Business and social sciences resources

The BRAINS Lab

The 'Behavioural Research Analytics In Neurotechnological Systems' (BRAINS) Lab, is a nationally leading research and innovation facility that pioneers the convergence of behavioural sciences, user experience research and next-generation technologies.

Through cutting-edge research and partnerships, The BRAINS Lab aims to define an ethical, inclusive and sustainable digital future and enhance our collective capacity and capability to mitigate harms and tackle major societal challenges.

Please note: The BRAINS Lab was previously named The Behavioural Science and Creative Insights Lab.

The BRAINS Lab features:

A reception with a PC, phone, projector and ceiling speakers
A computer lab fitted with 29 networked workstations, separated by individual cubicles.
A control room area with one controller PC station for the observation room and one controller PC station for the eye-tracking pod.
An eye-tracking "pod" fitted with a RED250 Mobile remote eye-tracking station as well as a Tobii Pro Nano 60Hz eye-tracker and a pair of Tobii Pro Glasses 2 Live View 50 Hz Wireless.

The BRAINS Lab also provides access to the following specialist software:

E-Prime 3: a comprehensive software to design behavioural experiments.
Z-tree: Zurich Toolbox for Readymade Economic Experiments.
LanSchool: Classroom management software to control the computer lab PCs from the reception desk.
Noldus Media Recorder: Software platform for recording video/audio synchronously from all three cameras + Control panel for directional camera.
Noldus Observer XT: Platform for viewing, analysing and presenting visual/audible data.
SMI Experiment Centre: A software designed to create gaze tracking experiments and visual stimuli.
SMI BeGaze: Behavioural and gaze analysis software for eye tracking data.
Tobii Pro Lab: Full Edition for desktop eye-tracking data and Analyzer Edition for mobile eye-tracking data.
FaceReader: Software for analysing basic facial emotional expressions.

If you are a member of staff interested in making use of this facility for your research or your teaching, or if you are interested in learning more about behavioural research analytics, behavioural science and people-centered design research, please visit the BRAINS Lab page.

If you are interested in learning more about behavioural science and behavioural analytics, you can register your details on our participant panel to express your interest in receiving invitations to participate in studies conducted by researchers working in the BRAINS Lab.

Psychology labs and facilities

Researchers in psychology benefit from a number of purpose-built research laboratories and a wide range of state-of-the-art equipment.

Specialist laboratories include a fully-equipped high-resolution EEG laboratory (BioSemi ActiveTwo 64+8+2 channel system). For studies of brain stimulation using tDCS, we have two NeuroConn DC-STIMULATOR PLUS probes. Real-time physiological monitoring is provided by a Biopac MP100 Physiological monitoring system (primarily used to measure galvanic skin response, respiration and cardiovascular function).

One laboratory is set up for psychopharmacological studies, such as tests of drug effects on eating behaviour, and includes equipment for drug preparation and storage, drug administration and the measurement of drug responses. Portable psychophysiological monitors of blood pressure, GSR, and blood-alcohol concentration are also available. Daytime and night-time activity can be measured via online actigraphs (MotionWatch 8, CamNtech).

There are two laboratories dedicated to eye-tracking research: one is equipped with an Eyelink 1000 high-resolution eye-tracker; a second (primarily used for studies with children and infants) is equipped with two eye-trackers, a Tobii T-120 eye-tracker and a Tobii X2-60 eye-tracker. For field research offsite, researchers use a mobile eye-tracker (Tobii Smart IR plus Tobii Studio Enterprise Edition).

Neurocognitive testing is provided by two CANTABeclipse tablet-based (touchscreen) neuropsychological test batteries, and we also subscribe to the online CANTAB neuropsychological test platform. Cognitive testing is also provided by the web-based Inquisit application. Additionally, the department has developed its own bespoke platform for online psychological testing.

Studies of physiological and psychological influences on driving performance are conducted using a driving simulator in a dedicated laboratory (XPDS-RS simulator from XPI Simulation). The department's facilities also include state-of-the-art behavioural monitoring in a dedicated observation room with a separate digital viewing/editing suite (configured by Tracksys with Observer XT 11.0 monitoring applications). The observation lab is used for studies of problem solving, group processes and developmental psychology. One laboratory is configured to support studies of babies and infants.

To facilitate the management of recruitment to psychology studies we subscribe to the web-based ‘Sona Systems' research participant management application. A dedicated Psychology Store room houses the psychometric test bank (for loan; over 100 tests). Laptops are available for offsite testing with E-Prime and Superlab software; Psychology staff and students also have access to Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended for image processing (e.g. for face recognition studies), Cooledit and Presentations software, Observer XT Video Pro, Observer Facereader and NVivo. We also have individual and networked access to MatLab. The School subscribes to Qualtrics for the development and distribution of online surveys and experiments. Find out more.