Eye-Tracking with Python and Pylink

Description

Several Python programming books feature tools designed for experimental psychologists. What sets this book apart is its focus on eye-tracking. Eye-tracking is a widely used research technique in psychology and neuroscience labs. Research grade eye-trackers are typically faster, more accurate, and of course, more expensive than the ones seen in consumer goods or usability labs. Not surprisingly, a successful eye-tracking study usually requires sophisticated computer programming. Easy syntax and flexibility make Python a perfect choice for this task, especially for psychology researchers with little or no computer programming experience. This book offers detailed coverage of the Pylink library, a Python interface for the gold standard EyeLink ® eye-trackers, with many step-by-step example scripts. This book is a useful reference for eye-tracking researchers, but you can also use it as a textbook for graduate-level programming courses. Preface Contents Chapter 1: A Gentle Introduction to Python Installing Python Windows macOS and Linux Installing Python Modules Python Shell Script Editors Data Types Numbers Strings Booleans List Tuple Dictionary Set Operators Data Conversion Control Flow if Statement for Statement while Statement More on Looping List Comprehension Functions Output Output Formatting Files Modules Choose a Python Module to Build Your Experiments Chapter 2: Building Experiments with PsychoPy Installing PsychoPy A Basic PsychoPy Script Opening a Window Screen Units Monitor Gamma Vertical Blanking Call a Function on Window Flip Taking Screenshots Visual Stimuli Shapes GratingStim TextStim Font and Font Files Right-to-Left Text Wrap Width Aperture Mouse Keyboard Monitoring Keyboard Events with the Event Module Monitoring Keyboard Events with PsychHID Trial Control A Real Example: Simon Effect Chapter 3: Building Experiments with Pygame Installing Pygame Display Events Other Frequently Used Pygame Modules The draw Module The font Module The image Module A Real Example: Posner Cueing Task Chapter 4: Getting to Know Pylink A Brief Introduction to Eye Tracking Installing Pylink The “install_pylink.py” Script Manually Install Pylink Installing Pylink Using pip An Overview of An Eye-Tracking Experiment Connect/Disconnect the Tracker Open/Close EDF Data File Configure the Tracker Open a Window for Calibration Calibrate the Tracker Start/Stop Recording Log Messages Retrieve the EDF Data File A Real Example: Free Viewing Preamble Text in EDF File Offline Mode EyeLink Host Commands Calibration Window Record Status Message Drift Check/Drift Correction Log Messages Error and Exception Handling Chapter 5: Preparing Scripts that Support Analysis and Visualization in Data Viewer Trial Segmentation Trial Variables Interest Areas Background Graphics Images Video Simple Drawing Draw List File Target Position Example Scripts in PsychoPy Stroop Task Custom Graphics for Calibration The DISPLAY_COORDS Message The TRIALID and TRIAL_RESULT Messages Record Status Message Background Graphics: The IMGLOAD Message Trial Variable Messages Messages Marking Critical Trial Events Video Pursuit Task Chapter 6: Accessing Gaze Data During Recording Samples and Events Accessing Sample Data Commands for Accessing Samples An Example in PsychoPy: Gaze-Contingent Window Accessing Eye Events Commands for Accessing Events An Example in PsychoPy: Gaze Trigger Chapter 7: Advanced Use of Pylink Drawing to the Host PC Draw Simple Graphics on the Host The bitmapBackdrop() Function The imageBackdrop() Function Sending TTLs via the Host PC Calibration and Custom CoreGraphics Chapter 8: Eye Movement Data Analysis and Visualization EyeLink EDF Data File Samples Events Other Useful Information in the EDF Data File EDF Converter Extract Data from the ASC Files Parse ASC Files with the String Function split() Parse ASC Files with Regular Expressions Data Visualization Gaze Trace Plots Heatmap Scanpath Interest Area-Based Plots References Index