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Updated: Oct 26, 2025

Cross-Modal Multivariate Pattern Analysis
Published on: November 9, 2011
Overfitting the Literature to One Set of Stimuli and Data
Tijl Grootswagers1,2,3, Amanda K Robinson3
1The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Abstract:
A large number of papers in Computational Cognitive Neuroscience are developing and testing novel analysis methods using one specific neuroimaging dataset and problematic experimental stimuli. Publication bias and confirmatory exploration will result in overfitting to the limited available data. We highlight the problems with this specific dataset and argue for the need to collect more good quality open neuroimaging data using a variety of experimental stimuli, in order to test the generalisability of current published results, and allow for more robust results in future work.
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