Abstract
PsyToolkit is a set of software tools for programming psychological experiments on Linux computers. Given that PsyToolkit is freely available under the Gnu Public License, open source, and designed such that it can easily be modified and extended for individual needs, it is suitable not only for technically oriented Linux users, but also for students, researchers on small budgets, and universities in developing countries. The software includes a high-level scripting language, a library for the programming language C, and a questionnaire presenter. The software easily integrates with other open source tools, such as the statistical software package R. PsyToolkit is designed to work with external hardware (including IoLab and Cedrus response keyboards and two common digital input/output boards) and to support millisecond timing precision. Four in-depth examples explain the basic functionality of PsyToolkit. Example 1 demonstrates a stimulus—response compatibility experiment. Example 2 demonstrates a novel mouse-controlled visual search experiment. Example 3 shows how to control light emitting diodes using PsyToolkit, and Example 4 shows how to build a light-detection sensor. The last two examples explain the electronic hardware setup such that they can even be used with other software packages.
Article PDF
References
Finney, S. A. (2001). Real-time data collection in Linux: A case study. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 33, 167–173.
Geller, A. S., Schleifer, I. K., Sederberg, P. B., Jacobs, J., & Kahana, N. J. (2007). PyEPL: A cross-platform experiment-programming library. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 950–958.
Gofen, A., & Mackeben, M. (1997). An introduction to accurate display timing for PCs under “Windows.” Spatial Vision, 10, 361–368.
McKinney, C. J., MacCormac, E. R., & Welsh-Bohmer, K. A. (1999). Hardware and software for tachistoscopy: How to make accurate measurements on any PC utilizing the Microsoft Windows operating system. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 31, 129–136.
Peirce, J. W. (2007). PsychoPy—Psychophysics software in Python. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 162, 8–13.
Plant, R. R., Hammond, N., & Turner, G. (2004). Self-validating presentation and response timing in cognitive paradigms: How and why? Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 36, 291–303.
Plant, R. R., Hammond, N., & Whitehouse, T. (2002). Toward an Experimental Timing Standards Lab: Benchmarking precision in the real world. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 34, 218–226.
Plant, R. R., Hammond, N., & Whitehouse, T. (2003). How choice of mouse may effect response timing in psychological studies. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 35, 276–284.
Prinz, W., & Hommel, B. (2002). Common mechanisms in perception and action: Attention and performance XIX. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
R Development Core Team (2009). R: A language and environment for statistical computing [Computer software]. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Available from www.R-project.org.
Repp, B. (2005). Sensorimotor synchronization: A review of the tapping literature. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 969–992.
Stahl, C. (2006). Software for generating psychological experiments. Experimental Psychology, 53, 218–232.
Stevens, M., Lammertyn, J., Verbruggen, F., & Vandierendonck, A. (2006). Tscope: A C library for programming cognitive experiments on the MS Windows platform. Behavior Research Methods, 38, 280–286.
Stewart, N. (2006). Millisecond accuracy video display using OpenGl under Linux. Behavior Research Methods, 38, 142–145.
Straw, A. D. (2008). Vision Egg: An open-source library for realtime visual stimulus generation. Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, 2(4).
Wolfe, J. M. (2003). Moving towards solutions to some enduring controversies in visual search. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 70–76.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Support for two PCI24 boards was made possible by a grant from the Experimental Psychology Society.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stoet, G. PsyToolkit: A software package for programming psychological experiments using Linux. Behavior Research Methods 42, 1096–1104 (2010). https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.42.4.1096
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.42.4.1096