Our lab relies heavily on MATLAB. We use it to program and run our experiments, as well as to analyze and fit theory to the data.
Psychophysics Toolbox
This would not be possible without the superb Psychophysics Toolbox written by David Brainard and Denis Pelli which contains stimulus-presentation routines that allow for close control over the CRT display.
Visit their website to download the free Psychophysics Toolbox.
MATLAB Code
Erin Harley has made available on her website files that you can download if you wish to see a sample of how we used MATLAB to create visual perception experiments. The files contain a simple digit-recall experiment as well as the graphical user interface (GUI) designed to accompany the experiment. The GUI allows you to easily view data from multiple observers, change experimental parameters, collect new data, and fit theory to data. The creation of the experiment and its GUI is described in detail in the following paper: Harley, E. M., & Loftus, G. R. (2000). MATLAB and graphical user interfaces: Tools for experimental management. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 32, 290-296.
Visit Erin's MATLAB page where you can download the MATLAB files.
Download Harley & Loftus (2000) paper.
Visual-Memory Laboratory
We have constructed a laboratory suitable for showing complex visual stimuli and gathering data from up to 8 observers simultaneously.
Download a draft of a manuscript describing the laboratory here.
To construct such a laboratory, you will need to download observer keypad software from here.