Python For Experimental Psychologists

Programming is an important part of experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience, and Python is an ideal language for novices. It sports a very readable syntax, intuitive variable management, and a very large body of functionality that ranges from simple arithmetic to complex computing. Python for Experimental Psychologistsprovides researchers without prior programming experience with the knowledge they need to independently script experiments and analyses in Python. It teaches readers the basics of programming in Python, enabling them to go on and program their own experiments. The skills it offers include: how to display stimuli on a computer screen; how to get input from peripherals (e.g. keyboard, mouse etc.) and specialized equipment (e.g. eye trackers); how to log data; and how to control timing. In addition, it shows readers the basic principles of data analysis applied to behavioral data, and the more advanced techniques required to analyse trace data (e.g. pupil size and EEG) and gaze data. Written informally and accessibly, the book deliberately focuses on the parts of Python that are relevant to experimental psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists. It is also accompanied by a companion website where you will find colour versions of the figures, along with example stimuli, datasets and scripts, and a portable Windows installation of Python.

Programming is an important part of experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience, and Python is an ideal language for novices. It sports a very readable syntax, intuitive variable management, and a very large body of functionality that ranges from simple arithmetic to complex computing. Python for Experimental Psychologists provides researchers without prior programming experience with the knowledge they need to independently script experiments and analyses in Python. The skills it offers include: how to display stimuli on a computer screen; how to get input from peripherals (e.g. keyboard, mouse) and specialised equipment (e.g. eye trackers); how to log data; and how to control timing. In addition, it shows readers the basic principles of data analysis applied to behavioural data, and the more advanced techniques required to analyse trace data (e.g. pupil size) and gaze data. Written informally and accessibly, the book deliberately focuses on the parts of Python that are relevant to experimental psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists. It is also supported by a companion website where you will find colour versions of the figures, along with example stimuli, datasets and scripts, and a portable Windows installation of Python.

Python is a free, open-source, cross-platform programming language that allows a great deal to be accomplished in very few lines of code. As well as having a powerful, flexible syntax, Python can interface easily with other libraries and hardware on any computer system, making it ideal for interacting with additional devices hardware (e.g. for fMRI, EEG, eye tracking etc.). Python has become the go-to language for a wide variety of behavioural science studies and experiments. Aimed at advanced undergraduate students, postgraduate students and professional scientists, this textbook provides a comprehensive guide to enable readers to write experiments in Python, or using Python within PsychoPy. This text offers a more advanced guide to developing psychological experiments in Python and can be used as a guide to using software and hardware together - for example, programming a psychological experiment using eye tracking software or EEG systems. Highly practical in nature, the book shows how to programme one full experiment and how to analyse data and scripting. Read together with Building Experiments in PsychoPy, this text is designed to support students who are familiar with PsychoPy and how want to progress into programming in the original software package Python (on which PsychoPy is built). It will help advanced students to programme directly in Python and support them when they use hardware in their experiments, and it particularly suited to those students programming experiments in cognitive psychology and neuroscience.

PsychoPy is an open-source software package for creating rich, dynamic experiments in psychology, neuroscience and linguistics. Written by its creator, this book walks you through the steps of building experiments in PsychoPy, from using images to discovering lesser-known features, and from analysing data to debugging your experiment. Divided into three parts and with unique extension exercises to guide you at whatever level you are at, this textbook is the perfect tool for teaching practical undergraduate classes on research methods, as well as acting as a comprehensive reference text for the professional scientist. Essential reading for anyone using PsychoPy software, the second edition has been fully updated and includes multiple new chapters about features included in recent versions of PsychoPy, including running studies online and collecting survey data. Part I teaches you all the basic skills you need (and some more advanced tips along the way) to design experiments in behavioral sciences. Each chapter introduces anew concept but will offer a series of working experiments that you can build on. Part II presents more details important for professional scientists intending to use PsychoPy for published research. This part is recommended reading for science professionals in any discipline. Part III covers a range of specialist topics, such as those doing fMRI research, or those studying visual perception. "This book fills an incredibly important gap in the field. Many users of PsychoPy will be excited to learn that there is now a highly accessible and well-designed written guide to refine their skills." – Susanne Quadflieg, University of Bristol

Several Python programming books feature tools designed for experimental psychologists. What sets this book apart is its focus on eye-tracking. Eye-tracking is a widely used research technique in psychology and neuroscience labs. Research grade eye-trackers are typically faster, more accurate, and of course, more expensive than the ones seen in consumer goods or usability labs. Not surprisingly, a successful eye-tracking study usually requires sophisticated computer programming. Easy syntax and flexibility make Python a perfect choice for this task, especially for psychology researchers with little or no computer programming experience. This book offers detailed coverage of the Pylink library, a Python interface for the gold standard EyeLink ® eye-trackers, with many step-by-step example scripts. This book is a useful reference for eye-tracking researchers, but you can also use it as a textbook for graduate-level programming courses.

The matrix laboratory interactive computing environment—MATLAB—has brought creativity to research in diverse disciplines, particularly in designing and programming experiments. More commonly used in mathematics and the sciences, it also lends itself to a variety of applications across the field of psychology. For the novice looking to use it in experimental psychology research, though, becoming familiar with MATLAB can be a daunting task. MATLAB for Psychologists expertly guides readers through the component steps, skills, and operations of the software, with plentiful graphics and examples to match the reader’s comfort level. Using an extended illustration, this concise volume explains the program’s usefulness at any point in an experiment, without the limits imposed by other types of software. And the authors demonstrate the responsiveness of MATLAB to the individual’s research needs, whether the task is programming experiments, creating sensory stimuli, running simulations, or calculating statistics for data analysis. Key features of the coverage: Thinking in a matrix way. Handling and plotting data. Guidelines for improved programming, sound, and imaging. Statistical analysis and signal detection theory indexes. The Graphical User Interface. The Psychophysics Toolbox. MATLAB for Psychologists serves a wide audience of advanced undergraduate and graduate level psychology students, professors, and researchers as well as lab technicians involved in programming psychology experiments.

"Learning Statistics with R" covers the contents of an introductory statistics class, as typically taught to undergraduate psychology students, focusing on the use of the R statistical software and adopting a light, conversational style throughout. The book discusses how to get started in R, and gives an introduction to data manipulation and writing scripts. From a statistical perspective, the book discusses descriptive statistics and graphing first, followed by chapters on probability theory, sampling and estimation, and null hypothesis testing. After introducing the theory, the book covers the analysis of contingency tables, t-tests, ANOVAs and regression. Bayesian statistics are covered at the end of the book. For more information (and the opportunity to check the book out before you buy!) visit http://ua.edu.au/ccs/teaching/lsr or http://learningstatisticswithr.com

The power of data drives the digital economy of the 21st century. It has been argued that data is as vital a resource as oil was during the industrial revolution. An upward trend in the number of research publications using machine learning in some of the top journals in combination with an increasing number of academic recruiters within psychology asking for Python knowledge from applicants indicates a growing demand for these skills in the market. While there are plenty of books covering data science, rarely, if ever, books in the market address the need of social science students with no computer science background. They are typically written by engineers or computer scientists for people of their discipline. As a result, often such books are filled with technical jargon and examples irrelevant to psychological studies or projects. In contrast, this book was written by a psychologist in a simple, easy-to-understand way that is brief and accessible. The aim for this book was to make the learning experience on this topic as smooth as possible for psychology students/researchers with no background in programming or data science. Completing this book will also open up an enormous amount of possibilities for quantitative researchers in psychological science, as it will enable them to explore newer types of research questions.