Ulf-Dietrich Reips

Publications

• 2.92

  Impact points

  Mining twitter: a source for psychological wisdom of the crowds.

  Ulf-Dietrich Reips, Pablo Garaizar

  Behavior research methods. 06/2011; 43(3):635-42.

  Over the last few years, microblogging has gained prominence as a form of personal broadcasting media where information and opinion are mixed together without an established order, usually tightly linked with current reality. Location awareness and promptness provide researchers using the Internet w... [more] Over the last few years, microblogging has gained prominence as a form of personal broadcasting media where information and opinion are mixed together without an established order, usually tightly linked with current reality. Location awareness and promptness provide researchers using the Internet with the opportunity to create "psychological landscapes"--that is, to detect differences and changes in voiced (twittered) emotions, cognitions, and behaviors. In our article, we present iScience Maps, a free Web service for researchers, available from http://maps.iscience.deusto.es/ and http://tweetminer.eu/ . Technologically, the service is based on Twitter's streaming and search application programming interfaces (APIs), accessed through several PHP libraries, and a JavaScript frontend. This service allows researchers to assess via Twitter the effect of specific events in different places as they are happening and to make comparisons between cities, regions, or countries regarding psychological states and their evolution in the course of an event. In a step-by-step example, it is shown how to replicate a study on affective and personality characteristics inferred from first names (Mehrabian & Piercy, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19, 755-758 1993) by mining Twitter data with iScience Maps.Results from the original study are replicated in both world regions we tested (the western U.S. and the U.K./Ireland); we also discover base rate of names to be a confound that needs to be controlled for in future research.
• 2.92

  Impact points

  Interval-level measurement with visual analogue scales in Internet-based research: VAS Generator.

  Ulf-Dietrich Reips, Frederik Funke

  Behavior research methods. 09/2008; 40(3):699-704.

  The present article describes VAS Generator (www.vasgenerator.net), a free Web service for creating a wide range of visual analogue scales that can be used as measurement devices in Web surveys and Web experimentation, as well as for local computerized assessment. A step-by-step example for creating... [more] The present article describes VAS Generator (www.vasgenerator.net), a free Web service for creating a wide range of visual analogue scales that can be used as measurement devices in Web surveys and Web experimentation, as well as for local computerized assessment. A step-by-step example for creating and implementing a visual analogue scale with visual feedback is given. VAS Generator and the scales it generates work independently of platforms and use the underlying languages HTML and JavaScript. Results from a validation study with 355 participants are reported and show that the scales generated with VAS Generator approximate an interval-scale level. In light of previous research on visual analogue versus categorical (e.g., radio button) scales in Internet-based research, we conclude that categorical scales only reach ordinal-scale level, and thus visual analogue scales are to be preferred whenever possible.
• 1.59

  Impact points

  Dynamic Interviewing Program (DIP): automatic online interviews via the instant messenger ICQ.

  Stefan Stieger, Ulf-Dietrich Reips

  Cyberpsychology & behavior : the impact of the Internet, multimedia and virtual reality on behavior and society. 05/2008; 11(2):201-7.

  A Dynamic Interviewing Program (DIP) is presented for automated online interviewing via the instant messaging service ICQ. DIP can conduct parallel structured interviews with several ICQ users at a time, 24 hours a day. The interview itself can be dynamic (branched testing), which means that each qu... [more] A Dynamic Interviewing Program (DIP) is presented for automated online interviewing via the instant messaging service ICQ. DIP can conduct parallel structured interviews with several ICQ users at a time, 24 hours a day. The interview itself can be dynamic (branched testing), which means that each question depends on the answer given to the previous one. An online ICQ address book offers the possibility to validate demographic data in order to evaluate data quality. Experiences with DIP and a first empirical study open up new perspectives for Internet-based automatic interviewing.
• 1.69

  Impact points

  When learning order affects sensitivity to base rates: challenges for theories of causal learning.

  Ulf-Dietrich Reips, Michael R Waldmann

  Experimental psychology. 02/2008; 55(1):9-22.

  In three experiments we investigated whether two procedures of acquiring knowledge about the same causal structure, predictive learning (from causes to effects) versus diagnostic learning (from effects to causes), would lead to different base-rate use in diagnostic judgments. Results showed that lea... [more] In three experiments we investigated whether two procedures of acquiring knowledge about the same causal structure, predictive learning (from causes to effects) versus diagnostic learning (from effects to causes), would lead to different base-rate use in diagnostic judgments. Results showed that learners are capable of incorporating base-rate information in their judgments regardless of the direction in which the causal structure is learned. However, this only holds true for relatively simple scenarios. When complexity was increased, base rates were only used after diagnostic learning, but were largely neglected after predictive learning. It could be shown that this asymmetry is not due to a failure of encoding base rates in predictive learning because participants in all conditions were fairly good at reporting them. The findings present challenges for all theories of causal learning.
• 2.92

  Impact points

  Sleep, sex, and the Web: surveying the difficult-to-reach clinical population suffering from sexsomnia.

  Michael A Mangan, Ulf-Dietrich Reips

  Behavior research methods. 06/2007; 39(2):233-6.

  One major advantage of Web-based research lies in its ability to reach and study people who have rare conditions of interest. Another advantage is that, due to the anonymity of the survey situation, the Internet is particularly suited for surveys on sensitive topics. Sexsomnia is a newly identified ... [more] One major advantage of Web-based research lies in its ability to reach and study people who have rare conditions of interest. Another advantage is that, due to the anonymity of the survey situation, the Internet is particularly suited for surveys on sensitive topics. Sexsomnia is a newly identified medical condition whose sufferers engage in sexual behavior during their sleep. Problematic cases are highly distressing and have forensic implications. The consensus among opinion leaders in sleep medicine is that sexsomnia may be quite common but that it often goes unreported because of shame and embarrassment. Thus, little is known about this condition's demographics and clinical features. This article reports findings from a sample analysis of 20 years of research on sexsomnia and discusses the results, strengths, and weaknesses of a recent Web-based survey conducted on the difficult-to-reach clinical population that suffers from sexsomnia.

• Web 2.0, Internet 2.1?

  Reips Ulf-Dietrich, Matzat Uwe

  International Journal of Internet Science. 01/2007;

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• Forced-response in online surveys: Bias from reactance and an increase in sex-specific dropout

  Reips, Stieger, Voracek

  Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 01/2007; 58(11-58):1653-1660.

  Due to computer technology, a forced-response can be easily achieved in online questionnaires and is frequently used to gather complete datasets. An Internet-based quasi-experiment was conducted on the student server at the University of Vienna to study the influence of forced-response on dropout, d... [more] Due to computer technology, a forced-response can be easily achieved in online questionnaires and is frequently used to gather complete datasets. An Internet-based quasi-experiment was conducted on the student server at the University of Vienna to study the influence of forced-response on dropout, demographic reports, and the content of the results. Forced-response was shown to substantially increase dropout. In addition, forced-response interacted with reported sex in eliminating a naturally occurring sex difference in dropout that was observed for the questionnaire whenever responses did not need to be enforced. Also reported sex turned out to have a mediating effect on time of dropout: Men dropped out earlier than did women. Further analyses revealed a reactance effect, as predicted by reactance theory. It is concluded that data from online questionnaires with forced-response designs are in danger of being hampered by dropout and reactance.
• 1.71

  Impact points

  Watching me, watching you: privacy attitudes and reactions to identity card implementation scenarios in the United Kingdom

  Adam Joinson, Carina Paine, Tom Buchanan, Ulf-Dietrich Reips

  Journal of Information Science. 01/2006; 32(4-32):334-343.

  In the United Kingdom, government proposals for the introduction of an identity (ID) card have raised considerable privacy concerns. In the present research, opinions and attitudes about different ways of implementing ID cards are examined using an experimental methodology. Specifically, the level a... [more] In the United Kingdom, government proposals for the introduction of an identity (ID) card have raised considerable privacy concerns. In the present research, opinions and attitudes about different ways of implementing ID cards are examined using an experimental methodology. Specifically, the level and type of compulsion and application process, and the use of a centralized database or trusted third party to hold personal information, are compared for attitudes towards ID cards. Moreover, the impact of implementation scenarios on people with different privacy concern profiles is examined. The results show that an implementation that combines high compulsion with a centralized database (the approach currently favoured by the UK Government) leads to the greatest negative shift in attitudes towards ID cards. Implementations proposed by others (e.g. the London School of Economics) show significantly less negative shift in attitudes. People’s pre-existing privacy concerns also influence their evaluation of the different implementation scenarios.

• Internet Science and Open Access: First Day of a Honeymoon

  Reips Ulf-Dietrich, Matzat Uwe

  International Journal of Internet Science. 01/2006;

• Privacy and self-disclosure online.

  Carina Paine, Adam N. Joinson, Tom Buchanan, Ulf-Dietrich Reips

  Extended Abstracts Proceedings of the 2006 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada, April 22-27, 2006; 01/2006
• 2.92

  Impact points

  The Web Experiment List: a Web service for the recruitment of participants and archiving of Internet-based experiments.

  Ulf-Dietrich Reips, Ralph Lengler

  Behavior research methods. 06/2005; 37(2):287-92.

  The Web Experiment List (http://genpsylab-wexlist.unizh.ch/), a free Web-based service for the recruitment of participants in Internet-based experiments, is presented. The Web Experiment List also serves as a searchable archive for the research community. It lists more than 250 links to and descript... [more] The Web Experiment List (http://genpsylab-wexlist.unizh.ch/), a free Web-based service for the recruitment of participants in Internet-based experiments, is presented. The Web Experiment List also serves as a searchable archive for the research community. It lists more than 250 links to and descriptions of current and past Web experiments. Searches can be conducted by area of research, language, type of study, date, and status (active vs. archived). Data from log file analyses reveal an increasing use of the Web Experiment List and provide a picture of the distribution of the use of the Web experiment method across disciplines. On a general theoretical note, Web services are discussed as a viable software alternative to the traditional program format.

• Scientific LogAnalyzer: a web-based tool for analyses of server log files in psychological research.

  Ulf-Dietrich Reips, Stefan Stieger

  Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc. 06/2004; 36(2):304-11.

  Scientific LogAnalyzer is a platform-independent interactive Web service for the analysis of log files. Scientific LogAnalyzer offers several features not available in other log file analysis tools--for example, organizational criteria and computational algorithms suited to aid behavioral and social... [more] Scientific LogAnalyzer is a platform-independent interactive Web service for the analysis of log files. Scientific LogAnalyzer offers several features not available in other log file analysis tools--for example, organizational criteria and computational algorithms suited to aid behavioral and social scientists. Scientific LogAnalyzer is highly flexible on the input side (unlimited types of log file formats), while strictly keeping a scientific output format. Features include (1) free definition of log file format, (2) searching and marking dependent on any combination of strings (necessary for identifying conditions in experiment data), (3) computation of response times, (4) detection of multiple sessions, (5) speedy analysis of large log files, (6) output in HTML and/or tab-delimited form, suitable for import into statistics software, and (7) a module for analyzing and visualizing drop-out. Several methodological features specifically needed in the analysis of data collected in Internet-based experiments have been implemented in the Web-based tool and are described in this article. A regression analysis with data from 44 log file analyses shows that the size of the log file and the domain name lookup are the two main factors determining the duration of an analysis. It is less than a minute for a standard experimental study with a 2 x 2 design, a dozen Web pages, and 48 participants (ca. 800 lines, including data from drop-outs). The current version of Scientific LogAnalyzer is freely available for small log files. Its Web address is http://genpsylab-logcrunsh.unizh.ch/.

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• 4.73

  Impact points

  Patterns and universals of mate poaching across 53 nations: the effects of sex, culture, and personality on romantically attracting another person's partner.

  David P Schmitt, Lidia Alcalay, Jüri Allik, Alois Angleitner, Lara Ault, Ivars Austers, Kevin L Bennett, Gabriel Bianchi, Fredrick Boholst, Mary Ann Borg Cunen, [......], Paul L Vasey, João Verissimo, Martin Voracek, Wendy W N Wan, Ta-Wei Wang, Peter Weiss, Andik Wijaya, Liesbeth Woertman, Gahyun Youn, Agata Zupanèiè

  Journal of personality and social psychology. 05/2004; 86(4):560-84.

  As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, 16,954 participants from 53 nations were administered an anonymous survey about experiences with romantic attraction. Mate poaching--romantically attracting someone who is already in a relationship--was most common in Southern Europe, South... [more] As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, 16,954 participants from 53 nations were administered an anonymous survey about experiences with romantic attraction. Mate poaching--romantically attracting someone who is already in a relationship--was most common in Southern Europe, South America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe and was relatively infrequent in Africa, South/Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Evolutionary and social-role hypotheses received empirical support. Men were more likely than women to report having made and succumbed to short-term poaching across all regions, but differences between men and women were often smaller in more gender-egalitarian regions. People who try to steal another's mate possess similar personality traits across all regions, as do those who frequently receive and succumb to the poaching attempts by others. The authors conclude that human mate-poaching experiences are universally linked to sex, culture, and the robust influence of personal dispositions.

• Scientific LogAnalyzer: a web-based tool for analyses of server log files in psychological research

  Ulf-Dietrich Reips, Stefan Stieger

  Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers: a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc. 05/2004; 36(2):304-311.

  Scientific LogAnalyzer is a platform-independent interactive Web service for the analysis of log files. Scientific LogAnalyzer offers several features not available in other log file analysis tools--for example, organizational criteria and computational algorithms suited to aid behavioral and social... [more] Scientific LogAnalyzer is a platform-independent interactive Web service for the analysis of log files. Scientific LogAnalyzer offers several features not available in other log file analysis tools--for example, organizational criteria and computational algorithms suited to aid behavioral and social scientists. Scientific LogAnalyzer is highly flexible on the input side (unlimited types of log file formats), while strictly keeping a scientific output format. Features include (1) free definition of log file format, (2) searching and marking dependent on any combination of strings (necessary for identifying conditions in experiment data), (3) computation of response times, (4) detection of multiple sessions, (5) speedy analysis of large log files, (6) output in HTML and/or tab-delimited form, suitable for import into statistics software, and (7) a module for analyzing and visualizing drop-out. Several methodological features specifically needed in the analysis of data collected in Internet-based experiments have been implemented in the Web-based tool and are described in this article. A regression analysis with data from 44 log file analyses shows that the size of the log file and the domain name lookup are the two main factors determining the duration of an analysis. It is less than a minute for a standard experimental study with a 2 x 2 design, a dozen Web pages, and 48 participants (ca. 800 lines, including data from drop-outs). The current version of Scientific LogAnalyzer is freely available for small log files. Its Web address is http://www.sclog.eu
• 4.73

  Impact points

  Universal sex differences in the desire for sexual variety: tests from 52 nations, 6 continents, and 13 islands.

  David P Schmitt, Lidia Alcalay, Jüri Allik, Lara Ault, Ivars Austers, Kevin L Bennett, Gabriel Bianchi, Fredric Boholst, Mary Ann Borg Cunen, Johan Braeckman, [......], Paul L Vasey, João Verissimo, Martin Voracek, Wendy W N Wan, Ta-Wei Wang, Peter Weiss, Andik Wijaya, Liesbeth Woertman, Gahyun Youn, Agata Zupanèiè

  Journal of personality and social psychology. 08/2003; 85(1):85-104.

  Evolutionary psychologists have hypothesized that men and women possess both long-term and short-term mating strategies, with men's short-term strategy differentially rooted in the desire for sexual variety. In this article, findings from a cross-cultural survey of 16,288 people across 10 major ... [more] Evolutionary psychologists have hypothesized that men and women possess both long-term and short-term mating strategies, with men's short-term strategy differentially rooted in the desire for sexual variety. In this article, findings from a cross-cultural survey of 16,288 people across 10 major world regions (including North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Oceania, South/Southeast Asia, and East Asia) demonstrate that sex differences in the desire for sexual variety are culturally universal throughout these world regions. Sex differences were evident regardless of whether mean, median, distributional, or categorical indexes of sexual differentiation were evaluated. Sex differences were evident regardless of the measures used to evaluate them. Among contemporary theories of human mating, pluralistic approaches that hypothesize sex differences in the evolved design of short-term mating provide the most compelling account of these robust empirical findings.

• WEXTOR: a Web-based tool for generating and visualizing experimental designs and procedures.

  Ulf-Dietrich Reips, Christoph Neuhaus

  Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc. 06/2002; 34(2):234-40.

  WEXTOR is a Javascript-based experiment generator and teaching tool on the World-Wide Web that can be used to design laboratory and Web experiments in guided step-by-step process. It dynamically creates the customized Web pages and Javascripts needed for the experimental procedure and provides exper... [more] WEXTOR is a Javascript-based experiment generator and teaching tool on the World-Wide Web that can be used to design laboratory and Web experiments in guided step-by-step process. It dynamically creates the customized Web pages and Javascripts needed for the experimental procedure and provides experimenters with a print-ready visual display of their experimental design. WEXTOR flexibly supports complete and incomplete factorial designs with between-subjects, within-subjects, and quasi-experimental factors, as well as mixed designs. The software implements client-side response time measurement and contains a content wizard for creating interactive materials, as well as dependent measures (graphical scales, multiple-choice items, etc.), on the experiment pages. However, it does not aim to replace a full-fledged HTML editor. Several methodological features specifically needed in Web experimental design have been implemented in the Web-based tool and are described in this paper. WEXTOR is platform independent. The created Web pages can be uploaded to any type of Web server in which data may be recorded in logfiles or via a database. The current version of WEXTOR is freely available for educational and noncommercial purposes. Its Web address is http://www.genpsylab.unizh.ch/wextor/index.html.
• 1.69

  Impact points

  Standards for Internet-based experimenting.

  Ulf-Dietrich Reips

  Experimental psychology. 02/2002; 49(4):243-56.

  This article summarizes expertise gleaned from the first years of Internet-based experimental research and presents recommendations on: (1) ideal circumstances for conducting a study on the Internet; (2) what precautions have to be undertaken in Web experimental design; (3) which techniques have pro... [more] This article summarizes expertise gleaned from the first years of Internet-based experimental research and presents recommendations on: (1) ideal circumstances for conducting a study on the Internet; (2) what precautions have to be undertaken in Web experimental design; (3) which techniques have proven useful in Web experimenting; (4) which frequent errors and misconceptions need to be avoided; and (5) what should be reported. Procedures and solutions for typical challenges in Web experimenting are discussed. Topics covered include randomization, recruitment of samples, generalizability, dropout, experimental control, identity checks, multiple submissions, configuration errors, control of motivational confounding, and pre-testing. Several techniques are explained, including "warm-up," "high hurdle," password methods, "multiple site entry," randomization, and the use of incentives. The article concludes by proposing sixteen standards for Internet-based experimenting.

• Internet-based psychological experimenting: five dos and five don'ts

  U. D Reips

  Social Science Computer Review. 01/2002; 20:241―249.

• Drop-out wegen JavaScript:

  Stefan Schwarz, Ulf-Dietrich Reips

  11/1999;

• Internet users’ perceptions of ‘privacy concerns’ and ‘privacy actions’

  Carina Paine, Ulf-Dietrich Reips, Stefan Stieger, Adam Joinson, Tom Buchanan

  International Journal of Human-Computer Studies.

  A consistent finding reported in online privacy research is that an overwhelming majority of people are ‘concerned’ about their privacy when they use the Internet. Therefore, it is important to understand the discourse of Internet users’ privacy concerns, and any actions they take to guard against t... [more] A consistent finding reported in online privacy research is that an overwhelming majority of people are ‘concerned’ about their privacy when they use the Internet. Therefore, it is important to understand the discourse of Internet users’ privacy concerns, and any actions they take to guard against these concerns. A Dynamic Interviewing Programme (DIP) was employed in order to survey users of an instant messaging ICQ (‘I seek you’) client using both closed and open question formats. Analysis of 530 respondents’ data illustrates the importance of establishing users’ privacy concerns and the reasoning behind these concerns. Results indicate that Internet users are concerned about a wider range of privacy issues than surveys have typically covered. The results do not provide final definitions for the areas of online privacy, but provide information that is useful to gain a better understanding of privacy concerns and actions.