Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 581 Chonghui was still unaware of the seriousness of the situation.

The computer screen was covered with dense lines, as if it were having a seizure.

Nan Zhuren's flow state hadn't stopped, and he began to subconsciously analyze the current situation.

Is there an error in my calculations while in a state of "flow"?
Not too possible.

The "flow state" is a super-fast thinking mode that has been tested in practice. Not to mention simple multiplication calculations to three decimal places, even more complex psychological statistics problems can be solved in an instant.

Few people possess the same confidence as Nan Zhuren when facing experiments.

Therefore, faced with a current accuracy rate of 62.4%, Nan Zhuren had no doubt that there was a problem with his own abilities and directly attributed the issue to external factors.

There's a problem with this experimental procedure!
Nan Zhuren considered the possibilities.

Data fabrication? Even if the subjects calculated everything correctly, is it still counted as incorrect data?

It's unlikely... Based on Nan Zhuren's understanding of Bai Qinghua, he wouldn't tolerate such academic misconduct within the research group.

Considering the scope of the research group's work... could this experiment be a misleading one, designed to test the reactions of participants when they are deceived?

That's also unlikely... This study only used an EEG, without micro-expression capture equipment. And if the goal is to explore the brain's physiological mechanisms, the procedure for this experiment would be far too complex...

Judging from the way this experiment progressively increases the difficulty of each group and constantly "feeds back" the accuracy rate, it seems more like... a test under pressure!
Nan Zhuren felt he had guessed the purpose of the experiment.

But if that's the case, then I already know the experimental procedure.

If we continue the experiment, the data we get will definitely be invalid.

Nan Zhuren turned around and looked at her senior brother Haoyun with an apologetic gaze.

On the other side, Senior Brother Good Luck looked at the computer screen with an expression that resembled that of a power tester at the World Martial Arts Tournament encountering a group of Androids and Saiyans.

"Ah, junior brother, are you taking a rest?" Senior Brother Good Luck saw Nan Zhuren turn around and said with relief, "Perfect timing. This brainwave seemed to be malfunctioning, probably due to a connection problem... wait, it's working again?"

As Nan Zhuren exited the "flow state," the real-time EEG displayed on the computer naturally returned to normal.

Good Luck Senior Brother didn't suspect anything: "It works sometimes and it doesn't work sometimes, it's probably a bad connection... But even when it broke down before, it never happened like this. This broken machine is breaking down in a rather novel way."

Fortunately, this EEG device doesn't contain any AI consciousness, otherwise it might already be looking pitiful.

However, Nan Zhuren felt it was necessary to clarify things for the instrument, saying, "Senior brother, the machine might not be broken. I was just thinking a bit faster."

"……what?"

Brother Good Luck might still prefer to believe that the machine is broken.

"You won't believe me, just look," Nan Zhuren said.

As he spoke, his pupils went out of focus again, and he entered a state of "flow," his mind starting to rapidly process logical questions.

In an instant, the old-fashioned computer provided by the school seemed to make even the fan a little louder, and the electroencephalogram on the screen, which was originally smooth, suddenly became like it had taken a stimulant, with dense lines going back and forth, almost turning from a "line graph" into a "black blob".

The undergraduate junior looked puzzled and couldn't help but glance at the lucky senior standing next to her.

Is it normal for undergraduates to have little experience?
"This...isn't this abnormal?!" Senior Brother Good Luck's eyes widened.

He glanced at the screen, then at Nan Zhuren, then at the screen again, then at Nan Zhuren again.

What kind of brain do you have?
Nan Zhuren looked even more apologetic: "And also, senior brother, isn't this experiment actually a stress test? The accuracy rate displayed on the screen isn't the real one. If I'm not mistaken, even if I get all the later questions right, it will still show my accuracy rate gradually decreasing, and the consultation fee will keep being deducted, right?"

There's a flaw in this sentence, and Brother Good Luck subconsciously didn't know how to reply.

But his expression told Nan Zhuren that he had guessed correctly.

Nan Zhuren sighed: "Now I know the purpose of the experiment, and the reactions given won't be genuine either. I'm sorry, senior, for wasting your time today..."

As he spoke, Nan Zhuren stood up from his chair.

Subconsciously, Senior Brother Good Luck moved. By the time he came to his senses, he was already hugging Nan Zhuren in a position that was almost like hugging his leg.

The undergraduate junior sister stared wide-eyed. Although she didn't know what had gotten into her lucky senior brother, she was secretly eager to try and imitate him.

“No… Junior brother, it’s alright,” said Senior Brother Good Luck. “When we were doing the experiment before, some experienced senior brothers and sisters guessed the purpose of my experiment. However, the pressure of this experiment is not limited to this one. The gradually increasing computational difficulty is also an added pressure factor. The resulting EEG is also valuable.”

Lucky Senior glanced at the computer screen: "Just like before... continue! The consultation fee will still be paid, don't worry!"

Although he didn't know what had happened, Good Luck Senior's scientific intuition was subtly activated.

In some mysterious way, he made the right choice.

Since the experimenter insisted, Nan Zhuren sat down without hesitation. After all, he had come today to help his senior brother Haoyun while also studying.

He could also tell that Senior Brother Good Luck wasn't just saying polite words out of politeness; the longing and fervor on his face were almost bursting out.

After rechecking the EEG headset, Nan Zhuren pressed the space bar.

A new calculation formula appears on the computer screen.

……

Sure enough, the difficulty of the calculations increased step by step in the following groups, and in the end, formulas like [13.345×9.3281] appeared, which had different integer places, different decimal places, and even involved calculations to three decimal places.

The range of numbers used for comparison is also closer to the calculated answer.

If nothing unexpected happens, by this point the subjects' calculation abilities will be almost completely depleted, and their judgment of "big" and "small" will rely purely on luck and intuition.

Moreover, the presentation time of the formula and the comparison numbers has been further shortened to just 1 second.

Given the normal calculation speed of the participants, after being tortured for so long, they probably wouldn't even be able to finish reading the formulas, let alone perform calculations and comparisons.

Those with slower reaction times won't be able to press the key on the keyboard in time before the comparison numbers disappear.

But none of these were problems for Nan Zhuren.

At the request of his senior, he maintained a high-speed thinking mode of "flow state" during the experiment to ensure that his calculation results were absolutely correct and that his comparison judgments and button responses were without any errors.

On the computer screen connected to the EEG device, the EEG graph was so dense it looked almost like a doodle drawn with a brush.

Your group's correct judgment rate in this experiment was 41.4%.

[Your accuracy rate is below average. We apologize, but your experimental reward will be reduced accordingly.]

Of course, the final result of the experiment was still the same.

……

You have completed the first experiment. Thank you for your cooperation.

You will now have a ten-minute break. If you feel unwell, you may extend this break. Please relax under the guidance of the experimenter.

Nan Zhuren breathed a long sigh of relief.

Maintaining a state of flow for an extended period of time must have put a lot of pressure on him.

"Senior brother... um, senior brother?" Nan Zhuren called out twice in a row, raising his voice noticeably the second time, before finally pulling out Senior Brother Good Luck, whose eyes were practically buried in the computer screen.

His gaze was still lingering: "Oh... junior brother, the experiment is over?"

Good Luck Senior Brother looked enlightened: "Oh, you can rest for a while and adjust your state, and then we'll do the next experiment."

Nan Zhuren nodded; he did indeed need rest. The long experiment had not only left him physically exhausted, but also mentally drained from prolonged periods of intense concentration.

It's quite similar to the state after three or four consecutive consultations, except that there's less emotional drain from being overwhelmed with negative emotions.

"Our break can be extended a bit, because you did the experiment exceptionally fast, junior brother..."

Nan Zhuren looked puzzled.

Good Luck Senior quickly explained.

Because in the number presentation phase, the first few groups will be presented for 5 seconds, 4 seconds, 3 seconds, and 2 seconds to give the subjects sufficient time to calculate and react.

However, if the subject makes a comparison judgment in advance, the number will disappear immediately after pressing the key, and the next equation will be presented, and the corresponding experimental time will be shorter.

The total duration of the experiment is also a numerical value used for measurement.

After Nan Zhuren entered the "flow state," he made a judgment within about one second after the numbers were displayed.

Sometimes it takes less than a second, the speed is outrageous.

This also saved a lot of time.

At this point, Senior Brother Good Luck's expression turned to amazement again: "Junior Brother, now you should adjust your condition and try to recover to your best. I really look forward to your data in the next experiment!"

Nan Zhuren blinked: "Best condition?"

It seems to be confirming something.

Good Luck Senior nodded: "Yes, the behaviors chosen by the subjects during rest periods are quite diverse, and recording their brainwaves during the adjustment process is also part of the experiment. Moreover, if you are in a better state, you can be more engaged in the next experiment, making the data more effective!"

"You can go for a walk, scroll through your phone, or even take a nap whenever you feel like it. Do whatever you want!"

Hearing this, Nan Zhuren felt more at ease.

[Emotional readjustment]

A clear stream rushed through my mind, instantly restoring clarity and replenishing the mental energy depleted during the experiment.

hum-

Subtly, the sound of the fan on the old computer connected to the EEG changed again.

Brother Good Luck turned his head as if sensing something, stared at the computer screen, and widened his eyes.

This is not over yet.

[Emotional readjustment][Emotional readjustment][Emotional readjustment][Emotional readjustment]...

The next second, Nan Zhuren slammed his head on the table with a "thud" and fell asleep immediately.

Having recovered from mental exhaustion, it's time to recover physical energy.

hum-

Brother Good Luck looked at the computer screen, which had changed again, and opened his mouth.

Half a day later, he said to his undergraduate junior sister in a tone that was both difficult and subtly excited, "Let's check the experimental equipment and procedures again... We absolutely cannot make any mistakes!"

Everything proceeded smoothly, and time passed by second by second.

Soon, halftime was over.

Good Luck glanced at the computer screen, just as he was about to wake Nan Zhuren—

With a "whoosh," Nan Zhuren suddenly sprang up.

"Senior brother, isn't it time to rest? Let's continue!"

Brother Good Luck looked at the EEG that changed again in an instant and opened his mouth.

It's quite disheartening; during the experiment, I suddenly realized that I haven't read enough books or literature.

"Wait a minute... I'll go ask the teacher."

……

"Teacher... I don't think I have any questions for you today."

In the research group, Chonghui sat at his workstation, with data he had just retrieved from the hospital displayed on his computer screen.

Bai Qinghua stood with his hands behind his back, staring at Chonghui's computer screen with a strange expression.

The other students in the research group sat upright in their seats, some reading, some writing, and some analyzing data.

Although Bai Qinghua's attitude was friendly, as a teacher he still exuded an imposing aura, making the students in the research group sit at their workstations and dare not slack off.

Speaking of which, students from other groups have always envied Bai Qinghua's research group—because Bai Qinghua has a separate study.

This means that Bai Qinghua doesn't usually appear in the students' online spaces, but students can still consult him whenever they have questions about their studies.

A good mentor is one who appears when the time is right—this is a criterion that graduate students unanimously agree on.

At this moment, Chonghui showed some disdain for Bai Qinghua: "Teacher, why don't you go back to your study first? Didn't you just buy The Witcher 3 on Steam a few days ago when it was on sale? That game will keep you entertained for a long time."

"If you finish the game, there are still many mods. If all else fails, you can read fan fiction. There's a book called 'From Witcher to Emperor of the Empire' that's pretty good."

Bai Qinghua remained unmoved: "You don't understand, today... the situation is special."

Judging from Bai Qinghua's past behavior, he is indeed acting very strangely today.

Before the words were finished, footsteps suddenly sounded at the entrance of the research group.

Bai Qinghua's expression suddenly turned serious, and he bent over even more, making it look like he was intently looking at Chonghui's computer and engaging in close communication with his students.

crunch--

When the senior student with good luck opened the door and came in, he immediately saw the situation in the research group: "Ah, Professor, you're here."

Bai Qinghua breathed a sigh of relief without showing any emotion and asked, "Yes, what happened?"

Brother Good Luck waved the several blueprints in his hand: "I was just about to come to you. I received some data today that looks like invalid data, but... it's invalid in a very peculiar way!"

Bai Qinghua blinked: "If the data is different, then let's publish two articles."

Chonghui glanced back and nodded, saying, "At the very least, you can add an analysis section to the article. Don't get too bogged down in the minutiae of scientific research."

(End of this chapter)