CogLab is program that allows to explore aspects of Cognitive Psychology by participating in various experiments.Coglab has made cognitive experiments easy and approachable to masses . Its highly used and recommended  software for conducting cognitive experiments .Experiments on attention ,perception , neurocognition,sensory memory , short term memory ,working memory , memory processes ,metamemory , speech and language , concepts ,judgment can be easily conducted with the help of Coglab.   

                     Experimenter has to decide particular experiment which he wants to conduct. Experiment has particular time limit and also has number of instructions. In order to check understanding of the instruction number of trials are given to subject and after that main experiment gets started. Once experiment is finished experimenter gets results on performance of the subject. Subject’s performance is compared to base line or to the results of another subject .Graphical presentation of the result is given with the help of bar graph or line graph.

TYPES OF DATA AVAILABLE

Experimental data is produced at the end of each experiment. The same data is available to the subject and the instructor .CogLab also provides average data across all the subjects. In every case, experimental data is provided in either a graphic (plot) or a text (table) format.

1.    Data plot: This is a graphical description of the experimental data. Not all experiments show data plots.

                       

2.    Data table: Experiments that do not show a data plot, present a data table. The window below shows an example (on MacOS X) of a data table that appears after the Stroop task experiment. Any experiment that contains a data plot also includes a data table version of the same experimental results.

                                    

3.    Trial-by-Trial data: The data generated at the end of an experiment also includes trial-by-trial data. The trial-by-trial data displays detailed information about the stimulus (e.g., the word and font color in the Stroop task) and response (e.g., reaction time) on each trial. The trial-by-trial data are useful for performing some types of statistical analyses

              

·      Results of the particular experiment   can be saved and printed.

·      if you select, copy, and paste the data into a spreadsheet, the separate cells of the data table will automatically be placed in appropriate cells of the spreadsheet. This allows easy portability of CogLab data into programs that use spreadsheets, such as MS Excel, SPSS, and many others

·      If you save the experimental data to a file on your computer, you can open the file with a variety of programs that can read web pages (e.g., MS Word and MS Excel). This will also import a data plot into the program. This is useful for preparing reports .

·      Limitations of CogLab –

v It lacks human touch to the psychological experiments.

v We cannot observe Non verbal responses of the subject.

v Subject may have difficulty in understanding instructions which can affect its results .

·      Benefits Of CogLab –

v Accurate measurement of variable is possible .

v Easy to gather data of many people

v Easy to administer .

v Summary helps in understanding  cognitive processes of the subject.