<p>It may help considering whether the phenomenon is under some  control by the participant. Pupil dilation is a physiological measure, but the speed at which I hit a key (reaction time) is a behavioral measure. Memory is a phenomenon. If you meant recall, recognition, or another memory retrieval task, how could you measure that physiologically? Memory is generally measured through (somewhat controlled) self-report. However, it could also be probed through less controllable, more automatic reactions.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-31T13:27:11.860Z
So should memory be counted as "self-report" instead of behavioral measure?
Aqqqq
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-31T13:57:31.750Z
What about eye movement and gaze duration?
Aqqqq
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-31T14:46:43.113Z
If you ask people "how much did you remember“ then you have a self-report of memory, if you test people on some memory items you probably have a behavioral measure. There are many ways to probe memory, also many types of memory, pretty sure you could have a physiological measure of familiarity/recognition if you wanted one (and could spend money on the gear to measure it!)
steveLangsford
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-31T14:49:55.283Z
Why is it important to distinguish between different kinds of measure/observation though? So long as you have a question and answer it anything is fine?
steveLangsford
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-31T16:07:28.217Z
agree with @steveLangsford above: to classify something as self-report, behavioral, etc. one needs to decide on a specific measure. Eye movements are medium-controllable, so that might be a mix, depending on what the participant's task and intentions are.
Cameron Brick
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-31T11:23:07.920Z
2018-10-31T16:08:06.817Z
2018-10-31T16:08:06.817Z
Cameron Brick
<p>I think that the choice made by a subject in a choice task should be behavioral observation. But I am not sure about reaction time and memory, which is more about ability instead of intention.</p>

<behavior><behaviorism><physiology><reaction-time>
Are reaction time and memory physiological measure or behavioral observation?
Aqqqq
# Are reaction time and memory physiological measure or behavioral observation?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-10-31)

I think that the choice made by a subject in a choice task should be behavioral observation. But I am not sure about reaction time and memory, which is more about ability instead of intention.

**Tags:** behavior, behaviorism, physiology, reaction-time


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-10-31. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

It may help considering whether the phenomenon is under some control by the participant. Pupil dilation is a physiological measure, but the speed at which I hit a key (reaction time) is a behavioral measure. Memory is a phenomenon. If you meant recall, recognition, or another memory retrieval task, how could you measure that physiologically? Memory is generally measured through (somewhat controlled) self-report. However, it could also be probed through less controllable, more automatic reactions.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: So should memory be counted as "self-report" instead of behavioral measure?  
> **username_0**: What about eye movement and gaze duration?  
> **username_2**: If you ask people "how much did you remember“ then you have a self-report of memory, if you test people on some memory items you probably have a behavioral measure. There are many ways to probe memory, also many types of memory, pretty sure you could have a physiological measure of familiarity/recognition if you wanted one (and could spend money on the gear to measure it!)  
> **username_2**: Why is it important to distinguish between different kinds of measure/observation though? So long as you have a question and answer it anything is fine?  
> **username_1**: agree with @username_2 above: to classify something as self-report, behavioral, etc. one needs to decide on a specific measure. Eye movements are medium-controllable, so that might be a mix, depending on what the participant's task and intentions are.  

---

