PSYC 6273. Computer programming for experimental psychology

Department of Psychology
York University

Winter term 2011
Tuesdays, 11:30-2:30

• Course syllabus

General description: This graduate course covers computer programming methods that are useful in experimental psychology. The course assumes no previous programming experience, and brings students to the point where they are able to write useful programs to advance their own research. Classes are held in a computer laboratory, and each week's class consists of a lecture followed by programming practice on assigned problems. Topics include the MATLAB programming language, data files, curve fitting, Monte Carlo simulations, statistical tests, journal-quality data plots, 2D and 3D graphics (OpenGL), and interfacing to external devices.

Lecture notes

• Lecture 1. Introduction to MATLAB	Problems Code Overview Tutorials
• Lecture 2. Data types	Problems Code
• Lecture 3. Matrices and plots	Problems Code
• Lecture 4. The psychophysics toolbox	Problems Code
• Lecture 5. Curve fitting	Problems Code
• Lecture 6. Curve fitting and bootstrapping	Problems Code
• Lecture 7. Bootstrapping	Problems Code
• Lecture 8. Bootstrapping	Problems Code
• Lecture 9. Calibration	Problems Code
• Lecture 10. Calibration	Problems Code
• Lecture 11. Experiments and simulations	Problems Code
• Lecture 12. Graphical user interfaces	Problems Code

Readings

• Brainard et al. (2002). Display characterization.

Problem sets

• Problem set 1   Solutions
• Problem set 2   Solutions
• Problem set 3   Solutions