Frequently Asked Questions
No - goCognitive is a free website that everyone can use. The basic philosophy of goCognitive rests on the assumption that easy and free access to high-quality content will improve the learning experience of students and will enable more students to enjoy the field of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience. There are a few parts of goCognitive that are only available to registered users who have provided us with their email address, but all of the online demonstrations and videos are accessible to the everyone.
There are many reasons why it is beneficial for us if you do sign up to become a registered user. First of all, registering allows us to assess the impact of this site more easily. Since many agencies and foundations want to see quantitative evidence indicating the success of a site like this, your registration is very important to us to receive future funding for the maintenance and improvements of this site. In addition, we can send out email notifications and newsletters if you choose to sign up for these functions. From your perspective, signing up allows you to download additional content (e.g., manuals, modifiable demos to run directly on your computer, stimulus materials etc.). In the future, we will also allow users to submit additional materials to add to the content of this site.
Currently we have six demonstrations out on their beta release, and three videos that we produced last Fall. By the end of this Spring semester, we anticipate to have about a dozen high-quality demonstrations and an additional 3-6 videos available. We hope that the site will grow over time above the mark of 3 dozen demonstrations and even more video resources, but this depends largely on the availability of time and funding.
Yes - we are currently in the process of creating manuals for each of the demonstrations. They will be available as pdf files for download within the next few weeks. Most of the demonstrations are pretty straightforward - but in some cases, especially if you would like to collect data - it might be a good idea to look over the manual.
YES! That would be great. However, whether we can implement your suggestion depends on many factors - most importantly relevance, ease of implementation, and the availability of time. We are very much looking forward to input on that end.
Yes - there are different ways in which you can get involved and contribute to the site. Your involvement can range from sending us feedback about the demonstrations and videos, suggestions for new materials, or the simple submission of corrections, to the creation or publication of demonstrations and videos that meet our criteria. Down the road we will make the submission process easier, but for now please contact swerner @ uidaho dot edu for more information.
