Webinar - Introduction to PCIbex for Online Experiments

Webinar: Introduction to PCIbex for Online Experiments

Hosted by Jeremy Zehr & Florian Schwarz

Recording of Webinar here

Time & Date:

Thursday, April 2nd, 2020, 1-2:30pm EDT (UTC-4) (hosts will be available for additional optional Q&A time until 3)

Zoom link: (just click to join)

https://sasupenn.zoom.us/j/302473588

(Note: A recording of the webinar will be posted at https://www.pcibex.net/documentation/)

Workshop Description:

This workshop introduces PennController for IBEX (PCIbex), a free and open-source platform for designing, implementing and hosting online experiments, of use to anyone collecting behavioral experimental data in the cognitive sciences and beyond. In the workshop, you will reproduce this simple experiment to introduce you to core features. Along the way, you will learn how to develop and host experiments on the PCIbex Farm, which comes with its own interface and requires no server setup, software installation or prior knowledge of a programming language. Focusing on fundamental concepts and the basic logic of the interface, this workshop will be useful both to students and researchers new to online experiments and ones with prior experience on other platforms.

More about PennController for IBEX:

PCIbex builds on IBEX, a free, javacript-based platform for running experiments online, developed by Alex Drummond to conduct common text-based, psycho-linguistic tasks, including self-paced reading and rating studies. PCIbex is an extension developed by Jeremy Zehr within a project in Florian Schwarz’s lab at the University of Pennsylvania. It uses a versatile and user-friendly yet powerful mini-script languag (requiring no javascript skills) for incorporating a diverse range of features in your experiment, such as multimedia support and dynamically unfolding trial structures, with the capacity of tracking timing and inputs throughout, to accommodate both simple and complex experimental task paradigms with a wide range of dynamic and interactive features (e.g., visual stimuli, flexible, multi-stage trial structure, response feedback, scripted/ timed events, playing audio and video).

Free hosting offered at https://expt.pcibex.net/ means posting simple experiments online just takes a few simple steps that can be shared through a URL. This is compatible with a variety of recruitment platforms, e.g., SONA, Prolific, or Mechanical Turk. Templates or prior experiments can easily be imported via GitHub, which also allows for easy sharing of your work for maximal transparency and replicability.

For more details on usage and features, see the full documentation, as well as the support forum. Direct any questions on PCIbex or the workshop to penncontroller@lab.florianschwarz.net.