Cited by 96Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesPsychology Research and BibliometricsEmbedded Systems and FPGA Design

Millisecond precision psychological research in a world of commodity computers: new hardware, new problems?

Plant, Richard R., Turner, Garry·2009·Behavior Research Methods

Abstract

Since the publication of Plant, Hammond, and Turner (2004), which highlighted a pressing need for researchers to pay more attention to sources of error in computer-based experiments, the landscape has undoubtedly changed, but not necessarily for the better. Readily available hardware has improved in terms of raw speed; multi core processors abound; graphics cards now have hundreds of megabytes of RAM; main memory is measured in gigabytes; drive space is measured in terabytes; ever larger thin film transistor displays capable of single-digit response times, together with newer Digital Light Processing multimedia projectors, enable much greater graphic complexity; and new 64-bit operating systems, such as Microsoft Vista, are now commonplace. However, have millisecond-accurate presentation and response timing improved, and will they ever be available in commodity computers and peripherals? In the present article, we used a Black Box ToolKit to measure the variability in timing characteristics of hardware used commonly in psychological research.

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Crossref · 10.3758/brm.41.3.598

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  • Differences in computer hardware and software can, in some circumstances, add up to 100 ms to mean SRT latency measurements, and software interruptions could also increase latency measures and trial-to-trial SRT latency variability.

    “Differences in computer hardware and software (Plant and Turner, 2009) can, in some circumstances, add up to 100 ms to mean SRT latency measurements (Neath et al., 2011), and software interruptions could also increase latency measures and trial-to-trial SRT latency variability.”

    From Factors influencing the latency of simple reaction time (2015) · cites this paper as Plant and Turner, 2009

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Authors
Plant, R. R., & Turner, G.
Affiliations
University of York (GB)
Corresponding author
Plant, Richard R.
Venue
Behavior Research Methods
Published
2009-08
Volume
41
Issue
3
Pages
598-614
ISSN
  • 1554-351X (ISSN-L)
  • 1554-3528
OpenAlex
W2095211347
Cited by
96
References
7
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 3
FWCI
0.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Behavior Research Methods (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Psychology Research and Bibliometrics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Control and Systems Engineering › Embedded Systems and FPGA Design
Keywords
computer-based experiments, presentation timing, response timing, multi-core processors, digital light processing projector
MeSH terms
Computer Graphics, Computers, Research Design, Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted, Software, Behavioral Research

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