New Perspectives on the PseudoREG: Feasibility and Implications
Brennan Kersgaard
Young Investigators Prize Submission
The present study seeks to reach a more in-depth understanding of pseudoREG operation with an emphasis on feasibility, an elucidation of the relevant psychological parameters, as well as the role of run length on effect size. Many important philosophical, technical and theoretical questions are raised by the present study. Of central importance to all three of the parameters listed above, the present study will address the very important question of whether it is the source of the randomness which matters most or the belief and expectations of the operator regarding said source. Three experimental conditions are utilized to best answer these questions. The first condition, which serves to address the role of belief in successful operation, consists of a single-operator database in which data are generated from a pseudorandom source but the operator is under the false belief that the data is from a truly random, microelectronic noise source. The final two conditions are meant to provide a more general understanding of how the effect is manifested and differ only by the run lengths used. One condition utilizes the 100- trial run length while the other utilizes the 1000-trial run length. A comparison of these two conditions could help us understand if the effect manifests itself only at the initialization of each run or if the situation is more complex. The investigation of PseudoREGs is crucial for many reasons, understanding them better will shed much light on the entire repertoire of experimental apparata developed by the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research laboratory.