COMPUTER LABS AT BSS
The faculty has two computer laboratories. One is the computer lab in the basement of building 1343 in room 188. The other is the COBE Lab at Fuglesangs Allé.
The two laboratories are somewhat different. The lab in building 1343 is externally funded by the Danish National Research Foundation through CON AMORE. It is especially designed for conducting psychological experiments and has been built according to standards developed in psychological research. The COBE lab also facilitates psychological experiments, but the department has not been involved in the building of this lab, and the researchers have therefore not been able to influence the contents of the lab.
The computer lab at the Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences contains a small children’s lab with equipment that has been financed by CON AMORE’s grant. All researchers at the Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences have access to the equipment, but the centre’s researcher have first priority given that the equipment (and the salary for the employees who run it) is paid for by CON AMORE.
What can it be used for?
The lab is first and foremost to be used for conducting psychological experiments. The lab provides the users with a multitude of opportunities to conduct experiments with a computer, e.g. examine causal connections, present stimuli and measure response times and memory. There are various programs installed on the computers, which can be used in various types of research; for instance the program E-Prime especially designed for conducting psychological experiments. Users can also do psycho-physiological measurements, such as measuring how much a person sweats, how a person moves his or her facial muscles and measuring a person’s heart rate. In other words, the lab offers numerous possibilities for conducting experimental research.
Postdoc Søren Staugaard from CON AMORE makes frequent use of the lab in building 1343. He conducts research to find out how people remember.Together with Dorthe Berntsen, Søren has recently published scientific results based on the work he has done in the department’s computer lab. The project is about the mechanisms behind spontaneous memories about negative material. Søren Staugaard is very pleased with what the lab has to offer:
“We wouldn’t be able to conduct this type of research without having access to these computers,” he explains.
Who can use it?
The lab is open to all members of academic staff at the Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences. If you wish to use the lab, please contact Søren Staugaard (sorsta2psy.au.dk), who will assist you in booking a time. Secondly, you need to contact the caretakers in order to get access to the lab with your key card.
The COBE Lab offers
The Cognition and Behavior Lab (COBE Lab) at Fuglesangs Allé offers state-of-the-art research facilities. The lab is free to use and is open to all researchers at AU. The lab is suitable for conducting communication studies, which involve people and computers as well as for focus groups and interviews.
