"Introduction to Matlab programming for research in psychology" course

"Introduction to Matlab programming for research in psychology" course

• Ana F. Palenciano Castro - CIMCYC (UGR).
• Chiara Avancini - CIMCYC (UGR).
• Carmen Jiménez Mesa - Dept. of Signal Theory, Telematics and Communications (UGR).
• Blanca Aguado López - CIMCYC (UGR).

Dates and times: April 17, 18, 24 and 25 and May 8 and 9, 2023, from 16 to 19h (total: 18 hours).

Place: computer room 4, Faculty of Psychology (UGR).

Description: In this course, basic notions of programming applied to research in psychology will be taught. Students will acquire the fundamental elements for programming in Matlab (types of variables, loops, conditionals, functions...) through sessions that will combine theoretical explanations and practical exercises. Emphasis will be placed on how to use these resources for data processing. Finally, the course will offer the option of applying the acquired knowledge to data sets provided by the students.

Number of students: 20-30

Registration: until March 24, through this link https://forms.gle/C54hxYZZseoqJ5Ey6

Program:

• Session 1: Introduction to MATLAB programming.
  • What is programming? Why is it useful for research in psychology?
  • What is Matlab?
  •    Current folder and path
  • Command line.
  •    Workspace.
  •    Script editor.
• Session 2: Variables and functions.
  •     What is a variable?
  •     Types of data:
    •         Numeric values
    •         Vectors
    •         Arrays
    •         Strings
    •         Booleans
    •         Other types
    •     Indexing.
  •     What is a function?
    •         Definition of a function.
    •         Passing arguments.
    •         Return data.
  •     Basic functions integrated in Matlab.
  •     Documentation of functions.
• Session 3: Conditionals and loops.
  •     What are conditional structures?
    •         Logical operators.
    •         If - Else structure.
    •         If - Elseif structure.
    •        Switch - Case structure.
  •     What is a loop?
    •         For loops.
    •         While loops.

• Session 4: Data processing in Matlab.
  •      Loading and storing different types of data in Matlab.
  •      Basic statistics.
  •      Data and results visualization techniques.
• Session 5: Write your first script!
  •      Why is it essential to document the code?
  •      Debugging and breakpointing.
  •      Practical session in which students will complete a problem by writing their own script from scratch.
• Session 6: Bring your data.
  •     In this session, students will try to apply what they have learned to a dataset of their own.
  •     Sharing of different data.
  •     Problem resolution.