MATLAB is a powerful data analysis program, but many behavioral science researchers find it too daunting to learn and use. An Introduction to MATLAB for Behavioral Researchers is an easy-to-understand, hands-on guide for behavioral researchers who have no prior programming experience. Written in a conversational and non-intimidating style, the author walks students–step by step–through analyzing real experimental data. Topics covered include the basics of programming, the implementation of simple behavioral analyses, and how to make publication-ready figures. More advanced topics such as pseudo-randomization of trial sequences to meet specified criteria and working with psycholinguistic data are also covered. Interesting behavioral science examples and datasets from published studies, such as visualizing fixation patterns in eye-tracking studies and animal search behavior in two-dimensional space, help develop an intuition for data analysis, which is essential and can only be developed when working with real research problems and real data.
The supplementary data file included with the book includes two folders: The "data" folder contains example data files from published studies that are used in the examples discussed throughout the book. Each sub-folder represents an individual dataset, with the folders organized and named as they are referred to in the book. The "functions" folder includes additional functions that are needed for some of the examples and exercises discussed in the book. Details about where to place the files on your computer are discussed in Chapter 2.
For information about the book, see SAGE Publications' website (http://www.sagepub.com/books/Book239284) or the website of the author (https://engra.me/books/matlab/).
