Gorilla in our midst: An online behavioral experiment builder.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Behavioral Science
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Online behavioral research offers access to larger, more diverse samples than traditional lab settings.
• Technical challenges, including web browser inconsistencies, hinder accurate timing for reaction-time studies.
• Programming knowledge (e.g., JavaScript) is often required for reliable online experiment implementation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review existing tools for online behavioral research, assessing their usability and timing accuracy.
• To introduce the Gorilla Experiment Builder, a platform designed to simplify and improve online experimentation.
• To demonstrate the Gorilla platform's capability for conducting reliable, reaction-time-sensitive studies across varied conditions.

Main Methods:

• A review of current online research tools was conducted.
• The Gorilla Experiment Builder platform was utilized for experiment authoring and deployment.
• A simplified flanker task from the attentional network task was administered to diverse participant groups (children, adults) in various settings and using different equipment.

Main Results:

• The Gorilla Experiment Builder successfully addressed usability and timing issues common in online research.
• The 'conflict network' effect was replicated across all tested participant groups, settings, and equipment.
• The platform demonstrated capability in running accurate reaction-time-sensitive experiments reliably.

Conclusions:

• The Gorilla Experiment Builder enhances accessibility and reliability for online behavioral research.
• The platform supports scalable research across diverse populations and conditions, including unsupervised settings.
• Further development is planned to address remaining limitations and introduce new features for online experimentation.