Getting Started with PsychoPy Python Package
PsychoPy has emerged as a valuable tool for conducting
beahvioral and cognitive experiments. It is an open-source application to allow precise, flexible presentation of stimuli and collection of data for
psychological and cognitive experiments, particularly in running online experiments.
Installation
PsychoPy comes pre-bundled with a lot of packages you need for running experiments. It is written using a platform-independent software, meaning it works on Windows, Linux and Mac, so choose the installer you prefer.
Finding Help
PsychoPy hosts an active online community on their website and GitHub page, providing an invaluable resource for researchers. Additionally, the PsychoPy documentation is a great place to start when looking for advice or help. You can also perform a Google search for the problem you're encountering; chances are that someone else has encountered it before.
How to Ask Questions
When it comes to asking questions, the PsychoPy community is a very welcoming and supportive community. The best approach to getting quick and accurate responses is to be as concrete and clear as possible. Attach snippets of code that are causing your errors, describe what you expect to happen, and what is happening instead.
Finding PsychoPy Courses and Advanced Topics
Though the early stage of learning PsychoPy can be daunting, taking online industry-standard courses such as those on Udemy or Coursera, can help you get up to speed. For advanced topics, resources like the PsychoPy book by Peirce et al., their documentation, and the
jsPsych library are excellent sources.
Connecting with the Community
There is an active community of PsychoPy users who are very willing to share tips, advice, and code snippets. Connecting with this group via their online forum or GitHub page is a great way to enhance your knowledge base and find innovative solutions to your coding challenges. You will be pleasantly surprised by the wealth of shared knowledge within this community, from novice users to seasoned experts.
PsychoPy Python package is an excellent tool for anyone interested in pushing the frontiers of cognitive and behavioural science research, and mastering it can lead to more robust and sophisticated experimental designs. Happy coding!