Experiments I
Contents
Experiments I¶
After spending quite a good while on important prerequisites concerning scientific computing and the basics of the python programming language, it’s finally time to combine them via transitioning to more applied topics. This adventure will start with a brief exploration of how to create and run experiments using PsychoPy, a python library dedicated to conducting experiments in the realm of psychology and adjacent fields. Due to time constraints we will only spend a quick look at things and showcase the most important aspects to allow folks to explore things further after the course ends.
Topics 💡👨🏻🏫¶
In the following you’ll find the objectives and materials for each of the topics we’ll discuss during this session.
Introduction to PsychoPy - I¶
Most of us already conducted one or the other experiment. However, there’s a fair number of different software options and tools out there, which mostly depends on the computational infrastructure at hand but also on what people are used to. That being said: what options are roughly out there and can we actually use python based resources concerning experiments with a clear conscience? To get some idea we will explore the python library PsychoPy, including its setup, basic working principles, as well as advantages and disadvantages, showcased on a very simple experiment. Buckle up y’all, this is the first time we will use python “in the wild”.
Objectives 📍¶
running
experimentsusingpythonExploring
PsychoPybasic setup & interaction
experiments, trials, stimuli, responses
a very simple experiment
Ask and answer questions
Have a great time
Materials 📓¶
There are two different sets of materials for this topic. A slide deck and a jupyter notebook.
You can find the slides here:
And the jupyter notebook which contains a condensed version of the slides in the ToC on the left via
Experimentation I - Introduction to PsychoPy I .
tasks for subsequent meeting 🖥️✍🏽📖¶
Given our limited success in getting things to work during the session, there will be no assignments for next week.
optional/reading/further materials¶
Here are some cool videos providing some further insights into the world and capabilities of PsychoPy.
First, a nice tutorial on how to create a “line bisection task” using PsychoPy.
Want to know how far you can go with PsychoPy? How about coding an entire video game? Yeah, that’s possible!