When it comes to the question, one user is seeding a lot of questions. I am happy that he puts a lot of effort and enthusiasm. However, I have serious doubts if it is not overdoing. I.e. high number of under-elaborated questions posted by one individual (in my opinion) is likely to be rather a b...

There's a few questions on Meta already which have to do with defining the scope of this site: What is our site NOT about? What's "Too basic" or "General reference" for this site? Are questions about Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research on or off topic? I think th...

One of the major downfalls of some Stack Exchange sites is a lack of quality, expert level questions. I have seen sites fail because the questions were all essentially "too basic" or "general reference", and the site ended up not adding a a lot of value to the internet, and was closed. What leve...

I am participating in the private beta for a new stack exchange site. I entered the automatically created chat room to make myself available to help discuss site issues, flag/edit questions, help new users, etc. This room has no owner. I guess these rooms are created automatically with new beta ...

It's a well known fact that the earlier children are exposed to languages the better, as young children have a better ability to learn new languages than adults. Why is this? At what age does a human's mind start to lose this ability? What causes the change? Does this phenomenon have a name...

While searching for similar topics I found several discussions which mainly discuss whether or not to downvote in a particular situation. Usually I agree with the accepted answers. It seems to some extent the opinions on meta on when to downvote on other SE sites are in line. There are little p...

If, say, the same signal might tell the mechanical arm to move up, and the natural arm to move down?

It's theorized that there is a Critical Period of language development in children below the age of five (roughly, as age ranges always are in Developmental Psychology). Probably the most significant and readily verifiable finding is that a critical period exists for the learning of Phonemes. R...

D1 and D2 both refer to specific types of dopamine receptors. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that the D1 receptors are in regions different from D2 receptors. I know that adenylate cyclase usually triggers a signal transduction cascade that leads to increased cAMP+calmodulin, res...

Do they increase it, or is the effect mostly neutral?

Is asking questions about biology without relating them to cognitive science considered on topic? Perhaps there is an overlap with Biology? Example questions: If D1 receptors stimulate adenylate cyclase (through GPCRs) and D2 receptors inhibit it, then why do mutations in both have similar ef...

Wikipedia defines Gamification as "the use of game design techniques and mechanics to solve problems and engage audiences." Khan Academy has received attention (e.g., see this post) for incorporating some elements of gamification into its online learning system. Are there any scientific papers t...

It is important for a private beta to obtain a good set quality questions and answers. The private beta gives you the opportunity to get the site off to a great start with expert questions and answers. When we open to the public, new users will look at your questions to get an idea of wha...

Currently you have to have a high reputation to edit someone else's question. I think this is great most of the time but during the private beta it seems like the limit should be lowered quite a bit to allow users to edit questions during the private beta. Maybe 150 or something would make sense....

I know you need less reputation in order to do edits during private beta (500), but you can always suggest edits. These suggested edits need to be peer reviewed. What does it take to be able to peer review edits during private beta? When flagging, apparently the SO staff are moderators at the s...

Proposal: Cognitive Sciences My mother is seasoned school psychologist, now retired and running her own private practice. I have been suggesting she commit to the Cognitive Sciences proposal since, well, actually, I suggested she commit to the Psychology proposal which is now merged into Cogniti...

Proposed Q&A site for librarians and library professionals.

Currently in commitment.

I'm having difficulties staying interested in Code Review. I don't feel like I'm participating to anything 'grander' than just stating the same design principles over and over again, hence I started participating less and less. I can't speak for others, but I feel this is a real issue if Code Rev...

I figured this might be useful, espescially during the beta while we define what is on- and off-topic and seed this site with initial content: What are some useful references for us to use in asking / answering / researching /questions?

We are intentionally vague: we don't want people gaming the fulfillment metrics. So the Area 51 faq is canonical here, and already correct. Not reaching commitment? Ask and answer a few more questions, then! :)

If you weren't active enough during the private beta, you will need to post at least 10 questions or answers to fulfill your commitment. Once you do that, you can commit to another proposal. The threshold is lower if you are very active during the private beta, though note that the earliest you...

You can see the text again by clicking the commit link (but not confirming) on any other proposal. Here it is for reference: I commit to participate actively in (insert name here), to visit at least three times per week, to ask at least three questions during the beta phase, and to answer as ...

For those new to the internet, trolling is an activity were one person intentionally tries to upset other members of the same community, presumably for entertainment. This has been informally addressed in the media, normally positing that the anonymity of the internet gives rise to more extreme...