Opensesame: The Experiment Building Software

A comprehensive course on building and developing customised experiments!

What you'll learn

Easily build experiments for research in the social sciences using a graphical interface

Easily add audiovisual stimuli to create complex experiments

Create a wide variety of experiments ranging from reaction time tasks to questionnaires

Run multiple trials for your experiment with ease

Incorporate feedback into your experiment to provide your participants with information about various aspects of their performance in a given task

Understand and use the OpenSesame script to build and edit your experiment

Comprehensively record and manage data from the experiments you have created and conducted

Requirements

A computer or laptop with OpenSesame version 2.8 installed and running. OpenSesame is an open source software and a version compatible with Windows, OS X, Ubuntu or Linux can be downloaded from the following link: http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/getting-opensesame/download/

Description

Through this course, students will learn how to use OpenSesame, an open source, experiment building software for the social sciences. OpenSesame allows you to easily create experiments, using a graphical interface, as well as add audiovisual elements to develop more complex experiments. OpenSesame also enables you to run multiple trials of your experiments with minimum effort and it also helps to manage and record data. This course aims at teaching students how to operate this useful software. Enrolled students can expect to gain a comprehensive understanding of the various features and functions of this software, such as adding audiovisual stimuli and incorporating feedback given to participants, as well as an opportunity to create an experiment, using these different elements. This course will take ? hours to complete, (including one contact hour with the course instructor after completion of the workshop.)? The course is divided into ? broad sections, which include ? lectures and ? quizzes. An understanding of this software is important because OpenSesame is applicable to varied disciplines and is indispensible to experiment designing for a contemporary researcher. OpenSesame also makes the process of conducting experiments easier because it allows the calculation of accurate reaction times and other dependant variables as well as automatically saves and arranges data in the form of easy-to-view tables for each trial. Moreover, the comprehensive nature of this course ensures that its participants will not only be able to understand, but also apply the course content. Therefore, by taking this course, students and professionals will be armed with a powerful research tool. (For those studying at the University of Mumbai and or its affiliated colleges (Mithibai and National College), knowledge of OpenSesame is mandatory for the MA Psychology course at these institutes.)

Overview

Section 1: Installation and Overview of What OpenSesame Can Do

Lecture 1 Installing OpenSesame and Setting Up the Software on Your Device

Lecture 2 Overview of What OpenSesame Can Do

Lecture 3 Outline of the Main Panels of OpenSesame

Section 2: Understanding and Navigating Through the Main Toolbar and the Overview Window

Lecture 4 The Main Toolbar

Lecture 5 The Overview Window

Section 3: Understanding and Navigating Through the Tab Area and the Item Toolbar

Lecture 6 The Tab Area and the Item Toolbar

Lecture 7 The Loop Item

Lecture 8 The Sequence Item

Lecture 9 The Sketchpad Part 1

Lecture 10 The Sketchpad Part 2

Lecture 11 The Sketchpad Part 3

Lecture 12 The Form Items Part 1

Lecture 13 The Form Items Part 2

Lecture 14 The Response Collection Items Part 1

Lecture 15 The Response Collection Items Part 2

Lecture 16 The Logger and the Feedback Items

Lecture 17 Other Commonly Used Items

Lecture 18 The Visual Stimuli Items

Lecture 19 The Timing, Miscellaneous and Control Items

Section 4: Using the Software to Design the Spatial Cueing Experiment

Lecture 20 Outlining Experiments

Lecture 21 Explaining the Spatial Cueing Experiment

Lecture 22 Creating the Main Sequence Part 1

Lecture 23 Creating the Main Sequence Part 2

Lecture 24 Creating the Block Sequence

Lecture 25 Filling in the Block Loop with Independent Variables Part 1

Lecture 26 Filling in the Block Loop with Independent Variables Part 2

Lecture 27 Adding Images and Sound Files; Filling in the Trial Sequence

Lecture 28 Continuing to Fill in the Trial Sequence

Lecture 29 Drawing the Sketchpad Items Part 1

Lecture 30 Drawing the Sketchpad Items Part 2

Lecture 31 Configuring the Keyboard Response, Incorrect (Sampler) and the Variable Logger

Lecture 32 Adding Feedback and Setting the Length of the Loops

Lecture 33 Filling in the Instructions, End of Practice Message and Final Message

Lecture 34 Sample Run of the Experiment

Section 5: Comprehending Data Output from OpenSesame

Lecture 35 Logging Data from Experiments and Dealing with Missing Data

Lecture 36 Interpreting Data Files and Transferring them to Other Platforms

Section 6: Additional Applications (Misc. Functions, Modifying Scripts)

Lecture 37 Counterbalancing

Lecture 38 The OpenSesame Script Syntax, and Miscellaneous Functions

Lecture 39 Troubleshooting

Section 7: Customizing OpenSesame to Your Research

Lecture 40 Applying OpenSesame

Lecture 41 OpenSesame Course Notes

This course is meant for Undergraduate students, Postgraduate students, PhD students and Professionals pursuing research in the Social Sciences (Economics, Psychology and/or Sociology).,Students and Professionals from any academic discipline with a keen interest in research and experiment design are welcome to attend. A basic understanding of research methodology is recommended.