Behavioral Experimental Paradigm Condition

Definition

A planned combination of stimuli and instructions to the experimental subject together with their responses.

Definition Source

None.

Example

For example, in an auditory oddball study, there may be two experimental conditions: One in which a standard auditory tone is presented, the subjects are instructed to listen with no response, and one in which the oddball tone is presented, the subjects are instructed to listen, and they respond when they hear the tone.

UsageNote

In BrainMap, the experimental condition is "A behavioral state during which a functional brain image is acquired." The parent term in the BrainMap hierarchy is Paper, reflecting the comparisons of conditions in reporting brain imaging results. In CogPO the experimental condition definition is not tied to brain imaging, though the comparison of results from different experimental conditions is still the core of any experiment.

Comments

Alternative definitions include "the procedure that is varied in order to estimate a variable's effect by comparison with a control condition", or from the Collins dictionary, "one of the distinct states of affairs or values of the independent variable for which the dependent variable is measured in order to carry out statistical tests or calculations. Also called condition." While these certainly cover what we mean by experimental condition, they don't make explicit the importance of stimuli and response and instructions which are key to cognitive experiments.

Created Date

11/10/2009

Curator

JT

Curation Status

Limbo