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Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics, a free psychology course on Tomo

Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics

Bridge the gap between theoretical conditioning models and quantitative psychological research. Calculate associative strength, choice allocation, ANOVA variance decomposition, effect sizes, and signal detection metrics from the ground up.

Like Duolingo, but for Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

24 levels across 3 sections, about 48 minutes end to end, roughly 10 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Conditioning Models and Choice Dynamics, Variance Decomposition and Experimental Inference, and Psychophysical Modeling and Regression Analysis.

24 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Bram the Border Collie, the guide who teaches the Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics course
Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics
with Bram the Border Collie
24
Levels
3
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics

  • Prediction error relies on the summed associative strength of all cues present on the trial: V_total = V_A + V_B
  • When V_total equals lambda, prediction error (lambda - V_total) drops to zero regardless of individual cue values
  • Individual updates delta_V_i scale strictly from the joint error term multiplied by stimulus-specific salience
  • In Rescorla-Wagner, cue salience (alpha) remains static; blocking is driven exclusively by the prediction error term collapsing to zero
  • Because the pretrained CS satisfies V_total = lambda, the discrepancy (lambda - V_total) leaves zero surplus associative strength for the novel stimulus
  • Attentional accounts (like Mackintosh or Pearce-Hall) alter salience over trials, distinguishing them from Rescorla-Wagner's error-driven mechanism
  • Conditioned inhibition emerges when lambda is 0 while V_total is positive, producing a negative prediction error (0 - V_total < 0)
  • The negative update drives the novel inhibitor's value (V_X) below zero until V_A + V_X = 0
  • A conditioned inhibitor's negative associative strength actively subtracts from net excitation during summation tests
  • When compound cues compete for a shared finite asymptote (lambda), the final share of V acquired is proportional to each cue's relative salience: alpha_A / (alpha_A + alpha_B)
  • Overshadowing does not require prior training; differential acquisition rates cause the more salient stimulus to consume the error pool faster
  • Both cues reach steady state simultaneously once their joint sum equals lambda
  • Extinction sets lambda to 0, creating a negative prediction error (0 - V) that decrements V on each successive presentation
  • The model represents extinction as associative unlearning (erasing weights back toward zero) rather than new inhibitory learning
  • Because the model simply resets V toward zero, it cannot inherently account for spontaneous recovery, renewal, or reinstatement without external extensions
  • Ratio schedules establish a direct linear correlation between local response rate and reinforcement rate, reinforcing short inter-response times (IRTs)
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

Summing Cues and Blocking

Tone A has V = 0.60 and Light B has V = 0.40. If they appear together with a standard outcome (lambda = 1.0), what happens to prediction error?

Get it right to open this lesson and 23 more in the app.

Course map

How to learn Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics, step by step

Go in order. 24 short levels across 3 sections, about 48 minutes in all, five minutes a day.

  1. 1

    Conditioning Models and Choice Dynamics

    • Calculating Associative Strength with Rescorla-Wagner
    • Complex Reinforcement Schedules and Rate Dynamics
    • Quantifying Choice: Matching Law and Delay Discounting
  2. 2

    Variance Decomposition and Experimental Inference

    • Partitioning Variance in Factorial ANOVA
    • Planned Contrasts and Post-Hoc Computations
    • Effect Sizes, Non-Centrality, and Power
  3. 3

    Psychophysical Modeling and Regression Analysis

    • Signal Detection Theory and Decision Metrics
    • Multiple Regression and Variance Decomposition

3 sections · 8 units · 24 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

Questions

Questions about Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics

  1. How do I learn Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics?

    Go in order: start with Conditioning Models and Choice Dynamics, then Variance Decomposition and Experimental Inference, then Psychophysical Modeling and Regression Analysis. On Tomo that's 24 short levels, about 48 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.

  2. Is there a Duolingo-style app for Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics?

    Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.

  3. Is the Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics course free?

    Yes. Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.

  4. How long does it take to learn Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics?

    24 levels across 3 sections, about 48 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.

  5. Do I need any background to start Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics?

    No. It's pitched at an advanced level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.

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Behavioral Analysis and Psychological Statistics is taught in the Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

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