Hilbig Benjamin E
Cognitive Psychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829, Landau, Germany.
Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn, Germany.
Behav Res Methods. 2016 Dec;48(4):1718-1724. doi: 10.3758/s13428-015-0678-9.
Although Web-based research is now commonplace, it continues to spur skepticism from reviewers and editors, especially whenever reaction times are of primary interest. Such persistent preconceptions are based on arguments referring to increased variation, the limits of certain software and technologies, and a noteworthy lack of comparisons (between Web and lab) in fully randomized experiments. To provide a critical test, participants were randomly assigned to complete a lexical decision task either (a) in the lab using standard experimental software (E-Prime), (b) in the lab using a browser-based version (written in HTML and JavaScript), or (c) via the Web using the same browser-based version. The classical word frequency effect was typical in size and corresponded to a very large effect in all three conditions. There was no indication that the Web- or browser-based data collection was in any way inferior. In fact, if anything, a larger effect was obtained in the browser-based conditions than in the condition relying on standard experimental software. No differences between Web and lab (within the browser-based conditions) could be observed, thus disconfirming any substantial influence of increased technical or situational variation. In summary, the present experiment contradicts the still common preconception that reaction time effects of only a few hundred milliseconds cannot be detected in Web experiments.
尽管基于网络的研究如今已很常见,但它仍不断引发审稿人和编辑的怀疑,尤其是当反应时间成为主要关注点时。这种持续存在的先入之见基于一些观点,这些观点涉及到变异性增加、某些软件和技术的局限性,以及在完全随机实验中(网络和实验室之间)明显缺乏比较。为了进行一项关键测试,参与者被随机分配去完成一项词汇判断任务,要么(a)在实验室使用标准实验软件(E-Prime),(b)在实验室使用基于浏览器的版本(用HTML和JavaScript编写),要么(c)通过网络使用相同的基于浏览器的版本。经典的词频效应在大小上是典型的,并且在所有三种条件下都对应着非常大的效应。没有迹象表明基于网络或基于浏览器的数据收集在任何方面是 inferior 的。事实上,如果有什么不同的话,在基于浏览器的条件下获得的效应比在依赖标准实验软件的条件下更大。在基于浏览器的条件下,未观察到网络和实验室之间的差异,从而否定了技术或情境变异性增加的任何实质性影响。总之,本实验与仍然普遍存在的先入之见相矛盾,即认为在网络实验中无法检测到仅几百毫秒的反应时间效应。