Collecting response times using Amazon Mechanical Turk and Adobe Flash.

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Psychology

Background:

• Crowdsourcing platforms like Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) offer efficient data collection from large samples.
• Traditional online experiments face challenges in presenting stimuli and collecting precise response times.
• Adobe Flash presents a potential solution for overcoming these limitations in internet-based research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the viability of using Adobe Flash and ActionScript 3 with AMT for experimental paradigms.
• To assess the timing accuracy of Adobe Flash for collecting response time data.
• To determine the feasibility of replicating established psychological effects using this methodology.

Main Methods:

• Adobe Flash timing properties were evaluated using a phototransistor and controlled computer conditions.
• Two experimental tasks (flanker and lexical decision) were implemented in Adobe Flash.
• Participants were recruited via AMT, and their computer use habits were surveyed.

Main Results:

• Adobe Flash demonstrated both strengths and weaknesses in timing precision under simulated AMT conditions.
• Key experimental effects in the flanker and lexical decision tasks were successfully replicated.
• Power analyses indicated the sample sizes required for replicating these effects.

Conclusions:

• Adobe Flash combined with AMT is a viable method for many response-time-based experimental paradigms.
• Researchers must be aware of and account for the inherent timing limitations of this approach.
• This methodology expands the possibilities for conducting sophisticated behavioral research online.