Offline: Why we must listen to critical friends

A test battery (IMAP) for performing an in-depth assessment of auditory and cognitive abilities contributing to listening skills is described. It is quick to administer, child-friendly and free from linguistic confounds. Stimulus generation and protocol management are controlled via a software platform (IHR-STAR) to ensure replicable...

Source: Laboratory of Jonathan Flombaum—Johns Hopkins University

A study protocol is presented on how to assess associations between music listening and psychobiological stress (as measured by subjective stress levels, salivary cortisol, and salivary alpha-amylase) in daily life. Advice on study design, materials, methods, selection of participants, and statistical handling is provided. Representative results are presented and discussed.

The critical region, critical value, and significance level are interdependent concepts crucial in hypothesis testing.
In hypothesis testing, a sample statistic is converted to a test statistic using z, t, or chi-square distribution. A critical region is an area under the curve in  probability distributions demarcated by the critical value. When the test statistic falls in this region, it suggests that the null hypothesis must be rejected. As this region contains all those values of the...

A critical value is a definite value obtained from a particular probability distribution at a predecided confidence level (or a predecided significance level) for a given population parameter. The critical value provides demarcation that separates the sample statistics that are likely to occur from the ones that are unlikely to occur based on the given probability distribution and the population parameter to be estimated. The critical value for normal distribution is obtained from the z...

Critical thinking involves reflective and productive thinking and the evaluation of evidence. Critical thinkers seek to understand the deeper meaning of ideas, question assumptions, and make independent decisions about what to believe or do. Scientists, for instance, are often critical thinkers. Critical thinking also requires humility about what we know and don't know and the motivation to look beyond the obvious. It is essential for effective problem-solving.
Colleges and universities are...