A flexible computer-controlled perception laboratory

Research in perception is often guided or limited by the capabilities of the laboratory. A computer-controlled perception laboratory is described that was designed to be extremely flexible at a modest cost. The laboratory permits control of onset time, offset time, and intensity of visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli. The visual stimuli include single points, text, stereoscopic displays, and two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional objects moving in space. The design of the hardware and software and the criteria that guided our choice of this design are discussed. Finally, potential applications of this laboratory are considered.     

The Macintosh as a user-friendly laboratory for perception and cognition

We present a radically user-friendly Macintosh laboratory, MindLab, for instruction in perception and cognition. MindLab’s forte is its ability to display pictorial stimuli, including digitized photographs, transferred via the clipboard from Macintosh graphics applications. An experiment is programmed by specifying sequences of event primitives, represented by icons, to which stimuli, temporal parameters, and feedback options are assigned.     

An on-line laboratory in cognition and perception

The design of a computer-based laboratory system requires the coordination of pedagogical and technical goals. The development of our on-line laboratory in cognition and perception is described. The laboratory consists of 11 on-line experiments in which the student participates as both experimenter and subject. The software was designed for maximum transportability: Programs were written in a low-level BASIC, with thorough documentation; flexibility is provided both within and across experiments to suit local constraints; and the experiments are supported by a student manual, instructor’s manual, and implementation notes. Criteria for selecting experiments, implementation of the experiments, and preliminary evaluation of the laboratory are discussed.     

A free software package for a human onlineconditioned suppression preparation

Martians V2 is both a language syntax in which experiments can be written and an implementation of this syntax in a runtime application that, when fed a valid experiment text file, will execute the given experiment. It is based on the original Martians preparation, which has proven a valuable tool for assessing human online-conditioned suppression performance through research on a wide array of learning phenomena. This article can be read as a manual, both for using the Martians paradigm in general and for getting started with MartiansV2.     

A microcomputer-based software package for eye monitoring research

A software package is described that collects and reduces eye behavior (eye position and pupil size) data using an IBM-compatible personal computer. Written in the C language for speed and portability, the package includes several unique features: data can be collected simultaneously from other sources (e.g., EEG, EMG), logically defined events can be detected in real time on any data channel, and either of two types of data matrix can be produced. Data reduction algorithms and data structures are described.     

A multipurpose software package for editing two-dimensional animated images

In this paper, we describe a software package, LEDA, for editing two-dimensional images and films. It is written in Turbo-C and was first conceived to work with a high-resolution graphics card (Adage PG90/10, 2,048 × 1,023 × 8 bits) on an IBM PC/AT or compatible computer. The program is intended for managing images and films used in the fields of visual psychophysics, electrophysiology, and so forth.     

A software tool for auditory and speech perception experimentation

A computer program capable of supporting auditory and speech perception experimentation is described. Given a continuum of acoustic stimuli, the program (Paradigm) allows the user to present those stimuli under different, well-known psychophysical paradigms (simple identification, identification with a rating scale, 2IAX, ABX, AXB, and oddity task). For discrimination tests, both high uncertainty (roving designs) and minimal psychophysical uncertainty (fixed designs) procedures are available. All the relevant time intervals can be precisely specified, and feedback is also available. Response times can be measured as well. Furthermore, the program stores subjects’ responses and provides summaries of experimental results for both individual subjects and groups. The program runs on Microsoft Windows (3.1 or 95) on personal computers equipped with any soundboard.     

An interactive gaming package for teaching and research in interdependent choice

A pair of FORTRAN programs allows two individuals or groups to play prisoner’s dilemma and other two-party mixed-motive games on physically isolated terminals of a time-sharing computer. The programs provide a flexible tool for teaching and research through a series of programmable options for structuring and enhancing the playing environment of the game. Four participatory roles for students provide an opportunity for integrated exposure to the broader context of empirical research design and execution.     

A multipurpose laboratory package for 0S/8 BASIC

A set of BASIC-callable assembler routines are described that support experimental programming on the PDP-8/e laboratory computer. The package includes both general-purpose laboratory utilities (e.g., for timing delays, sensing and controlling switches, etc.) and specialized functions to facilitate elementary signal processing operations. System performance is evaluated in terms of timing accuracy, optimal sampling rates, and transportability to other laboratories.     

A computer-controlled laboratory for studying infant event perception

An integrated software package for testing infants in a habituation procedure is described. The software is written for an Apple II computer with a minimum of 64K of memory. Additional interface cards are required for timing responses and displaying dynamic stimuli. The software is divided into four independent modules: (1) Configure Experiment allows the experimenter to design a specific experiment. (2) Run Experiment controls the running of a previously configured habituation experiment. (3) Calculate Reliability allows a second observer to score the subject for the purpose of computing reliability. (4) Data Summary and Formatting provides a summary of the results and allows the user to flexibly format the data for reading by various statistical packages.     

Differentiation and unification in perception and cognition

It has been suggested that the development of distinctions between perception and cognition depends upon the perspective and the level of analysis chosen. Similarly, the unification of perception and cognition may be achieved from other perspectives and when other levels of analyses are applied. The fruitfulness, and disadvantages, of diverse suggestions for differentation/unification of perception and cognition are discussed briefly.     

Ductus: A software package for the study of handwriting production

Ductus is a software tool designed to analyze and aid understanding of the processes underlying handwriting production. Ductus is a digitizer-based device that provides online information on the handwriting process. It consists of two distinct modules that operate independently. The first module concerns stimulus presentation. It is particularly suited to experiments with children and patients presenting handwriting pathologies. The second module is devoted to data analysis. Apart from the geometrical aspects of handwriting, such as trajectory formation, Ductus provides a wide range of kinematic information, such as velocity, duration, fluency, and pauses, linked to the mastery of the movement itself. Ductus is available free from the authors. It works on a Windows platform with Wacom digitizers.     

Psynteract: A flexible,cross-platform,open framework for interactive experiments

We introduce a novel platform for interactive studies, that is, any form of study in which participants’ experiences depend not only on their own responses, but also on those of other participants who complete the same study in parallel, for example a prisoner’s dilemma or an ultimatum game. The software thus especially serves the rapidly growing field of strategic interaction research within psychology and behavioral economics. In contrast to all available software packages, our platform does not handle stimulus display and response collection itself. Instead, we provide a mechanism to extend existing experimental software to incorporate interactive functionality. This approach allows us to draw upon the capabilities already available, such as accuracy of temporal measurement, integration with auxiliary hardware such as eye-trackers or (neuro-)physiological apparatus, and recent advances in experimental software, for example capturing response dynamics through mouse-tracking. Through integration with OpenSesame, an open-source graphical experiment builder, studies can be assembled via a drag-and-drop interface requiring little or no further programming skills. In addition, by using the same communication mechanism across software packages, we also enable interoperability between systems. Our source code, which provides support for all major operating systems and several popular experimental packages, can be freely used and distributed under an open source license. The communication protocols underlying its functionality are also well documented and easily adapted to further platforms. Code and documentation are available at https://github.com/psynteract/.     

Interaction between affect and cognition in word perception

Investigated the hypothesis that the accuracy with which a briefly shown word is perceived depends on both the affective tone of the word and the activation of the corresponding memory code. To increase activation, expectation and word frequency were manipulated. Ss were exposed to a 25-ms flash of a target word. They then chose, from a word pair, the target word. In half the trials, this word pair was given before the flash to create an expectation. Consistent with the hypothesis, when the words were infrequent, accuracy in perception was lower for affective than for neutral words regardless of expectation. When the words were frequent, there was no effect of affective tone in the absence of expectation; in the presence of expectation, accuracy was higher for affective than for neutral words. The valence of the affective words had no effect. Results are interpreted in terms of attentional mechanisms implicated in conscious perception.     

Apparent reversals of a rotating mask: A new demonstration of cognition in perception

A mask of a face rotated about its vertical axis of symmetry can appear to oscillate rather than rotate. Do stimulus features (e.g., shape) or cognitive factors (e.g., differential familiarity with convex and concave views of faces) explain this new illusion? In Experiment 1, differential familiarity was varied across stimuli by using familiar and unfamiliar objects rotating at 4 rpm and within stimuli by showing the objects upright and inverted. True motion was seen more with unfamiliar objects than with familiar objects and more with an inverted mask than with an upright mask. The results of Experiment 2, which was done with static views, suggest that the upright and inverted masks present similar structure to the visual system. In Experiment 3, the objects were shown rotating at 8 rpm; the results are similar to those of Experiment 1. These experiments favor a differential familiarity account of this illusory motion. Cognitive constraints on perceived motion and perceived rigidity are discussed.