Hi everyone,
My name is Ben Chernoff and I'm the lab manager in a neuroscience lab at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. We are conducting a paid study and are in need of plane enthusiasts to participate.
Personal flying experience is not required, solely expertise about airplanes in general. If you can spot the difference between a 737 and an A320, you're the kind of person we are looking for.
We will compensate you for your cost of travel, within reason (DC/MD/VA metropolitan area) as well as pay you $20 for participating in the study. The study takes approximately 60 minutes.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions either in this thread or via email at [email protected]
Thanks everyone!
-Ben
Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
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- bunumuring
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RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
Hmmm...
Does travel from Sydney, Australia, attract the subsidy? I'd fly there for the study and the $20 US if you pay me too, and put me up in a fellow plane enthusiasts house for free accommodation!
Lol, just being lighthearted...
BUT... alternatively, interview me via skype or FaceTime or email...
Cheers and good luck!
Bunumuring.
Does travel from Sydney, Australia, attract the subsidy? I'd fly there for the study and the $20 US if you pay me too, and put me up in a fellow plane enthusiasts house for free accommodation!
Lol, just being lighthearted...
BUT... alternatively, interview me via skype or FaceTime or email...
Cheers and good luck!
Bunumuring.
I just wanna live while I'm alive!
RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
Just to clarify, as we've gotten some "Suggest Deletion" on this thread. This thread was requested and approved by the moderators before being posted.
“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, an
RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
I live in Norfolk, VA. If you need volunteers, might I suggest some flight schools near the area. Manassas Regional Airport has some great flight schools perhaps contact them about your studies. Aviation Adventures and Dulles Aviation are two schools you can contact there. If not, AOPA is based out of Frederick, MD...perhaps someone may be interested. For $20, I wouldn't even be interested..sorry....however for $200 and a $185/hr and $7 a gallon aviation fuel, then I will gladly rent a plane and fly myself up to DC area and help out. Best of luck.
[Edited 2014-09-08 18:45:29]
[Edited 2014-09-08 18:45:29]
RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
E-mail sent. Thanks, Ben.
In thrust we trust!
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- GWUNeuroLab
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RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
| Quoting sulley (Reply 4): |
Thank for your email, sulley!
| Quoting gocaps16 (Reply 3): |
Great advice, thank you! I was told that there are some great flight-related businesses in Manassas but it is a little far so I'm concerned that people will not be interested. As are you, hahah. Thank you though!
| Quoting bunumuring (Reply 1): |
Austrailia is a bit far my friend. I appreciate the offer to interview you but for now we are just looking to recruit participants for the experiment. Thank you though!
RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
Inquisitive but remote minds want to know. What's the experiment?
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- DocLightning
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RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
So is this only really available to people in the DC metro area? Just clarifying.
-Doc Lightning-
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
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- foppishbum
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RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
| Quoting blueflyer (Reply 6): Inquisitive but remote minds want to know. What's the experiment? |
Sounds like a study on the fusiform area? fMRI? I'm a grad student.
Is it possible to post your proposal abstract online? Or is it possible for me to request via e-mail? I'm very interested in your study but probably cannot participate.
TPE X LAX X NYC 
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- GWUNeuroLab
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RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
@blueflyer the experiment involves making judgments about images of cars and planes presented to you on a computer. There are no surprises, that's pretty much all you need to you.
@DocLightning yes, unfortunately the study is currently only available in our lab here in DC
@floppishburn Ahhhh, very impressive. I will send you a private message. Don't want to turn this thread into a neuroscience discussion.
@DocLightning yes, unfortunately the study is currently only available in our lab here in DC
@floppishburn Ahhhh, very impressive. I will send you a private message. Don't want to turn this thread into a neuroscience discussion.
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- DocLightning
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RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
| Quoting GWUNeuroLab (Reply 9): @floppishburn Ahhhh, very impressive. I will send you a private message. Don't want to turn this thread into a neuroscience discussion. |
But why not? It's the non-aviation forum. You're here with the blessing of the mods.
It turns out we're a very diverse group of enthusiasts. Some of us are in the Aviation industry. (I'm not, I'm a physician.) There is every profession and field of expertise from Historical Literature to Nuclear Engineering in this community. We're all nerds here and if you work in a neuroscience lab, I'd wager you are too.
So have at it! I'll be fascinated to read about what you're doing.
[Edited 2014-09-09 21:47:03]
-Doc Lightning-
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
| Quoting GWUNeuroLab (Reply 9): fusiform |
Now I've enlightened myself......
Expecting any women? Is there (expected to be) any gender bias in this given our differences in brain function/perception/interpretation in certain areas?
wheat and dairy can screw up your brain
RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
| Quoting foppishbum (Reply 8): Sounds like a study on the fusiform area? |
Ya know what's another good area, is Broca's area.
(Maybe that's actually not a good area, but it's one I've heard of.
)Pancakes are delicious.
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- GWUNeuroLab
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RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
@DocLightning
fair enough. We are studying perceptual expertise, which has to do with how experts process objects in their domain of expertise differently from novices. We are investigating an interactive neural account of expertise that involves two stages, semantic and perceptual processing. Different regions of the brain contribute to these processes, at very precise times.
@oly720man
We do not suspect any gender bias but that is an interesting question
@Airstud
Indeed, Broca's area is a very interesting area and a good one. It has to do with language and speech. It plays a major role in speech production!
fair enough. We are studying perceptual expertise, which has to do with how experts process objects in their domain of expertise differently from novices. We are investigating an interactive neural account of expertise that involves two stages, semantic and perceptual processing. Different regions of the brain contribute to these processes, at very precise times.
@oly720man
We do not suspect any gender bias but that is an interesting question
@Airstud
Indeed, Broca's area is a very interesting area and a good one. It has to do with language and speech. It plays a major role in speech production!
RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
| Quoting GWUNeuroLab (Thread starter): George Washington University in Washington, D.C |
Very good. And you picked a good place to ask people. I went to undergrad at GW. But I am in Miami now. So unless you want to compensate that airline ticket I won't be able too.
Hope you get enough people. Interesting concept.
"It was just four of us on the flight deck, trying to do our job" (Captain Al Haynes)
RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
| Quoting GWUNeuroLab (Reply 13): @oly720man We do not suspect any gender bias but that is an interesting question |
I'm sure if it was handbags or shoes there may be a different demographic (from the amateur/consumer viewpoint anyway), but stereotyping aside this is something that is of tangential interest to me in terms of a broader perspective of how the brain works with regards to a separation between the "mechanical" observation of objects and the "personal" interpretation of them, i.e. how does the sense of self identity in the brain (wherever that may be) interact with what the eyes are seeing in order to generate "reality", whatever that is.
| Quoting GWUNeuroLab (Reply 13): @DocLightning fair enough. We are studying perceptual expertise, which has to do with how experts process objects in their domain of expertise differently from novices. |
Is the net result of this that training reinforces certain areas of the brain so experts see things that novices don't simply because experience gives them that knowledge? Or is there some degree of "preprogramming" or optimisation in the brain that means that experts are experts or become experts because of the way their brains are wired?
wheat and dairy can screw up your brain
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- foppishbum
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RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
| Quoting oly720man (Reply 15): Is the net result of this that training reinforces certain areas of the brain so experts see things that novices don't simply because experience gives them that knowledge? Or is there some degree of "preprogramming" or optimisation in the brain that means that experts are experts or become experts because of the way their brains are wired? |
I'm sure I cannot answer as detailed as GWUNeuroLab but as far as I know, it's the former. With overexposure of certain things, "experts" re-consolidate the semantic memory repeatedly (multiple trace theory of memory consolidation) and, during process of recall/object recognition, fusiform area (area that is activated when we recognize faces) becomes activated even when the object is not a face. This activation is not seen in novices.
Although, come to think about it, you may argue that "experts" have genetic codes that enable a more "flexible" fusiform area (and other higher cortical areas) so that it is easier for those people to become "experts". Who knows? Study of cognition/perception gets new and improved information every day. Lol!
TPE X LAX X NYC
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- DocLightning
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RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
| Quoting GWUNeuroLab (Reply 13): fair enough. We are studying perceptual expertise, which has to do with how experts process objects in their domain of expertise differently from novices. We are investigating an interactive neural account of expertise that involves two stages, semantic and perceptual processing. Different regions of the brain contribute to these processes, at very precise times. |
So what will you be using to measure brain activity? PET? fMRI? EEG? Some combination of these?
-Doc Lightning-
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
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- GWUNeuroLab
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RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
@flymia
thanks! totally understandable. Miami is far
@oly720man
Interesting point. Certainly societal constructs and popular culture affect some degree of gender bias in terms of what people are knowledgeable about. However, we do not believe that such a gender bias is reflected in the actual brain mechanisms behind expertise. Subjective perception of things like aesthetics, or relating to the self, are important concepts but they are also separate mechanisms from expert object recognition on its own. All of these things may seem related, but interestingly they are mainly separate but converging processes in the brain. Different processes converge to form one larger "experience" when we look at something and react accordingly with thoughts and emotions. As for your second point it's a combination of both. There are lower level stages where features of the stimulus itself are processed, and there are higher level stages where things like attention and semantic retrieval of memory and context occur.
@floppishbum
See above, but also your point that there is much we do not know and are learning every day. There is much to still be discovered!
@DocLightning
Actually the next stage of our experiment involves transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS
thanks! totally understandable. Miami is far
@oly720man
Interesting point. Certainly societal constructs and popular culture affect some degree of gender bias in terms of what people are knowledgeable about. However, we do not believe that such a gender bias is reflected in the actual brain mechanisms behind expertise. Subjective perception of things like aesthetics, or relating to the self, are important concepts but they are also separate mechanisms from expert object recognition on its own. All of these things may seem related, but interestingly they are mainly separate but converging processes in the brain. Different processes converge to form one larger "experience" when we look at something and react accordingly with thoughts and emotions. As for your second point it's a combination of both. There are lower level stages where features of the stimulus itself are processed, and there are higher level stages where things like attention and semantic retrieval of memory and context occur.
@floppishbum
See above, but also your point that there is much we do not know and are learning every day. There is much to still be discovered!
@DocLightning
Actually the next stage of our experiment involves transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS
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- DocLightning
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RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
| Quoting GWUNeuroLab (Reply 18): @DocLightning Actually the next stage of our experiment involves transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS |
Now I want to enroll just so I can experience that!
-Doc Lightning-
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
-Carl Sagan
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- GWUNeuroLab
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RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
@DocLightning
We'd love to have you participate if you were in the area
We'd love to have you participate if you were in the area
RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
@GWNeuroLab -
I live in Philly. Can you use me?
Marc
I live in Philly. Can you use me?
Marc
RE: [Paid Neuroscience Study] Plane Enthusiasts Wanted
| Quoting GWUNeuroLab (Reply 18): There are lower level stages where features of the stimulus itself are processed, and there are higher level stages where things like attention and semantic retrieval of memory and context occur. |
In addition to brain scanning will the volunteer's eyes be monitored to see where they're looking or what they're looking at? For something like an aircraft, individual components - engines, colour scheme, nose shape, tail shape, wing shape - can be used to distinguish one from another. With practice, people can take a single glance at the whole aircraft...... or maybe they scan the identifying bits too quickly to be registered consciously..... and can say what an aircraft is.
wheat and dairy can screw up your brain