For over 150 years, physiologists and psychologists have been performing
experiments to determine what signals in the world humans and animals
can extract, how those signals are converted into information, and how
the information is then represented and processed. Recently, there has
been an increasing trend of computer scientists performing similar
experiments, although often with quite different goals. While at first
glance such experiments seem to be easy to design, carry out, and
analyze, a century and a half of experience has taught psychologists
that there are numerous hidden traps which can waylay the unaware.
This talk series will cover some basic experimental methodology. In part
I, I will briefly examine all the basic elements of a single experiment
and will derive a mathematical description of experimental design. In
the process it will become clear why why precision must lie at the core
of any experiment