim that enthusiastic instruction will improve learning, although it may still improve engagement. This dissociation between motivation and learning is discussed, as well as its implications for education and future research on student learning.

Carving nature at its joints or cutting its effective loops? On the dangers of trying to disentangle intertwined mental processes

Attention is often inextricably intertwined with perception, and it is deployed not only to spatial regions, but also to sensory dimensions, learned dimensions, and learned complex configurations. Firestone & Scholls (F&S)s tactic of isolating visual perceptual processes from attention and action has the negative consequence of neglecting interactions that are critically important for allowing people to perceive their world in efficient and useful ways.